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6. Indian Agriculture and Nature’s Balance, Seventeenth Century
... It is their custom for every family to live on its fishing, hunting, and planting, since they have as much land as they need; for all the forests, meadows, and uncleared land are common property, and anyone is allowed to clear and sow as much as he will and can, and according to his needs; and this cleared land remains in his possession for as many years as he continues to cultivate and make use of it. After it is altogether abandoned by its owner, then anyone who wishes uses it, but not otherwise. Clearing is very troublesome for them, since they have no proper tools. They cut down the trees at the height of two or three feet from the ground, then they strip off all the branches, which they burn at the stump of the same trees in order to kill them, and in course of time they remove the roots. Then the women clean up the ground between the trees thoroughly, and at distances a pace apart dig round holes or pits. In each of these they sow nine or ten grains of maize, which they have first picked out, sorted, and soaked in water for a few days, and so they keep on until they have sown enough to provide food for two or three years, either for fear that some bad season may visit them or else in order to trade it to other nations for furs and other things they need; and every year they sow their corn thus in the same holes and spots, which they freshen with their little wooden spade, shaped like an ear with a handle at the end. The rest of the land is not tilled, but only cleansed of noxious weeds, so that it seems as if it were all paths, so careful are they to keep it quite clean....
7. A Narragansett Leader Complains of English Encroachment, 1642
... [O]ur fathers had plenty of deer and skins, our plains were full of deer, as also our woods, and of turkies, and our coves full of fish and fowl. But these English having gotten our land, they with scythes cut down the grass, and with axes fell the trees; their cows and horses eat the grass, and their hogs spoil our clam banks, and we shall all be starved....
8. Mohegan Indians Describe Effects of White Settlement, 1789
... The times are Exceedingly Alter’d, Yea the times have turn’d everything upside down, or rather we have Chang’d the good Times, Chiefly by the help of the White People, for in Times past, our Fathers lived in Peace, Love, and great harmony, and had everything in Great plenty.... But alas, it is not so now, all our Fishing, Hunting and Fowling is entirely gone....
9. Father Sebastian Rasles Comments on the Hunting Practices of the Illinois, 1692
After three months in Quebec studying the Algonquin language, I embarked in a canoe to go to the Illinois Country, 1,200 miles distant. So long a voyage in those barbarous regions holds great risks and hardships. We had to cross vast lakes where storms are as frequent as on the ocean. We landed | <urn:uuid:0dc36415-b804-4c7b-bb21-8fffc3240d4e> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://www.cbsd.org/cms/lib/PA01916442/Centricity/Domain/1848/Native%20American%20Life%20--%20Docs%206-8.pdf | 2023-02-07T15:05:31+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764500619.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20230207134453-20230207164453-00599.warc.gz | 706,998,832 | 670 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.997839 | eng_Latn | 0.997839 | [
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Active learning is better learning
MST’s new series on better classroom practice gets under way as Chris Watkins considers the importance of active learning.
If you read the introductory article to this series in the last MST, you might have taken up the suggestion of asking colleagues to analyse a time when learning was really good in a classroom they know. If so, you have been doing what this article is all about.
During that activity you might have heard your colleagues talk about times when classroom learning was ‘hands on’ – when there was a particular product to create, or something to be enacted, or when learners made plans about how to proceed, and so on. It’s these sorts of features that we might group together under the heading of ‘Active learning’. Perhaps some of your colleagues even use that adjective. I have been surprised how many pupils in schools use it when asked how they want their learning to be. In one survey of pupils in six primary schools, Year 6 pupils said that learning would be improved by “more active work in groups”. Meanwhile, Year 1 pupils were using terms such as “games in numeracy”, “more play (like we had in Reception)”, “more drama” (or
“acting”) and “more model making”.
And it’s not only pupils who say this: other research has shown that there are significant commonalities in teachers’ and pupils’ perceptions of effective classroom learning and that they prioritise active approaches.
So how come we see so little active learning in the dominant model of the classroom? A study in Northern Ireland primary schools showed a trend of learners reporting less use of active learning strategies as the years of schooling increase (see figure 1). Furthermore, those learners who are described as being of ‘low ability’ (which is a misnomer for ‘low-attaining’), report a faster decrease in their use of active learning strategies over those years. This finding can be read as a direct connection between active and attaining.
**Figure 1: Survey questions on active learner strategies**
“I spend some time thinking about how to do my work before I begin it” (planning)
“I try to figure out how new work fits with what I have learned before in this class” (prior knowledge activation)
“When we have difficult work to do in the class, I try to figure out the hard parts on my own” (independence)
“I ask myself questions while I do my work to make sure I understand” (self-monitoring)
“I go back over work I don’t understand” (self-monitoring)
“When I make mistakes, I try to figure out why” (evaluating)
*Students respond on a four-point scale: strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree*
One part of the answer to why we see so little active learning is that it is often over-simplified. It can conjure up an idea of activity for its own sake and soon degenerate into fearful images of pupils running around the classroom, or children playing in a sandpit. These images are erroneous because if we take it to the limit, there is no need for active learning to involve any obvious behavioural activity; just think of an active reader of texts, who may be sitting quietly, involved in many high-level processes to do with learning, but none of them showing in outward behaviour.
Conversely, we sometimes hear the simple phrase ‘learning by doing’, but there are plenty of examples of humans repeatedly doing, but without much learning occurring! As one friend has said to me: “Practice doesn’t make perfect: practice makes permanent.” So let us move on with the clarification that active learning is not simply about behaviour, but is about active sense-making.
‘Active learning’ indicates some sort of contrast with learners being passive, but it’s not a simple polarisation. All learning is active in some sense (if it really is learning), but some kinds of learning are more active than others. So we use the term to recognise that learning is an act of construction, not one of passive reception.
Active learning aims to promote:
- **active engagement** – with materials and resources, with ideas, and perhaps with other people
- **active sense-making** – standing back from the experience, reflecting to create knowledge, extracting meaning and consequences (summarised in the sequence ‘What?’ – ‘So what?’ – ‘Now what?’)
One answer to the simplifications of active learning, which I hinted at above, is to clarify what actually is involved. Figure 2 shows a model of the process of active learning which highlights its various phases.
**Figure 2**
“Do and do some more”
What’s the current profile of these elements in classrooms you know? Some classroom practitioners come to realise how much of classroom life is characterised by ‘do, do, and when you’ve finished do some more’. And how little classroom time is allocated to the reflection which is so necessary to convert the doing into learning. The elements in the model can also highlight issues about planning and who is currently doing it: teachers up until midnight, while students do virtually none.
So on closer examination the adjective ‘active’ when applied to learning can highlight these important elements, each of which can promote the qualities we wish to promote:
- **Plan**: Intentional learning
- **Do**: Engaged learning
- **Review**: Reflective learning
- **Learn**: Mindful learning
- **Apply**: Consequential learning
An example may help us consider the process further. Let’s consider the idea of active reading, in which we can encourage anyone to take the steps outlined below (and as a result move themselves beyond the dominant idea that reading is to get a text into your head):
Plan: Skim the text, what’s it about? What do I already know? What do I want to know?
Do: Read, with the above questions in mind, small chunks at a time
Review: Ask ‘what’s the message?’, ‘what do I think?’
Learn: Summarise the main idea or points. Explain to someone
Apply: Predict what will happen next, if these ideas are taken forward
You might recognise that the example incorporates elements of some well-designed approaches to reading, such as SQ3R and Reciprocal Teaching, both of which already have an impressive record of results in improving reading comprehension. On helping one Year 5 class learn about this, Micah wrote in the class journal: “Very interesting indeed, and helpful. I should use SQRRR with myself and other people who don’t know. I could share it with my family.”
Micah’s comment reminds us that learners will feel enthusiastic about active learning if it has an authentic impact. When a positive consequence emerges, and a sense of competence with it, one cycle stimulates other ones to follow. And this element of consequential learning is something which is missing from many current initiatives: learners learn how to improve in artificial literacy tests rather than learn to become an authentic writer and have impact.
A cycle of active learning may take a short period of time (a 20-minute reading exercise) or a long period of time (a term-long design-and-make project). And contrary to the view that it’s mainly the sort of thing you do in PSHE) can be activated in any area of knowledge, as the brief indications shown in figure 3 may suggest.
As colleagues consider such brief ideas, they will doubtless feel themselves in tension with the dominant view: teaching is telling and learning is listening. Most teachers who can remember their motivation for being in the profession handle this tension easily. Then they may identify another tension: that active learners do not always find favour with teachers who are wishing for compliance from learners. The vast majority of teachers I meet have little difficulty in clarifying that they are not such a teacher.
Managing the development
The above points are written with the key practitioner in mind: the classroom teacher. So how can colleagues who are interested to develop these themes from their role as managers in schools take the issue forward? A number of elements may be important.
First, help teacher colleagues to bring to the surface their own experience – of both their own learning and of times when learning has been best in classrooms they’ve known. Help to identify the fact that these times are regularly characterised by features of active learning. This helps to counteract the trend of their knowledge becoming submerged under the weight of the teacher-centred paradigm used in guidance over the last decade.
Figure 3: Cycles of active learning
| | English | Maths | Science | Drama | History |
|----------|--------------------------|-------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|-----------------------|
| Plan | Clarify purpose and point| Clarify the problem | Raise a question and | Imagine role and plot | Decide focus |
| Do | Create a draft | Try out strategies | Conduct experiment | Rehearse | Collect sources |
| Review | Try out with a reader | Compare their effects | Analyse results | Revisit | Identify standpoints |
| Learn | Consider the feedback | Decide which strategy | Relate to key ideas | Re-imagine | Evaluate |
| | received | to choose | | | |
| Apply | Redraft and publish | Use on another example | Predict another result | Perform | Consider other time |
| | | | | | or place |
The content of what colleagues derive from their real experience of classrooms will be more complex and more effective than the dominant propaganda of ‘teach your socks off, bang on about performance and work harder’.
*Use active learning with colleagues*. In order to examine the detail of applying these ideas to their students and context, there’s no better way than using the action learning cycle. Have colleagues set up meaningful tweaks to their practice and exchange with each other using the ‘Do’, ‘Review’, ‘Learn’ and ‘Apply’ headings. This relates to the research finding that schools in which a real focus on learning has developed have only one organisational condition that explains it – inquiry – and also the finding that teachers may ‘know’ about the benefits of active learning, but they carry on with a teacher-centred ‘telling’ approach until they experience active approaches themselves.
Thirdly, *review planning practices*. Some of the overbearing approaches demanded from teachers today contribute to an instruction-based climate, which also makes learners passive. Teachers may be planning until midnight, while students have no role in planning. Research has shown for decades that more planning by teachers can be linked to less responsiveness from teachers (and in some studies to lower achievement by students). Planning for active learning requires a shift to planning for learners’ activity rather than planning for what the teacher does.
Next, *support skill development*, including the styles of questions that facilitate this sort of cycle:
*Plan*: How will you go about this? What are you aiming for? How will you know it’s good?
*Do*: How’s it going?
*Review*: What did you notice? What was most important? What went well?
*Learn*: How do you make sense of that? What else does it relate to?
*Apply*: Is there another situation like this one? What could we transfer?
Furthermore, *work with the ‘ah, but…’s*. Teachers’ reservations will always be present, and it’s best that they are voiced and addressed. Many are predictable: “I have to cover the curriculum.” Sorry, who is covering the curriculum? Isn’t it the students’ task to do that? And the more active they can be in that task, the better the results. “It takes too long.” So what’s the shortcut? Ah, teacher telling them (again). “It’s a lot of planning.” It may feel like that in the early phases, but as the balance shifts towards planning for learner activity, and learners become better planners too, it may take less planning time and therefore liberate you for more time to respond. “It will all fall apart and the behaviour will worsen.” That’s a classic fear when we do something different in the complex context of the classroom, but if the tasks and prompts are well designed you’ll get more engagement and better behaviour.
Finally, *review your current management practices*. Colleagues with management responsibilities can find that their practices carry messages which do not contribute to the development of active learning in classrooms. For example, do your school’s approaches to classroom observation use frameworks which focus in learners and learning? Or do they use teacher-dominated frameworks, as in the awful Ofsted. If so, they will soon fall into the classic distortion of classroom observation – focus on the teacher and focus on the negative. One part of an alternative framework is to focus on learners and their planning, doing, reviewing learning and applying. Other themes to be developed in later articles of this series will be brought together into classroom observation frameworks at the end.
**Better results**
Last, but not least in the current context of pressure and compliance, colleagues may not know that considerable research, ranging from large surveys to focused experimental studies, shows that active learning gets better results. One study in the north-east of England examined how much pupils plan and reflect, and whether this relates to exam performance: the scores of pupils who plan and reflect least on a GCSE project were 30 per cent of the scores those who plan and reflect most.
The development of more active learning is one element in changing the culture of a classroom. Culture may not change overnight (although it may do so more quickly than you predict) but it is the thing that has the impact. A culture of active inquiry contrasts with a ‘right answer’ culture, in which learners of all sorts (young people and adults too) learn that it’s effective to be passive, and attainment suffers accordingly.
Some studies have shown that one of the quickest ways to make the change from a passive learning stance to an active learning stance is to change the purpose from that of learning in order to be tested to that of learning in order to teach someone else. Those who learn in order to teach show more intrinsic motivation, and demonstrate higher conceptual learning. This point makes the connection to the dimension of effective classroom learning which will be addressed in the next issue: collaborative learning.
Chris Watkins is a reader at the Institute of Education, University of London, and an independent project leader with schools. See www.ioe.ac.uk/people/chriswatkins | <urn:uuid:dd3d1fc7-4b8d-4de7-ad76-89c76ff3e67d> | CC-MAIN-2017-22 | http://chriswatkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Watkins-09-2-active-SLT.pdf | 2017-05-28T02:49:06Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-22/segments/1495463609409.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20170528024152-20170528044152-00110.warc.gz | 82,884,290 | 2,957 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.998535 | eng_Latn | 0.998561 | [
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Student Interest
NAME ___________________________
What is the best thing you remember learning about last year? Why is it so memorable?
If you could choose one famous person (living or not) to be the substitute teacher for a day, who would choose? What would you hope to learn from them?
Favorite subject | Favorite book(s)
Favorite movie and/or TV show | Favorite song and/or musical artist
What do you enjoy doing when you are not in school? (any hobbies, talents, sports you play, etc.)
List three words that describe you.
What one word best describes how you usually feel about school? ________
Think about the best teacher you ever had. List three words that describe great teachers.
As your teacher, how can I help you to be successful?
What are you most excited about in this school year?
What is one goal you have for the school year? What is something you hope to accomplish?
What else should I know about you that I might not think to ask about?
Reading Survey
Do you think reading is fun? yes sometimes no
Do you read at home? yes sometimes no
Do you like it when someone reads to you? yes sometimes no
Do you like to read to others? yes sometimes no
Do your parents or siblings like to read books? yes sometimes no
Do you go to the library or bookstore? yes sometimes no
What do you like to read about?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Reading Interest Survey
Circle the face that describes how you feel
Reading stories about animals.......................... 😊 😐 😞
Having an adult read to me................................. 😊 😐 😞
Reading with a friend........................................... 😊 😐 😞
Reading books about science............................. 😊 😐 😞
Reading before bed.............................................. 😊 😐 😞
Reading books about famous people................... 😊 😐 😞
Reading books about other countries............... 😊 😐 😞
Reading books in other languages....................... 😊 😐 😞
Reading books with princesses or fairies.......... 😊 😐 😞
Reading books multiple times a day.................... 😊 😐 😞
Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
© 2007 - 2020 Education.com
Your favorites list
Name:
Favorite movie of all time:
Favorite band or type of music:
Favorite TV show:
List 3 things you like to do when you’re not in school:
1.
2.
3.
Favorite video games include:
Mark the ones you love:
- Animals
- Sports
- Nature
- Dancing
- Art/Drawing
- Writing
- Singing
- Acting/Theatre
- Bike riding
- Computers
- Cooking
- Board games
- Video games
- Photography
- Science
- Mechanics
- Construction
- Church
- Watching TV/movies
- Travel
- School
- Swimming
- Music
- Other: ___________
What about you?
Name ____________________________
Birthdate _________________________
Favorites:
Food- ___________________________
Song- ___________________________
Book- ___________________________
Movie- ___________________________
If I could be anything, I would choose to be ________________ because ___________________________________________________________.
I am really good at:
I need some extra help with:
If you could give me one piece of advice to help you most this year, what would it be?
The person I most admire is ___________________________. I admire this person because ___________________________________________________________.
If you could go one place in the world, where would it be? Why?
Three words to describe me are:
What is your favorite thing about you?
If I had enough money, I would ___________________________________________________________.
1. If you could be anything in the world when you grow up, what would you be? Why? (Realistic answers only. Not "a horse" or "a time traveler.") ____________________________________________________________
2. What are your hobbies (things you like to do regularly for fun)? ____________________________________________________________
3. If you could travel any place in the world, where would you go? ____________________________________________________________
4. Do you take any special lessons outside of school? What? (Music, sports, dance, acting, singing, etc.) ______________________________
5. What kinds of activities do you like to do with friends? ____________________________________________________________
6. What kinds of activities do you like to do all by yourself? ____________________________________________________________
7. What is your favorite sport? ____________________________________________________________
8. What is your favorite TV show? Why? ____________________________________________________________
9. What is your favorite movie of all time? ____________________________________________________________
10. What is your favorite animal? ____________________________________________________________
11. What is your favorite food? ____________________________________________________________
12. If you could be like any one great person, whom would you choose? ____________________________________________________________
13. What do you do at home when you have time to do anything you wish? ____________________________________________________________
14. Set a goal for yourself regarding school in the coming year. Be specific. (Not "I want better grades.") ______________________________
15. If you were given $1,000, what would you do with it? ____________________________________________________________
16. Check the subjects you like to do most in school:
- Art
- Math
- Reading
- Writing
- P.E.
- Science
- Music
- Social Studies
- Spelling
- Other: __________
17. When did you last read a book? What was the title? ____________________________________________________________
18. What is your favorite book of all time? ____________________________________________________________
19. What magazines do you like to read? ____________________________________________________________
20. What parts of the newspaper do you like to read? ____________________________________________________________
Interest Inventory
Fill in the blanks with your favorites. Then cut out the apple and put it on a special bulletin board. See how many of your classmates can guess who you are!
Snack ________________________________
TV Show ________________________________
Animal ________________________________
Article of Clothing _______________________
Color _________________________________
Person ________________________________
Sport _________________________________
Book _________________________________
Subject _______________________________
Hobby ________________________________
Cartoon ______________________________
Place ________________________________
Holiday ______________________________
Word ________________________________
Movie star ____________________________
Picture of me doing what I like best. | <urn:uuid:560de1ce-7800-435d-adef-5a584cededa8> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://uncw.edu/ed/edlab/interest-inventories.pdf | 2023-02-07T15:12:24+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764500619.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20230207134453-20230207164453-00594.warc.gz | 594,928,119 | 1,343 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.903084 | eng_Latn | 0.993392 | [
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Frequently Asked Questions
Cal Am Water’s Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project
What is a seawater desalination plant?
A desalination plant is a facility which converts salty seawater into clean drinking water. In the proposed project, reverse osmosis technology would be used, sending saline water through a semi-permeable membrane filter, leaving potable water on one side and highly concentrated saline solution, known as brine, on the other. The leftover brine is then diluted with seawater and pumped back into the ocean. Due to high energy demand along with high initial and operational costs, desalination plants are the most expensive form of drinking water production and bring significant environmental impacts. However, in reality, hydrogeologists and recent Stanford research studies prove that the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project’s (MPWSP) desal plant will extract huge amounts of groundwater rather than just seawater.
How is the water collected?
The project proposes using slant wells, pulling both groundwater and seawater resources. Because of the questionable feasibility of slant wells, there is currently not a single commercial desalination plant using this technology anywhere in the world. Moreover, the location of the proposed slant wells specifically targets groundwater from aquifers beneath Marina’s jurisdiction, jeopardizing the natural groundwater processes and the City’s only supply of fresh drinking water.
What is the demand for this project?
The project need is vastly overstated. The desalination plant would result in a new water supply for Cal Am of more than 10,750 acre-feet per year (afy), giving Cal Am a total water supply of about 16,000 afy. However, existing demand is only around 9,500 afy and conservation measures should be prioritized to balance growing population needs. The true need for additional water supplies will likely be reviewed by an Administrative Law Judge at the California Public Utilities Commission.
Where does the City of Marina get its water?
The City of Marina currently obtains 100 percent of its potable water from groundwater underneath the City. The Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin includes several subbasins, which are seriously threatened by the proposed Cal Am project. The project’s slant wells would draw water from the 180/400 aquifer that has been classified as one of 21 “critically overdrafted” groundwater basins out of more than 400 basins in the state. Drawing freshwater from this location not only will deplete limited resources, but it will also allow seawater intrusion and contamination to occur in the Monterey subbasin that is used for drinking water. The proposed MPWSP is in direct conflict with California’s new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) which aims to protect and restore our precious groundwater supplies, and would further jeopardize this already endangered resource.
Who is building this project?
The project would be built by California American (Cal Am), a subsidiary of the private, for-profit, water utility provider, American Water Works Company, Inc., headquartered in New Jersey. Cal Am serves customers in approximately 85% of the Monterey Peninsula and approximately 615,000 customers statewide. By virtue of the for-profit nature of Cal Am, all investment costs are passed on to customers through rate increases. But Cal Am does not serve the residents or businesses in the City of Marina, which depend on the Marina Coast Water District instead.
Will this project increase water rates?
To build this expensive project, Cal Am will likely increase its customers’ water rates further, on top of the increases that already took effect earlier this year. Additionally, Marina residents would be uniquely impacted. The project will likely degrade water quality and deplete resources in the City’s groundwater aquifer, thereby raising water production or treatment costs for Marina Coast Water District, or requiring the purchase of extremely expensive replacement water.
Who will the project serve?
The project will serve Monterey peninsula residents that are customers of the for-profit Cal Am. The City of Marina, however, is served by the publicly owned Marina Coast Water District. The project will have a disproportionate impact on the city’s disadvantaged communities, who will be faced with negative impacts to their water supply, construction and operational impacts without receiving any of the project benefits. Simply put, Marina will be harmed for the benefit of neighboring cities who don’t want this project in their own backyard.
Will this construction cause harmful community impacts?
The impacts to the Marina community may be significant in both the short and long term. The project represents a large industrial use with the potential to result in severe irreversible impacts to the City, particularly in regards to potential depletion and contamination of its water supply, and the likely huge adverse impacts to its sensitive coastal ecosystem.
Will this impact the coastal ecosystem?
The project is likely to have significant impacts on Marina’s coastal ecosystem. With regard to marine biological resources, the project area is home to 34 species of mammals, over 180 species of seabirds, 525 fish species, four sea turtle species, 31 different invertebrate phyla, and over 450 species of marine algae. In addition, the project area is home to 27 federally designated threatened and endangered species. In the distillation process, the project will produce 14 million gallons of high-salinity brine discharge per day, which will then be deposited in the seafloor of the marine sanctuary. The project’s slant wells would be sited in Marina’s sensitive coastal habitat and would likely accelerate coastal erosion on Marina’s beaches as well as adversely impact the coastal dunes.
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Digits Active and Resistive ROM Exercises
HAND - 6 Active Range of Motion
Active DIP Flexion/Extension
Using fingers of opposite hand, pinch middle knuckle to prevent bending. Bend the end knuckle as far as you can. Hold____seconds. Relax. Repeat____times.
HAND - 7 Active Range of Motion
Active PIP Flexion/Extension
Using fingers of opposite hand, pinch bottom knuckle to prevent bending. Bend the middle knuckle as far as you can. Hold____seconds. Relax. Repeat____times.
HAND - 8 Active Range of Motion
Finger Flexion/Extension
Actively bend fingers of involved hand. Start with knuckles furthest from hand and slowly make a fist.
Hold____seconds. Relax. Then straighten fingers out again as far as you can. Repeat____times.
Active Abduction/Adduction
• Spread fingers apart.
• Then pull together.
HAND - 27 Active Resistive Finger Flexion
Apply light moderate maximal resistance with opposite hand as you curl fingers of involved hand. Repeat____times. Do____sessions per day.
HAND - 28 Active Resistive Finger Extension
Apply light moderate maximal resistance as you extend fingers from middle knuckles. Repeat____times. Do____sessions per day.
Digits Passive ROM Exercises
HAND - 1
Passive Range of Motion
Finger DIP Joints
Using other hand, passively bend fingers at third row of knuckles until a stretch is felt. Hold _____ seconds. Relax. Straighten fingers out as far as you can.
Repeat _____ times.
Do _____ sessions per day.
HAND - 2
Passive Range of Motion
Finger PIP Joints
Using other hand, passively bend fingers at middle row of knuckles until a stretch is felt. Hold _____ seconds. Relax. Straighten fingers out as far as you can.
Repeat _____ times.
Do _____ sessions per day.
HAND - 3
Passive Range of Motion
Finger MP Joints
Using other hand, passively bend fingers at first row of knuckles until a stretch is felt. Hold _____ seconds. Relax. Straighten fingers out as far as you can.
Repeat _____ times.
Do _____ sessions per day.
Intrinsic Stretch
- Straighten MPs, curl PIPs and DIPs into the "hook" position.
- Gently stretch with other hand.
- Hold position and remove other hand.
Intrinsic Minus/Plus Positions
- Straighten MP's and curl both PIPs and DIPs.
- Then bend MP's and straighten PIPs and DIPs.
Paper Crumpling Exercise
Begin with palm down on a piece of paper. Maintaining contact to surface with heel of hand, crumple paper into a ball.
Repeat ____ Repetitions/set. Do ____ Sets/session.
Do ____ Sessions/day.
Palm Hollowing Exercise
With hand flat, gently extend fingers and thumb upward to create a hollowing of the palm.
Repeat ____ Repetitions/set. Do ____ Sets/session.
Do ____ Sessions/day.
Towel Roll Squeeze
With forearm resting on surface, gently squeeze towel.
Repeat ____ Repetitions/set.
Do ____ Sets/session.
THUMB EXERCISES
Passive Range of Motion
- Thumb DIP Joint
Using other hand, passively bend thumb at knuckle as shown until a stretch is felt.
Hold ______ seconds. Relax.
Then straighten thumb out as far as you can.
Repeat ______ times.
Do ______ sessions per day.
Passive Range of Motion
- Thumb PIP Joint
Using other hand, passively bend thumb at knuckle as shown until a stretch is felt.
Hold ______ seconds. Relax.
Then straighten thumb out as far as you can.
Repeat ______ times.
Do ______ sessions per day.
Active Range of Motion
- Thumb Flexion/Extension
Actively bend thumb across palm as far as you can.
Hold ______ seconds. Relax.
Then pull thumb back into "hitch hiking" position.
Repeat ______ times per session.
Do ______ sessions per day.
Active Range of Motion
- Thumb Abduction/Adduction
Actively bend thumb out away from palm as far as you can.
Hold ______ seconds. Then pull thumb back to touch fingers.
Try not to bend fingers toward thumb.
Repeat ______ times.
Do ______ sessions per day.
Finger Opposition
Actively touch thumb to finger tip. Starting with index finger and proceed toward little finger.
Move slowly at first, then begin to move rapidly as your motion and coordination improve. Be sure to touch each finger tip.
Repeat ______ times.
Do ______ sessions per day.
THUMB - 24
Composite Extension (Active)
Bring thumb up and out in hitchhiker position.
Hold _____ seconds.
Repeat _____ times.
Do _____ sessions per day.
THUMB - 26
Radial Adduction / Abduction (Active)
Move thumb out to side.
Move back alongside index finger.
Repeat _____ times. Do _____ sessions per day.
THUMB - 27
Palmar Adduction / Abduction (Active)
Move thumb down away from palm.
Move back to rest along palm.
Repeat _____ times.
Do _____ sessions per day.
THUMB - 29
Opposition (Active)
Touch end tip of thumb to nail tip of each finger in turn, making an "O" shape.
Repeat _____ times. Do _____ sessions per day.
THUMB - 30
Composite Movement Circumduction (Active)
Make circles with thumb.
Repeat _____ times. Do _____ sessions per day.
EDEMA MASSAGE
Edema is another word for swelling. The purpose of the edema massage is to decrease swelling by helping in the circulation of blood and lymphatic fluids.
1. Use a hand lotion as a lubricant. Any brand will do.
2. Hold your swollen hand up, in an elevated position.
3. Start at your fingertips and rub the lotion down your hand to your forearm.
4. Use firm, even pressure during the massage.
5. DO NOT rub from the forearm up to the hand. This only encourages fluids to pool in the hand.
6. DO NOT massage over open wounds.
7. Edema massages should be performed for ten minutes, three times a day.
HAND CARE - 2
Edema Reduction (Elevation - Prone)
Elevate hand above heart level on several pillows.
Hold for _____ minutes every _____ hour(s).
Copyright VHI 1993
HAND CARE - 1
Edema Reduction (Elevation - Sitting)
Elevate hand above heart level.
Hold for _____ minutes every _____ hour(s).
Copyright VHI 1993
HAND CARE - 4
Edema Reduction (Contrast Baths)
Have 2 containers deep enough for body part to be immersed.
Fill one with warm water and the other with slightly chilled water.
Soak in warm for 1 to 2 minutes, cold for ½ to 1 minute.
Alternate and continue for 10 minutes. End in warm water.
Copyright VHI 1993
HAND CARE - 3
Edema Reduction (Elevation - Standing)
Elevate hand above heart level by placing on top of head or furniture.
Hold for _____ minutes every _____ hour(s).
Copyright VHI 1993
HAND CARE - 7
Edema Reduction (Retrograde Massage)
A. Enclose tip of finger with other hand and slide toward wrist.
B. For larger areas, massage toward the body in one direction only.
Repeat _____ times.
Do _____ sessions per day.
Copyright VHI 1993
HAND CARE - 6
Edema Reduction (Pumping Exercises)
Hold hand overhead. Squeeze fingers together, making a fist.
Repeat _____ times.
Spread fingers apart then press together.
Repeat _____ times.
Do _____ sessions per day.
Copyright VHI 1993
Tendon Gliding Exercises
For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Repeat each exercise 10 times, 3 times per day
Starting position
Hook fist
Full fist
Straight finger fist
Intrinsic plus position
Fine Motor Coordination Activities
The following are suggestions for activities to perform at home to increase coordination:
1. Pick up small buttons or coins from a table.
2. Stack coins, dice, or cubes.
3. String beads.
4. Tie 12-inch lengths of string with as many knots as possible. Then untie.
5. Pick up pencil and roll it between fingers and thumb.
6. Turn pages of a book or magazine.
7. Peel potatoes or carrots with a peeler.
8. Cut food with a knife.
9. Dial the telephone.
10. Open and close a lock with a key.
11. Use scissors to cut out pictures from magazines.
12. Typing.
13. Play piano.
14. Screw and unscrew nuts and bolts.
15. Do your own buttoning and shoe tying.
16. Resume or begin hobbies such as knitting, crocheting, sewing, needle point, latch hook, weaving, mosaics, etc.
17. Play games such as checkers, chess, cards, and board games.
18. Play video games.
19. Do jigsaw puzzles.
20. Paint by numbers, doodle art, and trace designs.
21. Hook paper clips together.
22. Fasten safety pins to a towel or washcloth; then remove.
23. Attach Bobbie pins to a note card.
24. Flick small balls of paper or beads.
25. Write letters or make lists.
26. Squeeze/wring out washcloths.
27. Use tweezers to pick up rice.
28. Pick up popcorn kernels; use a tweezers also.
DESENSITIZATION
Nerves traumatized by injury, amputation, and painful scar formation experience varying degrees of hyperesthesia (hypersensitivity) during recovery and reinnervation.
A light touch of the involved area may range from being mildly irritating to extremely painful.
Treatment begins with exposure to a stimulus that is slightly irritating but tolerable. As tolerance increases, more noxious stimuli is introduced.
1) Modalities such as Fluidotherapy, contrast baths, heat
2) Light stroking, massage, tapping -- progress in intensity as tolerated
3) Vibration
4) Textures: Brushing affected area in one direction beginning with tolerable material such as a cotton ball or facial tissue, progressing to rougher textures such as corduroy, burlap, velcro, sandpaper, etc.
5) Contact particles -- moving hand through cotton, dry rice, popcorn kernels, macaroni, pebbles, plastic squares, metal washers, nuts & bolts
6) Functional activities -- manipulating objects of various sizes, shapes, weights, and textures.
| Dowel textures | Contact particles | Vibration |
|----------------|-------------------|-----------|
| 1. Moleskin | 1. Cotton | 1. Battery/no contact |
| 2. Felt | 2. Terry cloth pieces | 2. Battery/near contact |
| 3. Quickstick | 3. Dry rice | 3. Low cycle/near contact |
| 4. Velvet | 4. Unpopped popcorn | 4. Low cycle/intermittent contact |
| 5. Semirough cloth | 5. Pinto beans | 5. Low cycle contact |
| 6. Velcro loops* | 6. Macaroni | 6. Low cycle continuous |
| 7. Hard T-foam | 7. Plastic wire insulation pieces | 7. High cycle/intermittent |
| 8. Burlap | 8. Small pebbles | 8. High cycle/intermittent |
| 9. Rug back | 9. Larger pebbles | 9. High cycle/continuous |
| 10. Velcro hook| 10. Plastic squares | 10. Vibration, not irritating |
Treatment is ___________ X's per day for ____________ minute segments.
Wrist Flexion Passive Stretch
- Bend wrist forward.
- Stretch with other hand.
- Hold position and remove other hand.
Wrist Extension Passive Stretch
- Bend wrist back.
- Stretch with other hand.
- Hold position and remove other hand.
Active Wrist Flexion/Extension
- With a loosely closed fist, bend wrist forward and backward.
Active Forearm Supination/Pronation
- Tuck elbow against side of body.
- Turn forearm palm up.
- Stretch with other hand.
- Hold while releasing other hand.
Active Forearm Supination/Pronation
- Tuck elbow against side of body.
- Turn forearm palm down.
- Stretch with other hand.
- Hold position while releasing other hand.
Active Wrist Radial and Ulnar Deviation
- Bend wrist toward thumb side.
- Wrist motion should be side to side only.
- Bend wrist toward little finger side.
- Wrist motion should be side to side only.
Named One of America's Top 100 Hospitals
Member of Daughters of Charity National Health System, Inc
Median Nerve Gliding Exercises
For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Starting Position 1
Wrist in neutral, fingers and thumb in flexion
Position 2
Wrist in neutral, fingers and thumb extended
Position 3
Thumb in neutral, wrist and fingers extended
Position 4
Wrist, fingers and thumb extended
Position 5
Same as in position 4, with forearm in supination (palm up)
Position 6
Same as position 5, other hand gently stretching thumb
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CHAPTER 5 – STORMWATER AND WATER QUALITY IMPACTS
Stormwater is the flow of water that results from precipitation and usually occurs immediately following a rainfall event or is produced during snowmelt. Common stormwater pollutants include sediment, nutrients, organic matter, bacteria, oil and grease, and toxic substances (i.e., metals, pesticides, herbicides, hydrocarbons). Stormwater can also impact the temperature of a surface waterbody, which can affect the water’s ability to support healthy aquatic communities. This chapter provides an overview of stormwater runoff and its impacts to water quality. It also provides information related to state and federal regulations and management practices that can be employed to control stormwater from individual properties and large urbanized areas.
5.1 INTRODUCTION TO STORMWATER RUNOFF
During a rain event, a portion of the precipitation (water) will absorb into the soil surface where it is used by plants. The portion that is not used by plants will reenter the atmosphere through evaporation, recharge a groundwater aquifer or move through the shallow soil layer to a surface waterbody. Stormwater is that portion of the precipitation that runs off of the ground or impervious surfaces. Impervious surfaces are hardened surfaces such as pavement, building rooftops, roads and parking lots. Impervious surfaces prevent rainwater infiltration into the ground (soil) surface. In some cases, stormwater drains directly into streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. In other cases, particularly in urbanized areas, stormwater drains into streets and manmade drainage systems consisting of inlets and underground pipes, commonly referred to as a storm sewer system. In North Carolina, there is no pre-treatment of stormwater. Storm sewer systems are designed simply to capture the stormwater and convey it to the nearest surface waterbody. These sewers should not be confused with sanitary sewers, which transport human and industrial wastewaters to a treatment plant before discharging into surface waters.
Uncontrolled stormwater runoff can impact humans and the environment. Cumulative effects include flooding, undercut and eroding streambanks, widened stream channels, threats to public health and safety, impaired recreational use, and increased costs for drinking and wastewater treatment. For more information on stormwater runoff, visit the DWQ Stormwater Unit Web site (http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/su/stormwater.html) or the NC Stormwater information page (www.ncstormwater.org). Additional fact sheets and information can also be found on the following Web site: www.stormwatercenter.net/intro_factsheets.htm and www.bae.ncsu.edu/stormwater/index.html.
5.2 IMPACTS TO WATER QUALITY
As development in surrounding metropolitan areas consumes neighboring forests and fields, the impacts on rivers, lakes and streams can be significant and permanent if stormwater runoff is not controlled (Orr and Stuart, 2000). This often results in negative impacts that can affect both humans and aquatic communities. Several of these water quality impacts are identified throughout this document and a more refined list can be found on the DWQ Stormwater Unit Web site (http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/su/stormwater.html).
5.2.1 SEDIMENT
Sediment is often viewed as the largest pollutant associated with stormwater runoff. Overloading of sediment in the form of sand, silt and clay particles fills pools and covers or embeds riffles that are vital to benthic and fish communities. Suspended sediment can decrease primary productivity (i.e., photosynthesis) by shading sunlight from aquatic plants, thereby affecting the overall productivity of a stream system. Suspended sediment also has several effects on various fish species including avoidance and redistribution, reduced feeding efficiency which leads to reduced growth by some species, respiratory impairment, reduced tolerance to diseases and toxicants and increased physiological stress (Roell, 1999).
Sediment filling rivers, streams and reservoirs decreases their storage capacity and increases the frequency of floods (NCDLR, 1998). Sediment also carries nutrients, fertilizers, pesticides, metals and other potentially toxic substances to a surface waterbody. The pollutants consequently increase the cost of treating municipal drinking water and impact aquatic communities. Sediment loading can be exceptionally high in areas of heavy construction activity if sediment and erosion control measures are not properly installed and maintained.
5.2.2 NUTRIENTS
The nutrients most often identified in stormwater runoff are nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). While nutrients are beneficial to aquatic life in small amounts, excessive levels can stimulate algal blooms and plant growth, which can lead to low dissolved oxygen levels and eutrophication (especially in reservoirs and small impoundments). Nutrients in surface waters come from both point and nonpoint sources. In an urban environment, nutrients are often associated with landscaping practices (commercial and home lawn management), leaking sanitary sewers and failing on-site waste management systems and waste from domesticated pets (i.e. dogs and cats) and urban wildlife (i.e., pigeons, raccoons, rats, squirrels, etc.).
5.2.3 ORGANIC MATTER
Sources of organic matter include leaking sanitary sewers and failing on-site wastewater (septic) systems, garbage, yard waste, waste from animals and natural materials such as leaves, grass and tree branches. Decomposition of this material by several different types organisms in surface waters decreases the amount of dissolved oxygen available for other aquatic organisms. Too much or not enough can severely impact water quality and aquatic habitats.
5.2.4 BACTERIA
Sources of bacteria include leaking sanitary sewers and failing on-site wastewater (septic) systems, garbage, waste from animals and naturally occurring microbes within urban and rural environments. High levels of bacteria will impact recreational use and aquatic habitats and may pose an environmental health risk.
5.2.5 OIL AND GREASE
Oil, grease and lubricating agents can be readily transported by stormwater to the nearest surface waterbody. The intensity of activities, such as vehicle traffic, automotive maintenance and fueling, leaks and spills and manufacturing processes, contribute heavily to the level of these pollutants present in the adjacent stream.
5.2.6 TOXIC SUBSTANCES
Metals, pesticides, herbicides and hydrocarbons are toxic substances that can potentially enter a surface waterbody through stormwater runoff. Such toxic substances can immediately impact an aquatic community and potentially accumulate in the bottom sediments.
5.2.7 HEAVY METALS
Heavy metals such as copper, lead, zinc, arsenic, chromium and cadmium are often found in stormwater runoff from heavily urbanized areas. Metals in stormwater may be toxic to some aquatic life and may accumulate in the bottom sediments and in the tissue of some fish. Urban sources of metals in stormwater may include automobiles, paints, preservatives, motor oil and various industrial activities.
5.2.8 TEMPERATURE (THERMAL POLLUTION)
The temperature of stormwater runoff increases as it flows over impervious surfaces. Also, the removal of natural vegetation along streambanks (especially trees) can dramatically influence the temperature of a waterbody by direct solar radiation. Water temperature can also increase in shallow ponds and impoundments if they are not shaded. In some cases, higher temperatures may also promote plant and algal growth, which in turn will impact primary producers by reducing oxygen levels and reducing light availability. Higher temperatures over time will impact and even change the aquatic community within a waterbody.
5.2.9 HABITAT DEGRADATION
Because water cannot adsorb into the ground, pollutants are delivered directly to surface waterbodies. During rain events, streamflow often increases and peaks earlier than in undeveloped watersheds. Streambank scour from these frequent high flow events tends to enlarge streams and increase suspended sediment. Scouring also destroys aquatic habitat, leading to degradation of aquatic insect populations and the loss of fisheries. Flooding frequency also increases in developed watersheds and can be devastating when small streams are channelized (straightened) or piped, and storm sewer systems are installed to readily transport stormwater downstream (EPA, 1999). It is well established that stream degradation begins to occur when 10 percent or more of a watershed is covered with impervious surfaces (Schueler, 1995).
Too much paving and surface compaction in a watershed also reduces infiltration and groundwater levels. This reduction decreases the availability of aquifers, streams and rivers for drinking water supplies. Greater numbers of homes, stores and businesses require greater quantities of water. They also lead to more discharge and runoff of waste and pollutants into the state’s streams, rivers, lakes and estuaries. Thus, just as demand and use increases, some of the potential water supply is also lost (Orr and Stuart, 2000).
5.3 STORMWATER PROGRAMS
The goal of federal and state stormwater discharge permitting regulations and programs is to prevent pollution from entering the waters of the nation via stormwater runoff. These programs try to accomplish this goal by controlling the source(s) of pollutants. Federal programs include regulations under the Phase I and Phase II National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Program. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the Phase I program in 1990 in response to amendments to the Clean Water Act. Phase II was enacted in 1999 and expanded the NPDES Stormwater Program.
In North Carolina, the State Stormwater Management Program was established in the late 1980s under the authority of the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) and North Carolina General Statute 143-214.7. The program codified in 15A NCAC 2H .1000 affects development activities that require an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (for disturbances of one or more acres) or a major permit required under the Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) within one of the 20 coastal counties and/or development draining to Outstanding Resource Waters (ORW) or High Quality Waters (HQW). Waters of the state are also protected under the Water Supply Watershed Program.
5.3.1 NPDES PHASE I
Phase I of the EPA stormwater program started in 1990 in response to amendments to the Clean Water Act. Phase I required NPDES permit coverage to address stormwater runoff from medium and large stormwater sewer systems serving populations of 100,000 or more people.
Phase I also has requirements for ten categories of industrial sources to be covered under stormwater permits. Industrial activities which require permitting are defined in categories ranging from sawmills and landfills to manufacturing plants and hazardous waste treatment, storage or disposal facilities. Construction sites disturbing greater than five acres are also required to obtain an NPDES stormwater permit under Phase I. North Carolina’s DWQ is responsible for implementing the Phase I NPDES Stormwater Program. More information about Phase I can be found on the
---
**EPA Stormwater Rules**
**Phase I – December 1990**
- Requires a NPDES permit for municipal storm sewer systems (MS4s) serving populations of 100,000 or more.
- Requires a NPDES stormwater permit for ten categories of industries.
- Requires a NPDES stormwater permit for construction sites that are 5 acres or more.
**Phase II – December 1999**
- Requires a NPDES permit for some municipal storm sewer systems serving populations under 100,000, located in urbanized areas.
- Provides a “no stormwater exposure” exemption to industrial facilities covered under Phase I.
- Requires a NPDES stormwater permit for construction sites that disturb one to five acres of land.
5.3.2 NPDES Phase II
Phase II of the NPDES Stormwater Program was signed into law in December 1999. The law builds upon the existing Phase I program by requiring smaller communities and public entities that own and operate a municipal storm sewer system (MS4) to apply and obtain an NPDES permit for stormwater discharge. Construction sites greater than one acre are also required to obtain an NPDES stormwater permit under Phase II in addition to establishing erosion and sedimentation controls.
Local governments permitted under Phase II are required to develop and implement a comprehensive stormwater management program that includes six minimum measures:
1) Public education and outreach on stormwater impacts.
2) Public involvement/participation.
3) Illicit discharge detection and elimination.
4) Construction site stormwater runoff control.
5) Post-construction stormwater management for new development and redevelopment.
6) Pollution prevention/good housekeeping for municipal operations.
Those municipalities and counties required to obtain a NPDES stormwater permit under the Phase II rules are identified using the 1990 US Census for Designated Urban Areas and the results of the 2000 US Census. Based on federal census data, EPA identified 123 cities and 33 counties in North Carolina that may be required to obtain permits under Phase II.
EPA delegated Phase II implementation to each state, and in 1999, DWQ, under the direction of the EMC, initiated a rulemaking process. In 2002, the EMC adopted temporary stormwater rules and by 2003 had adopted permanent rules that were to become effective August 1, 2004.
In early 2004, the Rules Review Commission (RRC) objected to the proposed Phase II stormwater rules for failure to comply with the Administrative Procedures Act and lack of statutory authority. The EMC challenged the decision of the RRC in court (EMC v. RRC 04 CVS 3157). A Wake County Superior Court ruled in the EMC’s favor, and the RRC subsequently approved the EMC’s rules. However, while the case was pending, the legislature enacted a separate set of requirements in 2004 that were designed to replace the EMC rules. These rules included NPDES stormwater rules covering owners and operators of storm sewer systems and State stormwater rules covering activities in urbanizing areas. The EMC amended the rules at their November 10, 2005 meeting to address objections raised by the RRC during the October 2005 EMC meeting. The inconsistency between the legislative requirements and the EMC rules necessitated consideration of Senate Bill 1566 in the 2006 short session.
The legislature approved Session Law 2006-246, Senate Bill 1566. It includes provisions for development projects that cumulatively disturb one acre or more of land in Phase II municipalities and counties. The development projects must comply with the post-construction
stormwater standards set out in the bill. The bill also sets criteria whereby unincorporated areas of counties will be subject to Phase II requirements. Under these criteria, 25 counties are fully covered and eight counties have portions that are subject to Phase II stormwater requirements. The bill also provides a designation and petition process by which additional local governments and other entities may be required to obtain a stormwater permit.
The bill provides an implementation schedule that requires regulated entities to apply for an NPDES stormwater management permit within 18 months of being notified that it is a regulated entity subject to the requirements of this act. A regulated entity must implement its post-construction program no later than 24 months from the date the permit is issued and fully implement its permitted program within five years of permit issuance.
The bill also authorizes the EMC to adopt Phase II stormwater management rules. If the EMC adopts rules, the rules must be substantially identical to the provisions of this act and will be automatically subject to review by the General Assembly and not subject to review by the RRC. The bill became effective retroactively to July 1, 2006. The 2006 Stormwater Requirements under Senate Law 2006-246 are listed in Table 5-1.
More information about Phase II can be found on the DWQ Stormwater Unit Web site (http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/su/NPDES_Phase_II_Stormwater_Program.htm) and the EPA Web site (http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/swphases.cfm). The DWQ Web site includes a detailed history of the rulemaking process and lists those municipalities and counties that may be subject to Phase II stormwater permits.
### 5.3.3 Stormwater Management in the Coastal Counties
In the 2006 session of the NC General Assembly, Session Law 2006-246 was adopted and introduced additional stormwater controls in coastal counties. Session Law 2008-211 became law in October 1, 2008 and extended more stringent post-construction stormwater controls to lands adjacent to SA and ORW waters and throughout the 20 coastal counties. The 2008 legislation implements a lower threshold as to where the stormwater treatment requirements apply. Table 5-1 compares the new requirements to those that were implemented by Session Law 2006-246. All residential development requiring a sedimentation and erosion control plan approval from the Division of Land Resources or a Coastal Area Management Act permit continues to require a stormwater control permit.
**Low-Density Projects:** Development projects that are located within one-half mile of and draining to SA Waters are considered low density if they contain no more than 12 percent built-upon area. A project that is not located within one-half mile of SA Waters is a low-density project if it contains no more than 24 percent built-upon area or no more than two dwelling units per acre.
### Table 5-1: Coastal Stormwater Rules Chart
**Includes ALL Areas within the 20 Coastal Counties**
| Requirement | Old Requirements | Requirements as of Oct. 1, 2008 |
|--------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Threshold for Permit Coverage for Any and All Development | Activities that require a CAMA major permit or an Erosion & Sedimentation Control Plan (sites that disturb one acre or greater) | Activities that require a CAMA major permit or an Erosion & Sedimentation Control Plan (sites that disturb one acre or greater) |
| Threshold for Permit Coverage for Non-Residential Development | Same coverage requirements as above. | In addition to the coverage requirements above, activities that add more than 10,000 square feet of built upon area. |
| Vegetative Setback Requirement – Re-development | 30 feet from surface waters (for Low Density projects only) | 30 feet from surface waters for redevelopment projects (for both Low and High Density projects) |
| Vegetative Setback Requirement – New development | 30 feet from surface waters (for Low Density projects only) | 50 feet from surface waters for new development projects (for both Low and High Density projects) |
| Wetlands & Impervious Calculations | Portions of wetlands may be included in the calculations to determine the built upon area percentage per DWQ Policy (Oct. 5, 2006) | No CAMA-jurisdictional wetlands areas may be included in the calculations to determine the built upon area percentage. All other wetlands can be included in the calculations. |
**Within the 20 Coastal Counties and within ½ Mile of Shellfishing Waters (SA waters) & within 575 ft. of ORW**
| Requirement | Old Requirements | New Requirements |
|--------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Low Density Threshold * | Built upon area of 25% or less | Built upon area of 12% or less (Maximum built upon area of 25% for ORW) |
| Stormwater Control Requirement for High Density Projects | Control and treat the runoff from the first 1.5 inches of rainfall. | Control and treat runoff generated by 1.5 inches of rainfall –OR– the difference in runoff from the pre and post development conditions for the 1-year, 24-hour storm (whichever is greater*) |
| Discharge Requirements | No discharge for the first 1.5 inches of rainfall | No new points of discharge for the design storm (see above) |
| Types of Stormwater Controls | Infiltration is the only control allowed | All types of stormwater controls are allowed, with some restrictions |
**Within the 20 Coastal Counties and NOT within ½ Mile of Shellfishing Waters (non-SA waters)**
| Requirement | Old Requirements | New Requirements |
|--------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Low Density Threshold * | Built upon area of 30% or less | Built upon area of 24% or less |
| Stormwater Control Requirement for High Density Projects | Control the runoff generated by 1.0 inches of rainfall | Store, control and treat runoff generated by 1.5 inches of rainfall |
Low-density projects must use vegetated conveyances to the maximum extent practicable to transport stormwater runoff from the project area.
*High-Density Projects:* Projects that are located within one-half mile of and draining to Shellfish Waters are considered high density if they contain more than 12 percent built-upon area. A project that is not located within one-half mile of shellfish waters is a high-density project if it contains more than 24 percent built-upon area or more than two dwelling units per acre. High-density projects must use structural stormwater management systems that will control and treat runoff from the first 1.5 inches of rain. In addition, projects that are located within one-half mile and draining to shellfish waters must control and treat the difference in the stormwater runoff from the pre-development and post-development conditions for the one-year twenty-four hour storm as well as meet certain design standards.
*Additional Projects:* Non-residential properties are required to treat stormwater if the built-upon area is increased by 10,000 square feet. Residential development within one-half mile of Shellfish Resource Waters that expands the built-upon area by 10,000 square feet will also have to manage stormwater by reduce impervious surfaces or collecting it.
### 5.3.4 Stormwater Management Near Sensitive Waters (HQW/ORW)
The Statewide Stormwater Management Program requires developments to protect Outstanding Resource Waters (ORW) or High Quality Waters (HQW) by maintaining a low density of impervious surfaces, maintaining vegetative buffers and transporting runoff through vegetative conveyances. The program, codified in 15A NCAC 2H .1000, affects development activities that require an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan for disturbances of one or more acres. It also pertains to the 20 coastal counties that are required to obtain major permits under CAMA.
Under the statewide stormwater program, low-density development thresholds vary from 12 to 30 percent built-upon area (impervious surface) depending on the classification of the receiving stream. If low-density design criteria cannot be met, then high-density development requires the installation of structural best management practices (BMPs) to collect and treat stormwater runoff from the project. High-density BMPs must control runoff from the 1- or 1.5-inch rain event (depending on the receiving stream classification) and remove 85 percent of the total suspended solids. More information about the Statewide Stormwater Management Program can be found on the DWQ Stormwater Unit Web site ([http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/su/state_sw.htm](http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/su/state_sw.htm)).
### 5.3.5 Water Supply Watershed Stormwater Management
The purpose of the Water Supply Watershed Protection Program is to provide a proactive drinking water supply protection program for communities. Local governments administer the program based on state minimum requirements. There are restrictions on wastewater discharges, development, landfills and residual application sites to control the impacts of point and nonpoint sources of pollution. The program attempts to minimize the impacts of stormwater runoff by utilizing low-density development or stormwater treatment in high-density areas. More information about water supply watersheds can be found on the DWQ Water Supply Watershed Protection Program Web site ([http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/wswp/](http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/wswp/)).
5.3.6 Universal Stormwater Management Program (USMP)
The Universal Stormwater Management Program (USMP) is an optional, voluntary stormwater management program developed by DWQ that will allow local governments to adopt and implement a single, simplified set of stormwater rules within their jurisdiction. The USMP is available to local governments that adopt an ordinance that complies with the rule and receives approval from the EMC. For those entities that adopt the program the rule outlines requirements that apply to development and redevelopment activities that meet defined thresholds. In the 20 coastal counties, the threshold is projects that disturb 10,000 square feet or more or disturb less than 10,000 square feet but are part of a larger common plan of development or sale. For the 80 non-coastal counties, the thresholds are:
- Residential development activity that disturbs one or more acres of land.
- Residential development activity that disturbs less than one acre of land but is part of a larger common plan of development or sale.
- Non-residential development activities that disturb 0.5 acre or more.
The USMP incorporates the latest research regarding the most effective control and treatment of stormwater pollution. It requires stormwater controls, such as the detention of stormwater to settle solids and modify its force and volume, for projects that meet or exceed the thresholds. In areas where stormwater drains to shellfish resource waters or those waters designated for shellfish harvesting (Class SA), measures must be taken to control fecal coliform. New and expanded stormwater outfalls are also prohibited.
The USMP became effective January 1, 2007. More information about USMP can be found on the DWQ Stormwater Unit Web site (http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/su/usmp.htm).
5.4 Reducing Stormwater Impacts to Water Quality
5.4.1 Pervious vs. Impervious
Impervious surfaces are materials that prevent infiltration of water into the soil and include roads, rooftops and parking lots (Figure 5-2). Impervious surfaces alter the natural hydrology, prevent the infiltration of water into the ground, and concentrate the flow of stormwater over the landscape. In undeveloped watersheds, stormwater filters through the soil, replenishing groundwater quantity with water of good quality. Vegetation in any watershed holds soil in place, slows the flow of stormwater over land and filters out some pollutants, by both slowing the flow of the water and trapping some pollutants in the root system.
Wide streets, large cul-de-sacs, long driveways and sidewalks lining both sides of the street are all features of urban development that create excess impervious cover and replace natural areas. To reduce the amount of imperviousness in a watershed, new construction designs should include plans to prevent or minimize the amount of runoff leaving the site. In many instances, the presence of intact riparian (vegetative) buffers and/or wetlands in urban areas can reduce the impacts of urban development. Establishing and protecting riparian buffers should be considered.
and incorporated in to design plans when practicable, and the amount of impervious cover should be limited as much as possible.
Impervious cover in a watershed results in increased surface runoff. As little as 10 percent impervious cover in a watershed can result in stream degradation (FISRWG, October 1998).
### 5.4.2 Stormwater Control Measures
Mechanisms for controlling stormwater runoff can be grouped into preventative measures and control measures. Preventative measures, or non-structural best management practices (BMPs), work to reduce the impacts of stormwater runoff through changes in design, operation or management to minimize or prevent the generation of runoff and the contamination of runoff from pollutants. Preventative measures include land use management practices and source reduction practices. Land use management practices use methods to best plan the way to locate land uses within a jurisdictional area or project site to avoid environmental impacts. Source reduction practices focus on locating the sources of the pollutants and implementing design and operation changes that minimize or completely remove these sources. Preventative measures can be very efficient and effective since they are implemented to keep pollutants from ever getting
into stormwater. The advantages of preventive measures are that they typically do not require maintenance or technical or engineering designs. However, they do require administrative resource commitments to ensure that they are continually implemented.
Control measures, or structural BMPs, are devices that are put in place to capture stormwater flows and provide pollutant removal through filtering, infiltration, detention or some related process. These measures may be limited in their ability to efficiently remove some pollutants and may be fairly costly, but they often protect the riparian ecosystem, stabilize streambanks, provide shade and reduce the likelihood of excessive water temperatures. Control measures require jurisdictional commitments to long-term operation and maintenance to assure that the measures continue to function properly.
Table 5-2 provides a list of structural and non-structural BMPs identified in the updated draft of the *Stormwater Best Management Practices Manual* (July 2005) published by DWQ. The manual provides a detailed discussion of each of the BMPs, including its characteristics, pollutant-specific effectiveness, reliability, feasibility, costs, unknown use factors, design considerations and references for more information. The manual and several stormwater factsheets can be found on the DWQ Stormwater Unit Web site ([http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/su/Manuals_Factsheets.htm#StormwaterManuals](http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/su/Manuals_Factsheets.htm#StormwaterManuals)).
**Table 5-2** Examples of Structural and Non-Structural (Preventative) Stormwater BMPs
| **STRUCTURAL BMPs** | **NON-STRUCTURAL BMPs** |
|---------------------|-------------------------|
| Stormwater Wetlands | Public Education/Participation |
| Bioretention | Land use Planning/Management |
| Wet Detention Basin | Housekeeping Practices |
| Dry Detention Basin | Safer Alternative Products |
| Grassed Swale | Turf & Lawn Education/Management |
| Filter Strip | Material Storage Control |
| Infiltration Devices| Vehicle-Use Reduction |
| Manufactured BMP Systems | Storm Drain Stenciling |
| Vegetated Buffer | Illicit Connection Prevention |
| Permeable Pavement | Controlling Leaking Sewer Lines |
| Rooftop Runoff Management | Vegetated Buffers |
| Sand Filter | Household Hazardous Waste Collection |
| | Used Oil Collection |
| | Spill Control (Vehicle and Aboveground Storage Tanks) |
| | Roadway Cleaning |
5.4.3 PUBLIC EDUCATION/AWARENESS
Public awareness is an important part of reducing stormwater impacts. Unfortunately, not everyone knows that the decisions they make today can have a significant impact on water quality. A recent survey by NC DENR found that most North Carolinians are not familiar with stormwater runoff and that is the primary source of water pollution in the state and across the nation. The survey was administered by East Carolina University (ECU) Center for Survey Research and found that:
- Thirty-seven percent of respondents knew that stormwater is not treated but instead routed directly to the nearest surface waterbody.
- Forty percent of respondents washed their car on their driveway instead of in the grass. Car washing can introduce soap, brake dust and road dirt to surface waterbodies.
- Five percent of respondents applied fertilizer to their yards monthly. Over application can result in increase nitrogen and phosphorus levels in surface waterbodies.
- The majority of the respondents did not clean up after their pets. Pet waste introduces bacteria and nutrients to surface waterbodies during a rain event (Bartlett, 2005).
“Good housekeeping” in our own backyards is essential and reduces the volume of stormwater leaving an individual site. Reducing the amount of pollutants used in our own backyards can also minimize the impact of stormwater runoff. DWQ has published a pamphlet entitled *Improving Water Quality in Your Own Backyard: Stormwater Management Starts at Home*. The pamphlet provides information on how homeowners and businesses can reduce the amount of runoff leaving their property and how to reduce the amount and types of pollutants in that runoff. This pamphlet is available on the DWQ Web site ([http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/nps/documents/BackyardPDF.pdf](http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/nps/documents/BackyardPDF.pdf)).
Table 5-3 identifies several additional recommendations for controlling stormwater runoff. Several stormwater BMP fact sheets and manuals are also available on-line, including:
- EPA Stormwater Outreach Materials and Reference Documents [http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/stormwatermonth.cfm](http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/stormwatermonth.cfm)
- City of Raleigh Stormwater Management Design Manual [http://www.raleighnc.gov/portal/server.pt?space=Dir&spaceID=2&in_hi_userid=2&control=OpenSubFolder&subfolderID=1786&DirMode=1](http://www.raleighnc.gov/portal/server.pt?space=Dir&spaceID=2&in_hi_userid=2&control=OpenSubFolder&subfolderID=1786&DirMode=1)
- City of Wilmington – Stormwater Services [www.wilmingtonnc.gov/bmps/tabid/93/Default.aspx](http://www.wilmingtonnc.gov/bmps/tabid/93/Default.aspx)
- A Citizens Guide to Protection Wilmington’s Waterways [www.wilmingtonnc.gov/publications/tabid/92/Default.aspx](http://www.wilmingtonnc.gov/publications/tabid/92/Default.aspx)
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Land Development Standards Manual [www.charmeck.org/Departments/StormWater/home.htm](http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/StormWater/home.htm)
- North Carolina Cooperative Extension Publications through Urban Waterways and Home*A*System [www.ces.ncsu.edu](http://www.ces.ncsu.edu)
Table 5-3 Recommendations for controlling stormwater runoff
| LOCAL GOVERNMENTS | Create public education programs advising citizens on how to minimize stormwater pollution. Support stream cleanup programs such as Big Sweep. Create and enforce strict penalties for improper waste disposal. Fence dumpsters and clean them regularly. Institute land use planning, which reduces flooding by limiting impervious surfaces, directs runoff into vegetated areas or stormwater control devices, and directing growth away from sensitive areas. These actions will help protect water quality. Review local ordinances pertaining to parking, curb and gutter locations. Design parking lots with overflow areas in grass. Eliminate curbs and gutters to allow runoff to flow in sheetflow. Protect open spaces and streamside buffers by preserving recreational areas and significant natural resources. Attend stormwater workshops. Map the storm sewer system to identify stormwater problems. Offer hazardous waste collection days. |
| CITIZENS | Participate in stream cleanup programs such as Big Sweep. Practice environmentally friendly lawn care. Use less-harmful substances in the home for cleaning or painting to reduce the risk of problems with septic tanks and sanitary sewers. Educate adults and children on protecting water quality. For information contact the NC Office of Environmental Education (www.enorthcarolina.org). Use hazardous waste collection centers for paints, petroleum products and other chemicals. Never dispose of oil, yard wastes or other materials in storm drain inlets or on lands which drain directly to nearby streams. Maintain and protect riparian buffers on private property. Buffers remove pollutants, including sediment, nutrients and toxic substances. They are also a cost-effective form of flood insurance and can increase property value. Support your local government’s land use planning initiatives. |
| DEVELOPERS | Incorporate stormwater management in project planning and avoid environmentally sensitive areas, such as floodplains and wetlands. Maintain natural drainage ways and buffers along streams. |
| BUSINESSES | Maintain and protect riparian buffers on commercial property. Buffers remove sediment, nutrients and toxic substances. Cover and contain waste materials to prevent contaminated runoff from disposal areas. Practice good housekeeping and promote good water quality by operating a clean and litter-free facility. Institute hazardous waste collection sites for used oil, antifreeze, paint and solvents. |
5.4.4 INTERNATIONAL STORMWATER BMP DATABASE
Through an agreement between the EPA and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) an international stormwater BMP database has been created to scientifically improve the design, selection and performance of stormwater BMPs. Over 200 stormwater BMPs can be found here along with in-depth information about each one. The database and more information can be found at ISBMPD Web site (www.bmpdatabase.org/).
REFERENCES
Bartlett, Chrystal. 2005. *Stormwater Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviors: A 2005 Survey of North Carolina Residents*. Raleigh: NC.
Federal Interagency Stream Corridor Restoration Working Group (FISCRWG). October 1998. *Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles, Processes and Practices*. U.S. Government Printing Office Item No. 0120-A; SuDOCs No. A 57.6/2:EN 3/PT.653. ISBN 0-934213-59-3.
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR). Division of Land Resources (DLR). Land Quality Section. 1998. *What is Erosion and Sedimentation?* Raleigh, NC.
_____. Division of Water Quality (DWQ). Stormwater Unit. July 2007. *Updated Draft Manual of the Stormwater Best Management Practices*. [http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/su/Manuals_Factsheets.htm#StormwaterManuals](http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/su/Manuals_Factsheets.htm#StormwaterManuals)
Orr, D.M., Jr. and A.W. Stuart. 2000. *The North Carolina Atlas*. The University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC.
Roell, Michael J. June 1999. *Sand and Gravel Mining in Missouri Stream Systems: Aquatic Resource Effects and Management Alternatives*. Missouri Department of Conservation. Conservation Research Center. Columbia, MO.
Schueler, T.R. 1995. *Site Planning for Urban Stream Protection*. Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments: Washington D.C.
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 1999. Watershed Academy Web site: [www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/wacademy/](http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/wacademy/). | <urn:uuid:ac0cb612-1c40-48af-854d-e5745bbbad20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://portal.ncdenr.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=59cdc05d-80b8-4fc9-9e3f-3641db15d294&groupId=38364 | 2013-05-21T00:49:56Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699632815/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102032-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 203,902,649 | 8,044 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.909698 | eng_Latn | 0.988196 | [
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| SYMPTOMS | COVID-19* | COLD | FLU | ALLERGIES |
|-----------------------|----------------------------|--------|--------------------|-----------|
| Fever | Common (measured at 100 F or higher) | Rare | High (100-102 F), can last 3-4 days | No |
| Headache | Sometimes | Rare | Intense | Sometimes |
| General aches, pains | Sometimes | Slight | Common, often severe | No |
| Fatigue, weakness | Sometimes | Slight | Common, often severe | Sometimes |
| Extreme exhaustion | Sometimes (progresses slowly) | Never | Common (starts early) | No |
| Stuffy nose | Rare | Common | Sometimes | Common |
| Sneezing | Rare | Common | Sometimes | Common |
| Sore throat | Rare | Common | Common | No |
| Cough | Common | Mild to moderate | Common, can become severe | Sometimes |
| Shortness of breath | In more serious infections | Rare | Rare | Common |
| Runny nose | Rare | Common | Sometimes | Common |
| Diarrhea | Sometimes | No | Sometimes** | No |
For more information: www.kdheks.gov/coronavirus
Information is still evolving.
Sometimes for children.
Sources:
RELEASING CASES AND CONTACTS FROM ISOLATION AND QUARANTINE
CASES
Must be isolated for a minimum of 10 days after onset and can be released after afebrile and feeling well (without fever-reducing medication) for at least 72 hours, whichever is longer.
Note: Lingering cough should not prevent a case from being released from isolation.
Examples:
- A case that is well on day 2, and afebrile and feeling well for 72 hours, can be released from isolation on day 10.
- A case that is well on day 6, and afebrile and feeling well for 72 hours, can be released from isolation on day 10.
- A case that is well on day 14, and afebrile and feeling well for 72 hours, can be released from isolation on day 17.
HOUSEHOLD CONTACTS
Must be quarantined for 14 days after the case has been released from home isolation (because exposure is considered ongoing within the house).
If a household contact develops symptoms, they should be tested.
This means that household contacts may need to remain at home longer than the initial case.
Examples:
- A case is well 3 days after onset, case released from isolation on day 10, household contact must remain quarantined until day 24.
- A case is well 7 days after onset, case released from isolation on day 10, household contact must remain quarantined until day 24.
- A case is well 14 days after onset, case released from isolation on day 17, household contact must be quarantined until day 31.
NON-HOUSEHOLD CONTACTS
Must be quarantined for 14 days from the date of last contact with the case.
SELF-SCREENING
SHOULD I STAY HOME?*
1. Is anyone in my household (including me):
- Positive for COVID-19?
- Being tested for COVID-19?
- Displaying COVID-like symptoms?
2. Do I have respiratory problems, including a persistent cough?
3. Do I currently have a fever of 100.4 or higher?
Have I been on a cruise ship, river cruise or traveled to Arizona, Florida, or internationally in the last 14 days?
Have I been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19?
Have I been fever-free without medicine for 72 hours?
Come to school if you have been cleared by your doctor. Check in with the office upon return.
STAY AT HOME!
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Unit 2:
Meeting the Customer’s Needs
Personal Goals & Ideal Jobs
Name: ________________________________
Date: ________________________________
Instructions: Write your answers to the questions below. Your instructor will tell you how much time you have to write. Check your writing for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
1. Where do you see yourself in five years?
2. What steps can you take now to help yourself achieve your 5-year goal(s)?
3. What are your ideal jobs, and why?
Finding the right fit is essential to customer satisfaction. A person shopping for new appliances for an apartment may need a stackable washer and dryer rather than a large, side-by-side set. A parent looking for jeans for a child may prefer a slightly oversized fit to allow room for growth. Your job is to ask questions to help define the right “fit” and then provide options that will meet those needs.
Sometimes fit can be a sensitive issue. If you are selling clothing or shoes, you eventually have to ask, “What size?” This is a very personal matter. Never react in a judging way and never contradict the customer. If the customer is uncomfortable giving you a direct answer, think of alternative ways to help.
Take your cues from the customer…
Often, it’s best to let the customer volunteer size information. Ask her first if she would like you to bring her items to try on. If she answers “Yes”, ask what sizes she would like to try. You could even suggest that the sizes vary between brands and offer to bring several sizes. Give her information that will help her narrow her search. For example, let her know that a brand she has selected runs small, long, or wide, and offer to show her brands, styles, or sizes that might fit her needs.
If a very large man is looking at a chair that may be too small to support him, would you rush and grab it to stop him from sitting in it? Of course not. But you could ask questions that would help you better understand his needs: Is he looking for himself or for someone else? Will the chair be used daily or only occasionally? What is the decorating style of the home? What you learn will help you suggest some models that suit his specific needs, including durability if the chair is for him.
Service extras…
Fitting a customer with merchandise just right for his needs may take more than just getting the customer to consider a different size. Some customers may need special-order merchandise, customizing, alterations, or accessories. A smaller than average person may need the sleeves shortened on a new jacket. A new truck owner may need rubber floor mats instead of carpet. A customer who buys a cell phone may need to buy a special plan that allows him to travel overseas. If you take time to understand your customers, you can make suggestions. However, don’t assume you know what they want – ask questions. The new truck owner may be using his truck to drive to his office, not to a construction site! Mention any additional services you can provide to help meet your customer’s needs. Then let the customer tell you what he needs. Here is when it really pay off to be a good listener.
Article adapted from *Retailing Smarts, Workbook 1: Get to Know Your Customer*, pp. 40-41
Fit the Products to the Customer: A Second Look
Instructions: After reading the article, answer the following questions with a partner.
1. Some important words in the article are underlined. Without using a dictionary, take a guess at their meaning. Try to think of other ways to say each of the words in English and write them below:
contradict ___________________________ customizing ___________________________
alternative ___________________________ alterations ___________________________
cue ___________________________ accessories ___________________________
durability ___________________________ pay off ___________________________
2. Fit and size are topics that can make people feel uncomfortable. Based on the reading, write three suggestions for sales associates when talking about size with a customer. One example is done for you:
Example: Never contradict the customer about his size.
a. ________________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________________________
3. What are three extra services you may be able to offer to your customer, in order to provide a good fit?
a. ________________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________________________
4. Re-read the last three sentences of the article. What should you do after you ask questions and mention additional services to your customer?
Fitting Clothing
Instructions: Choose an expression from the box to match each of the situations below.
| Expression |
|-------------------------------------------------|
| Excuse me, sir. Can I help you find a size? |
| Are you looking for yourself, or for a gift? |
| I’m not sure. Let me check for you. |
| Let me show you to the Misses department. |
1. A very tall woman is looking at a blouse in the petite section. What could you ask?
2. A short and slender man is browsing in the menswear department. You think that he should look in the Young Men’s department because the men’s pants will be too big. What could you ask?
3. A young woman is shopping in the Career Professionals section. She wants to find a T-shirt to wear to a party on the weekend. What can you say?
4. A large man asks you if you have any pants in a size 32 waist. What should you say?
Thought Groups and Focus Words
Instructions: Read the following sentences and questions. Underline the focus words or syllables. Put an arrow where you think you should pause. Then, practice saying the sentences and questions. Pay attention to the thought groups!
Example: Good afternoon, Sir. How may I help you?
↑ ↑
1. Excuse me, Sir. Can I help you find a size?
2. Are you looking for yourself, or for a gift?
3. I’m not sure. Let me check for you.
4. Do you prefer shoes that slip on, lace up, or have Velcro closures?
5. Will you be wearing these shoes mostly on carpeting, or on slippery surfaces such as wood?
6. What are your ideal jobs, and why?
7. This Italian sausage is very good. What’s the special occasion?
Sizing Up Your Customer
Instructions: Work with a partner or two. What questions could you ask the customer in these situations? Then, one person in your group should write the answers.
1. A customer is searching for panty hose and you want to help her select the right size. Since panty hose is sized according to height and weight, it would be insensitive to simply ask “How much do you weigh?”
Instead, you might say:
2. A customer is looking for Italian sausage in your specialty foods store. She does not yet have any other items in her grocery basket, so you can’t guess what she is planning to prepare. You don’t know if she is shopping for her family’s dinner, or for a dinner party with a lot of guests.
You might say:
3. An elderly woman is looking for comfortable shoes. She needs a good fit, but you also want to be sure that she chooses shoes that she can put on easily and ones that provide good balance.
You might say:
Adapted from *Retailing Smarts, Workbook 1: Get to Know Your Customer*, pp. 42-43
Burger King Menu
**Main Menu**
- Whopper
- Whopper with Cheese
- Whopper Jr.
- Hamburger
- Cheeseburger
- Double Cheeseburger
**Side Dishes**
- Medium French Fries
- Large French Fries
- King French Fries
**Beverages**
- Small Soda
- Medium Soda
- Large Soda
- King Soda
- Milk
- Juice
**Desserts**
- Apple Pie
- Cherry Pie
- Hot Fudge Sundae
**Combo Meals**
**Combo #1:**
- Double Whopper
- Large French Fries
- Apple Pie
- Large soda
**Combo #2:**
- Whopper with Cheese
- King French Fries
- Apple Pie
- Medium Soda
**Combo #3:**
- Double Cheeseburger
- Medium French Fries
- Apple Pie
- King Soda
Note to Instructor: If you have permission, use All Star 4, pp. 136-137, for this activity.
Describe the Merchandise
Which words can you use to describe which products?
Match the list on the right to the products on the left.
| Crackers | whole-wheat |
|----------|-------------|
| | size 10 |
| | wool |
| | turtleneck |
| | low salt |
| | lace-up |
| | silk |
| | 16 oz package |
| | leather |
| | dry clean only |
| | hand wash |
| | fancy |
| Dress Shoes | whole-wheat |
|-------------|-------------|
| | size 10 |
| | wool |
| | turtleneck |
| | low salt |
| | lace-up |
| | silk |
| | 16 oz package |
| | leather |
| | dry clean only |
| | hand wash |
| | fancy |
| Sweater | whole-wheat |
|---------|-------------|
| | size 10 |
| | wool |
| | turtleneck |
| | low salt |
| | lace-up |
| | silk |
| | 16 oz package |
| | leather |
| | dry clean only |
| | hand wash |
| | fancy |
| Evening Dresses | whole-wheat |
|-----------------|-------------|
| | size 10 |
| | wool |
| | turtleneck |
| | low salt |
| | lace-up |
| | silk |
| | 16 oz package |
| | leather |
| | dry clean only |
| | hand wash |
| | fancy |
Know Your Features and Benefits
Instructions: Look at the item your instructor gave you. Work with your group to fill out the chart with the features of that product. Then, discuss the possible benefits of those features. Choose someone in your group to describe the item for the class!
Product ____________________________
| Feature category | Feature examples |
|------------------|-----------------|
| Function | |
| Size | |
| Material | |
| Brand | |
| Price | |
| Style/Model | |
Benefits:
The ClearTone 500
Instructions: Read the advertisement below. Then, work with a partner to answer the questions that follow.
The ClearTone 500 will improve your or your loved one’s life! This 5.8 gigahertz cordless is lightweight, portable, and – at $49.99 – surprisingly affordable. Features include customizable ring tones, flashing ring indicators, and background noise reducers, specially designed for those with hearing difficulties. It’s available in black, white, and silver, colors that make it an attractive addition to any room in your home. And this offer comes with our exclusive money-back guarantee. Order yours while they last!
1. What product is the ClearTone 500? ________________________________
2. What are some the features of the ClearTone 500? ______________________
_________________________________________________________________
3. What are some of the benefits of the product? ___________________________
_________________________________________________________________
4. Do you think this ad is persuasive? Why or why not? Give examples from the ad to support your opinion.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Writing Practice:
Write an ad for a product you have in your home. Describe the features and benefits of the product – try to make your ad as persuasive as possible. Just like the ad above, do not say what the product is (for example, a telephone, a toaster, etc.) Just describe the product well and let your classmates guess the product when they hear the ad.
1. What is the fiber content of product?
2. What is the country of origin?
3. How should you care for this product?
4. Can you put this in the dryer?
5. What is the highest-percentage ingredient in this product?
6. How many calories are in each serving of this product?
7. Is there vitamin C in this product?
8. How much fat is in this entire package of food?
From CRISP Retailing Smarts Series, Workbook 5: Explaining Features and Benefits, pp. 14-17.
Asking About Products
What product does your partner have? ________________________________
Write three questions you can ask your partner about this product:
1. ___________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________
Report what you learned to the class. Write new vocabulary here:
Role Play Peer Evaluation
Instructions: Read the following lists of appropriate behavior for the Sales Associate in the Features and Benefits role play. Then, watch your classmates perform the role play. Use the lists to guide your comments and suggestions. You do not need to write your comments.
| Sales Associate |
|-----------------|
| **It is appropriate to:** |
| Smile. |
| Be polite and friendly. |
| Be professional. |
| Speak clearly. |
| Greet the customer promptly. |
| Make eye contact. |
| Talk about the features and benefits of the product. |
| Use open-ended questions to get a good fit. |
| Be sensitive to matters of size and fit. |
| **It is inappropriate to:** |
| Stand too close to the customer. |
| Touch the customer. |
| Speak unclearly, too fast, or too quietly. |
| Be pushy. |
| Chew gum, eat, or drink. |
| Say things that are too personal, casual, or rude. |
| Forget to mention important features or benefits. |
| Use too many dead-end questions. |
| Contradict the customer about size. |
What did the sales associate do well?
What could the sales associate improve?
What did the customer do well?
What could the customer improve?
Buying Breakfast
Susan and James are newlyweds. They needed to go grocery shopping together for the first time. They needed to compare the products that were available.
Both Susan and James like to eat cereal for breakfast, so they needed to buy some milk. They stood in front of the refrigerator case and looked at the milk.
“Wow, there are a lot of choices” said Susan. “Which one do you prefer?”
“I prefer to buy a bigger carton. I think it’s a better value” said James.
“Well, this one is bigger than that one.”
James looked at the large cartons. “But there are three kinds of milk in this size. What kind of milk do you prefer, Susan?”
“Hmm. This one is low fat, but that one has extra vitamins. The other one is lactose free. Which one do you think is healthiest?”
James looked at Susan. “I’m not sure. Which do you prefer?”
“I think we should go with the one with extra vitamins. It’s the healthiest.” said Susan.
Next, they moved to the cereal aisle. It seemed like there were hundreds of brands of cereal!
“What type of cereal do you prefer, James?” asked Susan.
“Well, I usually like to buy healthy cereal”.
Susan picked a box from the shelf and looked at it. “I’m not sure if this is healthy or not.” She looked confused.
A sales associate noticed Susan and James. “Hi, can I help you?” she asked.
“We are looking for some cereal,” James said.
“What kind of cereal do you like?” asked the sales associate.
"Some sort of healthy cereal," James told her.
"But we don't want to pay too much." added Susan.
The sales associate pulled a box from the shelf. "This one has a lot of fiber, but that one has less sugar".
"Hmm. Do you think the first one is more nutritious than the other one?" Susan asked.
"Well, they are both nutritious, but in different ways," said the sales associate. "And neither one is expensive."
"Which one do you prefer?" said Susan.
"No, which one do you prefer?" said James.
Making a Suggestion
Sales Associate: Good afternoon! Welcome to _________________. Are you looking for something special today?
Customer: Well, I’m mainly ________________. Thanks.
Sales Associate: Ok. _______________if you need any help.
Customer: Actually, I am having _______________ deciding what to buy my daughter for her ________________.
Sales Associate: Oh, ________________! _____________ is the shower?
Customer: Thank you. It’s in two weeks.
Sales Associate: I see. ________________?
Customer: I’m trying to decide between that MP3 player and the Sony digital camera. She needs both of those things for her honeymoon.
Sales Associate: Where is she going?
Customer: Mexico.
Sales Associate: _____________! Well, both of those ____________ are _________________. They’re _____________ and both will help her enjoy her honeymoon. However, ________________ the digital camera. It is ________________ the MP3 player, but Sony is a more _________________. This ____________ takes high quality photos and even records movies. Also, the camera is something that your daughter and her new husband can enjoy ________________.
Customer: Hmmm. _________________. Maybe I will get the camera. Thanks.
Sales Associate: ________________________.
Mystery Shopper 2
Instructions: Go to any retail store. Observe the sales associate. Allow the sales associate to greet you and ask about an item that you are interested in. You do not have to buy anything!
This time, pay attention to how the sales associate is dressed. Also, pay attention to how the overall customer service experience made you feel. Afterwards, write about your experience below.
Name: ________________________________
Store: _________________________________
Date: _________________________________
1. What was the sales associate wearing? Did he or she appear professional? Why or why not?
2. What did you ask the sales associate? What questions did the sales associate ask?
3. Describe how the overall customer service experience made you feel. Was it, overall, a positive or negative experience? Why?
4. What did the sales associate do well? What could he or she improve?
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Part A
Answer all questions in this part.
Directions (1–30): For each statement or question, record on your separate answer sheet the number of the word or expression that, of those given, best completes the statement or answers the question. Some questions may require the use of the 2011 Edition Reference Tables for Physical Setting/Chemistry.
1 Compared to an electron, which particle has a charge that is equal in magnitude but opposite in sign?
(1) an alpha particle (3) a neutron
(2) a beta particle (4) a proton
2 The mass of a proton is approximately equal to
(1) 1 atomic mass unit
(2) 12 atomic mass units
(3) the mass of 1 mole of carbon atoms
(4) the mass of 12 moles of electrons
3 Which property decreases when the elements in Group 17 are considered in order of increasing atomic number?
(1) atomic mass (3) melting point
(2) atomic radius (4) electronegativity
4 Any substance composed of two or more elements that are chemically combined in a fixed proportion is
(1) an isomer (3) a solution
(2) an isotope (4) a compound
5 Which term refers to how strongly an atom of an element attracts electrons in a chemical bond with an atom of a different element?
(1) entropy
(2) electronegativity
(3) activation energy
(4) first ionization energy
6 At STP, which substance has metallic bonding?
(1) ammonium chloride (3) iodine
(2) barium oxide (4) silver
7 What is the number of electrons shared between the carbon atoms in a molecule of ethyne?
(1) 6 (3) 8
(2) 2 (4) 4
8 Which atom in the ground state has a stable valence electron configuration?
(1) Ar (3) Si
(2) Al (4) Na
9 What occurs when two fluorine atoms react to produce a fluorine molecule?
(1) Energy is absorbed as a bond is broken.
(2) Energy is absorbed as a bond is formed.
(3) Energy is released as a bond is broken.
(4) Energy is released as a bond is formed.
10 Which gas sample at STP has the same number of molecules as a 2.0-liter sample of Cl₂(g) at STP?
(1) 1.0 L of NH₃(g) (3) 3.0 L of CO₂(g)
(2) 2.0 L of CH₄(g) (4) 4.0 L of NO(g)
11 All atoms of uranium have the same
(1) mass number
(2) atomic number
(3) number of neutrons plus protons
(4) number of neutrons plus electrons
12 The concentration of a solution can be expressed in
(1) kelvins
(2) milliliters
(3) joules per kilogram
(4) moles per liter
13 Compared to the boiling point and the freezing point of water at 1 atmosphere, a 1.0 M CaCl₂(aq) solution at 1 atmosphere has a
(1) lower boiling point and a lower freezing point
(2) lower boiling point and a higher freezing point
(3) higher boiling point and a lower freezing point
(4) higher boiling point and higher freezing point
14 According to the kinetic molecular theory, which statement describes an ideal gas?
(1) The gas particles are diatomic.
(2) Energy is created when the gas particles collide.
(3) There are no attractive forces between the gas particles.
(4) The distance between the gas particles is small, compared to their size.
15 Which physical change is endothermic?
(1) CO₂(s) → CO₂(g) (3) CO₂(g) → CO₂(l)
(2) CO₂(l) → CO₂(s) (4) CO₂(g) → CO₂(s)
16 Which Group 16 element combines with hydrogen to form a compound that has the strongest hydrogen bonding between its molecules?
(1) oxygen (3) sulfur
(2) selenium (4) tellurium
17 Hydrocarbons are composed of the elements
(1) carbon and hydrogen, only
(2) carbon and oxygen, only
(3) carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
(4) carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen
18 Which atom is bonded to the carbon atom in the functional group of a ketone?
(1) fluorine (3) nitrogen
(2) hydrogen (4) oxygen
19 Two types of organic reactions are
(1) addition and sublimation
(2) deposition and saponification
(3) decomposition and evaporation
(4) esterification and polymerization
20 The isomers butane and methylpropane have
(1) the same molecular formula and the same properties
(2) the same molecular formula and different properties
(3) different molecular formulas and the same properties
(4) different molecular formulas and different properties
21 In a redox reaction, which particles are lost and gained in equal numbers?
(1) electrons (3) hydroxide ions
(2) neutrons (4) hydronium ions
22 What is the oxidation state for a Mn atom?
(1) 0 (3) +3
(2) +7 (4) +4
23 Which compounds are classified as electrolytes?
(1) KNO₃ and H₂SO₄
(2) KNO₃ and CH₃OH
(3) CH₃OCH₃ and H₂SO₄
(4) CH₃OCH₃ and CH₃OH
24 Which compound is an Arrhenius base?
(1) CO₂ (3) Ca(OH)₂
(2) CaSO₄ (4) C₂H₅OH
25 According to one acid-base theory, a water molecule acts as a base when it accepts
(1) an H⁺ ion (3) a neutron
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Raising the Dairy Calf
E. G. Woodward
University of Nebraska
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/extensionhist
Part of the Agriculture Commons
Woodward, E. G., "Raising the Dairy Calf" (1915). Historical Materials from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. 427. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/extensionhist/427
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Extension at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Historical Materials from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
RAISING THE DAIRY CALF.
BY E. G. WOODWARD.
DISTRIBUTED APRIL 5, 1915.
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION OF NEBRASKA.
THE GOVERNING BOARD.
(THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY.)
HONORABLE WILLIAM G. WHITMORE, President, Valley.
HONORABLE PHILIP L. HALL, Lincoln.
HONORABLE FRANK L. HALLER, Omaha.
HONORABLE VICTOR G. LYFORD, Falls City.
HONORABLE EDWARD P. BROWN, Davey.
HONORABLE JOHN E. MILLER, Lincoln.
THE STATION OFFICERS.
SAMUEL AVERY, Ph. D., LL. D., Chancellor, ex officio.
E. A. BURNETT, B. Sc., Director; Animal Husbandry.
C. W. PUGSLEY, B. Sc., Director of Extension Service.
J. S. DALES, M. Ph., Financial Secretary.
FRANK C. DEAN, A. B., Bulletin Editor.
THE WORKING STAFF.
E. MEAD WILCOX, Ph. D., Agricultural Botany.
F. W. UPSON, Ph. D., Agricultural Chemistry.
L. W. CHASE, M. E., A. E., Agricultural Engineering.
*R. K. BLISS, B. S. A., Animal Husbandry.
J. H. GAIN, M. D. C., Animal Pathology.
J. H. FRANDSEN, M. S. A., Dairy Husbandry.
LAWRENCE BRUNER, B. Sc., Entomology.
T. A. KIesselbach, A. M., Experimental Agronomy.
H. C. FILLEY, A. M., Farm Management.
W. J. MORRILL, M. For., Forestry.
*R. A. EMERSON, D. Sc., Horticulture.
R. F. HOWARD, A. M., Horticulture.
G. A. LOVELAND, A. M., Meteorology.
W. P. SNYDER, M. S., Superintendent of Experimental Substation, North Platte.
C. B. LEE, A. M., Associate in Animal Husbandry.
HOWARD J. GRAMLICH, B. Sc., Associate in Animal Husbandry.
M. H. SWENK, A. M., Associate in Entomology.
GEORGE K. K. LINK, A. M., Assistant in Agricultural Botany.
H. A. McCOMB, B. Sc., Horticulturist of Experimental Substation, North Platte.
L. L. ZOOK, B. Sc., Assistant in Dry Land Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agriculture, North Platte.
J. W. CALVIN, B. Sc., Assistant in Agricultural Chemistry.
P. B. BARKER, A. M., Assistant in Agronomy (Soils).
ERWIN HOPT, B. Sc., Assistant in Agronomy (Crops).
J. A. RATCLIFF, B. Sc., Assistant in Experimental Agronomy.
L. B. STURDEVANT, A. M., M. D., Assistant in Animal Pathology.
E. G. WOODWARD, A. M., Assistant in Dairy Husbandry.
J. R. COOPER, B. Sc., Assistant in Horticulture.
C. A. HELM, B. Sc., Assistant in Experimental Agronomy.
FLORENCE A. MCCORMICK, Ph. D., Assistant in Agricultural Botany.
H. E. VASEY, A. M., Assistant in Agricultural Botany.
JAMES COWAN, M. E., Superintendent Experimental Substation, Valentine.
FRITZ KNORR, B. Sc., Superintendent Experimental Substation, Mitchell.
H. L. NYE, Foreman Demonstration Farm, Culbertson.
*Resigned.
RAISING THE DAIRY CALF.
BY E. G. WOODWARD.
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF RAISING DAIRY CALVES?
There are in Nebraska more than 600,000 dairy cows. The average period of usefulness of the dairy cow is not more than eight years. This means that to maintain the dairy herds of Nebraska at their present size between 70,000 and 80,000 heifer calves must be raised each year. To mate these cows properly with dairy bred bulls will require the rearing of about 8,000 bulls yearly.
Aside from the necessity of maintaining the herds at their present size, the importance of calf raising to the Nebraska dairyman lies in the fact that this is the surest and most satisfactory way of improving his herd. It should be remembered, first, that herd improvement can come only thru the replacing of worn-out or discarded cows by heifers better than the cows they replace. Such heifers are the result of mating a pure-bred bull with a herd of cows from which the undesirable individuals have been culled. It is neither practical nor satisfactory for the dairyman to buy these heifers, because he will usually have to pay more for them than it would cost to raise them, and he has no assurance that heifers which he may buy are well bred.
WHEN DOES IT PAY TO RAISE A CALF?
The dairyman's main object in raising calves should be to improve his herd. He may also raise stock for sale either for breeding or for slaughter. Under ordinary conditions it will pay to raise every well-bred heifer calf. Heifer calves of inferior breeding and grade bull calves or pure-bred bulls of inferior breeding should not be raised with the intention of using them for breeding purposes. Unless conditions are such that it will pay to raise these for meat it is best to kill such calves at birth. Then they will not leave any inferior offspring in the country.
In order to determine what gains may be produced on dairy calves by the use of skim milk and home grown feeds, three dairy
steers were fed from birth up to about one year of age. Whole milk was fed for about three weeks. The grain consisted of a mixture of 200 pounds of corn chop and 100 pounds of ground oats. The results were as follows:
**Table 1.—Showing results of feeding three dairy steer calves skim milk up to the age of one year.**
| Calf | Age | Whole milk | Skim milk | Alfalfa hay | Grain | Birth weight | Final weight | Daily gain |
|--------------------|-----|------------|-----------|-------------|-------|--------------|--------------|------------|
| | Days| Lbs. | Lbs. | Lbs. | Lbs. | Lbs. | Lbs. | Lbs. |
| Jersey | 360 | 258 | 5,958 | 1,609 | 1,178 | 60* | 580 | 1.44 |
| Holstein-Jersey | 384 | 251* | 6,366 | 1,696 | 1,652 | 48 | 750 | 1.83 |
| Grade Holstein | 344 | 245 | 5,620 | 1,584 | 1,238 | 74 | 700 | 1.82 |
*Estimated.
**WHAT IS THE COST OF FEED REQUIRED TO RAISE A CALF?**
Where skim milk is available, as it is on most of the farms in Nebraska where dairying is followed, the cost of feed for raising a fall calf will be about as follows:
**Table 2.—Showing feed requirement to raise a calf up to the age of six months when skim milk is used.**
| Feed | Amount | Price | Value |
|--------|--------|-----------|---------|
| Whole milk | 175 lbs. | $1.50 per cwt. | $2.63 |
| Skim milk | 2,700 lbs. | .25 per cwt. | 6.75 |
| Grain | 125 lbs. | 1.00 per cwt. | 1.25 |
| Hay | 450 lbs. | 10.00 per ton | 2.25 |
$12.88
At the age of six months a skim milk calf should weigh from 250 to 400 pounds, depending upon the size of the breed and the thrift of the calf. Whether or not it will pay to raise steer calves of the dairy breeds or the inferior dairy heifers for meat will depend entirely upon conditions.
In some places whole milk is sold and skim milk is not available. If a calf is raised on whole milk by shortening the milk feeding period to about three months, the cost of feed will be about as follows:
Table 3.—Showing the feed required to raise a calf up to the age of six months when a small amount of whole milk is used.
| Feed | Amount | Price | Value |
|----------|----------|-------------|----------|
| Whole milk | 900 lbs. | $1.50 per cwt. | $13.50 |
| Grain | 250 lbs. | 1.00 per cwt. | 2.50 |
| Hay | 600 lbs. | 10.00 per ton | 3.00 |
| | | | $19.00 |
It may even be possible to raise calves on whole milk with less feed than that mentioned, but in any case the results will be less satisfactory than when skim milk is used and the feeding prolonged to six months.
THE CALF AT BIRTH.
Every precaution should be taken to give the cow about to freshen the most cleanly and sanitary surroundings possible. The cow should be allowed to calve in a clean, freshly bedded stall, or better yet in mild weather, in the pasture. It is essential that surroundings be clean in order to avoid infection of the freshly severed navel cord. The cow will be in better physical condition and will yield more milk if she is dried up about six weeks before calving time than she would if milked up to the time of calving.
RAISING A CALF ON SKIM MILK.
It is now fairly well understood that calves properly raised on skim milk are equally as growthy, thrifty, and vigorous as
Fig. 1.—Skim milk calves.
those raised upon whole milk or those allowed to run with their dams. In fact the skim milk calf will oftentimes show a more rugged framework than a calf raised on whole milk. It is usual, however, for the whole milk calf to appear smoother and more plump, due to the fact that it lays on a greater amount of body fat than the calf fed skim milk.
Except for the fat that has been removed, skim milk is identical in composition with whole milk. When whole milk is taken into the calf’s body, the fat of the milk is used to produce heat to keep the calf warm and also to form body fat. This same function can be performed very much more cheaply by starchy grains such as corn, Kafir corn, and oats.
The protein of milk, which is the constituent most concerned in muscular growth and the building up of the vital organs, is equally as abundant in skim milk as in whole milk.
**TAKING THE CALF FROM THE COW.**
It matters little whether the calf is taken from the cow immediately after being dropped or is allowed to stay with its mother for several days. The essential thing is that the calf receive the first milk from its mother. A calf should always receive the milk from its own mother for the first two or three days of its life, because the milk is quite unlike normal milk and stimulates the calf’s digestive tract to action.
The earlier the calf is taken from its mother the easier will it be to teach it to drink. When the calf runs with its mother for several days it will learn to drink more quickly if it is not offered milk for 24 to 36 hours after it has been separated from the cow. In most cases the calf will learn to drink quite readily if allowed to suck the feeder’s fingers while they are held under the milk.
**FEEDING WHOLE MILK.**
The stomach of the young calf is small, so that it is not able to handle large amounts of milk. Eight to 10 pounds or 4 or 5 quarts per day is the proper amount to feed a young calf. For a very small or weak calf, 6 pounds or 3 quarts is sufficient. The results are probably a little better when the calf is fed three times daily for the first few days. This is not necessary, however, and it is usually best not to feed three times daily unless the milk can be obtained fresh from the cow for each feed. The milk should be divided equally between the feeds so that a calf being fed twice daily would receive 4 or 5 pounds at each feed.
FEEDING SKIM MILK.
A calf of ordinary vigor can be put on a skim milk diet at the age of two or three weeks. The change to skim milk should be gradual. This change is best made by substituting a pound of skim milk for a pound of whole milk at each feed until the calf is receiving only skim milk.
Fig. 2.—Calves about two weeks old. These are old enough to be fed skim milk.
The amount of skim milk fed should be the same as that of the whole milk which it replaces. This will usually be 10 or 12 pounds for a calf two to three weeks old. A gradual increase in the milk should be made as the calf grows, until at the age of five months it is receiving 16 to 20 pounds daily, depending upon the size of the calf.
FEEDING GRAIN.
The calf will begin to eat a little grain by the time it is two or three weeks old. After it is a few days old, grain should be kept before it and a little put into its mouth immediately after it has finished drinking its milk to aid it in learning to eat.
The grain should always be fed dry and never mixed with the milk. In order that grain be properly digested it is necessary that it be chewed before it is swallowed. Probably the best time to feed the grain is just after the milk has been fed. The calf's appetite is very keen at this time, and it will take to the grain readily.
A good grain mixture to use until the calf has learned to eat well is two parts ground corn and one part crushed oats. When the calf has learned to eat, shelled corn alone will give as good results as any grain that can be supplied.
Up to the age of three months it is well to give the calf all the grain it will eat. At that time it will be eating two to three
pounds daily and may very well be limited to this amount until weaning time.
FEEDING HAY.
The calf will begin to eat hay at about the same time as it does grain, and some should be provided for it to nibble.
For the young calf, clover or mixed hay is as good as any. It occasionally happens that where alfalfa hay of the best quality is fed immediately after the milk and grain a calf will gorge itself to such an extent that impaction of the stomach may follow and prove fatal. When very palatable hay is fed, it is well either to supply it in limited amounts or to keep it before the calves all of the time so that they will not gorge themselves at any one time. In any case it is best to feed the hay during the middle of the day and not immediately after the milk and grain has been fed, as such a great bulk all at once proves a severe tax on the digestive system.
FEEDING SILAGE.
Silage may be fed with safety to the young calf, and is very much relished by it. It is well to pick the pieces of ear out of the silage fed a young calf. In using silage avoid overloading the calf's digestive system either by offering even only a small amount or supplying it in the middle of the day.
WATER AND SALT.
It is a mistake to assume that a calf does not require water because it is receiving skim milk. The calf should have water accessible at all times, as it will drink considerable despite the fact that it is receiving a large quantity of milk.
It is also quite necessary that the calf be provided with salt. It requires salt besides its regular feed, the same as does an older animal.
WEANING.
Six months is a very good age at which to wean a calf, tho
Fig. 3.—Calves about six months old. These calves are ready to be weaned.
there is no reason why the feeding of milk should not be prolonged beyond this time if skim milk is abundant. A calf can be weaned in three or four days' time by gradually reducing the amount fed.
SCOURS.
Scours in calves are by far the most common sources of trouble in calf raising. If a feeder is able to avoid the occurrence of scours in his calves, it is very seldom that other ailments will annoy. Scours in calves are of two kinds.
WHITE SCOURS.
White scours, or calf cholera, is an infectious disease. The germ of this disease enters the blood of the calf soon after birth thru the freshly severed navel cord. This disease always attacks very young calves, usually appearing within three days after birth. It is characterized by the whitish, foul-smelling dung which the calf passes and a depressed, hollow-eyed appearance in the calf. It is nearly always fatal, and as yet no treatment has been found which will give good results. About the only practical thing that can be done is to avoid the occurrence of this disease by keeping the surroundings of the newborn calf in a sanitary condition. The cow should be allowed to calve in a clean, freshly bedded stall; or in mild weather, in the open pasture. If this disease has occurred on the farm previously, it is well to disinfect the navel cord and belly of the freshly born calf with a 3 per cent solution of creolin or 3 per cent carbolic acid and bind the cord up to the belly with a wide strip of muslin to avoid later infection.
SCOURS FROM INDIGESTION.
The common cause of scours is indigestion, or inflammation in the stomach. This may be brought about by a large variety of causes, but in any case the aim of the treatment should be to remove the source of the inflammation. As in most other ailments, half of the battle in curing scours is to begin treatment as soon as any trouble is noticed. The calves should be watched closely and treatment administered upon the first indications of scours. Treatment should always begin by cutting down the ration, thus giving the calf a chance to rid itself of the irritating material. The milk should be cut down at least one-half and in severe cases withheld entirely. In most cases after one or two feeding periods have passed, the calf will appear normal, and full feeding can be gradually resumed.
In more obstinate cases it may be necessary to administer a
physic of 2 or 3 ounces of castor oil given in a little milk. After a calf has suffered with scours, feeding should always be light for a few days until the calf regains its strength.
Fig. 4.—This picture shows the effect of scours on the growth of a calf. These are both pure-bred Jersey calves. The calf at the left of the picture is 34 days older than the calf at the right but weighs less. When about two weeks old it suffered from a very severe attack of scours and has not fully recovered from the effect.
SPECIAL POINTS TO OBSERVE.
Common scours give more trouble in calf raising than any other one thing. Scours may be caused or at least favored by a variety of conditions.
CONDITION OF THE MILK.
To avoid scours it is essential that the condition of the milk be controlled. Milk should always be fed sweet if good results are to be obtained. While it is known that healthy, vigorous calves may be raised on sour milk, it is not a good policy to try to feed it, because it is often impossible to obtain properly soured milk. Milk that has been allowed to stand around until it is half rotten is quite different from normal sour milk tho it may have a sour taste, and it is almost sure to cause trouble if fed to calves. Sweet milk is very much more dependable in quality and should therefore be used exclusively.
CLEANLINESS OF PAILS AND UTENSILS.
Scours are often caused, no doubt, by a filthy condition of the feeding pail or trough. Unclean milk or milk out of unclean
vessels will cause trouble. It is best to give the calf pails the same treatment and attention accorded the regular milk pails. They should be kept sweet smelling.
TEMPERATURE OF THE MILK.
Milk should always be fed at a temperature near that of blood heat, or between 95° and 100° F. This is the temperature at which the calf would receive the milk if it were sucking the cow. Cold milk taken into a young calf's stomach so chills it that digestive processes are checked for a time and digestive disturbances are liable to follow.
Calves that have reached the age of two and one-half or three months may be fed milk somewhat colder than 95°, but in any case the temperature should be constant and a calf should not receive warm milk at one feed and cold milk at the next.
A thermometer should actually be used in testing the temperature of the milk—at least often enough so that the temperature can be estimated fairly accurately.
OVERFEEDING.
Probably the most frequent cause of scours is overfeeding. When properly fed the appetite of the calf will be more keen after taking its milk than before. It is impossible to satisfy a calf's appetite for milk without overfeeding it. Overfeeding at any
Fig. 5.—Calves in stanchions at feeding time. The milk is weighed for each calf. Each calf receives the proper amount and no more.
particular feed is best guarded against by actually weighing the milk at each feed or measuring it in a vessel sufficiently small to avoid guesswork. Weighing is to be preferred, as the foam which occurs on separator milk makes accurate measuring difficult.
If several calves are being fed in the same pen it is best to have ties of some sort for them so that each calf may receive only its apportioned feed. For this purpose small, rigid stanchions are the most convenient. If the calf is kept tied until after the grain is eaten, there is less likelihood of it forming the habit of sucking other calves' ears.
Overloading the calf's stomach in the morning and evening should be avoided by feeding the roughage thru the middle of the day.
FEEDING FOAM TO CALVES.
On skim milk fresh from the separator there is always more or less foam. Large quantities of this foam fed to a calf will cause it to become bloated and may even cause sickness. The little that the calf will ordinarily receive with its milk will cause no trouble.
CALF PENS AND LOTS.
Dirty, muddy, or uncomfortable quarters are favorable to scours. Calves should not be turned out into muddy or wet lots where they will not have a dry place in which to lie. In fact young calves up to three or four months of age will thrive fully as well in a roomy, clean, and well-lighted stall as on pasture. The young calf should be especially protected from quick changes in temperature and cold drafts, which are liable to bring on pneumonia.
VIGILANCE ON THE PART OF THE FEEDER.
One very important rule to follow in calf feeding is to be constantly on the lookout for disorders. Prevention of sickness is far better than curing it. The feeder should always observe the keenness of the calf's appetite and the character of the dung. At the slightest hint of any disturbance the amount of milk should be cut down.
DEHORNING THE CALF.
Dairy cows should be dehorned, because dehorning makes a cow more docile, easier to handle and feed, and also makes it impossible for her to injure the udders of other cows with her horns.
Possibly the most satisfactory way to dehorn a calf is to apply caustic potash. Caustic potash can be obtained at almost any
drug store. It usually comes in the form of sticks about the size of a lead pencil. The calf should be treated when one or two days old or as soon as the starting horn can be located.
To dehorn the calf, clip the hair from the spot where the horn is starting. Then wet the end of a stick of caustic potash and
**Fig. 6.—This calf was dehorned by means of caustic potash. The poll is perfectly smooth.**
rub on the budding horn until a sore spot about the size of a dime is produced. The operation can be hastened by breaking the skin before rubbing on the potash. The calf should not be turned out into the rain immediately after caustic potash has been applied, as it may be washed down into the calf's eyes.
Caustic potash should be handled by wrapping a piece of paper around the stick. It must be kept in a tightly stoppered bottle, or it will absorb water from the air and dissolve.
**RAISING A CALF WITH WHOLE MILK.**
Where whole milk is sold and none of the milk is skimmed, the raising of calves is decidedly more expensive than where skim milk is abundant. Ordinarily the calf must be fed milk until it is two and one-half or three months old before it can be expected to live on a grain and hay diet. This will require 750 to 1,000 pounds of milk, worth at $1.50 per hundredweight from $11.25
to $15. After the first two or three weeks, a calf will do equally as well on skim milk as on whole milk, so the expense can be cut down possibly one-third to one-half by skimming the milk and selling the butter fat.
A calf two and one-half to three months old is able to get along without milk if fed liberally of grain. The gains, however, will not be so satisfactory as those of a calf weaned at a later age. For the calf after weaning at this age, alfalfa hay, silage, and 3 or 4 pounds of a grain mixture made up of 2 pounds corn chop, 2 pounds ground oats, and 1 pound oil meal is very good to use for two or three months. However, the practice of weaning a calf so early is not to be recommended.
RAISING A CALF WITHOUT MILK.
It has been found possible by careful handling to raise calves without milk after three or four weeks old. Such calves are usually badly stunted but may recover from the effects to some extent if well fed in later life. It is not practical to raise calves in this way.
CARE OF THE DAIRY HEIFER.
Altho the first few months of the heifer's life is the most critical period of her existence, still many heifers are stunted, due to lack of attention after being weaned.
THE EFFECT OF TIME OF BIRTH ON GROWTH.
It is a rather common practice to have cows calve in the spring, yet this is not usually the best time. It is a fact that a calf born in the fall will get a better start in life than one born in the spring.
It makes little difference in the rate of growth of a calf whether it has pasture or has only dry feed in connection with its milk. But after weaning time the calf that has pasture will make by far the cheaper and more rapid growth. A fall calf will also be ready for breeding so that it will drop its own calf in the fall at the age of about two years.
Furthermore, a cow will give best returns when freshening in the fall. This is true because it is usually easier to maintain a steady flow of milk thru the winter and early spring than during the summer and fall. Also, dairy products demand highest prices during the winter.
FEEDING.
Until a calf is weaned it receives a liberal allowance of protein in its milk, but when milk is removed from the ration it is necessary to supply protein in some other form, such as legume
hay or a high protein concentrate. It is advisable to keep the heifer in a thrifty, growing condition, although there is no need of fattening her. However, if she does become rather plump it will not injure her dairy qualities.
Fig. 7.—Well-grown dairy heifers in good, thrifty condition.
If fed so as to induce a thrifty growth yet not produce fat, dairy heifers will gain on an average close to 1 pound daily from the age of six months up to two years or calving time.
**RATIONS FOR HEIFERS FROM SIX TO TWELVE MONTHS OLD.**
Ration I.—About 2 pounds daily of a mixture of 75 pounds corn chop and 25 pounds bran; all the alfalfa hay the heifer will eat.
Ration II.—Six to 10 pounds silage; about 2 pounds daily of a grain mixture of 40 pounds corn chop, 40 pounds linseed meal or cottonseed meal, and 20 pounds bran; all the alfalfa hay the heifer will eat.
**RATIONS FOR HEIFERS ONE TO TWO YEARS OLD.**
Ration I.—About 3 pounds of corn daily; all the alfalfa hay the heifer will eat.
Ration II.—Corn silage, 12 to 20 pounds; about 3 pounds daily of a grain mixture of equal parts corn chop, bran, and linseed meal or cottonseed meal; all the alfalfa hay the heifer will eat.
**BREEDING.**
The proper age at which to breed a heifer will depend very largely upon the size and thrift of the animal as well as upon the breed.
Jersey or Guernsey heifers mature more rapidly than Holsteins or Ayrshires and hence are ready for breeding at an earlier age. The approved practice is to breed a Jersey or Guernsey
heifer at the age of 13 to 17 months. A Holstein or Ayrshire heifer if in good thrift may well be bred at the age of 17 to 21 months.
THE YOUNG BULL.
Nothing has been said about the bull calf, but his treatment should be the same as that of a heifer with the exception that it is usually necessary to separate the bulls and the heifers at about six months of age. From this time on it is advisable to feed the
Fig. 8.—Pure-bred Jersey bull, nine months old. This bull is almost mature enough for very light service.
bull somewhat heavier than the heifer so as to induce the greatest possible growth. The same rations recommended for heifers, except in larger amounts, may be used to advantage.
The bull should be ready for very light service at the age of 10 to 12 months. However, his use at this time should be very limited, else his breeding powers may be permanently injured. It would probably be safe to allow him to serve one cow every three weeks up to the age of one year and not more than one cow per week up to the time he is 16 months old. | <urn:uuid:0db57f44-6c6d-4bc5-8072-c727067d4134> | CC-MAIN-2018-17 | https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1425&context=extensionhist | 2018-04-26T21:24:12Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-17/segments/1524125948549.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20180426203132-20180426223132-00263.warc.gz | 614,444,019 | 6,747 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.935297 | eng_Latn | 0.998876 | [
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NEPAL
SHREE YOG
Tours & Travels
A trekkers’ paradise, Nepal combines Himalayan views, golden temples, charming hill villages and jungle wildlife-watching to offer one of the world’s greatest travel destinations.
Nepal and the Himalayas – the two names go side by side. Nepal is one of the smallest countries of the world but has amazingly diverse geography, landscapes, culture and traditions. Situated in the lap of the mighty Himalayas, it is regarded as Dev Bhumi – the land of gods and worlds. Nepal is a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious country where two major religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, co-exist in perfect religious tolerance.
The three ancient cities of the valley – Patan, Kathmandu and Bhaktapur – represent an epitome of harmony in urban design, elegant architecture and refined culture. These cities are home to a concentration of religious monuments unequalled in the world including many UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Nepal is also one of the richest countries in the world in terms of bio-diversity, due to its unique geographical position and attitudinal variation. The elevation of the country ranges from 60 metres above sea level to the highest point on earth – Mount Everest at 8,848 metres. All this is within a distance of 150 kilometres, resulting in climatic conditions that range from sub-tropical to arctic.
**Capital:** Kathmandu
**Population:** 29.3 million
**Language:** Nepali, Maithili & Bhojpuri
**Time Zone:** GMT+5:45 (Indochina Time Zone)
**Electricity:** 230v, 50Hz.
**Currency:** Nepalese rupee
**When to Go**
**SEASONS**
Nepal has a monsoon climate and four main seasons, which are summer from June to September, autumn from October to December, winter from January to March and spring from April to June. The monsoons start in June and continues until September, with 2,500 millimetres of rain every year.
WEATHER
Spring season is the best time to visit Nepal. The temperatures in the summer rise to 28 degrees, however the hilly areas experience much higher temperatures due to the scorching sun. Autumn is another good season and one of the best times for trekking. In the winter the temperature reaches almost freezing, while hilly regions experience rough weather and heavy snowfall.
WHAT TO BRING
Bring loose, comfortable clothes that can be layered if travelling in the cooler months. Comfy walking shoes are a necessity, and a raincoat in the monsoon months. The Nepalese are quite modest so avoid wearing revealing clothes. At high altitude you will need sunscreen, a hat and lip balm. If you have certain toiletries that you only use, then bring those too.
ADDITIONAL REMARKS
Temperatures vary depending on which part of Nepal you are visiting, so make sure you research the temperatures beforehand and bring the required type of clothing.
Customs & Traditions
ART & ARCHITECTURE
Nepal is blessed with an astonishing array of ancient temples and palaces, and countless intricate woodcarvings and stone sculptures are dotted around its backstreets. Walking through the historic towns of the Kathmandu Valley, you will still discover magnificent medieval architecture at every turn. Nepal’s artistic masterpieces are not hidden away in dusty museums but are part of a living culture, to be touched, worshipped, feared – or simply paid no heed.
DANCE & THEATRE
Because Nepal is such a multicultural nation, it has a lot of dances. There are two types of Nepalese traditional dance: classical and folk dances. Classical dances are based on the ancient classics and have been performed since ancient times. Nepalese folk dances are based on the songs and music of a particular group or area. Music is also an important element of Nepalese culture. It is a way of showing emotions, telling stories and for entertainment.
ETIQUETTE
- Dress modestly, always remove footwear before entering a temple and walk around in a clockwise direction.
- The cow is a sacred animal so do not ask for beef in a restaurant.
- Do greet by joining the palms and bringing them slightly below the chin.
- Do get a receipt of authenticity when purchasing an antique replica and don’t export anything older than 100 years of religious and cultural importance.
The current population of Nepal is 29.3 million. There are about 101 ethnic groups speaking over 92 languages. In general they consist of Northern Himalayan people, Middle Hills and Valley people, and Tarai people; while the Kathmandu Valley represents a cultural melting pot of the country.
After officially being a Hindu kingdom for a long time, Nepal is now a secular country giving equal importance to all religions and giving its citizens the freedom to practice the religion of their choice. Over 81% of the population are Hindu; 9% are Buddhists; 4.4% are Muslims; and the remaining are Kiratis, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Baha’ís, Jews and others who do not follow any religion. | <urn:uuid:18f645e2-4795-40c7-9192-25addd63cf0d> | CC-MAIN-2024-30 | https://shreeyogtours.com/uploads/country_details/1616571319_Nepal.pdf | 2024-07-24T14:18:42+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-30/segments/1720763518304.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20240724140819-20240724170819-00375.warc.gz | 454,373,565 | 1,079 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.996131 | eng_Latn | 0.997371 | [
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1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions which follow:
The first postage stamp was issued in 1840. It carried the head of Queen Victoria. Some people felt unhappy that their queen's head was disfigured in the process of cancellation. The queen herself didn't seem to mind. In fact,
she herself enjoyed walking to the local post office from her Balmoral Castle to buy stamps and chat with the postmaster.
(a) Answer the following questions briefly:
(i) When was the first stamp issued?
(ii) What did it carry on it?
(iii) Why did some people feel unhappy?
(iv) What was the Queen's attitude?
(v) What did she enjoy doing?
(b) Say whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F):
(i) The first stamp carried the head of Queen Elizabeth.
(ii) Stamps were disfigured during cancellation.
(iii) The Queen was upset.
(iv) The Queen used to chat with the postmaster.
(v) The Queen lived in Balmoral Castle.
2. Read the following passage and answer the questions which follow:
Life was extremely hard for man in the early days. He had no house, no clothes except some skins of animals, and he must have been fighting most of the time. To get his daily food he had to hunt and kill animals or gather nuts and fruits.
He felt he had enemies everywhere. Even nature seemed to him an enemy, sending storms and earthquakes. He was afraid of everything because he could understand nothing. Moreover, he was afraid of the gods he worshipped.
(a) Answer the following questions briefly:
(i) Why was life hard for man?
(ii) What did he do to get food?
(iii) Why did nature seem to be an enemy to man?
(iv) Why was man afraid of everything?
(v) Give the word opposite to 'enemy'.
(b) Say whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F):
(i) Life was easy for the early man.
(ii) He had a number of houses.
(iii) He kept fighting most of the time.
(iv) He was afraid of nothing.
(v) He did not understand anything.
3. (a) Match the words in Column A with their meanings in Column B:
| Column A | Column B |
|----------|----------|
| chat | repel |
| lorry | unfriendly |
| meal | talk |
| hostile | truck |
| attract | food |
(b) Write the words opposite in meaning to the following words:
ugly, smooth, clever, high, loud.
4. (a) Fill in the blanks with the prepositions given below:
at, with, on, after, under
(i) The river flows ............ the bridge.
(ii) The trade fair begins ............... Children’s Day.
(iii) I enjoy eating curd ............ sugar.
(iv) Everyone was relieved ............. the exams got over.
(v) The minister arrived .............. 10 a.m.
(b) Fill in the blanks with the correct words:
(i) No one .......... (like/likes) to work in a noisy place.
(ii) Savita is very fond ....... (of/off) sweets.
(iii) A number of cars .......... (was/were) parked near the gate.
(iv) Each boy should .......... (bring/brings) a bat.
(v) Thieves are not .......... (scare/scared) of the police.
5. Write a paragraph in about 100 words on "My favourite sport".
6. Write a letter to your friend telling him about a film you have seen recently. You can speak about the actors, story, songs, music, cinematography etc. | <urn:uuid:17e048b7-43cc-41fb-9582-47c48ffdbc86> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | http://web.du.ac.in/PreviousQuestionPapers/UNDER%20GRADUATE/B.A.-PROGRAM/I%20YEAR/2015/b.aProg(english%20language%20(c%20)%20(basic%20english%207503.pdf | 2023-12-10T13:59:16+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679102469.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20231210123756-20231210153756-00836.warc.gz | 47,013,313 | 764 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.996773 | eng_Latn | 0.998935 | [
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The 12 to 17 age group that we are talking about, to my mind, what affects them most is seeing. As you know, we all learn in different ways, but visual learning is something that that particular age group is receptive to. You have seen the smoking campaign where they show the heart and the pumping out of different things from the veins and all that awful stuff. If it showed bleeding from the brain, or whatever are the effects of alcohol, although that is not very nurturing, it is very hard-hitting and in your face. Is that something that would be relevant and would they cope with that?
A study conducted in Victoria in 2010 by VicRoads *Young People’s response to intended “shocking” road safety messages* found that while fear may appear to play a motivational role, prevention strategies are more likely to be an effective deterrent.
The evidence suggests that the use of graphic images that set out to shock, traumatise or evoke fear about the potential negative consequences of risky behaviour does not lead to lasting behavioural change. Messages designed to arouse fear or anxiety in young people rarely achieve what they intend to do and may even be harmful for some young people.
The factor most likely to influence attitudes, intentions and behaviours is not the level of threat, but the individual’s perception of their own vulnerability to the threat.
In New South Wales schools, the Personal Development, Health and Physical Education Years 7-10 syllabus, developed by the Board of Studies NSW, prescribes learning about the effects of drug use, including alcohol, consequences of use, prevalence and patterns of use, influences on use and binge drinking. Students also specifically learn about marketing strategies and media influences associated with alcohol.
Senior students in public schools participate in the mandatory course *Crossroads: A personal development and health education course for Stage 6 students*. Students explore contemporary drug-related issues in the community and the impact of these on individuals, the school, local communities and the wider community.
Mr Troy Grant MP
How many kids are suspended from school in New South Wales per annum? Do you have any statistics in relation to that? If you do, do you drill down or do you examine how many of those may be alcohol related or that may have the abuse or the use of alcohol tied to that suspension or a change in their behaviour?
ANSWER
Data relating to the suspension and expulsion of school students is reported on an annual basis by the Department of Education and Communities. The data can be found at:
http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/about-us/plans-reports-and-statistics/key-statistics-and-reports
Suspensions are classified in broad categories. These are:
Short Suspension (up to and including 4 school days)
- Continued disobedience
- Aggressive behavior.
Long Suspension (up to and including 20 school days);
- Physical violence
- Use or possession of a prohibited weapon, firearm or knife
- Possession or use of a suspected illegal substance
- Serious criminal behaviour related to the school
- Use of implement as a weapon
- Persistent or serious misbehaviour.
A disaggregation of suspension data by category is included in the published data.
Ms Anna Watson MP
Can you tell me the role that the school counsellor has played in the education of alcohol abuse of our minors? Will you give the Committee a little bit of an idea how widespread this issue is in schools in New South Wales?
ANSWER
School counsellors have been provided with training in motivational interviewing to build their capacity for supporting students at risk of drug (including alcohol) related harm. Training in motivational interviewing is delivered to school counsellors after their initial training has been applied and they have gained some experience in the role so they are better positioned to incorporate and evaluate this important counselling method.
Where necessary, school counsellors liaise with specialist practitioners to develop individual case management strategies and the work of the school counsellor and external provider is complementary.
Frequency data on alcohol use by students is not collated by the Department of Education and Communities. However, the NSW Ministry of Health has compiled the New South Wales Secondary School Students Health Behaviours Survey, one section of which addresses alcohol use.
Ms Anna Watson MP
This question is to either of the four of you. In your view is there a common thread or theme? Are some students more at risk than others and, if so, why, and have they been identified?
ANSWER
The New South Wales School Students Health Behaviours Survey was compiled by the NSW Ministry of Health among students aged 12-17 years and provides some data and information on young people at risk.
Mr Troy Grant MP
Every school has the opportunity to object when things are advertised under a development application within the local government area. Are there parameters that the education department would object to on subject matters that come in or near a school, and would alcohol advertising be one of these?
ANSWER
The Department of Education and Communities has no influence over signage which is proposed or erected on land which is not under the control of the Department. The Department may be given the opportunity to comment on a development by the consenting authority for approving the development which is usually the local council.
Ms Anna Watson MP
It is delightful that 77% of kids under 17 have not had a drink. However how broad was that survey?
ANSWER
The survey referred to is titled the NSW Secondary School Students Health Behaviours Survey. In 2008, the NSW Department of Health conducted the third New South Wales Secondary Schools Health Behaviours Survey. Previous surveys were conducted in 2002 and 2005, as part of the triennial Australian School Students Alcohol and Drugs Survey, which began in 1984.
The results published in 2009 can be found at: http://www0.health.nsw.gov.au/PublicHealth/surveys/hss/08/toc/t_s04_methods.asp | <urn:uuid:09c36cd2-2b4e-4bbb-b6b8-5a2cdfeb96f4> | CC-MAIN-2024-51 | https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/ladocs/other/8604/Department%20of%20Education%20and%20Communities%20-%20Answers%20to%20questions%20on%20notice.pdf | 2024-12-03T14:17:48+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-51/segments/1733066139150.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20241203132814-20241203162814-00364.warc.gz | 863,718,096 | 1,194 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.998021 | eng_Latn | 0.998644 | [
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AMI WORK
MONDAY,
MARCH 30TH
Ann and Kirsten Share Ideas
By Colleen Messina
Kirsten has been learning about how to deal with bullies. One day, a bully bothered a girl named Ann in the cafeteria. Kirsten had watched, but she didn't know what to do. She ended up doing nothing, and this made Kirsten feel bad. Kirsten called Ann that night to see how Ann was feeling.
"I feel better because I talked to my mom about the mean girl who teased me about my freckles. I like my freckles. My mom has freckles, too," said Ann.
"I am glad you feel better," said Kirsten. "I wish I had done something to help you. I didn't know what to do, and I am sorry."
"That's OK," said Ann. "I don't think anyone knew what to do."
"I talked to my mom, too," said Kirsten. "I have some ideas to share. Why don't you come over after school tomorrow? We can talk and eat cookies," said Kirsten.
"That sounds fun. I'll ask my mom," said Ann. She sounded excited to be making a new friend after being teased by the cafeteria bully.
Ann went to Kirsten's house the next day. They talked about math and social studies. They piled fresh chocolate chip cookies on a plate and poured two glasses of cold milk. Kirsten had baked the cookies the day before. Kirsten carried the cookies, and Ann carried the milk up to Kirsten's room.
"I thought of some things to do if anyone is bullied in the cafeteria again," said Kirsten.
"Tell me about it," said Ann. Her red freckles spread across her fair skin like sprinkles on vanilla ice cream.
"Well, I could have invited you to my table to eat with me. I could have been your buddy instead of ignoring the problem. Let's eat a cookie for each new idea," said Kirsten.
"That is a good idea. I wouldn't have felt so alone if you had invited me to your table," said Ann thoughtfully.
The girls each ate one cookie. Gooey chocolate chips exploded with sweetness in their mouths.
"I could have told the cafeteria helpers. They would have helped," said Kirsten.
"That is a good idea, too. It is worth another cookie," said Ann. "The cafeteria helpers might have sent that girl to the principal."
"That's right," said Kirsten.
The girls each ate another cookie.
"My mom had some other ideas about handling bullies," said Kirsten.
"I hope she had a lot of ideas so we can eat more cookies," said Ann cheerfully.
"She said to stand tall, which might make you look more confident. She thinks that a bully is less likely to bother someone who looks confident. She also said another way to deal with the bully is to walk away from the situation," said Kirsten.
"I like the idea of standing tall and the idea of walking away sometimes. Those are two good ideas. Now we can eat two cookies," said Ann gleefully.
The girls ate two more cookies each. They talked and talked. They realized they were very full of cookies and good ideas about dealing with bullies, too!
Name __________________________
Wednesday, March 25
Ann and Kirsten Share Ideas
Questions
1. The sentence "Her red freckles spread across her fair skin like sprinkles on vanilla ice cream" is an example of which of the following?
A. alliteration
B. simile
C. metaphor
D. synonym
2. Walking away from the situation is one way to deal with a bully.
A. false
B. true
3. Who baked the cookies in this story?
A. the cafeteria helpers
B. Ann
C. the principal
D. Kirsten
4. Where did the girls go to talk?
5. What did the girls drink?
A. milk
B. soda
C. lemonade
D. water
6. Which physical feature did Ann have that resembled her mother?
A. red hair
B. blue eyes
C. brown eyes
D. freckles
7. Who did Kirsten talk to about the bullying situation?
A. her dad
B. her brother
C. her sister
D. her mom
8. If a person "stands tall," how might they appear?
A. silly
B. confident
C. thin
D. none of the above
Name: Planet Earth
Birth Date: a very, very, very, long time ago
Vitals: Only planet in our solar system that has liquid water on surface, an atmosphere with mostly oxygen, and supports life...
It would be very easy to learn about the earth if scientists could locate a ready-made biographical sketch of our planet. However, it takes many scientists and numerous years of study to provide the information that we have and will continue to acquire about the earth. Let us examine some of the basic information about our planet's structure.
Positioned as the third planet from the sun, scientists believe that earth was formed about 4.6 billion years ago. It is made mostly of rock, and about 70% of its surface is covered with a thin layer of water called a global ocean. Our planet from space looks like a blue sphere with cloud cover. However, Earth is actually an oblate spheroid or a slightly flattened sphere. (I guess those classroom globes made you think earth was a perfect sphere!) The Earth's oblate spheroid appearance is the result of it spinning on its axis. This spinning or rotation causes our planet's polar regions to flatten and our equatorial zone to bulge out. Our planet's circumference from pole to pole is 40,007 kilometers. Our equatorial circumference is 40,074 kilometers. You may not believe this, but the surface of our planet is relatively smooth. This means that the distances between our highest points (mountains) and our lowest points (ocean trenches) are small compared to our planet's size. In fact, the distance is about 20 kilometers. The average diameter of the earth is 12,756 kilometers. Now that we have looked at the surface, let us journey to the interior.
To find out about what is inside our earth, scientists have used different methods. Scientists have been able to learn about the upper sections (few kilometers) of the Earth by drilling. However, since we do not have the ability to travel to the center of the Earth like Jules Verne's characters, scientists have used seismic waves to learn about our planet's interior. Based on how these waves travel, scientists have learned that our planet has three compositional zones and five structural zones. The earth's three compositional zones are the crust (outermost zone), the mantle (layer under the crust), and the core (the earth's center). The Earth's crust, which makes up 1% of the Earth's mass, is thin and solid. The oceanic crust is found beneath our planet's oceans, and it is only about five to 10 kilometers thick. Our continents rest on a continental crust that is about 15 to 80 kilometers thick. The thickest continental crust is found beneath our highest mountain ranges. The lower portion of our Earth's crust is called the Mohorovicic discontinuity or Moho. Our planet's mantle measures about 2,900 kilometers thick and accounts for about 2/3 of our planet's mass. The last compositional zone is the core. Scientists believe that its radius is about 3,500 kilometers and that it is made up of mostly nickel and iron.
Our planet's compositional zones are divided into five structural zones: the lithosphere, the asthenosphere, the mesosphere, the outer core, and the inner core. The lithosphere contains the crust and the upper part of the mantle. It is about 15 to 300 kilometers thick and rigid. The asthenosphere, which is about 200 kilometers thick, lies beneath the lithosphere. It is able to flow due to the tremendous amount of heat and pressure it has to withstand. The mesosphere is a solid layer of mantle rock below the asthenosphere. Scientists believe the outer core, which is about 2,900 kilometers below the Earth's surface, is a dense liquid. They also believe that the Earth's inner core is a solid area that is dense and rigid. The outer core begins 5,150 kilometers below the Earth's surface, and it makes up about 1/3 of our planet's mass.
Our planet also acts like a magnet. The Earth's two magnetic poles have lines of force that extend...
or lie between the **North geomagnetic pole** and the **South geomagnetic pole**. This magnetic field also travels out into space and reaches the **magnetosphere**. The magnetosphere is the region of space that surrounds the Earth. Scientists believe the earth's magnetism is provided by the liquid iron located in the Earth's outer core.
7 The last important feature of Earth is its **gravity**. Our planet produces a **gravitational force** that pulls objects toward its center. Sir Isaac Newton's law of gravitation states that the force of attraction between two objects depends on the objects' masses and their distance from each other. The greater the masses of the two objects and the closer these objects are to each other, the greater the force of attraction or gravity between them. As an object moves farther away from the center of the Earth, the force of gravity becomes weaker. However, the mass of the object does not change. The neat fact about gravity is that it is affected by weight and location. Weight is the measure of the strength of the pull of gravity on an object. Our weight varies depending on our location on the Earth. Since the distance between the equator and the center of the Earth is greater than the distance from the center to our poles, you would weigh differently in each location. Simply put, you would weigh about 0.3% less at the equator than you would at the North or South Pole.
8 These few basic facts about our planet have helped scientists as they learn more about the Earth's forces and structure. The third blue sphere from the sun is one fascinating orb!
Just the Earth Facts!
1. The Earth has an equatorial circumference of ________.
- A) About 12,756 kilometers
- B) About 40,007 kilometers
- C) About 40,074 kilometers
- D) None of the above
2. Use the following terms to create a concept map:
crust, mantle, core, lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere, inner core, and outer core.
3. What does the difference between your weight at the equator and your weight at the poles tell you about the shape of the Earth?
4. Scientists believe the Earth’s magnetism comes from ________.
- A) Igneous rock in its outer core
- B) Liquid iron in its inner core
- C) Liquid iron in its outer core
- D) Metamorphic rock in its outer core
5. Complete the sentence: The Mohorovicic discontinuity is the ________.
6. Compare the mesosphere with the asthenosphere.
7. Jules Verne, author of *Journey to the Center of the Earth*, sent his characters on a voyage through the Earth's crust and mantle to its core. Do you believe this is possible, why or why not?
8. How have scientists learned about the Earth's interior?
Main Idea
Read the paragraph and then select the main idea for the paragraph.
1. Tim Cordes went blind as a teen. He did not let his blindness stop him. He learned how to water ski and how to canoe. He learned how to compose music. He became a black belt in martial arts. He carried the Olympic torch in 2002. He went to school and became a doctor!
The main idea in this passage is:
- A: It's easy to compose music without seeing it.
- B: Tim Cordes went to the Olympic Games.
- C: It is possible to water ski without sight.
- D: A blind person can do many things.
2. Jane was asked to write a poem. It would be in their class paper. Since April is "Keep America Beautiful" month, Jane wrote a poem about trash. She wanted people to stop throwing trash on the ground. Every day, she saw litter on the side of the road. She even saw bags of trash dumped into a stream near her house. She hated seeing all of it. She hoped her poem would get people excited about cleaning up. It got her excited!
The main idea in this passage is:
- A: Jane saw litter every day.
- B: April is "Keep America Beautiful" month.
- C: Jane wrote a poem about trash.
- D: Jane wanted readers to become excited about cleaning up.
3. Monica was a quiet girl. She stayed to herself. She loved to read. She read books nearly every minute. She even enjoyed reading more than watching television. She had many shelves of books in her room at home. She liked all kinds of books. Mysteries were her favorite. Her idea of a great afternoon was to stay home with a good book. Her friends sometimes teased her. They could not understand why she liked books so much. Monica didn't care. She was happy. Books were her friends.
The main idea in this passage is:
- A: Books make great friends.
- B: Monica should not read so much.
- C: Monica loves books.
- D: Friends should not tease each other.
What should you think about when you're considering a job? Two things are extremely important: the salary and the job benefits. Your salary is the money your employer pays you for your work. Job benefits are another form of payment. They include things such as paid vacations, sick leave, and health insurance. Others might be the use of a company car or discounts on the company's products. After working many years, you may receive a pension from your employer. This is an income to live on after you retire.
Health insurance is very expensive to purchase on your own. Many people can't afford it at all. What happens if they have an accident or illness? They must pay for all of their doctor's visits, lab tests, hospital stays, and medications. That's why health insurance is such an important job benefit. You might accept a lower salary rather than take a job where health care insurance is not provided. This benefit could well save you thousands of dollars.
Remember to take a look at the whole job package. First, figure out how much money you will need each month for your housing, food, transportation, insurance, and other basic expenses. This amount is your cost of living. Then, look at how much income you'll have from your job and what benefits are included.
When Jessica graduated from high school, she was offered a job in the office of a large automobile repair shop. She knew she would learn a lot there. There would be a variety of job duties, and she liked the people she met at her interview.
But Jessica had also taken the required test to get a job at the post office. She was surprised when she compared the two salaries and job benefits. The salaries would be nearly the same, but the post office offered much better benefits.
Jessica's older brother is a car salesman. He earns a commission or percentage of each sale he makes. Since Jessica's brother is a good salesman, his commissions are usually high. But he doesn't have paid vacations, sick leave, or company-paid health insurance.
Security is important to Jessica. She'd rather have a fixed income she can count on to cover her cost of living. After thinking it over, she decides that the post office job would be the best choice for her.
Thinking It Over: Write T for true or F for false.
1. ____ A job benefit is something a company offers its employees besides a salary.
2. ____ A sales commission is always the same, month after month.
3. ____ Some companies pay for employees' health insurance.
4. ____ It's always better to take the job with the highest salary.
Cause and Effect
1. Suppose you take a job with no health insurance. If you get in an accident or become ill, you will have to ____________________________.
2. Suppose you are working on a sales commission and you don't sell anything. Your commission will be ____________________________.
3. If your company has a pension plan, you will have ____________________________.
Key Vocabulary
1. A salary is money an employer pays you for your
a. benefits.
b. work.
c. insurance.
2. A pension is
a. income to use when you retire.
b. a place for criminals.
c. a small commission.
3. An hourly wage is
a. always 8 dollars.
b. a certain rate of pay for each hour worked.
c. equal to health insurance.
4. A commission is
a. a percentage paid for sales or services.
b. an old church.
c. the same thing as a pension.
Everyday Math
1. Jan works for Gary's Gutters. She earns $12 an hour for an 8-hour shift. There are no job benefits. Jan's friend works at Ace Roofing. He earns $10.50 an hour for an 8-hour shift, and the company pays for benefits worth about $300 a month. What is Jan's salary for working a 5-day week? $______________
2. What is her friend's salary for working a 5-day week? $______________
3. Which employer offers the best job package?
On Your Own
List three expenses that make up your cost of living (example: gas for car).
The Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand
Archduke Francis Ferdinand was next in line to be the leader of his country, Austria-Hungary, but not everyone in his country was happy about that. The Serbians living in Bosnia, which had been taken over and made a part of Austria-Hungary, did not want him to be in charge. Nevertheless, Archduke Ferdinand planned a trip to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, for the feast day of Saint Vitus. He was warned in advance that this could be a dangerous trip.
Archduke Ferdinand decided to go anyway. His fourteenth wedding anniversary would take place during the trip, and his wife, Sophie, went with him. Together, they would ride in a royal motorcade through the city of Sarajevo on their way to a reception at City Hall.
They arrived in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, with a motorcade of four cars. The Archduke and his wife rode in an open car, the second one in line. Crowds of people lined the streets to see them pass by.
Seven members of a terrorist organization were hidden within the crowd. Each of the seven members carried a bomb or a gun, and they waited for an opportunity to attack the Archduke's car. One of the assassins saw his chance and threw a bomb at the Archduke's car. The car's chauffeur saw what was happening and sped up, trying to avoid the bomb. He wasn't fast enough. The bomb hit the car but bounced off and destroyed the next car in line behind the Archduke's. The assassin was caught, and the Archduke and Sophie continued on their way to attend the reception.
After the reception, people urged the Archduke and Sophie to take the quickest route out of town. As they left town, crowds again lined the route, and the assassins waited, hidden within the crowd. When the Archduke's car had to slow down and nearly stop at a sharp turn, one assassin made his move. Gavrilo Princip shot Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie. Sophie died immediately, and it was reported that Archduke Ferdinand only had time to say his wife's name, "Sophie-" before he died too. Gavrilo Princip was captured.
Gavrilo Princip was only 19 years old. He had joined a group of young Serbian nationalists who had been trained to use terrorist methods to fight for what they believed in. All seven of the terrorists who had waited for the Archduke's car to pass were members of this group. All of them were young men, and in fact, several of them were teenagers; their ages ranged from 17 to 27. The two who attacked the cars were tried and sentenced to 20 years each. Of the seven, six were captured.
The captured terrorists were interrogated about who had trained them. Was it the government of Serbia or an outside group? They said that their group did not have any ties with the government of Serbia, but many people believed that it did.
The incident stirred up the anger between the countries of Austria-Hungary and Serbia, and it renewed the conflicts between the two nations. Austria-Hungary blamed the incident on Serbia. On July 28, 1914, exactly one month after Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie had been shot, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. World War I began.
The Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand
Questions
_____ 1. The incident that started World War I was the assassination of ______.
A. Archduke Ferdinand
B. the King of Austria Hungary
C. Gavrilo Princip
D. Sophie
_____ 2. The Serbians were unhappy because Austria-Hungary had taken over ______.
A. Hungary
B. Bosnia
C. Serbia
D. Austria
_____ 3. Austria-Hungary blamed the assassination on ______.
A. Bosnia
B. Austria
C. Hungary
D. Serbia
_____ 4. Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated while he was ______.
A. attending a reception
B. making a speech
C. sailing in a ship
D. riding in a car
_____ 5. The war began ______ after the assassination.
A. one week
B. one month
C. the next day
D. two years
_____ 6. The assassin was ______.
A. acting alone
B. part of a group
C. a teenager
D. both b and c
7. Sarajevo was a dangerous place for the Archduke to visit because of ______.
A. the conflict between Austria-Hungary and the Serbian nationalists
B. a battle that had just occurred there
C. the high rate of violent crime there
D. none of the above
8. A person who is a nationalist would ______.
A. support a peace treaty between his country and another country
B. work on a compromise
C. plan attacks
D. always put his own nation's interests first
What is the sum of 10 and 132?
Draw a small clock that shows 10 minutes past 9:00.
Is 37 a composite or a prime number?
If you exchange 70 dimes for dollars, then how many dollars would you get?
12, 24, 36, 48, 60, ____, 84, 96, 108, 120
Name the shape with five sides and five angles.
double 30 =
Amanda has 28 nickels. How much money is that?
Write the number that has exactly 15 ones.
How many total legs are on 23 elephants.
Write the number that is one ten more than 6,279.
Draw a small clock that shows 20 minutes to 6:00.
word root dure can mean lasting or to last endure
Add or subtract.
1. 441 + 998
2. 819,887 - 2,030
3. 8,442,202 - 4,494,113
4. 48,317 + 48,358
5. 1,869 + 24,436 + 3,430
6. 2,393,554 + 2,393,635
7. 270,032 - 55,217
8. 277 + 401
9. 869 - 858
10. 766,731 + 7,738,840
11. 19,691 - 1,917
12. 86,551 + 86,615
13. 4,987 + 28,460 + 8,405
14. 644,233 - 355,248
15. 8,240,035 + 8,473
16. 667 + 759
17. 479,097 - 43,723
18. 7,123 - 5,945
19. 5,306,495 - 5,306,475
20. 3,645 + 18,311 + 4,104
21. 942 - 276
22. 2,168,174 + 21,652
23. 6,746 + 13,808 + 3,532
24. 5,496,211 + 86,621
25. 641 - 297
26. 5,447 - 5,412
27. 539,147 + 539,221
28. 5,140 + 3,366
29. 227 + 51,165
30. 9,442,932 - 8,097,452
31. 482,453 + 691,735
32. 36,200 - 255
33. 9,970 + 97,768 + 7,253
34. 1,701 - 1,681
35. 779,518 + 779,560
36. 188,328 + 5,557
37. 7,828,976 - 7,828,924
38. 76,554 - 644
39. 922 - 330
40. 955 + 4,680 + 925
AMI WORK
TUESDAY,
MARCH 31ST
Checkmate
By Jane Runyon
Have you ever read stories about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table? Does living in that time period sound so exciting to you? Do you know what life was like at that time? Chess is a game that can give you an idea about life centuries ago.
Chess was actually played first in China, India, and Persia. Historians aren't quite sure where the game began. Chess can be tracked back to the eighth century. The Moors invaded Persia at that time. The Persians taught their conquerors the game. The Moors later invaded Spain. They took the game of chess with them. From Spain, it spread all over Europe.
It was the Europeans who gave the pieces in chess the names we know today. They took the game that the Moors had given them and made it their own. They used the names they gave to the pieces to show the way they lived. The lives of early Europeans were very structured. There were different classes in European society. Some classes were at the top of the ranks. They were privileged in many areas of life. There were also the very low classes. They were expected to do all the work for the upper classes. Their lives were not worth much to the privileged classes.
Let's take a look at the pieces used in chess. Maybe that will help you to see how their lives were lived. There are more pawns on a chess board than any other piece. The pawns represented the laborers who were called serfs. Serfs were considered to be the property of the rich land owners. Their lives were very hard. The masters worked them to death sometimes. They could be traded or sold to other landowners. Many lost their lives for the landowner's comfort. In chess, the pawn can be sacrificed to protect the king and queen.
Chess has a castle for each opponent. This castle is called a rook. It represents the home of the king and queen.
The finest soldiers in medieval times were called knights. They protected the king and queen. In chess, you will find two knights on each side. Knights are more important than the pawns in a chess game as they were in real life. Knights are often sacrificed in a chess game much like the pawns. The knight is represented by a horse in most chess sets.
The church of medieval times is represented on the chess board by a bishop. The church was very important in those days. Each player begins a chess game with two bishops. The mitered hat of a bishop is the feature of the chess piece.
Women are represented on a chess board by only one piece. She is the queen. There may be only one queen, but she is the most powerful piece on the board. It is often said that in medieval times that the queen was the power behind the throne. It may have looked like the king was making all of the decisions. The queen often had the king's ear. She let her feelings be known through him. In many cases, the queen was so good at what she did, the king never realized that his wife was really ruling the kingdom.
The queen may be the most powerful chess piece, but the king is the most important. It is also the tallest chess piece. It is the job of every other chess piece to protect the king at all costs. That is just exactly how life went in medieval days. Common people, soldiers, and the church sacrificed themselves to keep the kingdom from being conquered. Chess pieces all work together to protect their royal family. If the king is defeated, the whole kingdom is lost.
A chess game is set up to show the struggle between two kingdoms to keep from being conquered. Early Europeans used their skills of strategy and decision making to wage imaginary wars on the chess board. Playing chess today takes the use of those same skills. The next time you play, try to imagine that it is your kingdom you are protecting. Look at each of the pieces as part of your kingdom.
Checkmate
Questions
1. Chess has been played for centuries.
A. True
B. False
2. What is the most important piece on a chess board?
A. King
B. Bishop
C. Knight
D. Queen
3. What group of people brought chess to Europe?
A. Moors
B. Chinese
C. Indians
D. Persians
4. How do chess pieces show what kind of people lived long ago?
5. What skills are important to anyone playing chess?
6. What does the chess piece representing the knight look like?
A. A helmet
B. A horse
C. A castle
D. A suit of armor
7. What is another name for the castle?
A. Home
B. Bishop
C. Rook
D. Pawn
8. What piece represents the church?
A. Bishop
B. Rook
C. Knight
D. King
9. Which of the following is an idiom?
A. The queen often had the king's ear.
B. The finest soldiers in medieval times were called knights.
C. Some classes were at the top of the ranking.
D. The pawn can be sacrificed to protect the king and queen.
10. Find an example of personification from the story.
A. It was the Europeans who gave the pieces in chess the names we know today.
B. Chess is a game that can give you an idea about life centuries ago.
C. The church was very important in those days.
D. Chess pieces all work together to protect their royal family.
There's a Magnet in My Speaker
By Kathleen W. Redman
Magnets have many uses. Some of them are very obvious. Magnets can hold paper to a refrigerator. Magnets on a purse or a laptop computer can hold them shut. A magnet on the end of a string can help recover a dropped tool or key. There are many places magnets aren't obvious. Did you know there are magnets in cars? Did you know magnets are used in your television? They are used in speakers and microwave ovens. Magnets are everywhere!
Magnets are a very important part of speakers. The speakers in your computer, television, and headphones have magnets in them. Without magnets, they wouldn't work at all.
Speakers have only a few parts. There's the cone, the voice coil, and a magnet. The cone is the part of the speaker where the sound comes from. Many cones are made of paper or plastic. Some are made of metal. They look like really wide, flat ice cream cones.
The voice coil is attached to the center of the cone. The voice coil is wrapped up wire. The wire is formed into a cylinder. This cylinder of wire fits into a round gap in the magnet. In some speakers, the magnet is big and heavy. In other speakers, like the ones in headphones, the magnet is tiny.
The coil inside the magnet has alternating current running through it. Sound reaches the coil as electricity. The coil acts as an electromagnet and pulls itself up or pushes itself down in response to the magnet inside the speaker. Its motion moves the cone of the speaker.
When the cone of the speaker moves, it creates sound waves in the air in front of it. The sound waves travel through the air to your ears, and you hear the music!
If there were no magnets in the speakers, the electricity wouldn't cause the voice coil to vibrate. If the voice coil didn't vibrate, the cone wouldn't move. If the cone didn't move, there would be no sound from the speaker. That's why a speaker is one of the many places you'll find a magnet!
Questions
1. The main purpose the writer has for this article is to:
A. persuade the reader to buy one brand of speaker
B. inform the reader about why speakers have magnets in them
C. describe to the reader the many different kinds of magnets that exist
D. entertain the reader
2. Which sentence in paragraph 1 is hyperbole?
A. Magnets can hold a purse or a laptop computer shut.
B. Magnets have many uses.
C. Magnets are everywhere!
D. Magnets can hold paper to a refrigerator.
3. Name three parts of a speaker.
4. Sound reaches the voice coil as ______.
A. electricity
B. noise
C. Morse code
D. garbled speech
5. The cone vibrates and creates _____ in the air in front of it.
A. light
B. resistance
C. electricity
D. waves
6. There are magnets in the speakers in a television.
A. false
B. true
7. All magnets are the same size.
A. false
B. true
Have you ever played with magnets or done an experiment with magnets? Write about what you did.
Our planet is an important member of the solar system. However, did you know that the Earth is also a system? A system is an organized group of related objects or components that work independently and interact to create a whole. The sizes of systems vary; however, all systems have boundaries. Most systems, like the Earth system, have matter and energy that flow freely through the system. Our Earth system runs smoothly due to the combination of smaller components that link our planet together. To understand our system, we need to start with matter and energy.
Matter, which is anything that has mass and takes up space, is one of the two most basic components of our universe. Matter can be in the form of atoms, molecules, or larger objects both living and nonliving. Energy, the other basic component, is the ability to do work. The transfer of energy comes in many forms like heat, light, or electromagnetic waves. Scientists, to describe systems, can use these two components, specifically how matter and energy are transferred within a system. How matter and energy are transferred determines whether the system is closed or open. A closed system is a system where only energy is transferred or exchanged with its surroundings. Matter is not part of this exchange. An open system includes the transfer and exchange of both matter and energy with the system’s surroundings. All of the systems on Earth are classified as open systems. However, the Earth system as a whole is considered a closed system because there is a limit to how much matter is exchanged.
Our Earth system has four spheres: the atmosphere, the biosphere, the hydrosphere, and the geosphere. Our atmosphere is made of gases that surround our surface. The breakdown of gases is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases. Without it, our air supply would be nonexistent. Our atmosphere also shields us from the harmful ultraviolet rays that are given off by the sun. The hydrosphere, which covers about 70% of our surface, includes our planet's water supply. About 97% of our surface water is found in our oceans and 3% is considered fresh water. The only water not included in this sphere is the water that is found in our atmosphere. As you may have guessed, our geosphere is the solid part of earth that we stand on each day. This sphere includes all of the rock and soil on our planet's surface and on its ocean floor. It also contains the interior parts of Earth both solid and molten. The interior of our planet accounts for the largest volume of matter on Earth. The last sphere, the biosphere, includes all life on our planet, which exist in the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. It also contains organic matter that has not been decomposed. When this matter decomposes, it becomes part of the other three spheres in the system. The biosphere's boundaries extend from the ocean depths to a few kilometers above our planet's surface.
The Earth has access to two sources of energy- internal and external. Internal sources of energy include the heat that is produced from the Earth's core. Our external energy source (and the most important) is the sun. Since the Earth's birth, the sun has provided a major source of energy for our planet. We also receive energy from the gravitational energy of the moon and sun. This pull of the sun and moon on our oceans, produces tides and currents that mix our ocean waters. In addition to energy sources, our planet has cycles that are important to the
The nitrogen cycle, the carbon cycle, the phosphorous cycle, and the water cycle rely on the Earth's energy sources to work effectively. Cycles are processes where matter and energy move repeatedly through a series of reservoirs or storehouses. The nitrogen cycle helps organisms to build the necessary protein to build cells. The Earth's carbon cycle provides the fuel that organisms need to perform life processes. Some living organisms need phosphorous to help build cells. The phosphorous cycle sends phosphorous through all of the Earth's spheres except our atmosphere. Finally, our water cycle is responsible for the regeneration of our water supply over time. Water moves continuously from our atmosphere to our surface and back to the atmosphere. In *System Earth, Part 2*, we will move through these cycles in more detail.
**System Earth, Part 1**
**Questions**
1. Why is the Earth considered a system?
2. In a closed system, ______.
A. Energy is removed from the system's surroundings
B. Energy is transferred or exchanged with the system's surroundings
C. Energy and matter are transferred or exchanged with the system's surroundings
D. Energy and matter are removed from the system's surroundings
3. Identify the two main sources of energy in the Earth's system.
4. Fresh water makes up ______ of our planet's water supply.
A. 3%
B. 2%
C. 15%
D. 97%
5. What are the four main cycles that exist within the Earth system?
6. The element nitrogen makes up the ______.
A. Largest percent of our geosphere
B. Largest percent of our atmosphere
C. Smallest percent of our geosphere
D. Smallest percent of our atmosphere
7. Explain how the meanings of these words differ: *biosphere* and *geosphere*.
8. Explain how the meanings of these words differ: *hydrosphere* and *atmosphere*.
Cause and Effect
Match the cause with its effect.
| Cause | Effect |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1. The iron shoe flew from the horse's hoof as the animal galloped down the road. | a. The blacksmith came and nailed another one in place. |
| 2. My friend Millie and I went to a picnic today. | b. The weeds grew and took over. |
| 3. Sidney forgot to tune his violin before he played. | c. We brought a cooler full of food. |
| 4. Someone removed the bookmark from between the pages. | d. A new oak tree germinated from it and grew. |
| 5. Bob brushes his teeth after every meal. | e. His dentist was pleased that he had no cavities. |
| 6. The tiny acorn tumbled from the tree into the rich soil. | f. He made an awful face as he spat it out. |
| 7. The formal flower garden was neglected. | g. It sounded awful. |
| 8. Joe wasn't paying attention and drank a big mouthful of sour milk.| h. The blaze was soon under control. |
| 9. Nobody emptied the sharpener. | i. The reader couldn't find his place. |
| 10. The fireman turned on the hose. | j. Pencil shavings fell to the floor. |
Erica has many interests, but her first love has always been building things. She thought she'd like construction work, but she didn't know how to get started. Her woodshop teacher said, "Go downtown to the carpenters' union office. They have a program for apprentices. They'll train you and put you to work with an experienced carpenter. And since it's union work, you'll be getting good pay, health insurance, and other great benefits while you learn."
Erica's friend Joe went with her to check it out. The carpenters' union was in the same building as the Central Labor Council. There, Joe learned there were union programs for apprentices in many other trades as well—plumbing, plastering, roofing, welding, sheet metal work, and more. Apprentices in each program attended classes. And they were also trained on the job by skilled workers called journeymen. Journeymen got paid high wages.
The secretary of the labor council told Joe and Erica to look for "Labor Organizations" in the yellow pages of the phone book. Or they could find information on the Internet. They soon discovered that almost all the programs require an apprentice candidate to have a high school diploma or to have passed the GED (General Educational Development) test. (A GED is the equivalent of a high school diploma.)
After passing entry-level tests, Erica went into the carpentry program, and Joe became a plumber's apprentice. Both of them appreciated that they were earning wages as they learned their jobs. That made them feel capable and independent.
The school guidance counselor told Erica's sister, Kelly, that there were internship programs for many different kinds of jobs. These positions included all kinds of computer work, landscaping, and veterinary assistance. Since Kelly was an animal lover, she was excited about getting an internship with a veterinarian. She was eager to learn how to take care of all kinds of ill and injured animals. Soon she was taking classroom courses half of the day and getting on-the-job training at a veterinary hospital the other half.
Both internship programs and apprenticeships offer a clear path toward success. A combination of course work plus training on the job is one of the very best ways to get started.
Thinking It Over
1. Some trades are
a. plumbing, carpentry, and welding.
b. skipping, hammering, and climbing.
c. woodshop, singing, telephoning.
2. Unions have special programs for
a. only six people at one time.
b. apprentices.
c. veterinarians.
3. A journeyman gets paid
a. once a year.
b. less than an apprentice.
c. high wages.
4. Coursework plus training on the job can be
a. a great way to get started.
b. boring for good students.
c. better for older people rather than younger ones.
Recalling Details
1. Where did Erica’s woodshop teacher send her to find out about construction work?
2. If you don’t have a high school diploma, you need to get a
3. To locate information about apprentice programs, Erica and Joe looked in the phone book yellow pages under ____________________________.
4. If you belong to a union, you usually get health insurance and ____________________________.
Key Vocabulary: Write a letter to match each boldface word with its meaning.
1. _____ skilled work
2. _____ skilled worker
3. _____ benefit
4. _____ intern
a. journeyman
b. trade
c. health insurance
d. a worker who acts as an assistant to a professional
Everyday Math
When Erica went to work as an apprentice, she was paid $12.40 an hour. The first week, she worked 20 hours. How much did she make that week? $_____________
On Your Own
If you had the opportunity to be an apprentice in one of the trades, which trade would you pick? Why?
Communism Comes to China
In October of 1949, after years of civil war, Mao Zedong and the Communists gained control of China. They set up a totalitarian state called the People’s Republic of China. Mao promised to build a new, strong China and to end foreign control of Chinese industries.
Mao believed in a communist economic system called Marxism. Under this system, all lands, mines, factories, and businesses would be owned by all the people. There would be no private property, and all goods and services would be shared equally. People who believed in this type of system thought that if the government controlled industry, poverty would end and everyone would be equal.
Chinese society always had been made up mostly of peasants who worked on farms. However, before Mao’s rule, Chinese farmers owned no land. Instead, landlords owned the land. Mao’s forces took the land from the landlords and split it up among the peasants. Any landlords who argued with this policy were killed.
The Communists wanted to turn China into a modern, industrial nation. The government brought all private companies under government ownership. It made a five-year plan to improve industry. By 1957, China’s businesses, including the coal, electric, and steel businesses, had improved drastically.
After this success, Mao planned another program called the Great Leap Forward. Under this plan, farmers would work together on large farms called communes. Each commune was made up of thousands of acres of land and had about 25,000 people working on it. The people worked the land together. They ate together in large communal dining rooms and slept in dormitories.
However, peasants had no reason to work hard when they could not profit from their work. The commune system slowed down farming, and bad weather added to the problems. Soon, there was not enough food to feed all the people. A great famine took place, and between 1959 and 1961, millions of Chinese people starved to death. The Great Leap Forward had failed, and the government got rid of the program.
Mistakes like the Great Leap Forward left many Chinese unhappy with communism. Mao made several major errors during the time he led China. However, many saw him as the revolutionary leader who saved their country. Today, although it is still a communist nation, China has more moderate leadership and has taken on more capitalistic ideas.
Communism Comes to China
Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer, and write the letter in the box.
1. Mao Zedong believed in a communist economic system called __________.
A. Marxism
B. capitalism
C. socialism
D. fascism
2. The Communists wanted to turn China into a/an __________ nation.
A. agricultural, peasant
B. modern, industrial
C. old-fashioned, traditional
D. modern, capitalistic
3. Under Mao’s plan, called the Great Leap Forward, __________.
A. farmers worked together in communes
B. peasants had no reason to work hard
C. millions of Chinese people starved to death
D. all of the above
4. In a Marxist economic system, there is no __________.
A. land
B. industry
C. private property
D. all of the above
5. Each commune had about __________ people working on it.
A. 2
B. 25
C. 250
D. 25,000
Communism Comes to China
Crossword Puzzle
Write the best answer in each blank, and complete the crossword puzzle.
ACROSS
1. Peasants had no reason to work hard when they could not ___________ from their work.
5. Mistakes like the Great Leap Forward left many Chinese unhappy with ___________.
8. China’s coal, electric, and steel ___________ improved drastically.
9. People who believed in Marxism thought that if the ___________ controlled industry, poverty would end and everyone would be equal.
10. Mao promised to end ___________ control of Chinese industries.
DOWN
2. In the great ___________, millions of Chinese people starved to death.
3. Mao’s forces took land from the landlords and split it among the ___________.
4. In communes, people ate together in large dining rooms and slept in ___________.
6. After years of civil war, ___________ ___________ and the Communists gained control of China.
7. Mao Zedong set up a totalitarian state called the People’s Republic of ___________.
Communism Comes to China
Time Line – China Under Mao Zedong
Use the time line to answer the following questions. Write the answers in complete sentences.
1949
- Mao Zedong announces the birth of the People’s Republic of China and pledges that China will be “independent … prosperous, and strong.”
1958
- Mao launches the Great Leap Forward, a communal farming system.
1959–1961
- A great famine hits China, and 30 million people starve to death.
1966
- Mao starts the Cultural Revolution, which is supposed to renew the revolutionary spirit in China. Mao thinks young Chinese should experience revolution as his generation did. Thousands of people are killed, and China’s economy is hurt.
1976
- Mao Zedong dies. China is ruled by more moderate leaders.
1. What was the Cultural Revolution?
2. How many years did Mao Zedong rule China?
3. What happened in 1949?
Communism Comes to China
Extension Activities
Choose one of the following activities to complete. Write the answer in complete sentences.
1. The story says that “peasants had no reason to work hard when they could not profit from their work.” Do you think this is a true statement? Think of something you have worked hard to accomplish. Did you profit from that work? Explain your answer.
2. What was the Long March in China? Look in your textbook, on the Internet, or at the library to find out.
3. Why do you think peasants liked the idea of communism at first? Explain your answer.
Quiz: Communism Comes to China
True/False
Decide if each statement is true or false, and write “true” or “false” in the blank.
1. Mao Zedong set up a totalitarian state called the People’s Republic of China.
2. Mistakes like the Great Leap Forward left many Chinese unhappy with capitalism.
3. Mao took land from the peasants and gave it to landlords.
4. Mao believed that if the government controlled industry, poverty would end and everyone would be equal.
5. In communes, people worked together in large factories.
Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer, and write the letter in the box.
6. Under Mao Zedong, China’s __________ business improved drastically.
A. coal
B. electric
C. steel
D. all of the above
7. In the great famine, ___________ of Chinese people starved to death.
A. hundreds
B. thousands
C. millions
D. billions
Short Answer
Answer the following question in complete sentences.
8. What was the Great Leap Forward?
Simplify.
1. $55 + 30 - 53$
2. $46 \div 2 \times 4 \times 2$
3. $36 \div 4 - 4$
4. $94 \times 3 - 42$
5. $56 \div 8 + 4$
6. $78 - 36 \div 6$
7. $8 - 5 + 4$
8. $9 \times 1 - 4 + 3$
9. $26 \div 2 \times 32$
10. $48 \div 4 - 2$
11. $64 + 68 \div 2$
12. $7 + 2 \times 18$
13. $60 \div 5 - 5$
14. $5 + 12 + 1 - 3$
15. $85 \times 77 \div 7$
16. $7 + 24 \times 54$
17. $9 + 43 - 3$
18. $85 \times 50 + 36 \times 5$
19. $59 - 31 - 1$
20. $7 \times 2 + 42 \times 4$
21. $8 + 2 + 5$
22. $35 \div 5 \times 36$
23. $90 \div 6 - 1$
24. $9 \times 5 - 37 + 3$
25. $16 \div 4 - 3$
26. $96 \div 8 \times 30$
27. $5 + 36 \div 9$
28. $7 \times 5 + 1$
29. $57 \times 27 \div 9$
30. $83 + 3 - 24$
31. $69 - 16 \div 8$
32. $6 \times 40 - 1$
33. $9 \times 10 + 49$
34. $60 \div 5 \times 3 \times 1$
35. $74 + 28 \times 5$
36. $72 - 2 - 46$
37. $58 \div 2 + 5$
38. $9 + 23 + 54$
39. $82 \times 3 + 5$
40. $49 \div 7 - 4$
41. $8 - 54 + 42 \times 25$
42. $68 - 1 \times 41$
43. $84 \div 6 + 42 - 52$
44. $72 \div 6 \times 10$
45. $9 + 2 + 38 \times 1$
AMI WORK
WEDNESDAY,
APRIL 1ST
Stickers and Bananas
By Phyllis Naegeli
Melissa sat on a bench outside school watching the buses pull up to the curb. The door of the first bus opened, and her friend Caroline stepped off. Caroline walked over and stopped in front of her. Melissa looked down at the ground and pouted.
Caroline put her hands on her hips. "What's your problem?"
"I'm just having a bad day," said Melissa in a grumpy voice.
"You don't remember, do you?" asked Caroline as she sat down next to Melissa.
"Remember what?" Melissa asked puzzled.
"Today is The Great American Grump Out. Don't you remember? We talked about it last week," said Caroline.
"Oh, I forgot!" said Melissa, putting her hand to her mouth.
Caroline frowned. "You just can't be grumpy today! We're supposed to pass out smiley face stickers and encourage everyone to be cheerful. You're going to ruin it if you can't smile."
Melissa giggled. "Now you're the one who's grumpy."
Caroline let out a yell and then started laughing. "It's all your fault!"
The two girls laughed together for a few minutes.
"I feel better now," said Melissa. "I guess I just got up on the wrong side of the bed today."
"What does that mean, anyway?" said Caroline, chuckling a little more.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's like getting off on the wrong foot," said Melissa, giggling.
Caroline reached into her backpack and pulled out a small package. "Here are your stickers. Let's go over what we're going to do. Give everyone you can a smiley face sticker and say 'SMILE.'" She reached into her backpack again. "Here, I brought you something," she said as she handed a banana to Melissa.
Melissa looked puzzled. "A banana?"
"Yup, according to the website, it's the official fruit for today. Hold it up sideways."
Melissa held the banana up sideways with the ends pointing down.
"Not that way! Turn it over so the ends point up," said Caroline, reaching for the banana and helping Melissa turn it over.
"See? It makes a smile," said Caroline, holding another banana the same way.
"Cute," said Melissa. "Come on, we need to get to class. Let's see how many stickers we can give away before the bell rings."
The girls stood up and headed into school. Caroline took her jacket off as they walked into the building. She was wearing a t-shirt with a big smiley face on the front. Across the bottom of her shirt under the face was the word "SMILE."
"Great t-shirt," Melissa said sadly. "I'm sorry I forgot about today."
"It's O.K.," said Caroline, putting her arm around her friend's shoulder. "Let's just make it the best day ever!"
"We will!" Melissa said brightly.
As they walked down the hall toward their classroom, the girls took stickers and put them on their friends' shirts, books, or anywhere they could reach quickly.
"It's The Great American Grump Out," said Melissa as she stuck a smiley face sticker on Jacob's shirt. "Smile!"
Jacob looked at the sticker and smiled hesitantly. "Thanks."
"Hey, Todd! It's The Great American Grump Out! Have a banana! And a sticker!" Caroline said as she reached out and stuck a sticker on Todd's shirtsleeve.
Todd stopped in front of Caroline and peeled the sticker off. He looked at it and laughed. "What's The Great American Grump Out?"
"It's today," said Melissa.
"I figured that," Todd said sarcastically. "But WHAT is it?"
Caroline explained, "It's a day to stop being grumpy. The world is too grumpy. Everybody is so busy and stressed that no one takes the time to smile or try to make someone happy. I read about it online and I thought it would be fun to help people lighten up a little. So I bought smiley face stickers and bananas to hand out."
"Why bananas?" asked Todd.
"When you point the ends up, it makes a smile!" said Melissa, holding a banana with the ends pointing up. "See?"
"Oh, right," said Todd, rolling his eyes.
"Do you want to help us?" asked Melissa.
"I don't know," said Todd, grimacing and shaking his head back and forth.
"Oh, come on. It'll be fun!" said Caroline. "Here are some stickers. Just smile and stick these on people. Tell them it's The Great American Grump Out," said Caroline.
"Oh, alright. I'll do it," said Todd a bit reluctantly.
Caroline explained a little more about the day to encourage Todd. "You know, stress can cause us to get sick. When we laugh, it can help us to feel better. We relax and look at things a lot differently when we have some humor in our lives. So if you know a good joke or two, go ahead and tell them to people. Just help your friends to get rid of their grumpiness!"
"Tell jokes, huh?" Todd said, tapping his finger on his temple. "I'm sure I can come up with a couple."
"I'm sure you can," said Melissa, rolling her eyes.
"We better get to class; the bell is going to ring any second. See you later, Todd," said Caroline.
"Yeah, and thanks. I feel a joke coming on already," said Todd, waving to the girls as he walked away.
"Do you think he'll pass out the stickers?" asked Melissa.
"I think he will. You know how Todd loves to joke around," said Caroline.
"I guess you're right. He is a joker. This is the perfect day for him," said Melissa.
"And us," said Caroline with a wink.
**Stickers and Bananas**
**Questions**
1. Where were Caroline and Melissa?
A. at home
B. at the park
C. on the school bus
D. at school
2. Which of the following happened first?
A. Caroline gave Melissa a banana.
B. Caroline gave Todd a sticker.
C. Caroline got off the bus.
D. Melissa cheered up.
3. Which of the following did not happen in the story?
A. Todd took some stickers to pass out.
B. Todd ate the banana.
C. Melissa put a sticker on Jacob's shirt.
D. Caroline sat down with Melissa.
4. Which of the following are reasons Caroline gave for The Great American Grump Out?
A. to help people lighten up
B. to try to make people smile
C. to help people get rid of grumpiness
D. all of the above
E. a and b only
5. What do you think "getting up on the wrong side of the bed" means?
6. What did Caroline give Todd?
A. a banana
B. a sticker
C. a banana and a sticker
D. none of the above
7. Melissa forgot about the plans she and Caroline had made for the Great American Grump Out.
A. false
B. true
8. Caroline wore a bright red sweater to celebrate the day.
A. true
B. false
If You Happen on a Hobbit
By Kathleen W. Redman
If you happen on a hobbit
On a fine summer's day,
Be careful of his feet.
They may be in your way.
A hobbit's feet are big, you see
And hairy on the top.
If you happen on a hobbit
On a fine winter's day,
His clothes of red, green, yellow, and gold
Will take your breath away.
A hobbit's clothes are bright, you see
And worn with simple pride.
If you happen on a hobbit
On a fine autumn day,
He will run all the way home
Into his hobbit hole to stay.
A hobbit's home is safe, you see
Behind its door so round.
If you happen on a hobbit
On a fine springtime day,
Say, "I greet you well, my friend,"
And send him on his way.
A hobbit is a merry sort, you see
And loves to meet a friend.
Questions
1. What does a hobbit have?
A. short feet
B. small feet
C. three feet
D. large feet
2. What is different about a hobbit's feet?
3. What colors does a hobbit wear?
4. A hobbit is _____ his clothes.
A. embarrassed by
B. proud of
C. ashamed of
D. careless with
5. What shape is the door to a hobbit's home?
A. square
B. rectangular
C. round
D. triangular
6. During what season does the writer say you should greet a hobbit?
A. summer
B. fall
C. winter
D. spring
7. A hobbit is a _____ sort.
A. sad
B. merry
C. angry
D. moody
8. What will a hobbit's clothes take away?
A. your money
B. your breath
C. the sunshine
D. the seasons
9. What does it mean if someone tells you that something will "take your breath away"?
Main Idea
Read the paragraph and then select the main idea for the paragraph.
1. Melody and Jessica lay on the cool grass. It was just before Easter. Spring had arrived. Birds were singing. The flowers were blooming around them, and the grass tickled their bare feet. However, they were paying more attention to the sky. They were looking at clouds and pretending they were pictures.
The main idea in this passage is:
- A) Birds were singing.
- B) Grass tickled their feet.
- C) Melody and Jessica were cold.
- D) Melody and Jessica were looking at clouds and pretending they were pictures.
2. Jane was asked to write a poem. It would be in their class paper. Since April is "Keep America Beautiful" month, Jane wrote a poem about trash. She wanted people to stop throwing trash on the ground. Every day, she saw litter on the side of the road. She even saw bags of trash dumped into a stream near her house. She hated seeing all of it. She hoped her poem would get people excited about cleaning up. It got her excited!
The main idea in this passage is:
- A) Jane saw litter every day.
- B) Jane wrote a poem about trash.
- C) Jane wanted readers to become excited about cleaning up.
- D) April is "Keep America Beautiful" month.
3. Tara and Tammy planned a tea party. The theme would be the letter T. They invited three friends. Tracy, Tori, and Trina would come at two o'clock. Tara and Tammy made ten tiny sandwiches. They also put out twelve thin mint cookies. They laid out a teal tablecloth. They put out two dishes per person. Each also got a tea cup and tea spoon.
The main idea in this passage is:
- A) Three friends were invited to the party.
- B) Tea parties are the most fun parties of all.
- C) Mint cookies would be shared at the party.
- D) Tara and Tammy planned a tea party.
Mario couldn't find a good job in the classified ads, so he looked up "Employment Agencies" in the yellow pages. He was surprised at how many there were! Several agencies specialized in listing full-time professional, financial, or administrative jobs. Another agency focused on construction and manual labor. But a few agencies featured temporary jobs, which is what Mario wanted. Some of these temporary assignments even provided benefits such as health plans and vacations.
So, Mario went job hunting at a temporary agency. He thought he might have to pay a fee to use their services. But it turned out that employers of various companies paid the agency to find dependable workers for them.
First, Mario was thoroughly evaluated. His interview with the agency staff worker included an aptitude test and a personal history check. After discussing the results, Mario and the staff worker agreed that he would be best at office tasks. One of the forms he filled out became his résumé. (A résumé is a brief, written account of personal, educational, and professional information.) The next day, Mario was hired after his first job interview! Now he would be working in the mailroom of a nearby high-tech firm.
Mario's neighbor, Susan, got job help from the state Department of Employment Development. The EDD, as it was called, offered a huge list of jobs and job descriptions on the Internet. Free to the public, the job search program was available at career centers all around the state. At these centers, users could search for local, state, or national jobs. The program also offered easy-to-use electronic résumé forms. Making a résumé was as simple as answering the questions the computer asked.
Susan was able to make an instant document about her work experience and interests. Then, if she found a good listing, the computer could instantly e-mail her new résumé to that employer.
Job-seekers who lived miles from an EDD career center were helped to find jobs, too. They could use their own computers—or the ones at their local library—to connect with the job listings.
Thinking It Over: Write T for true or F for false.
1. Employment agencies are listed in the yellow pages of the phone book.
2. The last place to look for a job is the classified ads.
3. Employment agencies have listings for part-time jobs.
4. State-supported employment offices help people find work.
5. Computers in public libraries can be used to do job searches.
6. State employment departments charge job-seekers high fees.
Key Vocabulary
1. To evaluate someone for a job is to
a. judge whether the person is able and willing to do the job.
b. recommend the person to an employer.
c. elevate the person to a higher position.
2. A résumé is a
a. type of receptionist.
b. written account of personal, educational, and professional information.
c. complete account of your family history.
3. Typical job benefits are
a. health plans and vacations.
b. tests and interviews.
c. free lunches.
Recalling Details
1. Some employment agencies focus on jobs
a. that are done only at night.
b. involving construction and manual labor.
c. that offer work experience but no salary.
2. An interview at an employment agency will
a. take a week or even longer.
b. help the staff worker find out what type of work a person is suited for.
c. be a lot like a history test.
3. Your personal history includes information about your
a. height and weight.
b. education and work experience.
c. brothers and sisters.
Everyday Math
Jonah was certified as a lifeguard. There were two lifeguard jobs available at the city swimming pool. A lifeguard was needed from 1 to 6 P.M., five days a week. A swimming teacher was also needed to teach from 9 to 11 A.M. three days a week and 2 to 4 P.M. two afternoons a week. Which position offers the most hours—teacher or lifeguard?
How many more? ______ hours
On Your Own
What’s the most important thing you’d want an employment agency to know about you?
Compare. Write <, >, or =.
1. 398 _______ 358
2. 6,713 _______ 6,173
3. 4,887,674,000 _______ 4,887,672,937
4. 56,312 _______ 56,132
5. 1,040,644 _______ 1,010,950
6. 23,731 _______ 24,330
7. 58,260 _______ 82,284
8. 42 _______ 42
9. 6,583,884 _______ 66,011,315
10. 283 _______ 293
11. 305 _______ 114
12. 62,957 _______ 69,257
13. 27,621,166 _______ 27,622,000
14. 5,714 _______ 5,720
15. 91,087 _______ 56,218
16. 10,945 _______ 10,985
17. 40,259,619 _______ 4,108,712
18. 9,258 _______ 9,528
19. 335,619 _______ 336,184
20. 742 _______ 712
21. 3,385,721 _______ 3,386,121
22. 4,889 _______ 6,835
23. 75 _______ 79
24. 50,267,843 _______ 50,276,843
25. 94,684 _______ 9,379
26. 432,758 _______ 472,358
27. 5,233 _______ 5,189
28. 1,966,100 _______ 1,966,076
29. 982,164 _______ 912,864
30. 775,630 _______ 775,966
Japan ruled Korea from 1910 until 1945. After World War II, Korea was freed from Japanese control and divided into two zones. The 38th parallel of north latitude was the border between the two zones. The Soviet Union occupied North Korea, and the United States occupied South Korea. The plan was to have both sides come together again with national elections.
The Cold War changed everything. Because of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, it became impossible to peacefully reunite Korea. By 1949, Soviet and American troops had left Korea, but the country stayed divided. The two sides threatened to attack each other.
In 1950, the North Korean army invaded South Korea. American leaders quickly decided that the United States needed to step in. North Korea is a communist nation, and American leaders did not want communism to spread. In June 1950, President Harry S Truman sent troops and weapons to help South Korea. Truman asked the United Nations (UN) to help push the North Korean army out of South Korea. The UN is an organization of countries created to promote world peace and cooperation. The UN army was mostly made up of Americans and South Koreans.
General Douglas MacArthur of the United States led the UN army. It pushed the North Korean army out of South Korea. Instead of stopping there, though, General MacArthur got permission from President Truman to invade North Korea. The UN troops moved north and got too close to the border between North Korea and China. China entered the war.
Americans became unsure of what the goal was in Korea. The UN troops had been sent to stop the spread of communism, so why did the troops keep going after they had pushed the North Korean army out of South Korea? Americans did not want to enter a war with China.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected President in 1952. He went to Korea to see what was happening there. During his visit, he saw that there was no way to win the war. There was no point in fighting anymore.
An armistice agreement was signed in July 1953. The agreement said there would be a 2.5-mile-wide buffer zone across Korea. There could be no troops or weapons in this demilitarized zone. The agreement ended the fighting, but North Korea and South Korea never signed a final peace treaty. Today, soldiers still face each other across the demilitarized zone.
THE KOREAN WAR
Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer, and write the letter in the box.
1. After World War II, the Soviet Union occupied ________.
A. North Korea
B. South Korea
C. East Korea
D. West Korea
2. In ________, the North Korean army invaded South Korea.
A. 1900
B. 1950
C. 1975
D. 2000
3. The UN army was mostly made up of South Koreans and ________.
A. Chinese
B. North Koreans
C. Americans
D. all of the above
4. President ________ went to Korea to see what was happening and decided to stop the fighting.
A. Truman
B. Hoover
C. Roosevelt
D. Eisenhower
5. North and South Korea never ________.
A. stopped fighting
B. agreed to a 2.5-mile-wide buffer zone across Korea
C. signed a final peace treaty
D. none of the above
THE KOREAN WAR
Crossword Puzzle
Write the best answer in each blank, and complete the crossword puzzle.
ACROSS
1. The __________ ________ is an organization of countries created to promote world peace and cooperation.
6. The UN troops got too close to the border between North Korea and __________, so China entered the war.
8. __________ was elected President in 1952.
10. Americans helped South Korea because the United States did not want __________ to spread.
DOWN
2. __________ Korea has a communist government.
3. The original plan was to have North and South Korea come together again with national __________.
4. UN __________ were sent to stop the spread of communism.
5. Today, __________ still face each other across the demilitarized zone.
7. A/an __________ agreement says there can be no troops or weapons in the demilitarized zone.
9. After World War II, the United States occupied __________ Korea.
1. How does North Korea’s location make it seem more likely than South Korea to be a communist nation?
2. What river separates China from North Korea?
3. What boundary separates North Korea from South Korea?
THE KOREAN WAR
Extension Activities
Choose one of the following activities to complete. Write the answer in complete sentences.
1. General Douglas MacArthur was removed from command of the UN army in Korea. Look on the Internet or at the library to find out why he was removed from command.
2. Look on the Internet or at the library to find out three facts about today’s North Korea.
3. What do you think would happen if either North Korea or South Korea crossed the demilitarized zone? Explain your answer.
QUIZ: THE KOREAN WAR
True/False
Decide if each statement is true or false, and write “true” or “false” in the blank.
1. The United Nations is an organization created to promote world peace and cooperation.
2. South Korea had a communist government.
3. UN troops were sent to help North and South Korea come together again.
4. North Korea fought against China in the Korean War.
5. North and South Korea never signed a final peace treaty.
Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer, and write the letter in the box.
6. The United States helped ________ in the Korean War.
A. North Korea
B. South Korea
C. China
D. Vietnam
7. After ________, the Soviet Union occupied North Korea.
A. the Spanish-American War
B. the Great Depression
C. World War I
D. World War II
Short Answer
Answer the following question in complete sentences.
8. What is located at the 38th parallel of north latitude?
In *The Nature of Science, Part 1*, we discussed the early steps of the scientific method. After conducting the experiment, you need to begin your analysis. Scientific analysis includes measurement. Remember, when you measure, you compare an aspect of an object or event with a standard unit. Scientists worldwide use the *International System of Measurements* or *SI* which is based on intervals of 10 (metric system). This system includes the standard measurement for length, mass, temperature, and volume. Scientists look for *accuracy* and *precision* in their measurements. Accuracy represents how close a measurement is to the true value of the object or event being measured. Precision is the exactness of a measurement. For example, measuring the amount of nonfat lasagna eaten by the freshmen in pounds may be less precise than measuring that same amount in ounces. French fries may be another story!
Scientific measurement also focuses on *error* of measurements and *models* to help obtain those measurements. Error is the expression of the amount of imprecision or change in a set of measurements. This is usually written as *percentage error* or *confidence interval*. The confidence interval describes a range of values for a specific percentage of measurements. Percentage error is calculated using the following equation:
\[
\text{percent error} = \left[ \frac{\text{(accepted value - experimental value)}}{\text{accepted value}} \right] \times 100
\]
Models are used to simulate conditions in nature. They can be a description, representation, or imitation of objects, systems, and events in nature. There are five types of models: conceptual models, mathematical models, computer models, physical models, and graphical models.
After scientists finish their research, they present their findings to a *peer review*. A peer review includes scientists who are knowledgeable about the presenting scientist's field. They examine the scientist's results and conclusions to determine their validity. The panel can offer suggestions for improvement; state that the conclusions are faulty and recommend they not be published; or determine that the results are valid and should be published.
Once scientific results are published, this paves the way for other scientists to conduct experiments to expand on these results. This experimentation could continue for many years. Once an idea has been tested numerous times and its results have become the accepted standard, a *theory* may be born. Theories are explanations that are consistent with all existing results of experiments and observations. They are usually based on scientific laws, which are general statements that explain how nature behaves under certain circumstances. Scientific laws are free from exceptions. Theories and scientific laws are not set in stone. Scientists may change theories and scientific laws in the future, if they find information that conflicts with previous research results.
All of the scientific laws and theories help us to gain more knowledge about our world. The increase in our scientific knowledge has a tremendous impact on our society. During the last twenty years, technology has advanced with amazing speed. Technology that was initially designed for use in space exploration and the military has been adapted to use in everyday life. GPS tracking systems (satellite tracking) once used only by aircraft have been adapted for use in automobiles. With the increase in technology, there has been an increase in problems associated with the technology. The internet has allowed us to access information twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Unfortunately, for all of the positive and necessary information we acquire, there is also negative information that is available. The use of computers to track natural resources has become an issue. As we locate more resources like oil, we disrupt natural habitats to seek this resource. Is it worth affecting natural habitats to get more oil resources? Scientists must think about that question. As they research and create new technology, scientists must think about the benefits, risks, and costs (human and monetary) to having this technology. Keep in mind; it has only been about twenty years since we got up to turn our televisions to different channels.
Copyright © 2020 edHelper
1. A peer review is a process where experts from a scientific field ______.
- A) Vote on whether a scientist's results should be studied before publication
- B) Research the area of science related to a scientist's study before publication
- C) Examine the results of a scientist's study before it is accepted for publication
- D) None of the above
2. Compare theory and scientific law.
3. If the accepted value for one gallon of water is 3.8 liters and the measured value is 3.2 liters for one gallon of water, what is the percentage error for the measurement? (round to the nearest tenth)
4. Compare the following terms: accuracy and precision
5. Why do you think scientists worldwide use the International System of Measurements during their experiments?
6. The Earth’s accepted average pole-to-pole circumference is 40,007 km. If a scientist measures the circumference at 39,989 km, what is the measurement’s percentage error?
7. About twenty years ago, people purchased their music at music stores. New technology has made purchasing music from computers a normal activity. What has been the positive and negative impact of downloading music from computers and burning compact discs on society?
8. Use the following terms to create a concept map:
control group, accuracy, precision, variable, technology, measurement, experiment, error, and peer review.
AMI WORK
THURSDAY,
APRIL 2ND
Forms about Me
By Beth Beutler
"I hate filling out these things," Caroline thought as she sat at her desk, staring at a form her teacher had requested that all students complete. There were several questions on it, such as:
"What is your favorite color?"
"Tell us about your hobbies and interests."
"Do you have any siblings?"
Caroline was an only child, and she had lots of interests. She never could settle on what hobby she enjoyed the most. She was more of a dabbler - like a jack of all trades but master of none - or at least that's how she felt a majority of the time. So she never knew what to put on forms like this.
Mrs. Jones, her teacher, walked quietly through the room as the students worked on the project. She stopped at Caroline's desk.
"Do you need some help, Caroline?"
Caroline looked up. "Not really. I am interested in so many things; I don't know what to write."
Mrs. Jones smiled. She knew Caroline was bright but sometimes had a hard time focusing. "How about if you just list three?"
Caroline seemed to relax. "Okay, that's what I'll do."
Caroline liked having some guidance so she could direct her scattered thoughts. It was much easier to fill out the form that way.
Questions
1. What was Caroline's main problem?
A. The question wanted her to list only one interest, and she couldn't decide which one she liked best.
B. The forms were too challenging for Caroline to fill out.
C. Her teacher wanted her to hurry to fill out the forms.
D. She had lots of interests and couldn't decide what to write down.
2. What is the genre of this story?
A. fiction
B. biography
C. poetry
D. historical fiction
3. How did Caroline feel after the teacher gave her some direction?
4. We can be sure Caroline did not like school.
A. true
B. false
5. What topic is not mentioned as having been on the form?
A. brothers or sisters
B. hobbies
C. pets
D. favorite color
6. Caroline liked having some ________.
Continue the story by writing about how Caroline completes the form.
Justin Is a Ring Bearer
By Phyllis Naegeli
"Beep, beep, beep, beep."
Andrea reached over and shut off the alarm clock. Then she jumped on her sister Michelle's bed and shook her. "Wake up! Wake up! It's finally here! Are you ready for today?"
"Yes, I am," said Michelle, sitting up and grabbing Andrea to tickle her. "After all these months of planning and waiting, it's finally here."
Andrea giggled as Michelle tickled her. "Come on, let's go have some breakfast," said Michelle.
The girls hopped off the bed and went downstairs to the kitchen. Mom and Dad were at the table having coffee.
"Good morning, ladies," said Mom, putting her coffee cup down and reaching out to hug Andrea.
Andrea giggled. "I'm not a lady; I'm just a flower girl."
"Well, today you're going to look like a princess," said Dad, pulling Andrea from Mom's arms into his lap.
Michelle sat down at an empty chair at the table, and a half-asleep little boy walked into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Mr. Ring Bearer," said Michelle.
"Is that today?" said Justin, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
"Yes," said Andrea, jumping off Dad's lap and walking over to face Justin. "Aren't you excited? You get to wear that nice black tuxedo. You'll look so handsome!" Andrea batted her eyes at her brother.
Justin frowned. "Do I really have to do this?"
"Come on, Justin. You said you were okay with all this," said Michelle in a pleading tone.
"I know," said Justin, groggily. "Can I have breakfast first?"
"I think we should all have breakfast," said Mom, as she got up and helped Justin sit down at the table.
Mom went to the counter and grabbed a tray of muffins and a bowl of fruit. As she put them on the table, Dad, Andrea, and Michelle took a muffin and filled a bowl with fruit. Mom helped Justin with his breakfast.
As the family ate, Mom went over the schedule for the day. "The bridesmaids should arrive by twelve-thirty. The photographer will be here at one o'clock to start taking pictures. Finally, the limo comes at two."
"I have to have my picture taken in the monkey suit!" Justin exclaimed, suddenly wide awake.
"Yes, you do. But then you get to ride in the limo," said Michelle.
"Well, at least that will be cool," said Justin, rolling his eyes. "I guess I'll just have to get through the pictures."
Michelle looked at her parents and shook her head. "He's going to be all right, isn't he?"
"He'll be fine," Mom whispered.
The next few hours flew by as everyone prepared for the day ahead. By one o'clock the bridesmaids and photographer had arrived. Mom, Dad, and Justin were dressed and waiting in the living room for Andrea and Michelle to come down from upstairs. When Andrea appeared on the stairs, Justin took one look at her and turned to Dad. "What happened to her?"
"She had her hair done for the wedding," said Dad. "Doesn't she look beautiful?"
"I guess," said Justin, grimacing. "I don't understand girls."
Dad grinned and turned to see Michelle appear. As she came down the stairs, Mom and Dad both had tears in their eyes.
Justin looked at his parents. "What's wrong with you? What's wrong with everybody?" he cried in frustration as he looked at the misty-eyed bridesmaids.
Mom walked over to her son and put her arm on his shoulder. "It's a very special day today. Your sister is getting married. We're all dressing up special to celebrate. Sometimes people get emotional on days like today. Someday you'll understand," said Mom with a wink.
"I don't think so!" said Justin, pouting.
During pictures, Justin did his best to smile and look natural. "That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," he said as he threw himself on the couch after all the pictures were taken.
Michelle came over to her brother as he lay on the couch. "The limo is here."
Justin jumped off the couch and ran to the front window. "Wow! Look at that car - it's awesome," said Justin.
"Do you want to ride in the front?" asked Michelle.
Justin's eyes lit up. "Can I?" he asked, turning to his dad.
"Yes, you can," said Dad.
"Way cool!" said Justin. "Thanks." Then he ran out the door and jumped in the front seat.
The rest of the party followed, and the limo drove them to the church.
Justin was the last to get out of the long white car. "Do we get to ride in the limo again?" Justin asked.
"No," said Dad. "Michelle and Josh will be taking it to the airport after the reception. Our car is parked in the parking lot out back."
"Too bad," said Justin. "That was fun."
Within a few minutes, it was time for the ceremony to begin. The guests turned to watch the bridal party enter. First, Mom was escorted to her seat. Next, the bridesmaids walked down the aisle. Then it was Justin's turn. He was nervous as he walked down the aisle. When he got to the front, he started up the stairs, but he tripped and fell flat on his face. A gasp went through the audience. Mom got up from her seat, walked over, picked him up, and helped him to his place on the platform. As she returned to her seat, a sigh went through the audience as they realized Justin was okay.
Again, everyone's attention turned to the back of the church as Andrea began her walk down the aisle. She dropped rose petals along the way. When she reached the steps to the platform, she stopped and turned to Mom, who nodded for her to continue. Justin came over and reached his hand down to help her up. She took his hand, walked up the stairs, and took her place with the others.
Finally, Dad and Michelle came down the aisle. Michelle's fiancé, Josh, walked over to the platform to meet his bride. When they reached the front, Dad kissed his daughter and put her hand in Josh's. With a tear in his eye, he turned, took his seat next to Mom, and the ceremony started.
When the ceremony was over, the guests made their way to the church's hall for the reception. The bridal party took more pictures and headed to the reception to be introduced. Justin balked at having to walk arm and arm with his sister. Mom reached back and helped him to comply.
At the end of the evening, Michelle and Josh got ready to leave. The guests met them in the parking lot. Justin and Andrea stood with Mom and Dad to see them leave. Mom, Dad, and Andrea welled up with tears as the young couple came to say goodbye. When Michelle leaned down to say goodbye to Justin, he grabbed her around the neck and started to cry.
"I love you, too," said Michelle, as she turned to leave.
Justin turned away and composed himself.
Andrea leaned over and whispered, "I'm going to miss her, too."
Justin looked at his sister. "Yeah. I guess someday we'll understand."
"I guess so," said Andrea.
Justin Is a Ring Bearer
Questions
1. Dad said Andrea was going to look like a ______.
A. bride
B. flower girl
C. princess
D. queen
2. What was Andrea doing in the wedding?
A. She was a bridesmaid.
B. She was the maid of honor.
C. She was the ring bearer.
D. She was the flower girl.
3. What did Justin mean by "monkey suit"?
A. his pajamas
B. his sister's dress
C. his tuxedo
D. his costume for the wedding
4. What was Justin excited about doing?
A. being the ring bearer
B. walking down the aisle
C. riding in a limo
D. going to the reception
5. Which of the following events happened first?
A. Mom and Dad were having coffee.
B. Justin came into the kitchen for breakfast.
C. The photographer arrived.
D. Andrea and Michelle got dressed for the wedding.
6. Who walked down the aisle last?
A. Mom and Dad
B. Dad and Michelle
C. Justin and Andrea
D. the guests
7. Justin dropped rose petals as he walked down the aisle.
A. true
B. false
8. Mom helped Justin get up after he tripped on the stairs.
A. false
B. true
Main Idea
Read the paragraph and then select the main idea for the paragraph.
1. The world's first postage stamp was called the Penny Black. It was introduced on May 1, 1840. It cost only a penny! It was a black and white stamp. It had a picture of the British queen on it. A blue two-penny stamp came out a few days later. It had the same picture of the queen. The blue stamp was for mail that weighed more.
The main idea in this passage is:
- A. The Penny Black was worth a penny.
- B. The stamp was black and cost one penny.
- C. The Penny Black was the world's first postage stamp.
- D. The Penny Black came out on May 1, 1840.
2. The frog sat on the side of the pond. He was very still. His green color made him hard to see. A bug flew near him. His tongue zipped out, and he gobbled it up. Then the frog was still again. He waited for the next bug.
The main idea in this passage is:
- A. Frogs are green.
- B. Frogs eat bugs.
- C. Frogs do not move.
- D. Frogs live in ponds.
3. My favorite food is macaroni and cheese. I really like macaroni and cheese that comes in a box. We boil water and drop the shells into it. After several minutes, the shells are soft. We drain the water out of the pot. Then, we mix milk, butter, and the cheese powder into the macaroni. Then, we eat it. It is so good!
The main idea in this passage is:
- A. Your favorite food should be macaroni and cheese.
- B. This is a recipe for macaroni and cheese.
- C. The writer gives a list of his/her favorite foods.
- D. You should cook macaroni shells for seven minutes.
4. What is a pyramid? It is a huge building built of heavy stone. Each pyramid has triangle-shaped sides. It is pointed at the top and flat on the bottom. The sides are flat, and there are no windows. Pyramids were built long ago. They were built in the desert. They were used as tombs for the kings and queens of Egypt.
The main idea in this passage is:
- A. a description of a pyramid
- B. why kings were buried in pyramids
- C. pyramids were built of sand
- D. the size of a pyramid
One of the best places to look for a job is in the classified pages of the newspaper. Jobs are listed there under "Employment," "Help Wanted," or a similar heading. Look at the ads below. Notice that they're in alphabetical order. Read each one carefully. Do any of the job listings describe a position that interests you?
| CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS |
|---------------------------|
| HELP WANTED |
| BAKERY Counter Positions. Jessie's is looking for energetic, happy people to sell our good things to eat. No. exp. nec. Apply 120 Basin St. No phone calls. |
| COUNTER HELP For fast-paced dry cleaners. PT, will train. Call 777-7777. |
| CUSTODIAN PT, $12.17 hr. Apply to TBR Unified School District, 1765 Hwy 2, Greenville. |
| CUSTOMER SERVICE Leading kennel seeks fun, friendly animal lover for PT work, avail weekends. Fax resume 555-5555 or e-mail email@example.com. |
| DRIVER/WAREHOUSE WORK Must be able to lift 75 lbs. Bring clean DMV printout to 111 Eli Street. |
| OFFICE ASST/AUTO SHOP FT Must be good communicator, able to multi-task, self-motivated. Call Jeff at 444-4444. |
| RESTAURANT cooks, exp'd day/night. Great place to work. Must be dependable, have a great attitude, and be a team player. Apply in person at Cathy's Cafe, 606 B Street. |
| RETAIL SALES Resp. exp. energetic persons for busy clothing store in Vantorville. PT/flex hrs. Fax resume 888-8888. |
Can you interpret the abbreviations often used in job ads? Here are some common ones and their meanings: FT: full-time; PT: part-time; exp: experience; exp'd: experienced; avail: available; nec: necessary; DMV: Department of Motor Vehicles; flex: flexible (work hours that are not the same every day); asst: assistant.
The first ad says, "No phone calls." That means you must go to the business and apply in person. The OFFICE ASST ad asks for a person who can "multi-task." That means someone who is able to handle several different responsibilities at the same time.
What should you do if you don't understand an abbreviation in an ad? For help, you can ask a teacher or call the classified department of the newspaper.
Thinking It Over
1. In what section of the newspaper will you find job listings?
a. Home and Garden
b. Classifieds
c. Local news
2. Most ads for jobs contain
a. the wages offered.
b. ages of people wanted.
c. abbreviated words.
3. Are you looking for a job that would give you a chance to do more than one thing? Answer the ads that require someone to
a. multi-task.
b. drive.
c. work weekends.
4. Jobs ads are listed
a. in mixed-up order.
b. in alphabetical order.
c. according to the salary.
Recalling Details
1. When applying for a job, you can call on the phone or contact the employer by regular mail, e-mail, or ________________________.
2. If the ad tells you not to call or write, then you would apply by going ________________________.
3. Which job listing is for a full-time position?
4. Which job requires someone who could lift 75 lbs.?
5. Which job requires someone to work on weekends?
6. Which ad offers job training?
7. What job requires an applicant to have a clean driving record (printout)?
Key Vocabulary: Abbreviations
Draw a line to match each boldface abbreviation with the word it represents.
1. exp’d a. part-time
2. PT b. experienced
3. nec c. full-time
4. ASST d. necessary
5. FT e. assistant
6. flex f. flexible
Everyday Math
Reread the ad for the custodian. What would be the weekly wages for a custodian working 5 hours a day, 5 days a week? $__________
On Your Own
Look at the job ads in a current newspaper. List three jobs you would like to apply for.
Compare. Write <, >, or =.
1. 12 _______ 12
2. 484 _______ 999
3. 1,046 _______ 4,046
4. 713,692 _______ 763,192
5. 29,030,352 _______ 2,902,938
6. 39,402 _______ 39,492
7. 9,707,136 _______ 9,707,233
8. 71,546,100 _______ 71,546,070
9. 46,371 _______ 43,671
10. 7,800 _______ 7,780
11. 56,864,860 _______ 56,064,860
12. 9,996 _______ 3,823
13. 2,067 _______ 2,066
14. 6,384 _______ 6,834
15. 72,931 _______ 79,231
16. 3,546,413 _______ 3,545,540
17. 930 _______ 295
18. 174,540,100 _______ 174,540,026
19. 130 _______ 210
20. 701,450 _______ 70,243
21. 6,485 _______ 6,845
22. 4,700,864 _______ 4,707,864
23. 81,595 _______ 84,595
24. 1,795,742 _______ 179,546
25. 5,978 _______ 5,798
26. 75 _______ 110
27. 622,994 _______ 622,636
28. 6,386 _______ 6,958
29. 2,665,421,492 _______ 2,665,423,000
30. 5,719 _______ 5,769
When World War I began in 1914, it seemed like something far away. The war was between nations on the other side of the world, and the people of the United States were glad that it was so far away. We were content with things the way they were here and had no wish to become involved in Europe's war.
Gradually that feeling of isolationism began to change. As early as 1915, an event occurred that brought the war to the attention of United States' citizens. That event was the sinking of the *Lusitania*. The *Lusitania* was a British ship that carried both cargo and passengers. It made the trip back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean, carrying travelers between Great Britain and the United States. Fast and luxurious, the *Lusitania* was a popular ship; it had been described as a floating palace.
In May 1915, the *Lusitania* was crossing the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to about 2,000 passengers, it was also carrying a cargo of ammunition for the Allies. On May 7, German submarines torpedoed the *Lusitania*. In twenty minutes, the *Lusitania* was gone, sunk to the bottom of the ocean. About 1,200 passengers went down with the ship, including many Americans. After that, U.S. citizens began to think of Germany as a "bully" and to side with the Allies.
Germany made promises not to sink ships without first giving a warning so that passengers could leave the ship. However, this was wartime, and Germany did not always keep its promises. Then, Germany began to blockade Great Britain, attacking more and more ships.
These attacks caused problems for the U.S. economy. It made it difficult for U.S. businesses to make money. Businesses needed to be able to travel freely on the seas to deal with foreign countries, especially Great Britain.
Government officials in the United States began to think that maybe the U.S. would have to enter the war to protect its own interests. They began to try to change people's minds about the war. The government began a propaganda campaign which included parades in support of the Allies and leaflets that pictured the Germans as fierce barbarians. They also began to build up the number of troops in the Army, the Navy, and the Reserves. They began building more Navy ships. A National Security Committee was formed.
While all of this was going on, many Americans still hoped to stay out of the war. President Wilson still hoped for the United States to remain neutral. He did not want the U.S. to be pulled into the war. In a speech, he said, "There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight."
Then, on January 16, 1917, another event occurred that brought us even closer to war. Great Britain showed the United States a telegram that it had intercepted and decoded. The telegram was from the German Foreign
Minister, Arthur Zimmerman, to the German Ambassador in the United States. The telegram said that he should invite Mexico to join an alliance with Germany. The telegram said that if Mexico joined the alliance, Germany would help it win back Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona from the United States. The war had come closer to home.
Germany continued its submarine attacks against U.S. ships. Our economy and our independence on the seas were threatened. Finally, President Wilson felt that he had no other choice. He decided that the U.S. should enter the war. Many reasons had led up to his decision, but he wanted to give the American people one good reason to support the war. So he only said, "The world must be made safe for democracy," when he declared war on April 6, 1917.
The United States Enters World War I
Questions
_____ 1. The United States entered World War I in ______.
A. 1914
B. 1915
C. 1917
D. none of the above
_____ 2. Events that led up to the U.S. entering the war included ______.
A. sinking of the Lusitania
B. German submarine blockade of Great Britain
C. the Zimmerman telegram
D. all of the above
_____ 3. President Wilson ______.
A. decided to enter the war in 1917
B. wanted to support Germany in the war
C. wanted the U.S. to enter the war in 1914
D. planned a blockade of Great Britain
_____ 4. The U.S. entered the war on the side of ______.
A. Mexico
B. Germany
C. Texas
D. Great Britain
_____ 5. Which happened last?
A. World War I begins
B. the U.S. enters the war
C. the sinking of the Lusitania
D. the Zimmerman telegram
6. From the information in this article, you can tell that ______.
A. There were other people in the U.S. who were more anxious to enter the war than Wilson.
B. Wilson was not anxious to enter the war because he could not decide which side to support.
C. Mexico decided to support Germany in the war.
D. all of the above
7. What happened in the German blockade of Great Britain?
A. Germany invaded Great Britain.
B. Germany prevented ships from traveling to Britain.
C. Germany joined forces with the British Navy.
D. none of the above
8. The German submarine blockade affected the U.S. economically by ______.
A. making it illegal to travel to Europe
B. preventing trade with Mexico
C. making it illegal to travel by ship
D. preventing trade with Great Britain
Our fascination with nature begins with our first observation of a butterfly gliding freely through air or of our first mud pie standing at attention on the pavement. We are natural-born scientists! Once we enter school, we begin our formal study of science disciplines. Teachers explain the nature of science (observation and experimentation), and we are taught to model the scientific process when we conduct our research. Within the model of the scientific process, there are clear logical guidelines for solving scientific problems called the scientific method. However, before you go out testing and researching every observation you make in nature, you should know a few scientific terms.
As scientists, you have already made two important assumptions about nature - it is understandable and predictable. You have also figured out that even though this is true, nature also has complex systems. This is why you need those logical and clear steps to conduct research. Take for example, the cafeteria at lunchtime. Everyday, you make careful observations about the behavior of your peers during your forty minutes of freedom. If you are bored, you even use your observations to develop questions about your peers' activities. After the simple questions are asked (in your mind of course), you develop a hypothesis to explain these questions. Of course, your hypothesis is based on facts you have collected from witnessing these events each day.
If you were to test your hypothesis, you would conduct experiments that include specific factors or variables. Independent variables are the factors that you would change during your experiment. When you change your independent variables, you would also expect to see a change in your dependent variables. Most experiments only test one independent variable at a time. You would also need a control group for your experiment. A control group is a group that represents a standard for comparison to another group. Both groups are identical except for one factor. Experiments on human and animal behavior frequently use control groups. Your experiment would be classified as a controlled experiment because it contains a control group.
Let's say your cafeteria is embracing the new nationwide health-kick. On Wednesdays, they serve "Surprise Lasagna" which tastes decent. However, this Wednesday, you find out (from an inside source) that the head cook will be using nonfat (in your mind, cardboard) cheese in one of the two king-size pans they prepare. They have made the decision to try the new recipe on half of the unsuspecting freshmen (you're a sophomore so you're safe). The independent variable is the cheese (nonfat versus regular fat). The dependent variable will be the response of the freshmen to the new recipe. The freshmen who get the same old recipe are the control group. Now, if nature is predictable, the test group will notice the new taste. Their responses may vary, but you may expect to see freshmen throwing away their unfinished meals or making strange facial expressions as they eat the lasagna. The control group should respond normally since their lasagna did not change. Once the experiment concludes, the cooks can analyze the results and draw conclusions: should they forgo healthy living and serve the regular lasagna or try the nonfat version? Their analysis may also lead to other questions about food preparation. Before you are caught up in the suspense of the lasagna question, we will take a break to ponder this portion of the scientific process. In *The Nature of Science, Part 2*, we will discuss scientific measurement and the impact of science on
1. Complete the sentence: Scientists' hypotheses are based on ______.
2. Independent variables are the factors that are ______.
A. Changed after the conclusion of the experiment
B. Changed in response to dependent variables
C. Changed during the experiment
D. None of the above
3. What if scientists did not use clear logical guidelines for solving scientific problems; how would that affect scientific research?
4. What is the purpose of a control group?
5. Your class is researching the evaporation rates of liquids in two different containers. You use the same measurement of water in each container, and both containers are placed in the same area for observation. What are the dependent and independent variables in the experiment?
6. Which statement is not a hypothesis?
A. Water will evaporate more quickly in open containers with smaller surface areas than in open containers with larger surface areas.
B. Shorelines where construction of houses has increased will experience a greater amount of erosion than shorelines that have not experienced increased housing construction.
C. Houseplants given a smaller amount of sunlight will grow slower than plants given a larger amount of sunlight.
D. Energy is transferred between systems, but it cannot be created or destroyed.
7. You are testing the effects of Vitamin E on adolescents (ages 12-14). You would like to study a small group of 12- to 14-year olds over the course of three months to study the effects of daily doses of Vitamin E (one tablet each day). Define your control group and your non-control group.
8. Your group is testing the effects of load on the motion of vehicles. You have built model cars in class and will be using a weight pulley system to move your vehicle. You will be adding one to three blocks to your vehicle to test the effects of the added load. What are your independent and dependent variables?
A. Number of blocks (independent) and speed of vehicle (dependent)
B. The vehicle's speed (independent) and number of blocks (dependent)
C. The vehicle weight (independent) and the vehicle's speed (dependent)
D. A and C
AMI WORK
FRIDAY,
APRIL 3RD
What's for Dinner?
By Kathleen W. Redman
Every time animals (including humans) run, jump, stomp, or even grow, they use energy. All living things must have energy to stay alive. Where do living things get their energy?
Some living things create the energy they use. They are called producers. Plants are producers. They make their own food using sunlight, air, minerals from soil, and water.
Some living things cannot make their own food. They have to get their energy by eating plants or animals or plants and animals. They are consumers. Humans are consumers.
There are three kinds of consumers. Herbivores eat only plants. Cows are herbivores. Animals that eat only animals are known as carnivores. Wolves are carnivores. Omnivores are animals that eat animals and plants. Humans are omnivores.
Omnivores, carnivores, herbivores, producers, and consumers, oh, my! Who eats what? Humans eat herbivores (Who wants a hamburger?), carnivores (How about a tuna sandwich?), and omnivores (Would you like some ham on your sandwich?). Humans also eat producers (Do you want lettuce and tomato on your sandwich?). So how do scientists make sense of all this?
A food chain is one way of organizing all this information. A food chain shows how each living thing gets its energy (food). The food chain also shows how the energy is passed from one living thing to another. Food chains begin with producers (plant life) and end with consumers (animal life).
A simple food chain could start with grass. Grass makes its own food. A deer eats the grass. A wolf eats the deer. The chain does not end there, though.
Bacteria and fungi eat living things that have died. Bacteria and fungi are decomposers. So when the wolf dies, its body decays from the action of the bacteria and puts nutrients and minerals back into the soil. Plants use the nutrients and minerals to make their own food again. Thus, the food chain goes on and on.
Food chains can be very long. Some are very complicated. Many food chains overlap each other and become food webs. We are not always sure what happens when a food chain is broken.
Each part of a food chain is connected to other parts, just like the links in an iron chain. If even one link is taken out of a food chain, the whole chain might fall apart. Each kind of plant or animal is important in a food chain or food web. Being careless with our environment might have a terrible, unintended outcome.
Questions
1. The writer's main reason for writing this story was to ______.
A. entertain the reader with funny animal stories
B. convince the reader that large animals are more important than small animals
C. frighten the reader
D. explain food chains
2. "Each part of a food chain is connected to other parts, just like the links in an iron chain." This is an example of what kind of figurative language?
A. hyperbole
B. metaphor
C. idiom
D. simile
3. Give an example of a three-step food chain.
4. What are producers?
5. Herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores are all ______.
A. producers
B. predators
C. plants
D. consumers
6. Humans are ______.
A. carnivores
B. herbivores
C. producers
D. omnivores
7. Overlapping food chains are called ______.
A. consumer mixes
B. food webs
C. superchains
D. producer links
8. If a plant becomes extinct, we can be sure that the rest of the food chain will survive.
A. true
B. false
Why is it important to take care of the environment?
The Bee and Jupiter
By Brenda B. Covert
The queen bee of Mount Hymettus was proud of her hive. She had loyal workers and a golden treasure trove of honey. What more could a queen bee want?
If only humans would leave her hive and her honey alone, she could be truly happy.
"Men!" she snarled. "How I hate them! How dare they invade my hive! How dare they take my honeycomb! Honey is food fit for the gods. It was never meant for human use!"
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She buzzed with fury. That's when an idea came to her.
Honey truly was food fit for the gods. There was no god more powerful than Jupiter. Maybe the queen bee should pay a visit to that most noble of Roman gods. Maybe she would take along a golden gift.
The worker bees collected their best honey and put it into a jar. A giant gold bow was tied around it. Then the worker bees lifted the honey jar and flew behind the queen bee. She led them to Mount Olympus. They flew directly into the presence of Jupiter. He gladly accepted the queen bee's offering of honey.
"This sweet gesture touches my heart," Jupiter said grandly. "I give you my thanks, Queen Bee. What can I do for you in return? Ask me anything, and I will grant your wish."
The queen bee hid a smile as she bowed before Jupiter. Then she said, "You are most generous, your majesty. There is only one thing I desire in the entire world, and that is a sting." She looked up, and her eyes glittered with hatred. "Give me the ability to sting so that I may kill any human who tries to take my honey."
When Jupiter heard the queen bee's request, he was offended. He loved the human race and did not wish to see them suffer. However, a promise is a promise, and a royal promise should never be broken. He could not refuse to give the queen bee the ability to sting. However, he could add a consequence to it.
"You shall have your request," Jupiter told the queen bee, "but only at the risk of your own life. Should you choose to sting a human, your stinger shall detach itself from your body and remain in the wound you make. Its loss shall cause you to die."
The queen bee led her worker bees back to Mount Hymettus. Her wish had come true, but it was not in the way she had expected.
Evil wishes, like chickens, come home to roost.
Questions
1. What is Jupiter?
2. According to the queen bee, what was never meant for human use?
3. The word *wish* is used in paragraphs 7 and 9. How is the word used in each instance?
A. It is used first as a noun and then as a verb.
B. It is used as a verb both times.
C. It is used as a noun both times.
D. It is used first as a verb and then as a noun.
4. In paragraph 8, the queen bee hid a smile. Why did she smile?
A. to show off her pearly whites
B. because she believed that she was about to get what she wanted
C. because she was happy that the god liked her gift
D. to keep from crying about losing her honey
5. Which word best describes the queen bee?
A. angry
B. helpful
C. kind
D. humble
6. What was the author's purpose for writing this story?
A. to reveal the hatred that bees have for humans
B. to explain how bees got their stingers
C. to warn people that hurting others may cause them to hurt themselves
D. to show the value of giving gifts to powerful people
7. What was the consequence attached to the queen bee's wish?
A. If she never stung anyone, then she could live forever as a goddess.
B. If she chose to sting someone, she would also die.
C. If she wanted to sting humans, she would need to bring more honey to Mount Olympus.
D. If she chose to hurt someone, Jupiter would destroy her hive.
8. The last sentence of this story uses what type of figurative language?
A. a simile
B. imagery
C. rhythm
D. rhyme
Explain the meaning of "Evil wishes, like chickens, come home to roost." Tell whether you agree or disagree with this statement and why.
Who would have thought we would become a planet of "ologies"? There's biology, psychology, herpetology, etymology, and geology just to name a few. However, one "ology" truly helps us to understand the most important part of our planet- our environment. Ecology (which is filled with ecologists) is the study of ecosystems and the beings and organisms that inhabit those ecosystems. Just think, in addition to the bees, deer, and other organisms, you are important to ecologists.
Ecosystems are communities that vary in size and location. They can be as small as a patch of grass or as large as the entire biosphere. The many varieties of plants and animals that exist in our planet's ecosystems are important to the survival of our ecosystems. Plants in particular provide the oxygen and nutrients all organisms need to survive. These producers have the ability to use the sun's energy to produce food (think photosynthesis). This is where the animals or consumers become important. The animals get their energy by eating the plants and other organisms within the ecosystem. Without the producers and consumers, decomposers would not have a job. As you may have guessed, decomposers, like bacteria, step in to break down the waste excreted from animals and the remains of dead organisms. Once broken down, the organic materials are absorbed by the soil and gases are sent back into our atmosphere. The whole process is ready to start again through the Earth's natural cycles. There has to be a balance of producers, consumers, and decomposers in order to maintain a balanced ecosystem.
Remember, all organisms need matter and energy to survive. An ecosystem is balanced when matter and energy move efficiently through those ecosystems. Just as your backpack has a limit on the number of huge textbooks it can carry at any given time, all ecosystems have a limit on the populations they can maintain. Carrying capacity is the largest population an ecosystem can support at any particular time. The support of this population depends on the amount of resources (matter and energy) that are available and the movement of those resources within that ecosystem. If energy and matter are moving efficiently through an ecosystem, then the current population of plants and animals has not reached beyond the ecosystem's carrying capacity. Once food resources dwindle or animal populations increase dramatically, the ecosystem may not be able to support those populations. Fortunately, nature has three ways to control the balance of ecosystems: ecological responses to change; energy transfer; and food chains and food webs.
Change is a necessary fact and a major theme in science. An ecosystem's response to environmental changes helps to maintain or restore the balance within that ecosystem. Natural occurrences like floods may appear to affect only a portion of an ecosystem. However, in reality, the flood's impact can affect other parts of the ecosystem in different ways. One thing is certain; a massive flood can damage or alter the flow of an ecosystem. Over time, animals and plants will come back into the damaged areas in predictable patterns. If you were to visit a forest area that was affected by a massive flood, you would first notice the plants and grass growing in those areas. Once the grass and plants have reemerged, small animals would reappear along with small shrubbery. Finally,
larger animals would migrate into the area and larger trees would begin to grow again. Ecosystems have the ability to rebuild a community of organisms to its original state before the environmental change occurred. However, if the physical features of the ecosystem are permanently damaged, then restoration of the community may not be possible.
The sun provides the main source of energy for our planet. As you know, plants need the sun's energy to go through the process of photosynthesis. This energy flows through the Earth's ecosystems, moving from plants to animals and other organisms. You also have matter flowing through the system. Remember, a balanced ecosystem needs the efficient flow of matter and energy. When energy and matter flow through the ecosystem, there are chemical changes, which cause energy to be lost or stored. Ecologists use an energy pyramid to study how energy is lost as it flows through an ecosystem. The base of the pyramid houses the producers; the next level includes the consumers that eat those producers; and the upper levels of the pyramid include those consumers who eat other consumers. Basically, the further you move to the point of the pyramid, the more energy an ecosystem loses. Therefore, consumers at the apex have less energy available to them. So much for being at the top.
The final force that helps to control an ecosystem's balance is food chains and food webs. Food chains show the order in which organisms are consumed by other organisms. An example would be lions in the African veldt eating wildebeest, which in turn eat from the available grasslands. If you thought our ecosystems were made of simple food chains, think again. Animals, like humans, consume more than one type of organism or one type of species. Food webs are used by ecologists to demonstrate the relationships between different food chains. Remember that lion? Well, they also eat gazelles, which also eat grasslands and other plants. In the food web, arrows point to the consumer that eats the animal or plant at the base of the arrow. When one part of this complex web is altered, other areas of the web and ecosystem are also affected.
I mentioned earlier that ecologists are interested in how humans interact with the Earth's ecosystems. Well, our activities like pollution and overuse of natural resources can have a negative impact on our environment. Some of these activities have caused some ecosystems to vanish entirely. Humans need to remember that we are part of the system, the global ecosystem. When you throw that candy wrapper on the ground, you are setting into motion changes that can affect other areas of our environment. To keep our planet healthy, we need to conserve resources and lower the amount of pollution we produce. Healthy ecosystems are balanced ecosystems.
1. What is an ecosystem?
2. Consumers are organisms that ______.
A. Get energy by eating producers
B. Get energy by producing their own food
C. Break down waste excreted from animals and animal remains
D. Get energy by eating other consumers and producers
3. Complete the sentence: An ecosystem's carrying capacity is ______.
4. Explain the three balancing forces within an ecosystem.
5. Ecologists use energy ______ to study the energy loss as the energy flows through the ecosystem.
A. Pyramids
B. Flow charts
C. Ladders
D. Concept webs
6. Decomposers are responsible for ______ organic materials in an ecosystem.
A. Producing
B. Breaking down
C. Recycling
D. Distributing
7. What is the role of producers in the cycling of matter and energy in the Earth's biosphere?
8. Explain how an urban area is an ecosystem. Name five types of organisms that usually live in an urban area.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Idioms
Complete.
1. **At the Eleventh Hour**
Tony's report on dinosaurs was assigned weeks ago. However, Tony didn't start the project until two days before it was due. That meant she had all the research, writing, and artwork to complete. *At the eleventh hour*, she finished the work. Thank goodness!
*At the eleventh hour* means ________________.
- A) past due
- B) very early
- C) at the last minute, almost too late
If your homework is always done way ahead of time, would you say you get things done *at the eleventh hour*?
- A) No
- B) Yes
If you finished your club project minutes before it was due, would you say you got it done *at the eleventh hour*?
- A) No
- B) Yes
Grace got to her appointment at 5:59 p.m. The appointment was scheduled for exactly 6:00 p.m. Would you say she arrived *at the eleventh hour*?
- A) Yes
- B) No
Maya and Sean have been friends since their freshman year in high school. Now that they've graduated, they've been talking about where to go next and what to do. Maya was planning a career in nursing. Sean wanted to be a police officer, but he was puzzled about the fastest way to get qualified for the police academy.
"My cousin Ed is a cop," he told Maya. "He told me to join the army and get into the military police. He says that when I get out, I can cruise right into a police job. But that takes three years—I'll be an old man by then!"
Maya laughed. She knew a quicker way. Sean could go with her to the two-year community college. She was going there to take a class in medical terminology and another class to learn how to do laboratory work, like taking blood samples from patients. That class would qualify her to be a paid medical assistant. Her wages at a clinic would help pay her tuition to nursing school.
Maya showed the college catalog to Sean. There were classes in criminal justice for students who were interested in police work.
"Look, there's a class called Law Enforcement Skills," she told Sean. "That will help connect you to the police reserve. You can get work experience."
Maya went on to explain that the fees at a community college were much lower than those at four-year colleges or universities.
Community colleges do more than just prepare students for jobs. They also offer all the regular academic courses such as math, history, biology, English, and economics. After earning an Associate of Arts (AA) degree, students are prepared to transfer to a college or university at an advanced level.
Maya was right. By taking some of these general education courses, she and Sean could get job training and an AA degree. That would give them much better qualifications to move on to better jobs. And they could also develop their other interests as well. They could enroll in special classes such as drama, art, gardening, chorus, or creative writing. The nearby community college offered something useful or fun for everyone!
Thinking It Over: Write T for true or F for false.
1. ____ Community colleges can help you to prepare for jobs.
2. ____ To be a police officer, you first need to attend a police academy program.
3. ____ It costs more to go to a community college than it does to a university.
4. ____ A school’s catalog tells you what classes are offered there.
5. ____ You can take art and drama classes at a community college.
6. ____ Some classes at a community college teach you how to do laboratory work.
7. ____ Criminal justice classes are for students interested in becoming nurses.
Key Vocabulary
1. A community college is a
a. two-year college.
b. four-year university.
c. private school.
2. Your wages are the same as
a. clinics.
b. your salary.
c. classes at school.
3. When you earn an AA, you get
a. an Associate of Arts degree.
b. an automobile club membership.
c. a report card with two A's on it.
Everyday Math
Community college students pay according to the number of units they take. Some classes, such as beginning band and basketball, are worth 1 unit. Other classes, such as photography and business math, are worth 3 units. Sean takes 12 units. His tuition cost is $150. Maya takes 15 units. Her tuition cost is $183. Maya’s tuition will be how much more than Sean’s? $_____________
Cause and Effect
List two ways an AA degree can help you.
On Your Own
Where do your interests lie? List five classes you would enjoy taking at a community college. After each class, write your purpose: job preparation, general education, or recreation.
The Schlieffen Plan
Long before the first shots were fired in World War I, plans were being made to win the war. In 1904, ten years before the battles began, France, Great Britain, and Russia decided to form an alliance. These countries had heard rumblings from Germany that frightened them. They felt threatened by the Germans. Germany was building up its army and hinting at the idea that they would like to take control of smaller countries in Eastern Europe. France and Great Britain made an agreement to help each other in the event of a German attack. They decided to include Russia in their agreement. That would mean that the western border with Germany would be protected by France and Great Britain. The eastern border with Germany would be protected by Russia.
When Germany heard about the agreements made by France, Great Britain, and Russia, they were afraid that they were going to be attacked by these forces. The German Army Chief of Staff, Alfred von Schlieffen, was given the task of coming up with a plan to protect Germany. He believed that if France was quickly and soundly defeated in a war, Great Britain was weak enough that it would drop out of the fight. He had seen the Russian army and knew that it would take it at least six weeks to prepare itself for any kind of war. Because of these suppositions, he formed a plan that would defend his country in case of attack by the united forces.
Schlieffen's plan was fairly simple. Ninety percent of the German army would be sent to attack France. There were French forts on their border with Germany. Schlieffen's plan was to bypass these forts and surprise the French from another direction. His plan sent German troops through Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Germany would take control of these small, weak countries in quick attacks. This would lead them to an unprotected section of France. From this point, they would be able to enter France and take control before the troops on the border had time to make their move. The other 10% of the German troops would be sent to the Russian border. The Germans believed that the Russians would take so long to respond to the Germans, that they would have plenty of time to take control of France and then reinforce their troops on the Russian border.
In 1906, von Schlieffen was replaced by Helmuth von Moltke. He changed the Schlieffen plan just slightly. He didn't see a need to send troops through Holland. There would be no resistance from the Dutch, so he didn't want to waste the time. Besides, the Belgians would not give the Germans much resistance. Why not just send them through Belgium?
In 1914, the Schlieffen Plan was finally put into action. On August 2, the German army invaded Luxembourg and Belgium. To the complete surprise of the German officials, Belgium put up a fight. The German army was not able to move through the country as quickly and easily as they had expected. Another surprise became apparent when the Russian army immediately moved into the territory named East Prussia. The six weeks von Schlieffen had counted on was wrong. To top it off, troops from Great Britain swiftly moved into France and
Belgium as support to their allies.
In September of 1904, the Allied forces were able to divide the German forces by marching into a break in the German lines. Sensing that they needed more help in stopping the Germans, the French army took control of all of the taxi cabs they could find in Paris. They used these taxis to transport 6,000 more troops to the battle. By the 9th of September, the Germans realized that their plan for a swift takeover of France was not going to work. The officers called for a retreat of all German troops back to the east. The Schlieffen Plan had not worked. But the German army had not been defeated. Their plans changed. Now they knew it would not be a short war after all.
The Schlieffen Plan
Questions
_____ 1. Great Britain, France, and Germany joined together in a plan to keep Germany from taking over smaller countries.
A. true
B. false
_____ 2. Why did Alfred von Schlieffen create a plan of attack on France?
A. The Germans wanted to control France.
B. The Germans wanted to scare the countries of western Europe.
C. The Germans were afraid of the United States.
D. The Germans were afraid that the allies would attack them.
3. Why were the Germans not afraid of Great Britain?
_____ 4. What percent of the German army did Schlieffen plan to send to France?
A. 90%
B. 39%
C. 10%
D. 80%
_____ 5. How did von Moltke change Schlieffen’s plan?
A. He took Holland out of the plan of attack.
B. He planned to attack Russia.
C. He changed the percentage of troops going to Russia to 50%.
D. He planned to attack Prussia.
6. How did Belgium change the Schlieffen Plan?
Simplify.
1. \(72 \div 3 \times 3\)
2. \(68 \times 62 \div 2\)
3. \(94 - 62 \div 2\)
4. \(69 + 4 - 32\)
5. \(68 + 2 \times 3 - 12\)
6. \(95 \div 5 \times 14 - 3\)
7. \(8 \times 30 + 2\)
8. \(18 \div 3 + 29 - 1\)
9. \(6 \times 15 \div 5\)
10. \(5 + 2 \times 1\)
11. \(91 \div 7 + 32\)
12. \(5 + 80 \div 2\)
13. \(72 - 22 + 2\)
14. \(92 \div 4 - 1\)
15. \(91 + 5 - 24\)
16. \(67 \times 12 + 2 \times 5\)
17. \(72 \div 8 - 4\)
18. \(60 \times 35 + 2\)
19. \(77 \div 7 - 3\)
20. \(95 \times 5 - 20 + 37\)
21. \(9 + 54 - 2\)
22. \(60 \times 72 \div 9\)
23. \(7 + 4 \times 48\)
24. \(7 \times 35 + 42\)
25. \(82 \div 2 + 4 - 19\)
26. \(75 \times 23 - 2 + 29\)
27. \(83 \times 1 + 3\)
28. \(42 \div 7 + 1 \times 3\)
29. \(90 \div 9 - 4\)
30. \(76 - 4 + 17 - 44\)
31. \(62 + 5 - 45\)
32. \(76 \div 4 \times 4 \times 42\)
33. \(76 \div 2 + 20 \times 25\)
34. \(87 \times 51 + 4 - 3\)
35. \(56 + 75 \div 5\)
36. \(79 + 2 - 4\)
37. \(7 + 5 \times 47\)
38. \(63 + 4 \times 23 + 3\)
39. \(5 \times 29 - 52\)
40. \(16 \div 8 + 5\)
41. \(78 \div 6 - 4\)
42. \(74 + 2 \times 5\)
43. \(64 \div 8 \times 4 - 1\)
44. \(68 \times 14 + 28\)
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Bukhansan Walking Trails
1. Pine tree forest trail
2. The pilgrimage trail
3. The White Cloud trail
4. Solsaem trail
5. Myeongsang-gil
6. Pyeongchangmaeul-gil
7. Yetseong-gil
8. Gureumjeongwon-gil
9. Masil-gil
10. Naesimyoyeok-gi
11. Hyoja-gil
12. Chungui-gil
13. Songchumaeul-gil
14. Sanneomi-gil
15. Angol-gil
16. Boru-gil
17. Daragwon-gil
18. Dobongyet-gil
19. Banghakdong-gil
20. Wangsimyoyeok-gil
21. Wuyiryeong trail
Pine tree forest trail
From now on, we will walk through the fresh pine tree forest. Pine trees have grown in Korea for a long time. Traditionally, they symbolize longevity and fidelity. Phytoncide, a chemical substance released by pine trees, helps to relieve stress and strengthens the digestive and respiratory systems of the body. The forest road is wide and gentle, allowing everybody to enjoy walking comfortably. This is the only part of Dullegil where you can walk along the valley.
The cheerful sounds of water can be heard from nearby Wuyi Valley, located in between Bukhansan and Dobongsan Mountains, and popular for its beautiful scenery.
The forest trail is about 3.1 kilometers long and it takes around 90 minutes on foot. Shall we start our stroll in the forest?
As you walk along the pine tree forest trail, you will see a sign post indicating the way to Bonghwanggak. The building is three minutes’ walk from the sign post.
Bonghwanggak was built by a prominent religious leader, Sohn Byeonghee, in 1912. This monastery was built not only to encourage religious piety, but also to educate those who worked for the nation and the people of Korea. Out of the 33 patriots of the 3.1 Independence movement, 15 were educated here. Relics from those days still remain at the building.
Bonghwanggak is now regarded as one of the holy places in the history of Korean independence. We recommend that you visit and have a look around on your way along Dulle-gil.
Shall we stop here for a moment? At the beginning of the trail is the graveyard of Sohn Byeonghee, who was an important leader of Cheondogyo and the 3.1 Movement for the independence of Korea from Japan in 1919.
[Sohn Byeonghee] “God resides in each of us!”
Donghak, the 19th century religion, held the basic principle that everyone has equal rights and deserves respect. Its name was changed to ‘Cheondogyo’, which means ‘Religion of the heavenly way’, and the religion experienced a revival under the leadership of Sohn Byeonghee.
[Sohn Byeonghee] If we continue like this, Donghak will disappear and be forgotten. We have to modify Donghak to keep pace with the changing world.
Sohn was especially interested in the enlightenment movement and attempted to find a way to Korean independence through education by founding tens of schools including Boseong Middle School and Dongdeok Women’s School. And he actively worked in the press, founding a publishing company named Boseongsa.
Mr. Sohn was a pioneer in public education and media press. He carefully monitored the changes in international politics and judged that it was the right time to begin an independence movement in Korea. Mr. Sohn led the 3.1 Movement in 1919 and signed the declaration of independence. As a result of the 3.1 Movement, he suffered under Japanese occupation and was imprisoned for three years. While Mr. Sohn was serving his term in prison, he became so ill that he was eventually released on bail. However, Mr. Sohn died soon after whilst receiving medical treatment. The government decorated him with a posthumous National Foundation Medal in 1962, and his grave was transferred here to Bonghwanggak. Throughout his entire life, Mr. Sohn pursued equal rights for all and the independence of the country.
As the name indicates, the pine tree forest trail has many pine trees. Why don’t you take a deep breath in?
Student: Wow! Look at this! So many pine trees!
Teacher: Let’s breathe the forest air deeply. How does it make you feel? Isn’t it refreshing?
Student: Teacher! I feel really good! But why do I feel so good when I breathe the pine-scented air?
Teacher: Do you want to know?
Student: Yes! Please tell me!
Teacher: It is because the tree releases Phytoncide.
Student: Phytoncide? What is that?
Teacher: Phytoncide is a compound word, with ‘phyton’ meaning ‘plant’ and ‘cide’ meaning ‘to kill’ in Latin. When Phytoncide enters the body, it has antiseptic properties and helps you to feel relaxed. The pine tree has been growing on the Korean Peninsula for a long time. Have you ever seen pine trees represented on folding screens, ceramics, or in Korean paintings?
Student: Yes!
Teacher: The pine tree lives for over a hundred years and it traditionally symbolizes longevity. The pine trees also keep their needles during the winter so they are evergreen. This is why the pine tree also symbolizes fidelity and faith when it is represented in literature and arts.
Student: I see.
Teacher: Pine trees were also used in practical ways. Koreans used pine tree branches to protect themselves from bad spirits and cooked rice and cakes with pine tree needles. During the cold winters, pine wood was burnt as firewood to heat their houses. The value of the pine tree is immeasurable.
Student: I think the pine tree is a really good tree! It is so useful!
Teacher: Great! Now, we can feel the Phytoncide spreading throughout our bodies. Let’s take a deep, deep breath together.
Park Eulbok Embroidery Museum is located on a quiet street between the Pine Tree forest trail and the Pilgrimage trail. The museum opened in 2002 to commemorate the artist, Park Eulbok. Ms. Park is the master of traditional Korean hand-embroidery. She was especially good at combining traditional techniques with the style of modern art. The museum exhibits 40 of her artworks for the public to appreciate. The hand-embroidery displayed here is rare and was unavailable to the public until quite recently.
Furthermore, you can see here the history of Korean traditional hand-embroidery. Visitors are required to pay an admission fee of about $4 to enter the museum. For more information, please check the museum’s official website.
The street from the museum to the Pine Forest is a residential area.
We have now arrived at the Pine Forest park. Large pine tree forests are rare in cities. In this park, there are lots of resting places and facilities including an ecological pond, a walking path alongside a stream and a playground for children.
Along the walking path, you will see monuments to famous poets. We hope you enjoy the time you spend in the Pine Forest Park.
The pilgrimage trail
From now on, we will travel the Pilgrimage trail, commemorating meritorious patriots who fought for the independence of Korea. Along this trail, we can see 11 graves of patriots and 17 graves in the graveyard of the Independence Army.
The trail overlooks the National 4.19 Revolution Democracy Cemetery. By the time we get to the end of the Pilgrimage trail, you will have learnt much information about the modern and contemporary history of Korea.
The Pilgrimage trail offers not only the remains of deceased patriots, but also traditional cultural sightseeing. Especially at Seob Bridge, a temporary style of bridge made with tree branches, adults and children alike will learn about Korean culture.
The trail has only a gentle gradient so anybody can enjoy walking this path. Why don’t we tell you some stories about the commitment of our deceased patriots? Let’s go!
Whilst we are walking along the trail, you will suddenly see a broad view of the city. The place over down there is the National 4.19 Revolution Democracy Cemetery.
The 4.19 Revolution Democracy Cemetery is where patriots of the 4.19 Revolution in 1960 rest in peace. The seven-pillar sculpture is the 4.19 Memorial Monument, and the graveyard is at the back.
The graves are of locals, students and even a ten year old child. The democratization of Korea succeeded only by their holy sacrifices. The 4.19 Revolution was the first revolution against the dictatorship in the history of Korea.
This graveyard was simply known as a cemetery park for a long time, but was honored with the title of National Cemetery in 1995. It deserves to be recognized as a genuine holy place of democracy. Now, how did the 4.19 Revolution begin?
Man 1
Be gone! Be gone! We don’t need this government with its rigged election and dictators! Be gone!
Man 2
We want true democracy in Korea!
The 19th of April 1960. We call this date Bloody Tuesday. On the morning of the 19th, students declaimed a government declaration and ran out into the streets to denounce the rigged election of the Liberal Party government. However, the police violently suppressed the students and furious locals joined in the demonstration. Seoul city was full of demonstrators claiming democracy for Korea.
Member of the Liberal Party
Riots have broken out! Proclaim martial law right now and arrest those leading the riot!
As the revolution spread quickly over the city, the government proclaimed martial law and opened fire on protestors.
Local 1
The government is killing young students and innocent people!
Local 2
Is this a democratic country, Korea?
Local 1
Yes, you're right! The Liberal Party government should be ousted! Be gone! Be gone!
As the situation worsened President Lee Seungman finally announced his resignation, and democracy started to take root on the peninsula.
This is the grave of Sin Suk. Sin Suk was a Korean independence movement activist. Let’s travel back in time to understand his role.
Sin Suk
The Korean Independence Party has worked for the independence of Korea. We have gathered together several independence organizations and our own Independence Army in Manchuria, however, our brothers cannot match the strength of the Japanese and Manchurian defense. As a new strategy, the Independence Party will forge an alliance with the Chinese Nationalist Party and other Korean communities.
Reporter
But there are not many independence activists left in Manchuria. You said that the best strategy is to form an alliance with other Korean communities. But, do you really think you can defeat the dominant Japanese Army in Manchuria?
Sin Suk
If we pray for the victory and don’t give up, the day of independence will come.. The heavens will not crush our fervent desires.
Sin Suk devoted himself not only to the independence of Korea, but also to the education and enlightenment movement. He founded schools and worked as the principal in charge. He gave a speech at the 3.1 Movement commemoration ceremony. After the independence of Korea, he founded the Dongbuk Federation to help displaced Koreans in Manchuria return home. Sin Suk worked in various fields for the independence of his country.
This is where the independent activist, Kim Doyeon, rests in peace. He mostly worked in Tokyo, Japan. Let’s see what he says.
Kim Doyeon: We shouldn’t just watch this situation unfold! Let’s join the fight and work together for the independence of our country!
Brother 1: I agree! Isn’t there anyone else interested?
Brother 2: Sure! I will join you!
Kim Doyeon: Great! Let’s work together and show the enemy the power and resolve of our students!
This was how it all began. Mr. Kim rallied students studying in Japan and started the independence movement. 224 students joined Mr. Kim and they formed a secret organization. They eluded the vigilance of the Japanese police for some time and carefully extended the organization.
Kim Doyeon: Now the Japanese police have become aware of us. I have heard of an English Newspaper which is published here by a British person. Why don’t we write an article declaring the independence of Korea? Let’s proclaim Korea’s independence! Here, in Tokyo, the heart of the enemy!
This was the famous 2.8 Independence Declaration. After the declaration, independence movements silently continued under the leadership of Kim Doyeon. After the independence of Korea, Mr. Kim helped found the New People’s Party and worked for the democracy of Korea. He died at the age of 73.
If you follow the road signs, you will see graves of Kim Changsuk, Yang Ildong and Seo Sangil. Let’s meet Mr. Kim Changsuk first.
The devoted patriot, Kim Changsuk was born in 1987 and spent his lifetime working for the education movement. As a scholar, he led the independence movement and was crippled from severe torture by the Japanese and long-term imprisonment.
Mr. Kim wrote a petition appealing for a better education system and the independence of Korea, and raised funds to support the independence movement.
Policeman: Tell me who. Who else is in your group?
Kim Changsuk: No matter how much you torture me, I will never tell you even if it means that I will die here!
Policeman: Then you won’t be allowed access to legal representation.
Kim Changsuk: As a Korean, I deny Japanese law. I will not contradict my denial of Japanese law therefore I will not rely on a Japanese lawyer. I will never do that!
Kim Changsuk was not daunted and represented himself in court.
The Chief Judge: Where is your hometown?
Kim Changsuk: I have no hometown.
The Chief Judge: Don’t defile the sacred court! Where were you born?
Kim Changsuk: I don’t have a country now, so how can I say where I was born!
After the trial, Kim Changsuk was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment. Due to long-term imprisonment and torture, his legs were permanently damaged. After the independence of Korea, Kim Changsuk devoted himself to public education and died at the age of 84.
We have arrived at the grave of Yang Ildong. The independence activist, Yang Ildong, was born in 1912. When he was 16 he was involved in the Gwangju Student Independence Movement in 1929 and was expelled from middle school. He studied abroad in Beijing, and graduated high school there. He was an activist in the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai and a member of other parties opposing Japanese occupation. Due to his support of the Korean Provisional Government, Mr. Yang was arrested by the Japanese and imprisoned. After the independence of Korea, Yang Ildong devoted himself to peasant movements and anti-dictatorship activities. Up until his death from a heart attack, he worked for opposition parties for the political democracy of Korea.
A hundred meters above the grave of Yang Ildong is the grave of Seo Sangil. Born in 1887, Mr. Seo Sangil founded the secret organization named Daedong Youth Association to restore the sovereignty of Korea. In 1910 when Japan annexed Korea with the Korea-Japan Annexation Treaty, Seo Sangil organized a extremist group of 9 men and appealed to the ministers of other countries in Seoul against the treaty. He and the eight men planned to commit suicide by disemboweling themselves after the revolt. He was aged only 23. After their appeal, Mr. Seo built Joyang Hall in Daegu for the use of independence movements and continued his anti-Japanese activities. The name of Joyang Hall reveals his desire for independence, meaning ‘where the morning sun shines’ or ‘be the light of the Joseon Dynasty’. As he wished, Korea finally became independent of Japan, and he worked as a politician until he died.
Where the morning sun shines... Korea today has benefited by these devoted patriots’ desires and sacrifices. We pray for their noble souls for a moment.
On the Pilgrimage trail, you can see Seob Bridge, made with tree branches. Seob Bridge was built for the winter time when it was difficult to cross the river on ferryboats. Because the bridge was only for temporary use, every year during the monsoon season, it was easily washed away.
Building the bridge was the result of traditional community collaboration of our ancestors. When the bridge construction was completed, residents of both villages greeted each other on the bridge.
Senior 1: To celebrate the new Seob Bridge, we should have a party, shouldn't we?
Senior 2: Sure, our village already prepared potatoes and noodles.
Senior 1: Then we will prepare the Kimchi and corn, and how about drinking some rice wine?
Senior 2: That sounds perfect.
I only oppose the compelling power, not the government itself! True anarchy is to deny irresponsible power. I only oppose Japan who violates the sovereignty of Korea by force!”
Can you hear a patriot’s outcry? Here is the grave of Yu Rim who was a true anarchist.
Mr. Yu Rim strongly resisted the Japanese who took anarchism amiss at will. There was a Korean anarchist movement during the Japanese Invasion Period.
Yu Rim joined the independence movement while he was attending a school teaching western culture. After that, Yu Rim exiled himself to Manchuria and fought for the independence of Korea.
Yu Rim:
I will go back to Joseon with anarchism. This will become the ideology with which we will fight against Japanese colonial power.
Yu Rim founded several Korean anarchism organizations from 1925. While preparing for a socialist rally, he was arrested by Japanese police and banished from the city.
Later he was sentenced to five years imprisonment and sent into a second exile. He continued to work for the independence of Korea.
The Independence Army soldier:
Mr. Yu Rim, have you heard the news? Japan finally surrendered itself!
Yu Rim:
What did you say? Finally… finally Joseon liberates from Japan… Oh, oh…
The Independence Army soldier:
Don’t waste your time here. Let’s return to our country with the provisional government.
After returning to Korea, Yu Rim made efforts to found the independent unified democratic government. He died at the age of 68. The government decorated him with a posthumous National Foundation Medal in 1962.
The Independence Army soldier 1:
The Japanese just invaded China! I’m afraid that even Manchuria will be under the Japanese control! We should stop them!
The Independence Army soldier 2:
Many Koreans are fighting in Manchuria for the independence of Korea. We should support them. I heard that young men have escaped from the Japanese Army and come to join the Independence Army!
The Independence Army 1:
Let’s cooperate with the Chinese Army and fight against the Japanese together! For the independence of Korea!
We are in the joint graveyard of the Independence Army. 17 soldiers who died on the battlefield rest in peace here.
Japan invaded China in 1937 and continued the war until 1945 when World War II ended. At that time, the Independence Army cooperated with the Chinese Army and they fought together against the Japanese forces.
Some young Korean men who had been conscripted to the Japanese Army escaped and walked for thousands of kilometers in order to find and join the Independence Army. Because the identities of these 17 soldiers are unknown, the grave is communal.
The bodies of fallen Korean soldiers couldn’t all be returned from China, but we should remember their courage and devotion here. Let us have a moment’s silence for our fallen patriots.
This is the grave of the first vice-President of Korea, Yi Siyoung.
When Japan forcefully annexed Korea in 1910, he refused all Japan’s proposals and moved to Manchuria to lead the independence movement. He suffered severe torture at the hands of the Japanese and endured long periods of hardship.
Let’s listen to the brothers Yi Siyoung and Yi Hoeyoung talking about exile.
Yi Siyoung:
Now we have lost our country. What is the use of all these assets and reputations? Isn’t it better to move to Manchuria and join the independence movement there? I will never be a slave to Japanese imperialism!
Yi Hoeyoung (a slightly older man):
Siyoung is right. We can raise funds by disposing of our land and houses.
Yi Siyoung:
Yes, my brother! Let’s free all the servants of the house and let them go back to their hometowns.
The family of Yi Siyoung was one of the respectful noble families of the Joseon Dynasty and was preeminently wealthy in those days. However, when Japan colonized Korea in 1910, 6 brothers and 60 family members left their hometown to fight for the independence of Korea.
Yi Siyoung:
Though all my brothers lived difficult lives here and died, it was for the independence of our country. Not to make their deaths in vain, I will fight until I die.
He supported the founding of the Korean Provisional Government and worked as the Chief of Justice and the Chief of Finance. Because all of his brothers died in prison or on the battlefields, he returned to Korea alone when Korea was liberated from Japan in 1945.
Later he was elected as the first vice-President of Korea, however, he was angered by the undemocratic conduct of the government and refused to take part in their politics. Yi Siyoung devoted himself to national unification up until his death. His noble sentiments are still valued today.
Mr. Shin Ikhee entered the department of politics and economics at Waseda University. He organized a secret group for independence. He also published a magazine for the Korean independence movement.
Shin Ikhee:
Today, members of the Sina Alliance swear to heaven. We swear to fight for Korea’s independence until we die.
He worked as an independent activist not only in Japan, but also in Korea. He led the traditional education revival for Koreans of all ages using his background of education in Japan.
Shin Ikhee:
If we Koreans accept and learn modern sciences earlier than the Japanese, and are inspired with national pride, we can forge ahead of the Japanese in everything!
In the meantime, Shin Ikhee started a new movement inspiring patriotism and nationalism to rebel against Japanese Imperialism. In addition, he planned an independent militia and supported the 3.1 Movement in 1919. Unfortunately, the joy of independence in 1945 was short lived. Soon, the Korean War broke out in 1950. Shin Ikhee couldn’t accept the war between the divided Korea for any reason.
Shin Ikhee:
If we endure these hardships and fight until the end, the victory is ours. Fifty countries of the world support us, and the justice of human history is on our side.
Mr. Shin Ikhee insisted that justice triumphed over other trials. He declared the statement in Seoul to encourage the national spirit of
Mr. Shin emphasized that democracy applies to and equalizes all people and that the country should belong to the people. Many people gathered to listen to his excellent speech and finally, he was nominated for the Korean presidency.
His son, Shin Hagyun, was also a passionate patriot who devoted himself to the independence movement. When Shin Ikhee worked in Shanghai for the Korean Provisional Government, Shin Hagyun moved there to join in his father’s work. He was in charge of translation in the General Staff Office.
After his father’s death, Shin Hagyun stood as an independent candidate for the by-election of Gwangju City. After that, he successively held the third, fifth and sixth Member of the National Assembly. Just like his father, Mr. Shin Hagyun also devoted himself to the country until his death.
The White Cloud trail
Along the White Cloud trail, you will come across Hwagyesa Temple where peaceful sutra chanting resonates. Hwagyesa Temple is located in dense forests near downtown Seoul.
With the support of the Joseon Dynasty, Hwagyesa Temple was continuously developed. It is especially related to Heungseon Daewongun. There is a story about him and his second son, King Gojong’s succession to the throne. One summer day, Daewongun visited Hwagyesa Temple while thinking about the next king. He was thirsty and tried to find a pond. As he looked, a young monk under the zelkova tree gave him a cup of water, as if he had waited there for Daewongun.
Heungseon Daewongun: Who are you? How did you know that I was thirsty?
The young monk: I just followed an order from the priest, Manin.
Heungseon Daewongun: Manin? Oh, that is interesting. Do you know where he is?
Daewongun was curious about the coincidence and visited Manin. Manin already knew what Daewongun was considering and advised him how to find the next king.
Manin: The next king will be born nearby the golden pagoda of Gaya Temple in Deoksan, Chungcheong Province. If you remove your father, Namyeonggun’s, grave to that temple, soon you will have a son and he will be king.
Daewongun took the priest’s advice and moved his father’s tomb to Gaya Temple in Deoksan. Seven years later, he had a second son who later became the 26th king of the Joseon Dynasty, King Gojong. Because of this, Daewongun donated funds to Hwagyesa Temple and left lots of handwritten documents inside the temple buildings.
In 1933, nine masters of Korean literature including Yi Huiseung and Choi Hyunbae stayed here together and wrote the draft for a standardised spelling system for written Korean language.
While walking along the White Cloud trail, you will come to the cloud observatory. The 12 meter long observatory is one of the best observatories of the Dulle-gil course along with the Skywalk Observatory on the Cloud Garden trail.
From the observatory, you can see a beautiful view of Seoul and the ridges of Bukhansan Mountain. On the left you can see Gangbuk, Dobong and Nowon-gu. At the far right are the Seongbuk and Jungrang-gu districts of Seoul. Behind them are Dobongsan, Suraksan and Bulamsan Mountains at the far left and more mountains in front. Under the observatory is Suyu Village, meaning ‘the place where the water from Bukhansan Mountain flows’.
On the handrail of the observatory, there are photo details and information about the areas you can see. We hope you enjoy your time at the observatory.
When you arrive in the valley, you will see flat stones under the bridge. Do you know what the stones were used for? And why this place is called the ‘washing valley’?
Palace maid 1: I told you. To receive favors from the king, we need to endure the cold water and wash the laundry. Brrr, it’s so cold!
Palace maid 2: Why do we have so much laundry today? It is quite unusual.
Palace maid 1: Haven’t you heard the news? Next month is the Queen Mother’s 60th birthday! Before returning to the palace, we need to finish all of this laundry in preparation for her birthday celebrations.
Palace maid 2: Aha, I see. I guess the palace kitchen will also be very busy from tomorrow.
Palace maid 1: Brrr it’s so cold! Let’s finish quickly and go back!
Palace maid 2: Yes, we should. Hurry up!
Did you enjoy the story? For a long time, this place was famous for having a great volume of clean water. As such, the palace maids used the area as a place for doing laundry and resting. That is how the name ‘washing valley’ came about.
Up until the 1960s and 1970s, this area was used to do laundry. The flat stones were used as washboards in those days. Palace maids gossiped here about their difficult lives in the palace, just like normal women of the villages. Can you imagine the scene here as it was years ago?
Solsaem trail
From now on, we will look around the Solsaem, meaning ‘pine spring’, trail. Of all of the Dulle-gil, this course has especially good views over the city.
The Solsaem trail links with the Bukhansan Mountain Ecological Forest. The Bukhansan Mountain Ecological Forest has a Wild Flower Garden and an Ecology Center which provides forest tour guides to visitors.
Visitors can easily enjoy the scenery and rest in places. The Solsaem trail is at an altitude of 200 meters so you can enjoy the view over the city. The road of the forest park continues to the street behind Jeongreung Elementary School.
There, you can see old traditional-style houses and temples in Jeongreung Village.
The Solsaem trail is 2.1 kilometers and has only a gentle gradient. It takes approximately an hour to walk and is suitable for both children and seniors.
We hope you will feel relaxed and refreshed here. Shall we start walking?
In the corner of the Wild Flower Garden, which is on the way from the ecological park to White Cloud trail, is the source of Solsaem Spring. There used to be a pure spring here called Solsaem, but now we can only see the information signpost. The board provides information about the origin of Solsaem spring and explains that it flows from Mt. Bukhan and is surrounded by pine trees. Although the pine-scented spring is no longer visible, just thinking of the clean water makes us feel refreshed.
Nut Pine Trees grow in the Bukhansan Mountain Ecological Forest. Shall we go to the forest together? Can you feel how fresh the air is in the ecological park? The reason is because there are so many trees. People feel good amongst trees and this is known as the therapeutic effect of the forest. The nut pine trees release Phytoncide which strengthens immunity and makes people feel relaxed. Phytoncide is the chemical that the trees release into the air to protect themselves from insects and harmful microorganisms. The word ‘Phytoncide’ is a combination of ‘phyton’ meaning ‘plant’ and ‘cide’ meaning ‘to kill’ in Latin. Trees with needles rather than broad leaves, release the highest concentrations of Phytoncide. This is why we feel so good in this dense Nut Pine Tree forest. Let’s listen to what the Nut Pine Tree over there is talking about.
Tour Guide:
We have now arrived at Jeongneung-dong where the royal tomb of Queen Sindeok is located. The name of the area is derived from the name of the tomb, Jeong-neung. Queen Sindeok was the second wife of the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, King Taejo Yi Seonggye. When the queen passed away, King Taejo sought out an auspicious location for her tomb, and built it near to the palace. Furthermore, the King ordered a temple be built to pray for the queen’s soul. It was reputed that King Taejo ate breakfast only after listening to the sound of the temple bells, indicating that the Buddhist service for the queen had taken place.
Tourist:
Wow, it is a touching story. King Taejo must have ardently loved Queen Sindeok. By the way, I heard there’s also a sad story about Jeongneung. What is it?
Tour Guide:
It took place after the queen had died.
Tour Guide:
When King Taejo was considering potential successors to the throne, the son of his first wife, Yi Bang-Won, was a strong candidate. His first wife had played an important role when they founded the dynasty together. However, the king deemed the son of Queen Sindeok heir to the throne, not Yi Bang-Won. Yi was both jealous and furious, and when Queen Sindeok passed away, he killed his half brother, the crown prince.
Tourist:
What a tragedy.
Tour Guide:
So at last Yi Bang-Won came to the throne by force and he removed the tomb of Queen Sindeok from Seoul. The stones of the tomb were used to build a bridge over Cheonggye Stream and thus people trampled over them.
Tourist:
Ah! It really hurts.
Tour Guide:
Fortunately, the status of Queen Sindeok was restored 260 years later, and the tomb was also reconstructed and remains until today.
Her ancestral tablet was installed in Jongmyo which is the royal shrine of the Joseon Dynasty. When the grand sacrificial rite was held, it rained heavily as if to console the sorrow of the queen.
Tourist:
Ah, now I know the story of the tomb of Queen Sindeok. It makes me sad to hear it. I can only hope the tomb will be well-preserved and not suffer again in the future.
Myeongsang-gil
The Myeongsang-gil is the fifth section in the Bukhansan National Park, and it penetrates the deep valley of Bukhansan Mountain. It should be a very special experience to walk in a typical forest of Korea so close to the busy urban city of Seoul. This section is recommended for those who enjoy both walking and mountain climbing.
The name of this section, Myeongsang-gil, literally means the Meditation Path. In Asia, meditation is valued as a peaceful form of training one’s inner self, so it suggests that you can look into your inner self inside the peaceful forest.
If you do not walk or exercise regularly, it is recommended that you start out from Jeongneung and visit the Bukhansan National Park Hiking Information Center. The center provides detailed information on Bukhansan, as well as maps and information on the Bukhansan Dulegil, so you will get invaluable help for your trip.
When you start out from Jeongneung, the path is quite steep at the beginning, but only for a short distance.
The Myeongsang-gil is connected to many forks in the road that take you to renowned places in Seoul such as Cheonggyecheon Stream and Gwanghwamun Gate.
If you’re looking for a unique trip, you can head in whichever direction takes your fancy at one of the forked sections.
Now, let’s begin our trip!
If you begin your Myeongsang-gil trip from Jeongneung, there’s one place you must visit. Even if you start out from the opposite direction, be sure not to miss this place.
It is the Bukhansan National Park Hiking Information Center.
This building looks very different from traditional Korean buildings. If you’ve seen a traditional Korean house, you’ll feel that this two-story building is completely different from what you’d imagine. And your intuition would be right.
This building is built in the Ryokan-style of traditional inns of our close neighbor, Japan.
It was constructed by the Japanese in the 1910s, when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. In other words, this building is one of the few vestiges from that part of our history.
It was first used as a mansion for Japanese people. After Korea’s liberation from Japan, it was used as a civilian house. But when the Korean War began, it was used as a barracks for the Korean Army’s Special Forces. After the war, it was also used as a classy bar, and served as the background to a Korean novel which describes Korea’s chaotic society in the period immediately after the Korean War.
Currently, this building is used as a modern information center, which provides lots of useful information on Bukhansan and the Dulegil. At this center, you can get information on the animal and plant species living in the Bukhansan area, the various hiking paths, as well as maps of the Dulegil.
You can also obtain simple first-aid information for dealing with emergency situations on the mountain.
This information center is the ideal place to learn about Bukhansan, the representative mountain of Seoul.
Did you start out from the Bukhansan National Park Hiking Information Center?
I imagine it was a bit difficult walking up through the valley. Stop for a while and take a deep breath.
Now, you are at the Myeongsang-gil Observatory, where you can enjoy the magnificent view of Bukhansan.
If you haven’t taken a photo yet, it’d be a good idea to take one here.
Take a look around at the trees. There are many traditional Korean pine trees here. Pine trees have needle-like leaves that are green throughout four seasons, and are regarded as a symbol of hope and fidelity by the Korean people.
The Korean name of the pine tree is “sonamu” or “sol”. “Sol” has the hidden meaning of “leader.” Perhaps people were trying to say that the pine tree is the leader of all trees, the best tree in the world.
The traditional pine tree of Korea has a red trunk. It grows slow, but develops fine wood. With its tenacious life force, Korean pine trees even grow on unstable land including cliff tops.
Since ancient times the pine tree has been very useful in Korea. When people built palaces around 300 years ago during the Joseon Dynasty, only traditional red pine trees were used. The red pine tree is straighter and sturdier than other trees, making it an ideal construction material.
Even today, people who want to build the best wooden buildings want to use Korean pine trees.
You’ve arrived at a quiet Bugak Rest Area. If you’ve brought some food with you, this is a good place to eat it. There’s also a restroom nearby. If you have enough time, how about straying off the beaten path for a bit?
If you walk about 300 meters from the rest area up the road towards the mountain in the opposite direction of the Dulegil, you’ll see a small Buddhist hermitage named ‘Simgogam,’ which means ‘a hermitage in a deep valley.’
If you go up a little bit more, passing this hermitage, you will see a rock that resembles a seal. It’s called Mulgaebawi, or Seal Rock. There’s a legend about this place that has been passed down for several generations.
Narration: During the late Joseon Dynasty, a man called Kim and his wife couldn’t have a son. During that time, people thought that without a son, the family legacy would die. It was a truly desperate time for Kim. Kim’s wife prayed to Buddha every day.
Kim’s wife: Dear Buddha, please give me a son.
Narration: One night, Kim’s wife saw an old man with white hair in her dream.
Old man: I’ll grant you your wish. On that high and deep mountain, there’s a big tree. Find the nearby rock that looks like a seal and pray there.
Narration: Kim’s wife wandered around the rough mountain. Finally, she found the rock that looks like a seal, and prayed with the utmost devotion. Neither rain nor thunder could make her leave the spot.
One rainy day, when she was praying, a white bird flew up to the sky right in front of her. A few days later, Kim’s wife was pregnant with a son.
Since then, the Seal Rock of this hermitage has been known as the rock that grants you a son.
Bukhansan Mountain is home to many legends concerning rocks. Can you see the big rock with letters carved on it next to the road? These rocks also have their own legends. This rock is carved with Chinese characters, and was named ‘Turtle Rock’ because of its shape. There are also other Chinese characters next to it. The letter says Nakgu, which is a land that only exists in Chinese legend. The letters try to tell people that this is a special place.
If you walk further up the road next to the two rocks, you’ll see Gubogam Hermitage. Its name literally means ‘a fortunate turtle,’ and it was named after Turtle Rock. This hermitage was built by a monk in 1960. The monk prayed for a long time and wandered around the country trying to find a good place to build a Buddhist temple. Then, one night, he was told in his dream to find a rock that resembled a turtle. But no matter how long he walked around the mountain searching for the rock, he couldn’t find it. As he was walking down the mountain in dismay, the skies suddenly opened and it poured with rain. So he took shelter below a rock to avoid the rain, and eventually realized the very rock looked like a turtle. That’s why he built Gubogam in this location.
There is a small shrine called Chilseonggak inside this hermitage. This shrine houses the traditional gods of Korea’s folk religion. The gods here help you increase wealth, improve your skills, prolong your life, and enjoy abundant harvest.
Chilseonggak means “a shrine that houses seven stars” in Chinese characters. Following its name, Chilseonggak has the carving of Big Dipper on the cliff. The Big Dipper is a constellation of seven stars originally from the west, and east meets west in this hermitage.
Pyeongchangmaeul-gil
The Pyeongchangmaeul-gil section is relatively longer than the other sections, but it’s also relatively flat. When you walk on the path along the mountain ridge, you’ll see countless houses to your south. Also, the mountain to the north will appear so close to you that you’ll feel like you can touch it. This section truly presents a unique experience.
Since ancient times, Koreans have believed in feng shui theory, which is a system of geomancy. According to feng shui theory, the good fortune of a piece of land could be determined by its topography, and this particular place in the Pyeongchangmaeul-gil should bring wealth. Around 600 years ago, during the early days of the Joseon Dynasty, this location fulfilled the predictions of feng shui. There was once a large storage facility, and rice paid as a form of taxation by Joseon people was stored here.
Also, currently, there are many artistic places around the Pyeongchangmaeul-gil, because many artists used to live in this area. If you have time, it would be nice to visit some of the many cultural spaces around here.
However, there’s one thing we must ask of you. The Pyeongchangmaeul-gil is very close to a residential area, so please keep noise to a minimum so as not to disturb the residents.
Now, let’s start our trip to the Pyeongchangmaeul-gil.
If you walk slowly along the path between the residential area and Bukhansan Mountain, you'll see an elegant wooden gate. This is the entrance to a Buddhist temple called Yeonhwajeongsa.
Once inside the temple, you'll enjoy very different views from those you saw outside. You can see the whole Pyeongchang-dong area at a glance. Actually, this temple is famous for its view of Seoul. On a clear day, you can even see Hangang River to the south as it winds its way through Seoul.
If you open your eyes wide, you will see the glistening waters of the Hangang.
This area in which Yeonhwajeongsa is located satisfies all the conditions for an excellent spot according to feng shui theory, a form of oriental study that predicts the energy of a landscape by its shape. Although high mountains surround this area, they do not block out the sunlight.
People who study feng shui say that the energy of the "white tiger and blue dragon" reside here. In times past, the white tiger and the dragon were thought to be mysterious creatures with magical powers in Asia. The high peak to the right, called Bohyeonbong, radiates with the energy of the white tiger, while Hyeongjebong, to the left, radiates the energy of the dragon.
There are many different denominations within Buddhism. Yeonhwajeongsa belongs to the denomination that praises Amitabha Buddha, who resides in the heavens to the west and delivers his wisdom and mercy to the people.
If you walk down the stairway, you'll see a white Buddha statue in the temple yard. It's a statue of Amitabha Buddha.
Buddhism was brought to Korea and became widespread a long time ago. Even if you don't know much about Buddhism, the scenery and the serene face of the Buddha statue will give you a peace of mind.
Keep the peace and warmth within you, and let's continue on our trip.
You’re walking in Pyeongchang-dong right now. The name of the town, “Pyeongchang” originally referred to a grain storage that was situated here about 300 years ago.
Back then, Korea was a feudal nation called Joseon, and its capital, Hanseong, was much smaller than today’s Seoul. We are now standing in the western area outside the ancient capital of Hanseong.
The kings of Joseon stored large amounts of grain to feed the people in the event of famine or war. Although there were four storage facilities inside the palace, another one was built here to store military food supplies after the construction of Bukhansanseong Fortress. There was so much rice stored in this region that the capital’s residents could be fed for months with it.
Today, many wealthy people and artists reside in this area. Scholars who believe in the energy of the land say that the special geographical energy here contributes to it. They say the energy of the white tiger resides here, and the white tiger is associated with art and wealth in Asia.
Another place which can be compared to this region is the nearby Seongbuk-dong. It is believed that the energy of the blue dragon resides there. The blue dragon symbolizes men, and is associated with honor and public office. Maybe that’s the reason why many politicians and embassies are actually located in Seongbuk-dong.
What do you think? This place is special in terms of Korean history and Asian feng shui geomancy.
An immense grain storage facility used to be situated here, and artistic energy flows all around the area!
Immerse yourself in the waves of energy of the white tiger.
If you look northwest from the Pyeongchangmaeul-gil, you'll always see one particular mountain peak. It is called Bohyeonbong, and it rises to a height of 714m.
On clear days, you can even see it from northern Seoul, Namsan Mountain, Gwanghwamun Gate, and Euljiro in the city.
This mountaintop looks down on the whole of Seoul. The mountaintop can tell you how Seoul was selected as the capital of Korea. About 600 years ago, a Buddhist monk named Muhak was charged with selecting the capital of the Joseon Dynasty. He travelled around Korea to find the best location for the nation's capital.
First, he climbed up the mountain called Bibong, which is located north of here. He thought that the area below Bibong would be an excellent location for the capital. However, he unexpectedly found a memorial stone at the summit of the mountain.
The stone bore the following words: 'A monk named Muhak will come here one day. This is the wrong place.'
The person who carved the words on the stone lived during the Silla Period, many centuries before the Joseon Dynasty. That person was a Buddhist monk named Doseon. He had a special ability to predict the future, and left the stone there to prevent a crucial mistake.
After reading the stone, Muhak decided to obey the prediction. He realized that he had made a wrong choice, and continued his search for the capital location.
Finally, he came to Bohyeongbong and selected the capital of Joseon. A monk who predicted far into the future, and another monk who followed his advice - it's all too amazing to believe. An old legend hides behind the story of how Seoul came to be the capital of Korea today.
Shall we take a little detour from the Dulegil section?
If you walk down the stairs to the left at the end of the hill, you’ll see a two-story building. It is a shrine that houses a mountain god. The mountain behind you is Bohyeonbong, and this shrine houses the mountain god of Bohyeon.
There are so many people living around here today that they almost cover the mountain ridge, but it used to be just a high, lonely mountain in the past. People who lived below the mountain believed that the mountain god protected their village. So they built a shrine to honor their god, and held rituals twice a year, in spring and fall, and boiled an entire pig for the god. The ritual is still performed to this day.
You will see a painting of the mountain god inside the building. This impressive painting of an old man standing next to a tiger welcomes you to the shrine.
In the distant past people believed that the mountain god had a wife, and built a shrine to house the lady mountain god as well. If you walk down about 50m from here, you will also see the shrine built to honor the mountain god’s wife. Sadly, the original building was destroyed in a fire during the Korean War and it was only rebuilt in 1970. Fortunately, the painting of the lady mountain god, which dates back to 1923, was preserved.
It’s a traditional custom in Korea to honor the mountain god of a mountain village and the sea god in a coastal village. People feared nature and humbled themselves before it. It seems to be true everywhere we go in the world. 😊
Yetseong-gil
The Yetseong-gil passes by the fortress wall dating back to the old Seoul of the 1700s. The fortress was built to protect the capital following invasions by Japan and China. As you walk alongside the wall, you’ll pass a secret gateway of the fortress originally built only for soldiers. When you reach the fortress site, you will be able to imagine the size of Seoul some 300 years ago. You’ll quickly see that it was then much smaller than it is now.
Another special feature of this section is its outstanding scenery. During your walk, you’ll notice a number of peaks along the southern ridge of Bukhansan Mountain, which bring to mind one the major themes of Oriental painting. This section has the best scenery of the many sections of the Dulegil.
You’ll also be able see the vast urban expanse of western Seoul very well from this section. You’ll feel the energy of a busy and dynamic, densely crowded Seoul. Residents from nearby towns frequently visit this road for exercise. It is always busy with people, so learn a few Korean phrases before you try to make a Korean friend.
When starting your walk from Gugi-dong, the path is flat apart from a short incline. However, the path down to Rose Park is slippery, so take care not to fall. You should also be careful when walking up the section from Hongji-dong.
Shall we set out on a trip to old Seoul?
The fortress in front of you is the highlight of this section. It’s one of the most valuable historic sites and is protected by the laws of Seoul.
The fortress was built in 1718, after an invasion by Japan and a war with China. After these crises, feudal Korea needed to provide better protection for the capital, which was the king’s seat and main residence. Although some fortresses had already been built, this one was built in the western region. This location was particularly important in military terms because the wartime food supply was stored here.
Although the fortress was built in preparation for war, its name “Tangchundaeseong” is very peaceful - meaning “to enjoy the spring”. There used to be a banquet hall for the king near here, and the fortress was named after it.
The gate that you’re passing through right now was a secret gate intended only for soldiers. During war or crisis, military supplies were transported through this gate.
Are you enjoying your walk? Hold on a minute. Why not sit down and take a rest on the wooden chair in front of the huge rock? From here, you can clearly see the ridge of Bukhansan Mountain.
Among the many rocky peaks, can you see one that looks like a circular cone?
Its name is Bibong, and it looks like many small and big rocks are stacked up together.
An ancient kingdom called “Silla” once prospered in the southern region of the Korean Peninsula about 1300 years ago. When Silla expanded her territory as far as here, the people of Silla built a memorial stone at Bibong. For many years, the memorial stone stood there without anyone deciphering its meaning. Finally, in 1817, a scholar of the Joseon Dynasty discovered what it meant. After standing there for another 150 years, the stone was moved to a museum in 1972. Now, only a replica of the stone stands at Bibong.
If you look eastwards from Bibong, you will see a quadrangular rock on top of a gigantic rock. This rock conceals the sad love story of a young man.
The Qing Dynasty of China invaded the Korean Peninsula in 1636. The young man went to the battlefield to protect his country. The man had a fiancé he was preparing to marry, but the soldiers of Qing Dynasty took her away. After the war, the young man returned to his home, but his fiancé had disappeared. Although he found her later, he couldn’t see her again. Every day, he stared towards China from that mountaintop, and eventually he turned into a rock. Because the rock looks like the young man wearing an old-style hat called a samo, the rock is called Samobawi.
After passing Turtle Mineral Spring in the Rose Garden and a crosswalk, you’ll arrive at Bukhansan Ecological Park, the starting point or end point of the Yetseong-gil. Here, you’ll find a small pond, a gazebo to rest in, and a wooden bridge. If you look at the floor, you’ll see blue lines indicating the Dulegil. Follow the line to continue to the eighth section, the Gureumjeongwon-gil, which starts at Bulgwangsa Temple.
At the Ecological Park, which is located below Bukhansan Mountain, don’t forget to take a close look at the small pond in it. In addition to reeds, Russian irises, and lotus flowers, you will also see a host of small insects that can’t be found in the city.
This pond is kept continually clean with an eco-friendly system. Now let me tell you a bit about sansuyu, one of the many species of tree found in the park. Sansuyu has powerful survival skills and can even grow in infertile soil. The tree blooms yellow flowers during spring and gives birth to red fruits that look like cherries in autumn. Sansuyu is commonly seen on the mountains of Korea. In particular, the fruit of sansuyu are used for medicinal purposes in Korea, as it lowers body heat and maintains health. These days many people today drink a health beverage made from this fruit.
Seoul is the biggest and most densely populated city in the world. However, the city is now building many parks in a bid to maintain a green and healthy Seoul.
Gureumjeongwon-gil
This section takes you from downtown Seoul to the outside, or from Gyeonggi-do to downtown Seoul if you walk the other way. This path starts with a granite rocky path, and then continues through sky walk on the air and a dense pine forest. At the end, you can also visit a historic site and a quiet temple on this walk, and a number of other interesting attractions.
The most enjoyable places on this section are the Sky Observatory and the Sky Walk. With the glorious scenery of Bukhansan Mountain behind you, you can look down on the western part of Seoul. Seoul is globally known for its high population density, and you’ll be able to see its spectacle here.
This section is a little longer than the others, so make sure to prepare some snacks and something to drink so that you can sit down and fill yourself up at the rest station midway along the section. Now, shall we start?
You are at Bulgwangsa Temple now. This temple is located in a sunny valley. Although it only takes short walk up from the village, this temple feels like it’s in the middle of a quiet forest.
The name of this temple “Bulgwang” means “Buddha’s light” in Korean and it was named after the name of nearby village. Back in the olden days, there were many temples here, so it was called Bulgwang-dong to indicate that “Buddha’s light dwells here.”
Along with the temple, there are many big rocks which offer good cover. That’s why rebels once hid up here and planned a coup d’état during the Joseon Period. The coup was planned about 400 years ago. At that time, Joseon was a feudal nation, and there were many subjects who were discontented with the king. As it happens, there was a prince who could replace the king, so some subjects began to discuss the possibility of staging a coup. In order to meet in secret, they first pretended to be suffering from an infectious disease and hung around this area. Naturally, people wanted to avoid being infected by them, so they stopped coming around here. After establishing a safe secret meeting place in this way, they finally completed their plan to overthrow the king. Later, the coup succeeded, and the new king praised their courage.
He named this place Deokbawigol, which means “the village with rocks of fortune.”
This is the Sky Observatory, the highlight of the Gureumjeongwon-gil.
You can see all of western Seoul to your southwest, including Eunpyeong-gu, an area in the western part of Seoul, that houses around 500,000 people. Indeed, Seoul is home to one of the largest populations in the world.
On a bright, clear day, you can see the World Cup Stadium and Mok-dong New Town from here as well.
If you’ve brought a camera with you, this is a good place to take a photo.
If you look north from the Sky Observatory, you’ll see a pedestrian overpass. The name of this bridge is Sky Walk. Pillars were installed on top of the bedrock, and a wooden path was built on top of that. This path is built 60m above the land in the air.
At the end of the Sky Walk, you will see some large stacks of granites to your right. The topographical term “Tor” is used to name rocks that are stacked up like a tower. The word originates from an English dialect word for “a stone tower that stands straight.”
On this Dulegil, you can clearly observe the changing topographical features.
If you look carefully, you’ll see trees whose roots have penetrated into the cracks in rocks. Nature is truly amazing.
Seollimsa Temple was built in 1966 with donations from a refugee who came down to South Korea after the Korean War. As you walk through the entrance into Seollimsa, you’ll see a two-story building. There is a painting on the outer wall of this building depicting a young monk finding a cow. According to Buddhist doctrine, ‘finding one’s mind is like finding a cow’. Variations on this theme can be seen in many temple paintings.
In the painting, the young monk first locates the footprints left by a cow. After looking at the cow, he finally approaches it and starts a quarrel to tame it while holding onto the reins. Finally, he rides on the cow’s back and returns while playing the pipe. In Buddhism this describes the procedure of finding the solution to a difficult mind.
Do you understand it? Try to look into this mysterious painting of Asian religion, and answer the question inside your mind.
This is an ‘ecological bridge’. Unfortunately, animals are frequently killed by cars. In order to prevent these accidents, Korea now builds many of these ‘ecological bridges’ to enable animals to cross the path safely.
If you look east from below this bridge, you’ll see a well-organized tomb. Let’s go there. This tomb belongs to Prince Hwaui, the ninth son of King Sejong of the Joseon Dynasty. King Sejong is one of the most respected figures for Koreans, as he created Hangeul, Korea’s scientifically-conceived alphabet. Prince Hwaui was also very bright, and actively helped his father create Hangeul. Unfortunately, the prince didn’t live an easy life. After his father passed away, he was caught up in political struggles and was eventually banished. Though he was young, he held on to his principles to the end.
In the topmost section, the prince and his wife lie together in a tomb. And below that are the tombs of his son and great-grandson. If you look closely at the pattern carved on the tombstone, you’ll see that it depicts a cloud that surrounds the sun. On the rear side of the tombstone, you can see a dark moon hidden behind a cloud.
The painting depicts the faith of the young prince, who died before he could fulfill his dream.
Masil-gil
The Masil-gil is the ninth section of Dulegil. ‘Masil’ is a word from regional dialect meaning ‘village’ or ‘hang out’. A friendly village culture has existed in Korea since ancient times, as neighbors freely shared their food and grew close to one another. However, this unique culture is quickly dying out due to Korea’s rapid industrialization, and Koreans are now more nostalgic about these community cultures than ever before.
Nostalgia for the small community culture gave birth to this section. You can comfortably walk along this road as if you’re visiting a neighbor. It’s a short course that takes about an hour, as well as the flattest road of the eighteen Bukhansan Dulegil sections.
At the Jingwan Wildlife Sanctuary, you can see various swamp organisms. And very near here, there’s also a Korean royal tomb. You’ll also encounter a forked road that leads to a temple of great historic importance. Why not pay a visit the temple and experience the Buddhist culture of Korea? It’ll leave you wonderful memories.
We recommend that you take your time on this section.
You’ll see large zelkova trees that are about 250 years old. They create shade all year round. Under the zelkova trees, you’ll see a swamp filled with innumerable reeds. This area was selected as a “wildlife sanctuary” in 2010.
This area protects vulnerable species that are found only in Northeast Asia, including Korea. One of them is Dybowski’s frog. It’s about 4 to 7cm in length. It has an irregular pattern on its back, and a grey patch on its belly. These frogs inhabit Korea, Japan, and the Sakhalin region.
Salamanders are an endemic species of Korea. Salamanders resemble small lizards, and feed on earthworms or insects. From mid March to May, they lay their eggs in this swamp.
People are forbidden to enter the sanctuary from February 20th to June 30th every year, although it can be seen from the observatory road.
Can you see pine trees right above the corner? The tombs of a 16th-century prince and his family are located there. Shall we go up? When you walk up the narrow incline towards the valley, you’ll see a number of tombs and tombstones.
The ridge on which these tombs are located runs from south to north. The tomb in the northernmost location is that of Prince Yeongsan. In front of his tomb are the tombs of his two wives. In the 16th century, male members of the royal family and nobility were permitted to practice polygamy. Below their tombs are the tombs of his descendants.
This tomb is a good example of a Korean royal tomb of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Look at the tombstone first. You will see that the name of the deceased and details of his life and achievements are inscribed on it. Also, there is a small square stone right in front of the tomb prepared for the spirits. They believed that the spirits of the dead emerge from the tomb to rest on this stone. Ritual foods were laid on a wide area in front of this stone, and incense was burned on the small square rock next to it.
There’s also a stone lantern. In those days, Koreans lighted lamps around the tomb to repel evil spirits. These stone lanterns were only erected around the tombs of high class people. Next to it, you will see a statue with his hands held together. This indicates that the tomb belongs to a man of high status.
Let's stray away from the Dulegil a little.
This temple, located at the western foot of Bukhansan Mountain, is called Jingwansa. It was originally built here in 1011, but was burnt down in 1463, and then rebuilt in 1470. The temple was burned to the ground again in 1950, during the Korean War, but was restored in 1964. Jingwansa is a renowned temple that has witnessed a thousand years of Korean history from a single location.
A thousand years ago, Korea was a kingdom called Goryeo. King Hyeonjong, the 8th ruler of the Goryeo Dynasty, was in constant danger of death when he was young, amid political turbulence. However, a Buddhist monk named Jingwan took care of the prince when he was expelled to a temple. Realizing the young prince was in danger of being assassinated, Jingwan protected the prince by hiding him in a hole under the Buddha statue.
After many years, when the prince finally became the eighth king of Goryeo, he built this temple to repay his debt to the monk Jingwan, hence the temple’s name of Jingwansa.
Afterwards, this temple became the royal temple of Korea for about one thousand years.
It is still possible to see old Buddha statues and their fragments here.
If you follow the east road towards the mountain from here, you’ll see Samcheonsa Temple. It’s located about 1.5km away, but the road isn’t too difficult to walk on, so it only takes about 30 minutes to get there. Although it’s off the Dulegil section, we highly recommend that you pay a visit to Samcheonsa.
Samcheonsa was built in 661AD. According to the remaining records, about 3000 monks used to train at this temple. Considering the population back then, it was a very large temple. Since many young monks resided here, they often fought as soldiers when Korea was invaded by other countries.
There’s something you must not miss here. It’s a fragment of a relief that has been designated as a National Treasure of Korea. It’s engraved on a rock located in the valley about 30 meters up from Samcheonsa. Shall we go up?
It is estimated that this was engraved around 1,350 years ago. The Buddha engraved on the stone is a representative image of Buddha as he was perceived in Korean Buddhism.
If you look carefully, you can observe the detailed method of engraving. His face and upper body appear to come out of the stone, while his lower body and halo appear to go in. This beautiful Buddha engraving presents a natural overall ratio and gentle appearance.
Naesimyoyeok-gi
The 10th section of Dulegil is the Naesimyoyeok-gil, which means the Eunuch Cemetery Path. This path runs for about 3.5km through a series of small forests and country villages. Compared to other sections, the Naesimyoyeok-gil is relatively short and easy. As it connects the western ridges of Bukhansan Mountain, visitors can appreciate the appearance of the mountain from various angles.
As the name “Naesimyoyeok,” or eunuch cemetery, suggests, there are many stories about nameless people from the past here. During ancient times in Korea, "naesi" or eunuchs used to perform many tasks for the royal family, but their lives were not really documented in Korean history. On this section, visitors can see the graves of eunuchs, and about midway along, they will get to hear a sad story of forbidden love.
While walking along this path, imagine the untold lives of ancient Koreans.
As you walk along this path, you will come across a Buddhist temple on your right. Behind the temple, there is Korea's oldest and largest grave site for eunuchs. The land is privately owned, so access to the site is restricted. Since the discovery of this site, a lot of research has been conducted on the lifestyle of the royal court's eunuchs.
Eunuchs in Korea were selected when very young. They were sent to the royal family after receiving several types of training, and played an important role in palace life. They performed such tasks as delivering the king and queen's orders, managing cooking and foods, and supervising all royal events.
The most important quality required of eunuchs was endurance. This was because they had to keep all the secrets of the royal family and even sacrifice their lives in emergency situations to protect the king.
Even though they were castrated, they were allowed to marry and adopt children. Until now, little has been known about Korean eunuchs and their life and work at the royal palaces.
Walking through thick forests is always enjoyable. Only 100 years ago, most of the roads in Korea were nothing more than dirt roads. After walking along this dirt road for a while, you will come to a small old granite monument inscribed with the following words: “This plot of land has been awarded to an official named Gyeongcheon, so no pine trees should be cut down here”. The rear face of the monument is inscribed with the date it was erected, some 400 years ago.
The official in the story of this monument was an interpreter, who made significant contributions to the nation during a war-torn period when Japan and China invaded Korea often. “Gyeongcheon” was his official title, conferred upon him in recognition of his great services to the nation, along with the land.
A thickly-forested mountain may be considered scant reward compared to a farming plain according to today’s standards, but about 400 years ago in old Korean society it was not. A thick forest of pine trees had great value at that time, because pine trees had many uses. They ranked among the best architectural materials, and were used in the making of furniture, making them a valuable property.
As a result, some people would steal pine trees, and this monument was erected in the hope of preventing such theft. Protecting pine tree forests was an important government policy at that time.
Even now, pine trees are a source of good quality wood, so there are many farmers growing pine trees in this neighborhood.
While standing on the mid-section of the wooden overpass, you will see a round-shaped peak.
The name of this peak is Nojeokbong, meaning "a stacked grain peak". There is an interesting story about how the peak was named during the time when Japan invaded Korea in April 1592.
At that time, Japanese soldiers were advancing on Seoul from the south very rapidly. They reached the northern part of Seoul in a flash. The number of Korean troops was so small that it became very obvious that they would lose the imminent battle.
Then, an old woman came up with a brilliant idea. She suggested making the peak look like a big mass of rice bags. To make the peak look like a big stack of rice, she mobilized the people, instructing them to cover the peak with straw mats. When they finished the work, it really looked like a stacked mass of rice.
Wonderfully, her imaginative plan worked.
Japanese soldiers saw the mound and were shocked to see a big stack of rice bags, believing them to be military supplies and thus that the Korean troops were great in number. They started to retreat. Owing to her wisdom, the Koreans were able to attack the Japanese soldiers and defend Seoul from invasion.
This wise old woman was named "Rice Grandmother" after that, and became very famous. After the war's end, the King erected a memorial stone to remember her for a long time.
Hyoja-gil
This is the eleventh Dulegil section. The path is about 3.3km long, and usually takes no more than a couple of hours. There’s a short section that follows the prefectural road of outer Seoul. After passing this section, you’ll soon come to a quiet forest road. The forest section runs around the northwest outskirts of Seoul, where you’ll be able to enjoy great scenic views of Seoul’s highest mountains.
The name of this section is Hyoja-gil. Hyoja means “a son who deeply loves his parents” in Korean. The tomb of a renowned filial son from the days of the Joseon Dynasty is located on this section, hence the name. His name was Park Tae-seong, and he visited the tomb of his dead father every day out of love and a profound sense of devotion. The road from his house to his father’s tomb wasn’t short, making it difficult to visit the tomb every day. But legend has it that as he was starting out one day, a tiger appeared before him and gave him a ride that day and every day thereafter. That’s why a tomb commemorating the tiger is also situated next to the Tomb of Park Tae-seong.
The spirit of hyo, which consists of remembering and loving one’s parents, is one of the most important values in Eastern countries, including Korea.
Now, shall we start?
The biggest reward of this section is the detailed view of the various peaks of Bukhansan Mountain that enclose Seoul on its northern side.
The name Bukhansan means ‘a large mountain located to the north of Seoul’. The mountain actually has another name, Buaak. ‘Buaak’ in Chinese characters means “a mountain that looks like a mother carrying a child on her back.” If you look carefully at the mountaintop over there, you will really see an Asian mother carrying her baby on her back. Can you see it?
Bukhansan extends from Korea’s capital Seoul to Goyang in Gyeonggi-do. Korea designated this mountain as a national park for its protection. Bukhansan is famous for attracting countless mountain climbers. In fact, it has been included in the Guinness Book of Records for attracting the record figure of 8 million visitors per year.
Geologically, Bukhansan is a granitic mountain. It shares similar geological features to Stone Mountain in Atlanta, USA. Granitic mountaintops are entirely smooth on the surface. Most of the other mountains surrounding Seoul are also granitic mountains created around the same time.
Now that you’ve had a proper look at the mountain, shall we speed up the pace a little?
Did you find the black tombstone? The stone was erected in 1893. The letters inscribed on the stone are Chinese characters. Back then, Chinese characters were mainly used in Korea. On the stone, it says “To commemorate Park Tae-seong, who was deeply filial to his parents.”
Who was Park Tae-seong? According to the tombstone, his father passed away when he was three years old. In Asia, it’s very important to hold a full and thorough funeral ceremony when one’s parents pass away. But as he was a baby at the time of his father’s death, he couldn’t do anything. As he grew, Park deeply regretted that he hadn’t been able to properly fulfill his duty as a son, and announced that he would hold a funeral again immediately upon becoming an adult. But his mother wouldn’t permit it. However, when his mother passed away, he finally held the funeral properly, and began performing an Oriental ritual from that day onwards.
In Korea, there was a custom that when a parent died, the children would build a cabin next to the tomb and pray to their parents morning and night for three years. But Park never finished his ritual, not even after three years. Instead, he spent the rest of his life near the tombs of his parents.
When he began living near the tombs deep in the mountain, people gathered from miles around to praise him. So many people went to see him that a village sprang up here. When the king later heard of his story, he built this tombstone to praise the special love and respect he showed for his parents.
This is the Tomb of “Park Tae-seong,” who lived during the 1800s.
Four tombs are located here: one belongs to Park Tae Sung, two belong to his two wives, and the last one belongs to a tiger. The tiger’s tomb is also accompanied by a stone statue of the dead tiger.
Park loved his father very much, even though he passed away when Park was very young. He felt the absence of his deceased father very sharply and visited his tomb every day. Although the tomb was far away, he never stopped visiting it. One day, a large tiger emerged from the forest. The boy thought that the tiger would kill him, but it didn’t. Instead, the tiger gave him a ride on its back all the way to his father’s tomb. So a deep friendship between the boy and the tiger began to flower. Years later, when Park died, a tiger came to his tomb and pined away there. People knew that the tiger was Park’s friend and buried it next to him.
This is the tomb of that tiger. However, it doesn’t actually contain the remains of a tiger. People made a mock tomb based on the ancient story. But the descendants of Park still hold rituals for the tiger there every year, to commemorate the deep friendship between their ancestor and the tiger.
There are many spots at which shamanistic rituals were once performed on Bukhansan, and which were thought to hold mysterious powers. We’re about to introduce you to one of those places right now. In Korean, these places are known as “gutdang.”
Can you see the large tree in the yard? Strings of many colors are hanging from this tree. The tree is used to summon the gods. Often, a “gut” is performed in this yard. A “gut” is a shamanistic ritual of Korea.
There are various rooms, each of which houses a different god. On the wall, you will see paintings of the gods, as well as various foods placed on the table before it. Sometimes, small rituals are held inside these rooms.
In traditional Korean shamanism, a “gut” is usually performed to ask for health and good fortune. When there was illness or misfortune in a family, people performed a gut to drive away evil spirits. The psychic who connects people with a god is called a “mudang” in Korea, and these shamans perform extravagant rituals for a certain price.
Rituals that involve music and dance can be very extravagant. Mudang also know a number of astonishing shamanistic techniques that ordinary people cannot comprehend. Simply observing a ritual composed of traditional Korean music and dance will plunge you into a mysterious world on the other side of reality.
Chungui-gil
The name of this Dulegil is Chungui-gil. “Chungui” in Korean means “noble consideration for one’s nation.” Opposite this path, there are various camps and training grounds of the Korean army, who are there to protect the nation’s capital, Seoul. As this location is close to the Military Demarcation Line, it has been regarded as a key strategic point in the protection of Seoul. Sometimes you may hear loud military songs and see military vehicles pass by, but don’t panic. It’s safe here.
Not many people pass through this area, so you can enjoy a quiet walk here. The air here’s also nicer and cleaner than in downtown Seoul. You’ll see some small valleys and even rural villages of Korea. Koreans are usually shy, but they’re fundamentally nice people, so approach them and say “Hi!” first. If you have a lover, you can enjoy a quiet date on this section.
You can see many native trees of Korea here. It’s always nice to see large, well-grown, and beautiful trees. Korean trees look different from those of Europe or America, so take a careful look at them. Enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the forest and leave your stress behind.
Now, let’s march ahead to the Chungui-gil like those soldiers, shall we?
The area you’re passing through right now was off-limits for a while, so you can experience a relatively unpolluted natural environment here.
The name of this village is Sagimak, which in old Korean means ‘a mud hut used to bake ceramics,’ particularly white porcelain. In 1999, a team of experts revealed that this area was once a village where ceramic wares were produced.
In order to bake pottery, you need good soil, clear water, and firewood, and this area has all three of these ingredients in abundance. It is thought that the village’s proximity to Seoul made it easy for local people to sell their products.
Here, you can see Bukhansan Mountain very clearly. Among the many peaks of Bukhansan, you can clearly spot Insubong and Baegundae, which are the highest and smoothest of all its summits. Baegundae in particular is the highest peak at 836.5m above sea level. When you climb up Baegundae on a clear day, you can even see the sea at Incheon, the harbor city to the west of Seoul.
Baegundae is the highest peak in Seoul, and you can always see the Korean flag, or Taegeukgi, flying from it. If you’re looking for Baegundae of Bukhansan, all you have to do is to look for the Taegeukgi. There’s a reason why the flag is up there. A rock under that flag is carved with the phrase “Envy the sky and love the people.” This phrase was engraved there in the early 1900s during the Japanese Colonial Period by a Korean independence activist named Jeong Jae-yong. He left his wish for Korea’s liberation at the highest point of Seoul. When you go to Baegundae, you’ll surely feel his steely resolve for Korean liberation.
There are many traditional Korean wild cherry trees along the Bukhansan Dulegil.
The traditional cherry tree blooms from late April to early May, and has flowers of a simple pink color.
Many cherry trees on the streets of Korea are actually Japanese, and they can be spectacular.
But Korean traditional cherry trees have a smaller number of flowers and present a more tranquil beauty.
Traditional cherry trees cannot be separated from the history of Korea.
Buddhism used to be the official religion of Korea, and wood from wild cherry trees was used in the 13th century to make the woodblocks of the Buddhist scripture known as the Tripitaka Koreana.
The Tripitaka Koreana is a UNESCO World Heritage, and consists of the words of Buddha engraved on 81,258 wooden plates. It is the oldest extant wood-printed Buddhist scripture in the world.
And the material used to make those plates was from this wild cherry tree.
Wild cherry trees were cut down and strengthened using various processing techniques.
They are still in excellent condition after more than 700 years. You can see the Tripitaka Koreana in Haeinsa Temple, which is located in Hapcheon, Gyeongsangnam-do, in the southwestern part of Korea.
You’ll see a small gallery on a street corner.
This gallery, made by remodeling a residential house, was named Dasom in pure Korean. “Dasom” means “service and love”. A sculptor husband and painter wife wanted to share their gifts with others through this space.
When you enter the gate, the various sculptures placed around the yard will grab your attention. They were created with diverse materials according to different themes, and are exhibited on the wide outdoor yard. There are no high buildings around here, so immerse yourself in the pleasant atmosphere of comfort and freedom.
When you enter the building, the high ceiling will greet you. The wall is decorated with sitting cushions the painter wife brought over from Vietnam. The interior exudes a strong aura of nature itself.
This gallery is also a teahouse, and you can enjoy exhibitions here anytime of the year. Even when there isn’t a special exhibition, you’ll be able to enjoy the landscape paintings of the gallery owner - the woman painter. She loves Bukhansan Mountain, and exhibits her paintings of the ever changing scenery of Bukhansan in this small gallery.
Songchumaeul-gil
The Songchumaeul-gil is a 5km-long path that connects the entrance to the Gyohyeon Uiryeong-gil with the entrance to Wongaksa Temple. It’s the longest section of the Bukhansan Dulegil, but it’s not too difficult to walk along this path.
When you walk here, you may feel like you’re walking in a small Korean village. Some sections follow busy streets to avoid the nearby military camps, so it could be a little inconvenient. But all along the section’s relatively long length there are diverse landscapes and atmospheres.
A dense forest will greet you in the low valley. Songchu Valley’s cool stream is a great place to visit during summer.
The village of Gyohyeon-ri is both the start and end point of the Songchumaeul-gil. Back in the old days, firewood merchants laid a wooden footbridge in this village to go back and forth from Seoul. In ancient times Gyohyeon-ri was an important village due to its proximity to the capital.
Now, let’s follow the Songchumaeul-gil and take a step back into the remote past of Korea.
When you walk near the entrance of the Gyohyeon Uiryeong-gil, you’ll see a row of high mountaintops. The five summits are called Obong, and the two rocky peaks are called Yeoseongbong. Here is one of the stories about Obong.
Narration: A long time ago, there was a rich man with five sons who lived on Obongsan Mountain. A new magistrate was appointed to this village, and he had a very beautiful daughter.
1st son: How can someone be that beautiful… She will be mine!
2nd son: No, I’ve already set my eyes on her. She’s not yours!
3rd son: What are you boys talking about? It is my heart she’s stolen!
Narration:
All five sons wanted to marry the magistrate’s beautiful daughter, and they fought every day amongst themselves. So the magistrate thought of a solution.
Magistrate: I’ll give my daughter to the strongest man among you. The one who puts up the heaviest rock on top of the mountain shall take my daughter as his wife.
Narration: So the five brothers began a contest in which they had to throw a rock on the mountaintop you see over there on the ridge. That’s how the five peaks were created. But have you noticed that the fourth top doesn’t have a rock on it? This is because while the greedy fourth son was carrying the biggest and heaviest rock, he dropped it on the way.
In front of these five peaks, there’s also Yeoseongbong. Yeoseong means “woman” in Korean, and it was given this name because it looks like a woman lying down with her legs open.
When you walk along the Dulegil, you will encounter many kinds of trees. Let me introduce you one of them here. It’s saenggang namu, which means “ginger tree.” Every year, the flowers of this tree bloom a bit earlier than other trees in early April. Therefore, it’s also called the ‘prophet of spring’ as it lets the rest of the forest know that the season has started.
In the old days, the stylish men of Korea used to extract oil from camellia fruit and apply it to their hair. But camellia oil was a rare commodity found only in the south and was only used by the aristocracy. Normal men had to use the oil from this tree instead.
Actually, the English name of this tree is Japanese Spicebush, and this tree doesn’t even bear ginger as its fruit. So why is it called “ginger tree”?
Try rubbing a leaf or twig from the tree on your wrist. Can you smell the scent? Because of the ginger-like scent given off by its leaves and twigs, this tree was called “ginger tree.” In spring, these trees along the Dulegil bloom with yellow flowers.
While walking along the Dulegil, try to find the tree with a smooth trunk covered in bumps like a man’s muscles. The name of this tree is the red-leaved hornbeam, and is also known as ‘the king of trees.’
Because the tree’s bumpy yet smooth surface resembles a person’s skin and muscles, the red-leaved hornbeam is also called a “muscle tree”. It’s also sometimes called a seoeo namu, which means “the tree of the west.” This tree grows well even in dark dense forests where there is little light. As the king of trees, it is very tenacious. You can even see these trees in very old forests.
So, let’s listen to the story from a distant time when this forest was created along with the red-leaved hornbeam.
When moss and mold grow on land, plants begin to grow there. They help make the soil rich, and consequently, perennial plants, small trees, and tall trees grow next in the forest. When there are trees like pine trees in a forest, animals begin to live there and it begins to look livelier. Next, oak trees and red-leaved hornbeams spring up in the forest under the shade of the pine trees. Once all these conditions are met, a forest is called a ‘climax forest’. And this red-leaved hornbeam can only be seen in climax forests. That’s why it’s also called ‘the king of all trees’.
You can see a lot of red-leaved hornbeams here, which means this is a very old forest. Now, let’s take a break and listen to the old stories of the trees.
This is Songchu Valley. Because of its proximity to the capital and its environment, the valley is crowded with visitors during summer. Every Korean will have come here at least once in their lifetime.
This 4km-long valley extends from the entrance to Songchu Valley to Obong Ridge. Its clean stream and three-tier waterfall have made it a popular tourist spot for many years. There’s also a popular hiking course here that can be completed in three hours, so at weekends you’ll see many hikers walking up to Yeoseongbong and Obong Peaks and Sapaesan Mountain.
While you were walking along the Songchumaeul-gil, did you see a big rocky mountain towards the entrance to Wongaksa Temple? It is called Sapaesan.
Let's learn about the origins of the name Sapaesan.
A sapae was a document used by Joseon kings to grant land or slaves to members of the royal family and vassals of great merit. The land granted with a sapae was called sapaejeon, while slaves were called sapae nobi.
The name Sapaesan originates from the Joseon Dynasty. When a king's daughter was married, he granted the entire mountain to the groom, hence the name Sapaesan.
Wongaksa, located below Sapaesan, is the biggest Buddhist temple in this area and has a simple yet elegant style. Within its precinct, there's a 3m-high stainless steel statue of a seated Buddha. It was the first stainless steel Buddha statue to be built in Korea. How about taking a break here?
Sanneomi-gil
The Sanneomi-gil connects entrance of Wongaksa Temple and Angol Valley. The name ‘Sanneomi’ means ‘to go over a mountain’ in Korean. As its name suggests, this section features one of the most difficult sections of any of the Dulegil. However, the Sanneomi-gil gives you a better view than any of the other paths, and is also well equipped with a rest station so you can truly enjoy the beauty of the Dulegil.
This path takes you to the highest point of all the Bukhansan Dulegil sections, and the valley will fill you with the joy of hiking. If you start from Angol Valley, you will have to climb more than 500 wooden stairs on a steep path until you reach the observatory. But if you start from the entrance of Wongaksa, it’ll be a gentler journey with little difficulty.
There are large colonies of oaks and azaleas on the Sanneomi-gil, giving you a great opportunity to see Korea’s beautiful forest. You’ll also cross various bridges in the valley, such as Ulttuigyo, where you can enjoy the refreshing sound of water and observe diverse aquatic organisms.
On this section, you can also visit the Pine Tree Observatory, the highest observatory on the Dulegil. You can see all of the city of Uijeongbuin Gyeonggi-do in one spectacular view from here.
Also, you can find a rock with a funny name, Gatbawi. A gat was a traditional hat worn by Korean scholars, and this rock looks as if it’s wearing a hat. Try to find this rock.
Now that we’re in the valley, how about some rest? This bridge is called Ulttuigyo.
The name Ulttuigyo comes from the nearby village of Uldae-ri. There are many theories about the origin of this village’s name. One says that the village was so named because it’s located below Uldae Hill, and another says that it’s called Uldae Village, meaning ‘a fenced village’ because it is surrounded by mountains. There’s also a theory that says the name came from the thick forests around the village. In any case, we believe this name came into use some time before the mid-18th century.
Regardless of the origin, the mountains surrounding the village will give you a cozy feeling while the quietness of the dense forest makes for a pleasurable walk.
If you look up a little you will see the ridges of Bukhansan Mountain, while if you look down beyond your feet you’ll see the flowing stream. Your eyes and ears will be busy taking in all the magnificent sights and sounds of nature as you cross Ulttuigyo. Maybe this is the right time to listen to what the forest has to tell us!
Let’s talk about trees that benefit the forest. The main character of this story is an oak tree. Depending on the type, oak trees have different names and shapes. Let’s first listen to the self-introduction of six species of oak tree.
Acorn Tree: Hi! I’m an acorn tree. Not all oak trees are the same. I’m a special kind of oak tree. I was even used to serve food on the dinner table of kings. My acorns were used to cook food for the king who was evacuated from Seoul during the war.
Konara Oak:
I’m a Konara oak tree, or jolchamin Korean. Actually, my Korean name was originally jolbyeong, which means “a private in the army” in English. I was called so because I have the smallest leaves among all acorn-bearing trees. That name has since been changed to jolcham.
Mongolian Oak:
I’m a Mongolian oak. Among all the species of oak trees, Koreans really needed me most in the past. They used my leaves when the soles of their straw shoes wore out.
Daimyo Oak:
I’m a daimyo oak. I have mysterious power. My leaves have chemical ingredients that can be used as a natural preservative. That’s why people wrap their food with my leaves to preserve it.
Oriental Chestnut Oak:
I’m an oriental chestnut oak. My leaves last much longer than those of other oak trees. In Korean, I’m called galcham because it means my leaves last until late autumn. My wood is also frequently used to make high-end furniture.
Cork Oak:
I’m a cork oak. I have thicker bark than other trees, so people used to make rooves for their houses with my bark. My thick bark is also used to make corks for liquor bottles.
As you see, there are six different kinds of oak trees. Their acorns all look different as well. Acorns are an important source of food for many forest animals, especially squirrels. They can survive the hardships of winter thanks to acorns. Also, Koreans grind acorns and eat them in a jelly-like food called dotorimuk. Even today, oak trees stay close to Koreans and provide them with many benefits.
You’ve just arrived at the observatory with the highest view in Bukhansan Dulegil. It was named ‘Pine Tree Observatory’ because of the pine tree growing up through the middle of the deck. The first view you’ll have when you reach the observatory is the downtown area of Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi-do.
The origin of the name Uijeongbu goes back 600 years to the early days of the Joseon Dynasty. According to one theory, this village was named after the highest government office of Joseon, which was called “Uijeongbu,” or the State Council, because ministers met here to discuss national administration. Another theory says that the village was thus named because the State Council possessed land around this region. In any case, the city of Uijeongbu has a long history, and this Pine Tree Observatory is the best place to see it in its entirety.
When you reach the observatory, you may feel like you’re at the top of the mountain. Enjoy the magnificent view of mountains and Uijeongbu. Interestingly, this observatory was built without damaging the natural environment, as the building’s design incorporates the surrounding area with its large rocks and pine trees. Rocks and trees were left in the middle of the deck, showing the true meaning of harmony. Let’s leave Uijeongbu behind at this point, and begin our search for the other treasures of this Dulegil.
This time, we’ll try to find a rock with a funny name. Let’s look up at the ridges of Sapaesan Mountain.
Can you see what looks like a pile of rocks stacked together? That’s Gatbawi.
Gatbawi is a rock located just below the summit of Sapaesan. It’s called Gatbawi because it looks like a gat, which was a hat worn by old Korean scholars. It looks like a fedora, only with a much wider brim. Hikers in Bukhansan National Park also give it many other funny nicknames. Gatbawi can look very different depending on the angle you see it from, so people also call it Penis Rock or Hamburger Rock. What do you think it looks like?
I’m sure you’ve seen many white and smooth mountaintops while you’ve been walking on the Bukhansan Dulegil. They are made from solidified granite. This type of granite doesn’t absorb water when it rains, so it becomes very slippery on rainy days, making it extremely dangerous to walk on during wet weather.
Angol-gil
The Angol-gil runs from Angol Valley to the Hoeryong Information Center. It’s quite long, but since the section’s slope is mostly gentle, visitors can enjoy a comfortable walk here.
The Angol-gil is in full bloom in spring, and the valley is a great place to hang out during summer. There’s also Jikdong Park in the section. All year round, the citizens of Uijeongbu visit this tranquil path to take a break from their hectic lives.
Jikdong Park was established by the city of Uijeongbu. In addition to a well-furnished walkway, there is an artificial rockface, a badminton ground, a gateball ground, a water fountain, a wild flower complex, and a sculpture park for diverse outdoor fun. There’s also the Jikdong soccer field which is prepared according to international standards. Even if you don’t play soccer yourself, it’s really fun to watch other people playing.
Including Angol Valley, there are various hiking paths that lead up to Sapaesan Mountain on the section, so if you’re preparing for some serious hiking, this section is a good place to warm up. Now, let’s go for a gentle stroll along the Angol-gil.
The most commonly seen trees in Korean forests are pine trees. There are many species of pine. While native Korean pine trees have a reddish trunk, some species have dark bodies and many branches on it. These are foreign species of pitch pine trees. For some reason, the most frequently seen pine tree in Bukhansan National Park is the pitch pine species.
Do you wonder why the Korean national park is covered with these foreign trees? Here’s the story.
After the Liberation of Korea in 1945, the country became totally devastated due to the outbreak of the Korean War. Korean people participated in many national movements to restore their beautiful environment, and they decided to plant pitch pine trees because this species grow well in poor soil and can quickly recover the natural environment of a mountain.
As a result, more years, and 65% of the country became forest again. This is widely regarded as a highly significant reforestation policy, the like of which has rarely been seen among developing nations. This is why you can see so many pitch pine trees on the mountains in Korea including here at Bukhansan National Park.
This pine tree forest gives us some insight into the tragic history of Korea and the effort its people have made for this wonderful scenery. Go ahead and try to find pitch pine trees on Dulegil from now.
If you walk up from the Beomgol Park protection area, you’ll come to a Buddhist temple called Hoamsa.
The area around Hoamsa abounds with names related to tigers. The valley is called Beomgol, which means “Tiger Valley” in Korean, and the town was once called Hodong, which means “Tiger Town.” The caves in which tigers were thought to dwell were called “Tiger Rocks” or “Hoam” in Chinese characters, while a stream that tigers drank from was called “Tiger Stream” or “Hocheon.”
Since the ancient times, tigers were thought to be the messengers of mountain gods and symbols of bravery. The tiger is very closely connected with the Korean people. The birth myth of Korea also includes stories of tigers. As such, there are many tales and legends in which tigers are ‘personified’ in Korea.
When you walk up Sapaesan ridge next to Hoamsa, you’ll see a huge rock cave behind the temple. This cave was a filming location of a famous Korean drama called Heo Jun, so it’s also known as Heo Jun Cave.
If you walk away from the cave a little, you’ll see the Neoreokbawi Observatory. Here, you’ll be able to see the entire city of Uijeongbu at a glance and clearly observe Seonbawi Rock on Sapaesan. If you’re visiting Hoamsa, don’t forget to stop by the observatory.
Boru-gil
The Boru-gil connects entrance of Wondobong and the Hoeryong Information Center. A boru, or bastion, is a defensive structure built to hinder and repel enemy attacks, and this path is named after this structure as you can still see one here. Compared to other Dulegil sections, there are many steep sections on this path. It may be a little difficult, but you’ll feel very refreshed and satisfied afterwards.
In particular, the impressive scenery of Sapaesan Mountain and Seokguram Grotto will welcome you at the top of the valley. Of course, the view of Sapaesan across from the Boru-gil is just as magnificent.
The Third Bastion of Sapaesan is the highlight of this section, and you’ll see the entire Uijeongbu area at a glance from there. Although it is severely damaged, making it difficult to imagine its original state, enough of the wall in the west remains to be able to imagine this old military facility of Korea.
The name of the Buddhist temple that can be seen between the trees is Hoeryongsa. The temple boasts Hoeryong Valley as its own garden. This is a historic temple here which is the scene of a legend about King Taejo, the founder of Joseon, and a Buddhist monk called Muhak.
This temple was built before the Joseon Dynasty, and Muhak and King Taejo trained themselves here for three years before the latter founded Joseon.
A conversation between King Taejo and Muhak at Hoeryongsa is still remembered today for its amusing content.
King Taejo: Your face looks exactly like a pig’s.
Muhak: Your majesty looks like Buddha to me.
King Taejo: Haha… I just wanted a little chuckle today. Why do you say I look like Buddha?
Muhak: Haha, pigs only see pigs, and Buddha only sees Buddha.
There are three artifacts here in Hoeryongsa that you shouldn’t miss. One is the Five-story Stone Pagoda of Hoeryongsa Temple that contains sarira, which are the bead-looking crystals that are left after burning a deceased monk’s body. The other two are a stone basin used to store water for the temple, and a painting that depicts Buddha and the deities who protect the way of Buddhism. Look for vestiges of the old Korea here at the historic site of Hoeryongsa.
Here, you can see the remains of an old bastion, which is a stone defensive structure built to repel enemy attacks. There are three bastions left on Sapaesan Mountain, of which the Third Bastion is the largest. It is 250m long in circumference, and its longest side is 100m in length.
Seoul has long been an important military and cultural city, and there have been frequent wars. In addition to this location, bastions were erected in other places with good views such as at Suraksan and Achasan Mountains. We assume that bastions of Sapaesan and Suraksan were important strategic positions from which the transportation road connecting Seoul and Uijeongbu of Gyeonggi-do was monitored. There is now a large modern military bunker in front of the Third Bastion, which tells us that this location is still an important military position.
Let's talk about the jjokdongbaek trees on the Boru-gil.
Jjokdongbaek trees have wide leaves and bloom small white flowers from May to June. These trees are commonly found in the forests of Korea, and grow particularly well in rich soil.
The tree's name was derived from two ideas: one is that its leaf looks like the back of a woman wearing her hair in a jjok, which is a traditional Korean hair style for married women; another is that the tree's fruits are half the size of those of southern dongbaek (camellia), because jjok can also mean "a portion" in Korean. Traditionally, married Korean women have rolled up their hair into a round shape since before the Joseon Period, and this style is called jjok. You can see for yourself whether the leaves really look like this hairstyle.
Jjokdongbaek trees were very useful in the olden days because their fruit was used to produce oil for oil lamps or hair products for glossy styles. So to speak, this tree was closely related to the everyday life of Korean people.
Did you hear any cars while you walked along the Boru-gil? Some points of the Boru-gil touch the expressway, so you’ll hear loud car noises on some sections.
The long path at the side of the mountain above you is an expressway. The tunnel you can see here is Sapae Tunnel. Its length is 3,997m, which takes two and half minutes to cover even if you drive at 100km/hr. So it’s actually a famous tunnel that is registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest one-way four-lane tunnel in the world.
The cars in the tunnel appear to be driving at the maximum allowed speed. But how about slowing down a bit on the Dulegil to enjoy your surroundings?
Daragwon-gil
This is Daragwon-gil, the 17th Dulegil section. The name ‘Daragwon’ derives from the word ‘darak’, which means ‘attic’ in Korean, and ‘won’, a place where people used to stay during official trips in the Joseon Dynasty. There was a thriving trade route to Seoul, from Hamgyeong-do now in North Korea and Gangwon-do in South Korea, and it served as a distribution center for dry fish and grain brokers. As such, the place was a booming market and an important trade route leading to Seoul where merchants would buy and sell goods. However, that was then, and only its name remains today. So this path we’re on right now is where the people of Joseon used to walk.
The Daragwon-gil runs for 3km between the entrance to Wondobong and Daragwon Village, and is flanked by houses and larger paths. You might be a little disappointed if you were expecting a quiet mountain trail, but you’ll still find large groups of pine trees and well-attended kitchen gardens just past the big street. In early summer, the place is filled with the scent of acacias.
Yaksuseonwon is a Buddhist temple located on a broad path between Shinheung College and Jackson Camp. The temple houses an impressive cultural heritage - the Standing Wooden Bodhisattva.
This Buddha statue was built in the 16th century, and it’s a classic example of its kind made in the mid Joseon Dynasty. It’s not open for public viewing except on special days and occasions such as Buddha’s Birthday.
The statue is made of ginkgo tree, which is ideal for carving and resistant to harmful insects. That’s probably why it’s still well preserved. It has a round face, small facial features, tied hair, and earrings. It’s a very important artifact in the study of ancient Buddha statues of Korea.
Another unique characteristic of this temple is that Jowang, the kitchen god, is worshiped here. In the kitchen, you’ll see an altar to Jowang above the kitchen range and a painting of Jowang hanging on the wall to ward off evil spirits.
Can you see those two tombs just over the mountain ridge on the left-hand side of the Daragwon Campsite? They are the tombs of Princess Uihye, the daughter of King Jungjong of the Joseon Dynasty, and her husband Han Gyeong-rok, who was a charcoal merchant. Do you want to hear the story of how a princess ended up marrying a lowly charcoal merchant?
One day, King Jungjong asked all his daughters this simple question: “How is it that you are all able to live a life of luxury in the palace?” Every princess but one answered that it was due to the favor of the king, and that they owed their happiness to him. Princess Uihye, however, said, “Everyone has their own destiny reserved for them, so I don’t think we owe our life of luxury to you. I regret to say that I was told that glory and prosperity are but fleeting and vain.”
The king flew into a rage upon hearing these words, and ordered that Princess Uihye be made to marry whomsoever passed through the Dongdaemun Gate first early next morning. Well, the very next day, a charcoal merchant named Han Gyeong-rok happened to be the first person to pass through the gate. Indeed, he was so hard-working that he was always the first person to come through the gate to sell his charcoal at the market. So Princess Uihye married the charcoal merchant, and although they weren’t rich, they managed to earn a reasonable living within their means and live happily together ever after.
During the Joseon Dynasty, men generally had more rights than women, but Princess Uihye didn’t care what everyone else thought and led her own life as she saw fit. In recognition of her courage and fortitude, she was regarded as a role model and eventually the folk custom of worshipping her as a goddess originated.
Dobongyet-gil
The section you're on is called Dobongyet-gil. It extends for about 3 kilometers between Musugol and Banghak-dong, and is the perfect route to take if you want to get a glimpse of how ancient Koreans lived.
This section of the mountain trail is called “Mujangae”, which roughly means ‘No-Obstacle Path’. It was given this name because it’s paved with wood for the convenience of old and disabled people. At the end of this 220m-long wooden trail there’s a sightseeing area commanding a panoramic view of the various peaks of Dobongsan Mountain.
Since ancient times, this place has been known as a geographically perfect area, and that’s why members of the royal family and the nobility built their family tombs around this trail. Koreans have long believed that burying their ancestors in an auspicious site will bring good fortune to their family. Here are still many commoners’ graves as well as the royal and noble tombs scattered along this trail because it’s one of the best locations, making it the perfect place to experience the burial customs of the Joseon Dynasty.
In addition to the graves, it also joins the main hiking trails of Dobongsan, on which you can enjoy the breathtaking views of the mountain valleys and peaks. It also connects to the Dobong Eco Trail, where you’ll see how mountains change their colors throughout the seasons.
At the end of this trail, you’ll come across the Dobongseowon Confucian Academy, where the ancestral tablets of some of the most renowned Korean Confucian scholars are enshrined, as well as inscriptions carved on the rocks by scholars during the Joseon Dynasty.
Gwangnyunsa Temple is located at the mouth of the trail leading to Dobongsan, so thousands of people pass through the area every day.
It was originally built with the name of Manjangsa, but most of the buildings were destroyed during war, and later, the queen of that time gave orders for the temple to be rebuilt. The temple is also well known as the queen’s summer cottage, where she would stay to pray for the welfare of her kingdom and children. After her time had passed, other royal family members took vacations and even conducted state affairs here.
Shall we take a look around the temple?
Can you see the big zelkova tree at the entrance to the temple? That tree has been there for over 200 years.
It’s even more beautiful inside the temple and behind the building called ‘Geumgangseonwon’. Why don’t we go there and take a look.
If you’re interested in Buddhism, you’re welcome to visit the little museum inside the temple. It contains portraits of some of the best-known Buddhist monks, as well as their personal notebooks, Buddhist rosaries, books, and records of their life.
One of the monks is well known for having lived in a cave for 40 years, without ever laying down to sleep and eating only once a day during all those years. It is said that his teacher also ate only once a day, and made his own shoes with straw. In short, they lived an exemplary life of honest poverty.
Can you see the big rock right next to the signboard at the entrance to Dobongsan? The letters on the rock read “Dobongdongmun,” and it informs people that it is the entrance to Dobongsan. It was handwritten by Song Si-yeol, a renowned scholar and master calligrapher of late Joseon.
Joseon wangjo sillok, or the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, constitute a detailed record of the history of Joseon, and Song Si-yeol’s name appears more often than any other in its pages. Among Joseon’s kings, the most frequently mentioned is King Danjong, with 100 mentions. Still, Song Si-yeol is mentioned approximately 3,000 times, which tells us how influential he was in Joseon.
In addition to indicating the entrance of Dobongsan, this rock with inscription was used to guide junior colleagues who came here to study at the Dobongseowon, which was a center of Joseon academia. Along the hiking trail between this rock and Dobong Valley, there are 14 inscriptions carved on 11 rocks over a distance of 400m. Many scholars of Joseon including Song Si-yeol engraved these messages. Can you guess what they mean?
Actually, scholars who came to Dobongseowon inscribed a few words as proof of their visit. Many such carved inscriptions can be found around the beautiful scenery of Dobongsan. Also, if you look carefully at the characters, you will see that they all look different. So they serve as valuable samples for studying the writing style of Joseon scholars.
Did you find any inscriptions carved on the rocks in the valley? Searching for the inscriptions will enhance your enjoyment of the trail. Some are noticeable, but some are hidden deep in the valley so that they can’t be seen too well. Always remember that safety is more important than finding the letters.
Do you know how many Buddhist temples there are in Bukhansan National Park? There are around 80 of them. So why are there so many temples in the mountains of Korea?
Before the Joseon Period, many temples were built in flat, low-lying areas and in cities. But the anti-Buddhist policies and wars of Joseon led to the destruction of all the temples in flat areas. Now, only those built in mountains remain. Also, quiet mountains offer a great space for training and studying.
Dobongsa here is a traditional temple with many stories that was built around one thousand years ago.
Let’s leave the hiking trail for a bit and enter Dobongsa.
First, can you see the painting on the outer wall of the entrance to Dobongsa Temple? This painting depicts the stages that lead to finding and realizing one’s true self, and comprises ten scenes representing a young boy finding a cow. In Buddhism, cows signify enlightenment. The painting shows a young boy meeting a cow, taming it, and returning home on its back. It is an easy but detailed description of Buddhist teaching that says people should seek enlightenment, meditate, and save all creatures on earth.
Dobongsa was destroyed many times by war and fire. It wasn’t until 1961 that the temple’s sanctuary and sub-structures were restored. When you walk up the long stairway, you’ll see Daeungjeon, the main hall of this temple. An iron statue of a seated Buddha used to be kept in this hall to preserve the prestige of Dobongsa. However, this registered cultural heritage has been moved to the Museum of Korean Art for exhibition. If you’re interested in seeing this dark, iron statue, we recommend you visit the museum.
The tombs in Bukhansan National Park all have different names. Some were built for royalty, others for noblemen, and there are some tombs which do not have a name.
If you walk on the small forest path of the Dobongyet-gil, you’ll likely run into someone’s tomb again. It looks well-organized. This is a good example of a tomb of a member of Korea’s nobility. This tomb complex belongs to the Jinju Ryu clan, which had many renowned people during the Joseon Period. When there was a coup against the king in 1506, members of the Ryu family acted with great merit. And here, their descendants are buried. This large and well-organized complex reveals a lot to us about the power of their family.
On both sides of the tombs of Ryu, there are standing statues of civil officials. Originally, only the royal tombs could feature statues like this, but government officers eventually began to build such statues by their own tombs. The statue’s clothing, hat, and scepter give us some idea of what the civil officials of the Joseon Dynasty looked like.
Banghakdong-gil
The entire 3km-long Banghakdong-gil runs through a densely forested area. The scent of pine trees in the forest will enhance your enjoyment of this walk. It’s also a good place to observe how forests in Korea change with every season.
Musugol is both the start and end point of Banghakdong-gil. Here you’ll see an old country village which looks like most villages would have looked before Korea’s industrialization. The houses have low walls, and you can see the peaks of Dobongsan and Bukhansan from here.
When you pass Musugol and enter the Banghakdong-gil, you’ll start walking on the forest trail. If you walk up the valley to the Twin Observatory, you’ll have an amazing view. Indeed, it’s the highlight of this section.
Upon reaching this observatory, you’ll be able to see much of Seoul and the Gyeonggi-do area in one sweeping panoramic view, including Dobongsan, Samgaksan, Suraksan, and Buramsan Mountains. You’ll also see densely packed ‘regiments’ of apartment complexes and residential housing. If you look at the photo displayed at the observatory, it’ll tell you the names of each mountain, mountaintop, and village of Seoul. Compare the photo with what you actually see here.
After walking up the valley path for about ten minutes from the starting point at Musugol, you will come to a royal tomb complex on the mountain slope behind the zelkova garden. The ninth son of King Sejong and his descendants slumber peacefully here.
Among the tombstones, the one that belongs to the grandson of King Sejong has been registered as a tangible cultural heritage. This stone tells the tragic story of a member of the royal family who lost his parents and lived out his life in exile because of persecution by King Yeonsangun. The inscription was carved by a master calligrapher of the period.
There’s something unique about this tomb complex. It’s the tomb of a slave that can be seen at the bottom, and there’s a very special reason why a slave was buried alongside a member of the royal family.
Sejong’s grandson Yi Gi lived a humble and exemplary life in a small house. One day, the king’s concubine accused Yi’s house of gross extravagance and attempted to take the house. As she unreasonably tried to harm Yi, his slave stood up to her and tried to protect Yi from harm. Feeling insulted by a mere slave, she told the king that Yi had made a threat against her. When the king summoned Yi and the slave for questioning, the slave told him that it was his fault alone. The king sentenced him to death, while Yi was able to avoid harm thanks to his slave’s confession. After the slave’s death, Yi had this loyal servant’s grave placed next to his own tomb.
Still today, the master and slave rest here side by side. It seems as if the loyal slave still strives to protect his master even after death.
Are you walking on the narrow path in the forest from Musugol to the Twin Observatory? Strangely, this path has subsided somewhat compared to other sections of the Dulegil.
The path sank because back in the days, cows pulled heavy carts along this path. You can imagine how many cows must have walked this path over a long period of time to make it sink like this.
Oxcarts were used to carry goods or people. You don’t see oxcarts anymore, but they were the most convenient mode of transport in Korea for centuries. But as tractors and cars finally began to develop in Korea in the late 1970s, oxcarts became history.
In photos or movies of old Korea, cows are often seen pulling oxcarts. Four-wheeled carts were used on flat paths, while two-wheeled carts were used on rough paths.
You probably saw many kinds of trees while walking on the Bukhansan Dulegil. This is a colony of pine trees, the most commonly seen tree in Korea.
With its distinctively fresh scent and evergreen needles, the pine tree symbolizes the unchanging spirit. That’s why Koreans love pine trees so much. They frequently appear in traditional Korean paintings.
To Koreans, a pine tree is more than just a tree. We live together with pine trees from birth to death. In the past, Koreans were born in houses made from pinewood, cooked rice with firewood taken from pine trees, made buttons with amber, which is created by the lithification of pine resin, made ink sticks with burnt pinewood, and were buried in pine coffins upon their death.
Now, let’s take some gifts from these old friends of the Korean people. Can you smell the fresh scent of the tree? Trees give off a substance called pythoncide to protect themselves from vermin and various bacteria. Although pythoncide is fatal to bacteria and vermin, it is very beneficial for people. Forest bathing will relieve your stress, enhance your liver and cardio pulmonary functions, and kill bacteria. Take a deep breath here and fill yourself up with this gift from the pine trees.
And one more thing! It’s better to forest bathe in spring or summer rather than fall, and at noon rather than in the morning. It’s also better to do it where there is a valley or lake nearby. Try to remember that for your next trip.
Wangsilmyoyeok-gil
As the name suggests, the Wangsilmyoyeok-gil is a one-hour walkway through one of the Joseon's royal cemeteries. It will guide walkers to more old tales and historical episodes than other similar paths.
It may not appear significantly different from other paths in and around the outskirts of Seoul, but those interested in Korean history are easily attracted to it largely because of the tomb of King Yeonsangun, the 10th ruler of the Joseon Dynasty, and of Princess Jeongui, a daughter of King Sejong who created Hangeul.
History says that Princess Jeongui got all the affection from her father King Sejong and gave a lot of help to the king during the process of making Hangeul. As is well known, Hangeul was promulgated in 1443 by King Sejong who had been devoted to the creation of a new writing system to help ordinary people, most were illiterate then, to freely and easily express their feelings and intentions. You may wonder what kind of help the king needed from his affectionate daughter to accomplish the great historic task.
The Royal Tomb of King Yeonsangun was open to the public in 2006 after the mega hit of a Korean movie, The King and the Clown. It has now become a must-visit destination among history-minded people feeling compassion toward the king who is now generally remembered as one of the Joseon rulers who had to face a tragic end of their lives and failed to have a royal title after their death.
Other attractions in the cemetery include an 830-year ginkgo tree, the oldest tree in Seoul, standing beside the Royal Tomb of King Yeonsangun and a spring called Wondangsaem which is known to have been a major source of drinking water for the local community.
Come and walk the path that will guide you to the sites related with some of the most dramatic moments in the history of the Joseon Dynasty.
There are two tombs at the entrance to the Wangsilmoyoyeok-gil on the south of a pass linking Banghak-dong and Ui-dong. One is for the King Sejong's second daughter Princess Jeongui and the other for her spouse.
Records say that Princess Jeongui was the smartest of all the King Sejong's daughters and hence the king's most favored of all his offspring. King Sejong was so fond of her that he gave names for her four sons. Let me tell you one of the famous episodes describing the close relationship between the father and his daughter.
King Sejong happened to suffer from a metal splinter in his ankle which even experienced court physicians didn't know how to handle. It was Princess Jeongui who removed the splinter by using a magnet and treated the affected part by covering it with wine lees. The king was pleased by his daughter's extraordinary intellect and talent and granted her land and slaves as a special gift. Records also show that the princess played an important role in the process of developing Hangeul, helping find solutions for some difficult problems that troubled even the most eminent scholars. King Sejong was overjoyed by her achievement and, again, granted her ample prizes.
Whether it was the king's special favor, the graves of the princess and her husband are particularly well preserved. Feng shui experts believe that these royal tombs are located on the most auspicious site in the area with mountains standing at the back as if to protect the site and the front wide open to have ample sunlight throughout the year.
The royal tombs of Princess Jeongui and her husband create a calm and peaceful atmosphere as if to reflect the happy, peaceful life the princess led with her father's great attention and care.
A narrow walkway running through an ordinary residential area on the outskirts of Seoul guides you to the Royal Tomb of King Yeonsangun, the tenth ruler of the Joseon Dynasty.
The Joseon Dynasty maintained a tradition of honoring deceased kings and their queens by burying them in large, stately tombs built according to the royal protocols. However, the Royal Tomb of King Yeonsangun displays a plain, or even humble, appearance. Remarkably, it is only lately that the grave was found as one where the Joseon's tenth king was buried. It was designated as a Historic Site in 1991 and opened to the public in 2006.
According to history, King Yeonsangun had been a promising ruler who was fond of calligraphy and poetry writing. Disclosure of the secret about his mother's tragic death, however, turned him into a bloodthirsty, vengeful maniac.
His cruelty and unethical behaviors resulted in a coup and banishment which ended with his tragic death at the age of 31. His body was originally buried at the place of exile, but the repeated pleas from his consort Lady Sin moved the grave to the current location in 1513.
The precincts of the Royal Tomb of King Yeonsangun also contain the graves of his queen, daughter and son-in-law.
This age-old ginkgo tree in Banghak-dong has been admired by local people as a sacred tree. It is said that the tree has given warnings through fire whenever major bad luck struck the Korean society. The last time it caught fire was 1978, one year before the then president Park Chung-hee was murdered.
This large, sacred tree is standing just outside the precincts of the Royal Tomb of King Yeonsangun. The tree is 830 years old, and it reveals that it has stood there even before the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty. It is 25m tall and 10m in circumference at its base, making itself as the largest and oldest tree in Seoul.
Traditionally, local people believe that the tree has some magical power that can foretell the future, and hold annual rite to honor it on the first full moon day of the lunar year.
Take a closer look at the tree and you can see yuju, or the "breast post", stretched from the middle of the trunk. The name came from that it looked like a woman's breast, but in fact it is a part of the root of an old ginkgo tree stretched to get "more air". In the past, the breast-shaped root was an object of worship among women who needed to feed their baby but suffered from a lack of breast milk.
Why don't you take a short rest under this tree that has provided shelter for local people for over 800 years?
There is a tiny flow of water in the park beside the ginkgo tree in Banghak-dong and the Royal Tomb of King Yeonsangun. It is an ordinary park, but the water flowing through a narrow trench-like passage is far from ordinary.
Wondangsaem Spring, from which this flow of water is originated, is a historic fountain used as a source of drinking water since the settlement of the Yun family in the area some 600 years ago. They say that the long, healthy life of the 830-year-old ginkgo tree standing beside it is indebted to the water running to and from the fountain.
The 600-year history of Wondangsaem as the source of drinking water for the local community abruptly ended in 2009 when it dried out by an unknown reason. The current spring was restored according to the efforts of local people who earnestly wished the history to continue. The water of the spring is now provided from the reservoir of underground water and, hence, expected to keep flowing.
Wondangsaem is now widely regarded as the gem of the small park containing it, attracting visitors seeking after water to quench thirst and a place to rest.
Wondangsaem with a streamlet that continues to murmur with water running through it, centuries-old ginkgo tree and the Royal Tombs of King Yeonsangun and Princess Jeongui have now become major attractions among those taking a leisurely walk around the area.
Wuyiryeong trail
Man: Something terrible has happened! I heard that soldiers from North Korea have just invaded!
Woman: Do you mean that war has broken out?
Man: Yes! Everything is in chaos and people are escaping along Uiryeong trail!
For a long time, Uiryeong trail was the most direct route linking Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. The road borders Bukhansan Mountain and Dobongsan Mountain.
After the independence of Korea was declared, people selling firewood from the village came and went to Seoul over a wooden bridge they had built themselves, and the village became known as ‘Dari Village’ meaning ‘village by the bridge’. Later, the name changed to Gyohyeon Village.
For a long time in Korean history, people had used the Uiryeong trail to take farm products and other necessities to Seoul to sell at the markets. After the Korean War began in 1950, the Uiryeong Road became even more popular.
When war broke out, the Uiryeong trail was first used as a refugee path, and later as a route for the American military. As a North Korean spy infiltrated South Korea via the Uiryeong trail in 1968, the road had been closed to the public for more than 40 years. Because of its former military value, the road still has a military post nearby. To protect the environment, the Uiryeong trail area was registered as a Clean Area under government control.
However, the government reconsidered two different opinions of the
local autonomous entity and environment associations, and the result was to open the road to the public, subject to limitations. Currently, visitors can walk along Wuriyeong trail if they have made an advance booking.
Uiryeong trail was formerly known on old maps as ‘Sogwi Ridge’. How did the trail get its unique name? ‘Sogwi’ means ‘cow’s ear’ and was so called as the ridge is shaped like the ear of a cow.
Let’s start our tour of Uiryeong trail. The road takes approximately three hours on foot and it is an easy slope which allows comfortable walking for everybody. We recommend that you warm up before setting off. Are you ready?
Shall we stop here and listen for a while? Can you hear the birds singing all around us?
On the Uiryeong trail, you can listen to lots of bird singing. If you’re lucky, you may also see the great spotted woodpecker pecking at a tree. The woodpecker is one of two flagship species living on Bukhansan Mountain.
A flagship species is a species chosen to represent an environmental cause, such as an ecosystem in need of conservation. These species are chosen for their vulnerability, attractiveness or distinctiveness in order to engender support and acknowledgment from the public at large. The flagship species of Bukhansan Mountain are the great spotted woodpecker and the wild forsythia shrub.
Can you hear the sound of the woodpecker? The symbol of Bukhansan Mountain, the great spotted woodpecker, makes a hole in the tree trunk or branches and eats insects by scooping them out with its long tongue. When woodpeckers are nervous, they make a noisy “Kiyot, kiyot” sound and shake their heads from side to side.
Woodpeckers usually build their nests in big trees at a height between 2 and 20 meters. They incubate their eggs for around 15 days, and lay 4 to 6 eggs between May and July. Young woodpeckers leave the nest 20 days after hatching.
Let’s listen to the birdsong and enjoy nature.
In front of the Uiryeong trail observatory, there is a monument to the erosion control project undertaken on Bukhansan Mountain. The erosion control project restored the devastated region.
Uiryeong trail started the project in 1966 and finished after 17 months. The location of the project, period, budget, number of workers, construction outline and other information are described on the monument. The budget in those days was 161,962 won in cash and 107,507 kilograms worth of grain.
Today, the value is approximately $148883 and 107,520 kilograms of grain which totals $309335. The interesting thing is that the cost of the grain amounts to more than two-thirds of the total budget.
This is because grain was a valuable form of currency during those tough times. By the end of the erosion control project, Uiryeong trail had been planted with 2,400 trees including Alders, Trees of Heaven and black locust trees (false acacia).
The natural forest and artificial plantation stand in harmony on Uiryeong trail.
Near the top of Uiryeong trail, you can see concrete structures on both sides of the road.
This is a tank trap. Tank traps were used to delay or prevent the movement of enemy tanks during the Korean War. They are now rare in National Park Areas. The tank trap has two parts - the lower part supports the weight of the tank and the upper part is a big concrete structure.
In the bridge between the two parts, there is a small space for an explosive device. If the explosive compound is detonated, the upper concrete part breaks, falls down and obstructs the road. The tank trap represents the sorrow of the Korean War and our commitment to ensure that such a war does not occur again. Behind the tank trap there is a monument to the military operational use of the road.
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Contract Database Metadata Elements
Title: Morrisville-Eaton Central School District and Morrisville-Eaton Educational Support Personnel Organization (2003)
Employer Name: Morrisville-Eaton Central School District
Union: Morrisville-Eaton Educational Support Personnel Organization
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Effective Date: 07/01/03
Expiration Date: 06/30/07
PERB ID Number: 5663
Unit Size: 63
Number of Pages: 42
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AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE
MORRISVILLE-EATON EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT PERSONNEL ORGANIZATION
AND THE
SUPERINTENDENT OF THE MORRISVILLE-EATON CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
Morrisville-Eaton Central School District
Morrisville, New York 13408
2003-2007
The following is a list of the most important and commonly used terms in the field of computer science:
1. Algorithm: A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or performing a task.
2. Data Structure: A way of organizing data that allows efficient access, modification, and manipulation.
3. Database: An organized collection of data stored in a computer system.
4. Database Management System (DBMS): Software that manages databases and provides an interface for users to interact with them.
5. Encryption: The process of converting information into a code so that only authorized parties can understand it.
6. Hashing: A process of converting data into a fixed-size string of characters.
7. Interface: A way for two systems to communicate with each other.
8. Network: A collection of computers and devices connected together.
9. Operating System (OS): A software program that controls the hardware and software resources of a computer.
10. Programming Language: A set of instructions that a computer can understand and execute.
11. Query: A request for information from a database.
12. Security: The protection of data and systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction.
13. Software: A set of instructions that tell a computer what to do.
14. System: A collection of related components that work together to achieve a common goal.
15. User: An individual who uses a computer or other electronic device.
16. Virtualization: The creation of virtual versions of physical resources such as servers, storage, and networks.
17. Web Application: A software application that runs on a web server and is accessed through a web browser.
18. Wireless Network: A network that uses radio waves to transmit data between devices.
19. XML: eXtensible Markup Language, a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.
20. YAML: Yet Another Markup Language, a markup language that is used to represent structured data.
| ARTICLE | TITLE | PAGE |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| | Preamble | 1 |
| | Recognition Agreement | 2 |
| Article I| Agreement | 3 |
| Article II| Principles | 4 |
| Article III| Negotiation Procedures | 5-6 |
| Article IV| Labor-Management Committee | 7 |
| Article V| Grievance Procedure | 8-10 |
| Article VI| Conditions of Employment | 11-14|
| Article VII| Employee Leaves | 15-17|
| Article VIII| Insurances and Retirement | 18-20|
| Article IX| Promotions, Transfers and Reductions in Non-Competitive and Labor Class Positions | 21 |
| Article X| Compensation | 22-25|
| Article XI| Transportation/Extra Driving | 26 |
| Article XII| Retirement Award | 27 |
| Article XIII| Sick Leave Bank | 28-31|
| Article XIV| In-Service Courses | 32 |
| Article XV| Evaluation | 33 |
| Article XVI| Terms of the Agreement | 34 |
| | Grievance Form | 35 |
| | Form A – Sick Leave Bank Authorization Form | 36 |
| | Form B – Request for Use of Sick Leave Days | 37 |
The following is a list of the most common types of data that can be collected and analyzed using the methods described in this paper.
1. **Demographic Data**: This includes information such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, education level, income, employment status, and marital status. Demographic data can provide valuable insights into the characteristics of the population being studied and can help researchers identify potential biases or confounding variables.
2. **Behavioral Data**: This includes information about how individuals behave, such as their daily routines, social interactions, and health habits. Behavioral data can be collected through surveys, interviews, observations, and physiological measurements. It can help researchers understand the factors that influence behavior and can inform interventions aimed at improving health outcomes.
3. **Genetic Data**: This includes information about an individual's genetic makeup, such as their DNA sequence and gene expression levels. Genetic data can be used to identify genetic risk factors for diseases and can inform personalized medicine approaches. However, it is important to note that genetic data can also raise ethical concerns related to privacy and discrimination.
4. **Environmental Data**: This includes information about the physical and chemical environment in which individuals live, such as air quality, water quality, and noise levels. Environmental data can be collected through sensors, remote sensing, and laboratory analysis. It can help researchers understand the impact of environmental factors on health and can inform policies aimed at protecting public health.
5. **Health Data**: This includes information about an individual's health status, such as their medical history, symptoms, and treatment outcomes. Health data can be collected through electronic health records, clinical trials, and population-based studies. It can help researchers understand the prevalence and burden of disease and can inform interventions aimed at improving health outcomes.
6. **Social Media Data**: This includes information about an individual's online activity, such as their social media posts, comments, and interactions. Social media data can be collected through APIs and can provide insights into an individual's social network, attitudes, and behaviors. However, it is important to note that social media data can also raise ethical concerns related to privacy and bias.
7. **Financial Data**: This includes information about an individual's financial status, such as their income, assets, and debts. Financial data can be collected through tax returns, bank statements, and credit reports. It can help researchers understand the relationship between financial status and health and can inform policies aimed at reducing economic disparities.
8. **Educational Data**: This includes information about an individual's educational attainment, such as their grade point average, test scores, and degrees earned. Educational data can be collected through school records, standardized tests, and surveys. It can help researchers understand the relationship between education and health and can inform policies aimed at improving educational opportunities.
9. **Workplace Data**: This includes information about an individual's work environment, such as their job title, hours worked, and benefits received. Workplace data can be collected through surveys, interviews, and administrative records. It can help researchers understand the relationship between work and health and can inform policies aimed at promoting workplace wellness.
10. **Volunteer Data**: This includes information about an individual's volunteer activities, such as their participation in community service organizations and charitable events. Volunteer data can be collected through surveys, interviews, and administrative records. It can help researchers understand the relationship between volunteering and health and can inform policies aimed at promoting community engagement.
In conclusion, the methods described in this paper can be used to collect and analyze a wide range of data types. By understanding the strengths and limitations of each method, researchers can choose the most appropriate approach for their study and ensure that their findings are valid and reliable.
PREAMBLE
In order to effectuate the provisions of Chapter 392 of the laws of 1967 (The Public Employees' Fair Employment Act), to encourage and increase effective and harmonious relationships between the Morrisville-Eaton Board of Education and its educational support personnel represented by the Morrisville-Eaton Support Personnel Organization so that the cause of public education may best be served in the Morrisville-Eaton Central School District.
It is agreed by and between the parties that any provision of this Agreement requiring legislative action to permit its implementation by amendment of law or by providing the additional funds therefor, shall not become effective until the appropriate legislative body has given approval.
RECOGNITION AGREEMENT
Between the
THE SUPERINTENDENT
MORRISVILLE-EATON CENTRAL SCHOOL
and
MORRISVILLE-EATON CENTRAL SCHOOL
EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT PERSONNEL ORGANIZATION
The Morrisville-Eaton Board of Education having determined that the Morrisville-Eaton Central School Educational Support Personnel Organization is supported by a majority of non-instructional personnel consisting of office secretaries, custodians, building cleaners, cleaners, groundsmen, cafeteria personnel, transportation personnel, mechanic(s), clerical assistants, school nurses, and teacher aides; hereby recognizes the Morrisville-Eaton Educational Support Personnel Organization as the exclusive negotiating agent for the personnel in such unit. The parties agree that the Morrisville-Eaton Educational Support Personnel Organization's period of recognition shall extend to June 30, 2007 and for successive three (3) year periods thereafter until there appears a legitimate challenge to such recognition.
The Board agrees not to negotiate with any employee or employee organization other than the Association for the duration of this recognition.
ARTICLE I
AGREEMENT
This Agreement made and entered this 17th day of September, 2003, by and between the Superintendent of the Morrisville-Eaton Central School District and the Morrisville-Eaton Central School Educational Support Personnel Organization (entitled hereafter as the "Association").
ARTICLE II
PRINCIPLES
A. Right to Join or Not Join:
It is recognized that employees have the right to join or not to join the Association, but membership shall not be a prerequisite for employment or continuation of employment of any employee.
B. Rights of Minorities and Individuals:
The District and Association shall not discriminate against any unit member because of age, race, sex, creed, color, national origin, marital status, sexual preference or for participation or lack of participation in lawful Association activities.
C. Deductions
The District agrees to deduct from the salaries of all bargaining unit members dues or an agency fee as set by the Association.
ARTICLE III
NEGOTIATION PROCEDURES
A. Negotiations Teams:
The designated representative(s) of the Board will meet the representatives designated by the Association for the purpose of discussion and reaching mutually satisfactory agreements.
B. Dates:
No earlier than January 1st, nor later than February 1st, of the calendar year in which the contract expires, the parties will enter into good faith negotiations over a successor agreement. Proposals to be negotiated by the Association shall be submitted in writing to the Board's delegated representative(s) at the first meeting. Counterproposals to be negotiated by the Board shall be submitted in writing at the second meeting.
C. Procedures:
Designated representative(s) of the Board shall meet at such mutually agreed upon paces and times with the representatives of the Association for the purpose of effecting a free exchange of facts, opinions, proposals and counterproposals in an effort to reach mutual understanding and agreement. Both parties agree to conduct such negotiations in good faith and to deal openly and fairly with each other on all matters. Following the initial meeting as described above, such additional meetings shall be held as the parties may require to reach understanding on the issue(s) or until impasse is reached. Meetings shall not exceed two (2) hours, except by mutual agreement.
D. Representatives:
Neither party in any negotiations shall have any control over the selection of the representatives of the other party, and each party may select its representatives from within or outside the School District. While no final agreement shall be executed without ratification by the Association and the Board, the parties mutually pledge that their representatives will be clothed with all the power and authority necessary to make proposals, counterproposals, and reach compromises in the course of negotiations.
E. Exchange of Information:
Both parties and/or the Superintendent shall furnish each other, upon reasonable request, all available public information pertinent to the issue(s) under consideration.
F. Reaching Agreement:
When consensus is reached covering areas under discussion, the proposed agreement shall be reduced to writing. The written agreement will then be submitted to the Association by its negotiating team. The written agreement will become official when approved by the majority of the Association membership and by the majority of the Board.
G. Committee Reports:
The parties agree that during the period of negotiations and prior to reaching an agreement to be submitted to the Board and the Association, the proceedings of the negotiation meetings shall not be released except by mutual agreement.
ARTICLE IV
LABOR-MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
1. A representative group consisting of association members and the Superintendent shall develop lines of communication within the District by meeting at least once a month between September 1st and June 30th of each school year. A date and time shall be set by mutual agreement between the committee and the Superintendent. The purpose will be to discuss matters of mutual concern.
2. The committee shall consist of at least one (1) member from each of the following: food service, aides, transportation, clerical and buildings and grounds.
ARTICLE V
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
A. Definition of Grievance:
A grievance is a claim by a member or members of the bargaining unit (herein after referred to as "employee") involving the application or interpretation of this Agreement.
B. Purpose:
The main purpose of the grievance procedure as established in this article is to secure, at the lowest level possible, equitable solutions to the claims of the parties. Except as it is necessary for the purpose of implementing this article, both parties agree that these proceedings shall be kept informal and confidential.
C. Grievance Committee:
This is a committee created by the Association each year to serve for the duration of the Agreement.
D. General Principles:
1. Employees shall have the right to present grievances in accordance with these procedures, free from coercion, interference, restraint, discrimination or reprisal.
2. The resolution of grievances at the earliest possible stage is encouraged.
3. An employee shall have the right to be represented at any stage of the procedure by a person or persons of his/her own choice. The Grievance Committee shall also be represented at all levels as a party in interest.
4. Minutes of the proceedings at any or all stages of the grievance procedure shall be furnished to the employees, the Association and the Superintendent.
5. All hearings shall be confidential.
6. It shall be the responsibility of the Superintendent to take such action as is deemed necessary to give force and effect to these procedures to make sure that grievances are considered promptly and a determination made within the time specified.
7. Just Cause
No Bargaining Unit member with more than six (6) months of service with the District shall be disciplined or discharged without just cause. "Disciplined" shall mean written letter of reprimand, suspension or discharge. Any employee who seeks relief under this article and the contract Grievance Procedure shall be barred from seeking a remedy in any other forum.
E. Procedures:
1. **Level One** **Informal Stage**
The aggrieved employee shall orally present the grievance to his/her immediate supervisor within twelve (12) working days of the time of the act or condition upon which the grievance is based. The employee and the immediate supervisor shall informally discuss the grievance. The immediate supervisor shall render his/her decision, in writing, to the aggrieved employee within five (5) school days after the grievance has been presented to him/her. If the grievance is not satisfactorily resolved at this level, the aggrieved employee may proceed to the next level.
2. **Level Two** **Formal Stage**
a. In the event that the employee is not satisfied with the decision at Level One, the grievance shall be presented to the Grievance Committee for consideration within five (5) school days after the receipt of the written decision.
b. If the Grievance Committee determines that there is a meritorious grievance, it will file a written appeal of the decision at Level One with the Superintendent, along with a copy of the written decision, within five (5) school days.
c. Within ten (10) school days after the receipt of the appeal, the Superintendent, or his/her duly authorized representative, shall hold a hearing with the aggrieved employee and the Grievance Committee or its representative.
d. The Superintendent shall render a decision in writing to the Grievance Committee within five (5) school days after the conclusion of the hearing.
3. **Level Three** **Advisory Arbitration**
a. If the grievance is not resolved at Level Two, the employee may submit the grievance to advisory arbitration by written notice to the Superintendent within ten (10) calendar days of the decision at Level Two.
b. Thereupon, the Grievance Committee and the Superintendent shall select an advisory arbitrator in accordance with the rules and procedures of the American Arbitration Association.
c. The selected arbitrator will hear the grievance promptly and will issue his/her advisory recommendation(s) to the employee and the Board of Education within twenty (20) calendar days after the conclusion of the hearing. The advisory arbitrator's recommendations will be in writing.
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
(Continued)
d. The arbitrator shall have no power to add to, subtract from or modify the terms or provisions of this Agreement. The arbitrator shall confine his or her recommendation and award solely to the application and/or interpretation of this Agreement. The recommendation and award of the arbitrator shall be advisory.
e. The cost of the services of the arbitrator including expenses, if any, will be borne equally by the Board of Education and the Association. Any additional cost incurred by the parties will be borne by the parties incurring said cost.
4. **Level Four** **Board of Education Level**
Within twenty (20) workdays after receipt of the advisory arbitrator's recommendations, the Board of Education, or a duly authorized committee of the Board of Education, will convene in executive session to review the grievance and the advisory arbitrator's recommendations. The Board of Education will render its final decision within five (5) school days after the conclusion of this meeting. The decision of the Board shall be final at the local level.
F. Provisions:
1. Conferences and hearings held hereunder shall be held during non-working hours and conducted at a time and place which will afford a fair and reasonable opportunity for all persons entitled to be present to attend. If, in the judgement of the Superintendent, conferences or hearings must be held during working hours, persons who participate shall be excused from their assignments without loss of pay.
2. Failure at any level of the procedure to appeal a grievance to the next level within the specified time limits shall deem acceptance of the decision rendered at that level. Failure at the first two levels in the procedure to communicate the decision on a grievance within the specified time limits shall permit the employee to proceed to the next level.
3. The employee may be represented by the Association or an individual of his/her own choosing at any or all levels in the grievance procedure.
ARTICLE VI
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
A. Work Day
1. Employees' workdays are defined by the hours per day of the respective jobs.
B. Overtime
1. Overtime hours are defined as hours above forty (40) hours per week, and are worked at the request of the superintendent. Overtime hours are compensated at a rate of time-and-one-half.
2. School lunch employees shall be paid an additional twenty cents ($0.20) for additional time worked up to forty (40) hours per week and time-and-one-half (1.5) for the time worked beyond forty (40) hours per week.
3. Regularly scheduled after school runs (following the last dismissal) will be compensated at twenty cents ($0.20) per hour over the individual driver's regularly hourly rate.
C. Work Year
1. All twelve-month (12) employees are required to work 260 days (261 in leap year, if applicable) per year as determined by the Superintendent.
2. All ten-month (10) employees are required to work 180 days per year, as determined by the Superintendent.
3. Paid Holidays
The paid holidays listed below are for ten (10) month employees:
a. Columbus Day
b. Veterans' Day
c. Thanksgiving Day
d. Christmas
e. Day with Christmas
f. New Year's Day
g. Martin Luther King Day
h. Washington's Day (President's Day)
i. Good Friday
j. Memorial Day
4. The paid holidays for twelve (12) month employees include each of those listed above, plus the following dates:
a. Independence Day
b. Labor Day
c. Day with Thanksgiving
d. Day with New Year's Day
5. Vacations
a. All ten (10) month employees receive no vacation time in addition to the agreed upon paid holidays (see above) and the vacation times enjoyed by students and regular teaching staff.
b. All twelve (12) month employees shall receive one day of vacation for each month of employment for a maximum of twelve (12) vacation days per year, July 1 through June 30. After seven (7) complete years of service, twelve-month employees may earn an additional day per year up to a maximum vacation of twenty (20) days per year. The days of vacation become effective as of July 1 of the year immediately following the employee's hiring. Vacation for 12 month employees is earned during the current year for use during the next year. Employees leaving the district before the end of the school year shall receive vacation that is pro-rated for the amount of service completed during the current year of employment. The District will agree to allow 12 month employees to carry over five (5) days of accrued vacation provided these days are used from July 1 to July 31 of the subsequent year.
c. If an employee has been in the employment of the District less than 11 months preceding July 1, of any year, the employee shall receive vacation on a prorated basis of one (1) day per month of employment.
d. All vacations are to be subject to the approval of the supervisor and the superintendent.
6. Emergency Closings
a. Twelve-month employees, who are not responsible for snow removal are not required to report for work on days when school is closed due to inclement weather with no loss of pay.
b. Individuals who are responsible for snow removal and other employees who work on days when school is closed due to inclement weather at the request of their supervisors will be given compensatory time for hours worked.
D. Uniforms and Clothing
1. Each custodial employee will be allowed one hundred forty-five dollars ($145.00) per year for work related clothing. The employee shall purchase the work-related clothing and then submit a claim form to the school business office for reimbursement, or obtain a purchase order from the business office for purchases. Uniform allotments shall be available as of July 1st of each school year.
2. Each school lunch employee will be allowed eighty dollars ($80.00) per year for work related clothing. A claim form shall be submitted to the school business office for reimbursement, or the employee may obtain a purchase order from the business office for purchases. Allotments shall be available as of July 1st of each year.
3. Any employee required to supervise children outdoors on a daily basis shall receive a work related clothing allowance of $75.00 per year. A claim form shall be submitted to the school business office for reimbursement, or the employee may obtain a purchase order from the business office for purchases. Clothing allotments shall be available as of July 1st of each year.
4. All mechanics shall be provided with five (5) uniform changes per week worked.
5. The district will continue to provide jackets for drivers and shirts for food service workers and custodial employees.
E. Miscellaneous
1. Custodial duty for events and activities outside of a custodian's or cleaner's assigned work day will be on a voluntary basis. If no volunteer is available, the district may assign an employee to work.
2. Custodial staff members will check the buildings as assigned by their respective building maintenance supervisors. Such assignments will be made on an equitable and rotating basis. For each daily check, the employee will be guaranteed one (1) hour of pay at the overtime rate.
3. Upon occasion, for athletic contests or events, custodians may be assigned to attend specific contests or events. Upon those occasions, they shall be paid at the overtime rate.
4. Custodians shall receive a minimum of two (2) hours of pay for any emergency service call situation outside the normal work hours of the employee up to the total hours of the call when the request is either made or otherwise authorized by a district administrator or designee.
5. Only those individuals who are required to provide emergency medical treatment as an aspect of their regular job description (i.e. nurses, coaches) will be required to use Automated External Defibrillators should the situation arise.
ARTICLE VII
EMPLOYEE LEAVES
A. Sick Leave:
1. Each employee will earn one sick day per month, according to the definition of his or her workday (see Article VI). Each employee may accumulate a maximum of 200 sick days.
2. Sick leave is to be computed as of July 1st of each year. Sick leave may be used for personal illness or illness in the immediate family when the employee is required to attend to the patient.
3. Sick leave may be utilized in units as small as one (1) hour.
4. The superintendent may ask for a physician's statement for any illness exceeding three (3) days.
5. Each year, each employee's unused sick leave will be added to the cumulative total as of July 1 of the ensuing year.
B. Sick Leave Award
Upon leaving the employment of the district, employees of ten years or more shall be paid for accumulated sick leave unless such sick leave is used toward retirement. The method of payment is to be consistent with that in Article XII's provisions for retirement awards (see C. and D.).
C. Personal Leave:
Personal leave for all non-instructional employees of the Morrisville-Eaton Central School District is as follows:
12 Month Employees 4 days per year
Less than 12 Month Employees 3 days per year
(1 day each period of 3 months worked)
Personal leave may be utilized in units as small as one (1) hour.
Personal leave must be applied for in writing or in person at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance for the Superintendent's approval, or that of his/her designated representative. In emergencies, the forty-eight (48) hours in advance notice may be waived. Said application need not contain the reason for the requested absence.
EMPLOYEE LEAVES
(continued)
Unused personal leave shall convert to sick leave and accumulate to unused sick leave with the July 1st computation.
D. Bereavement Leave:
1. In the event of a death in an employee's immediate family, the employee shall be eligible to use a maximum of four (4) days bereavement leave for any regularly scheduled work days following the date of the relative's passing. Additional days may be granted at the discretion of the Superintendent.
2. For bereavement purposes, immediate family is defined as: parents, child, brother, sister, husband, wife, grandparent, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, niece, nephew, uncle, aunt, father-in-law, mother-in-law, first cousin, grandchildren, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, life’s partner, life’s partners mother, father, child, grandchild, grandparents, sister, brother and any person who resides in the household on a regular basis. In order to be considered a life’s partner a relationship must be established for a minimum of six (6) months.
E. Maternity Leave:
The Board of Education shall grant a leave of absence without pay for maternity reasons to any employee regularly employed upon proper certification of pregnancy by the employee's physician. Existing legal guidelines, applicable at the time of the request, will be followed in granting the leave. Upon the employee's return, he or she shall be placed on the same salary step and in the same position as the date on which the leave was effected.
F. Leave of Absence Without Pay:
After one (1) year of satisfactory employment, an employee may be granted, by the Board of Education, a leave of absence without pay not to exceed twelve (12) months in duration. To qualify for such a leave, the employee must apply, in writing, to the Superintendent at least two (2) months prior to the date of the desired absence. The employee shall notify the Superintendent of plans for resuming employment two (2) months prior to the expiration of the leave of absence.
EMPLOYEE LEAVES
(continued)
G. Jury Duty:
If non-instructional personnel serve on jury duty when called, the Board shall provide the necessary substitute and pay the person on jury duty the difference between his/her regular daily salary and the amount received for jury duty.
ARTICLE VIII
INSURANCES AND RETIREMENT
A. Health Insurance:
1. The parties agree that the health insurance benefit levels are those benefit levels that are in place as of the date of the ratification of this agreement.
2. The District shall provide one hundred percent (100%) of the cost of the monthly premium for the eligible individual coverage and ninety percent (90%) of the cost of eligible dependent coverage for the participating employees. Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year and thereafter, the employee will be responsible for five percent (5%) of the cost of the monthly premium for eligible individual coverage and ten percent (10%) of the monthly premium cost for eligible dependent coverage. These costs will apply to all employees and prospective retirees who are eligible and elect to participate in the health insurance program offered by the district except as noted in Article VIII (A)(3) below.
3. For employees whose effective date of hire is July 1, 2003 or after, the amount of the District's contribution toward health insurance shall be prorated in the event that an employee works more than the requisite 20 hours per week but less than 40 hours (e.g. if employee works 28 hours the normal contribution shall be multiplied by 28/40 or 70% of such normal amount). In addition, the amount of the District's contribution shall be limited to the dollar amount calculated as the District's contribution for the 2003-04 school year and the contribution dollar amount shall be increased in each year of the contract term by the same percentage as base salaries are increased. Upon the expiration of the contract term, the dollar amount of the District contribution shall remain the same unless or until otherwise negotiated. However, the dollar amount of such District contribution shall not exceed the total gross salary earned by an employee in any given year (e.g. if employee earns only $7600 per annum, the dollar amount of the District's contribution, if otherwise more due to the above calculation, shall be limited to $7600).
4. The District agrees that any future modification(s) in the administration, coverage or benefit level(s) of health insurance which is not expressly authorized by the collective bargaining agreement and which would otherwise constitute an improper, unilateral change in terms or conditions of employment, shall be accomplished by negotiations with the appropriate representatives of the Association. The District will notify the Association of said proposed modification(s) as soon as possible, in advance, and provide the Association with the opportunity to bargain with the District concerning same.
INSURANCES AND RETIREMENT
(continued)
5. The District shall provide 100% of the cost of the monthly premium for individual and family basic dental and vision coverage as is provided by the District.
B. Health Insurance Buy-Out
1. The District agrees to offer an optional buy-out for health insurance (excluding dental and vision) to all employees eligible for health insurance. The District agrees to deposit an amount equal to the District cost for individual health insurance into a flexible spending account (Section 125) for employees who voluntarily decline health insurance benefits.
2. All employees eligible for health insurance benefits would be able to take advantage of the provisions of Item (1).
a. In order to receive the buyout, an eligible employee must elect the buyout, in writing on a form supplied by the District, by June 1 preceding the year the insurance will be waived. This election must be renewed annually.
b. The employee must provide written proof that she/he is covered by another health insurance program at the time of election. This proof shall be submitted with the written election.
c. Upon meeting all requirements for the buy-out, the lump sum amount specified in section (1), subject to any proration under section (2) one half of the buyout amount shall be deposited into the Section 125 account of each employee effective the beginning of the Section 125 plan year. The remaining balance shall be deposited into the plan six (6) months into the plan year.
d. Unused monies remaining in a flex account will be forfeited at the end of the plan year.
C. Worker's Compensation
All school employees are covered under Worker's Compensation Insurance.
D. New York State Retirement
All full time personnel in the competitive and noncompetitive classes of Civil Service are required to join the New York Employee's Retirement System. Labor class employees are not required to join, but may do so.
In order to be eligible for health insurance benefits during retirement two conditions need to be met.
1. The employee must have worked for the district for at least ten (10) consecutive years immediately prior to retirement exclusive of any approved leaves of absence.
2. The employee must be vested in a state pension plan and if they are not vested, they must be at least fifty-five (55) years of age.
E. Flex Plan
All employees are eligible for participation in the IRS-125 Flex Plan. The scope of the plan allows for before taxes participation by each employee in (1) health insurance premium portion payment (2) elective health care reimbursement, and (3) dependent care expense reimbursement.
ARTICLE IX
PROMOTIONS, TRANSFERS AND REDUCTIONS IN NONCOMPETITIVE AND LABOR CLASS POSITIONS
A. Seniority:
For the purpose of this article, seniority shall be defined as the length of an employee's continuous service in the area of current employment with the District since the last date of appointment. In the event that two (2) or more employees have been hired on the same day, seniority standing shall be determined by drawing lots.
B. Layoff and Recall:
Subject to ability and fitness to perform the job, layoff of employees shall be in order of seniority, with the least senior employee being laid off first. Recall shall be in the reverse order of layoff and no new employees shall be hired in these positions until all employees on layoff have been offered an opportunity to return to work. All layoffs and recall shall be by department and job title.
C. Special Rights:
The special rights of Veterans and Exempt Volunteer Firemen as prescribed by Sections 85 and 86 of the New York State Civil Service Law and as amended from time to time, will be adhered to if layoff or recall becomes necessary.
D. Promotions and Transfers:
The District reserves and shall have the right to make promotions and transfers primarily on the basis of ability and performance of duty. However, seniority shall be given due consideration in making these decisions.
E. Employees who are terminated or are terminating their own employment with the School District shall give and receive a minimum of fourteen (14) days notice prior to the termination date.
ARTICLE X
COMPENSATION
Under this agreement, a "step" system has been implemented for various job categories. When hired, individuals will be placed on step based upon their prior experience. The Superintendent will evaluate prior experience and determine step placement.
There is not necessarily a direct connection between years of service in the district and step placement due to the possible effect of prior experience.
All step movement will take place on July 1st of each year, not on the individuals anniversary date of hire.
Date of hire will be used for determining longevity only. Longevity will be awarded on the individuals anniversary date when applicable.
A. Base Hourly Rates
2003-2004 School Year
| Position | Step # 1 | Step # 2 | Step # 3 |
|---------------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| Years of Employment in General Area | 1 to 3 years | 4 to 6 years | 7 to 9 years |
| Clerical | | | |
| Typist | $7.80 | $8.84 | $10.40 |
| Account Clerk Typist | $9.36 | $11.44 | $13.00 |
| Senior Typist | $9.36 | $11.44 | $13.00 |
| Food Service | | | |
| Food Service Helper | $7.54 | $8.84 | $10.40 |
| Cook | $9.88 | $11.96 | $13.52 |
| Cook Manager | $12.48 | $14.56 | $16.64 |
| Transportation | | | |
| Bus Driver | $10.92 | $12.48 | $14.04 |
| Bus Mechanic | $10.92 | $12.48 | $14.04 |
| Head Bus Mechanic | $13.52 | $15.60 | $17.68 |
| Head Bus Driver | $13.52 | $15.60 | $17.68 |
| Aides | | | |
| Teacher / Library / Any Aide | $7.80 | $8.84 | $10.40 |
| Buildings and Grounds | | | |
| Cleaner | $7.54 | $8.84 | $10.40 |
| Grounds Keeper | $7.54 | $8.84 | $10.40 |
| Building Maintenance | $9.36 | $10.40 | $11.44 |
| Head Custodian | $13.52 | $15.08 | $16.64 |
| Nurses | | | |
| LPN | $11.88 | $13.45 | $15.01 |
| RN | $12.49 | $13.51 | $15.61 |
## COMPENSATION
(continued)
### 2004-2005 School Year
### 2005-2006 School Year
### 2006-2007 School Year
| Position | Step # 1 | Step # 2 | Step # 3 |
|---------------------------------|------------|------------|------------|
| Years of Employment in General Area | 1 to 3 years | 4 to 6 years | 7 to 9 years |
| **Clerical** | | | |
| Typist | $8.19 | $9.28 | $10.92 |
| Account Clerk Typist | $9.83 | $12.01 | $13.65 |
| Senior Typist | $9.83 | $12.01 | $13.65 |
| **Food Service** | | | |
| Food Service Helper | $7.92 | $9.28 | $10.92 |
| Cook | $10.37 | $12.56 | $14.20 |
| Cook Manager | $13.10 | $15.29 | $17.47 |
| **Transportation** | | | |
| Bus Driver | $11.47 | $13.10 | $14.74 |
| Bus Mechanic | $11.47 | $13.10 | $14.74 |
| Head Bus Mechanic | $14.20 | $16.38 | $18.56 |
| Head Bus Driver | $14.20 | $16.38 | $18.56 |
| **Aides** | | | |
| Teacher / Library / Any Aide | $8.19 | $9.28 | $10.92 |
| **Buildings and Grounds** | | | |
| Cleaner | $7.92 | $9.28 | $10.92 |
| Grounds Keeper | $7.92 | $9.28 | $10.92 |
| Building Maintenance | $9.83 | $10.92 | $12.01 |
| Head Custodian | $14.20 | $15.83 | $17.47 |
| **Nurses** | | | |
| LPN | $12.47 | $14.12 | $15.76 |
| RN | $13.11 | $14.18 | $16.39 |
2. New employees will be evaluated by the superintendent as to training and experience and assigned an appropriate base hourly rate.
3. All employees who are off step will receive a 4% increase in their hourly rate for the 2003-2004 school year, a 5% increase in their hourly rate for the 2004-2005 school year, a 4% increase in their hourly rate for the 2005-2006 school year and a 4% increase in their hourly rate for the 2006-2007 school year.
4. Any long-term substitute who moves directly to a full-time position will be credited with service from the date of their appointment as a long-term substitute.
5. The employee’s annualized salary shall be determined by using the number of work days plus paid holidays per year per employee, times the number of hours worked per day, times the hourly rate for the employee's job or route.
6. Individuals whose effective date of hire is after July 1st of a given year will be allowed to advance one (1) step on the salary schedule in the subsequent year providing that they worked at least 50% of the normal annual workdays for their appointment. (e.g. for a twelve month position, must work at least half of the annual days (260 or 261))
B. Miscellaneous Compensation Provisions
1. Longevity: Any employee who completes the following number of full years of continuous employment with the district shall receive the following longevity stipend on his or her employment anniversary date:
After 10 years of service......................... $ .15
15 years of service............................. $ .20
20 years of service............................. $ .25
25 years of service............................. $ .30
30 years of service............................. $ .35
2. Night custodial assignment(s) will receive an additional thirty-five cents ($ .35) per hour in the event that the regular assignment of such employee while school is in session includes at least four (4) hours worked after 6 p.m. daily. The night custodial rate applies for these employees throughout the year.
3. Elementary and Middle/High School
a. Food service workers will receive one dollar per hour ($1.00) additional for each hour worked for special functions.
4. Bus Driver’s Miscellaneous Compensation Provisions
a. Special trip rates for drivers will be $10.75 per hour for the duration of this agreement.
b. For any trips that are less than two (2) hours but are contiguous with the employee’s regular work hours, the employee will be paid at their regular hourly rate for the actual time of the trip. For trips that are less than two (2) hours in length but are not contiguous with the bus driver’s regular work hours, the bus driver will be paid for a minimum of two (2) hours at the trip rate. For trips that are two (2) hours or greater, the driver will be paid at the trip rate.
c. If either a regular school day run is cancelled less than one-half (1/2) hour before scheduled departure or if a special trip is cancelled less than one (1) hour before scheduled departure, the driver will be paid for two (2) hours time.
d. When an extra trip is cancelled for any reason prior to show up time, the driver will go to the top of the list for the next extra trip that has not yet been scheduled.
5. All drivers’ CDL-BP commercial license fees shall be paid for by the District after five (5) years of service.
6. If drivers are required to prepare their buses for DOT inspections, the District agrees to compensate drivers at their hourly rate for three (3) hours. The District will also compensate drivers at their hourly rate for attendance at training sessions.
7. An employee’s salary may be frozen for one (1) year due to poor achievement or poor attendance. Evaluation at the end of the year which the employee has been held on the same contract salary will determine advancement, increase in contract salary, or termination of employment. The employee may appeal this decision through the grievance procedure.
8. Any employee required to work on a holiday will be paid at a rate of time and one half.
ARTICLE XI
TRANSPORTATION/EXTRA DRIVING
A. The Board of Education, fully supportive of educational field trips and athletic activities, resolves that for such trips, upon the approval of the superintendent.
B. The assignment of drivers to such trips will be made to full-time regular drivers on the basis of alphabetical rotation.
C. Summer runs will be assigned to employees according to seniority of drivers at the current hourly rate.
D. The head driver will post a list of summer routes by mid June and finalized by graduation.
E. Summer trips shall be posted at the minimum hours per route (Guaranteed three (3) hour minimum.)
F. Full time drivers will be paid at their hourly rate when asked to substitute on a regular route.
ARTICLE XII
RETIREMENT AWARD
A. Bargaining Unit members who retire from the Morrisville-Eaton Central School District and meet all of the requirements of subsection B contained in this article shall be eligible to receive the benefits as stated in subsection C of this article.
B. Requirements:
1. The employee must have been credited, at the effective date of retirement, a minimum of ten (10) years of service with the Morrisville-Eaton School District since his/her last date of hire.
2. The employee must submit to the Board of Education, in writing, an irrevocable notice as to his/her effective date of retirement a minimum of ninety (90) days prior to the effective date of retirement.
C. Retirement Award
1. Each employee who meets the requirements in "B" above, and who qualifies under the definitions for retirement through the New York State Retirement System stipulations for retirement eligibility without penalty, shall be eligible for a district retirement award.
2. The eligible employee shall receive a lump sum award payment (minus appropriate deductions) equal to 75% of the employee’s accumulated sick leave times the employees regular hourly rate. Both the amount of accumulated sick leave and the regular hourly rate shall be calculated as of the employee’s last day on the active payroll of the District. Payment will be made within thirty (30) days after the effective date of retirement.
3. The maximum lump sum (pre-deductions) amount in C-2 above may not exceed sixteen thousand, five hundred dollars ($16,500).
4. The maximum amount of sick leave that an employee will be eligible to accrue will be equal to their regular hours worked per day times two hundred (200).
ARTICLE XIII
SICK LEAVE BANK
A. General:
The Sick Leave Bank is for the Morrisville-Eaton educational support personnel and approved by the Morrisville-Eaton Educational Support Personnel Organization and the Board of Education.
B. Eligibility for Membership:
Membership in the Sick Leave Bank is open to all Bargaining Unit members.
Membership is voluntary on the part of the employee, according to the membership procedure outlined below.
C. Establishment and Continuance of the Bank:
During the school year, a Sick Bank will be established and will continue through the duration of the present contract as follows:
1. The Sick Leave Bank, not to exceed the number of eligible full-time educational support employees employed by the District multiplied by two (2), to a total number of hours as is determined by those employees' hours per working day, will be established through contributions by the educational support employees wishing to contribute. Two (2) days may be contributed by each employee at the end of four (4) months of employment. The Sick Leave Bank may not be used until after six (6) months of employment.
As of the ratification date of this agreement or as soon as possible thereafter, the Association and the District will re-establish a sick bank which will re-start at 800 hours. The 800 hours will be made up of any and all existing hours, the hours as provided through an initial one (1) day contribution from present volunteers and the requisite additional hours, as automatically put in place by the District Employees wishing to continue in the sick leave bank will contribute one day (based on work hours) at the beginning of the school year.
2. Replenishment of days used from the Sick Leave Bank will be made by contributions from the educational support personnel when the days in the bank have been depleted in the following manner:
a. Educational support employees desiring membership shall make application on "Form A Sick Leave Bank Authorization Form", and will be assessed the equivalent in hours of two (2) work days from their accumulated sick leave.
D. Procedures for Sick Leave Bank:
1. The Sick Leave Bank may be used when an enrolled educational support employee is incapacitated by illness or injury certified by the participating member's physician.
2. The applicant's sick leave accumulation must have been exhausted for three (3) days prior to eligibility.
3. Withdrawal (See Request Form "Sick Leave Bank Form B"). This form can be obtained from the Building Principal's office and returned to the Superintendent's office.
4. The request can be for no more than twenty (20) school days. Reapplication can be made if desired for the current school year. (Reapplication -- "Form B")
5. The completed request form for the Sick Leave Bank must be acted upon within two (2) school days of its receipt by the Superintendent's office. The applicant shall be notified, in writing, within two (2) school days of the action taken by the Governing Board.
a. The applicant shall make reapplication on Form B five (5) days prior to the designated termination of approved leave.
b. The Governing Board shall meet to review such reapplication within two (2) school days following the receipt of the reapplication by the Superintendent's office. The applicant will be notified in writing within two (2) school days of the action taken by the Governing Board.
c. There is no carry-over into the ensuing school year. The applicant must submit a new request on Form B, if one is desired, in the ensuing year.
6. The Sick Leave Bank will not be penalized for any approved hours not used by a Non-Instructional employee.
7. A educational support employee using sick leave hours from the Bank shall not have to replace these hours except as a regular contributing member in accordance with the provision herein specified.
8. Upon termination of employment or withdrawal of membership from the Bank, participating employees shall not be permitted to withdraw their contributed hours.
E. Governing Board:
1. Composition
Membership of the Governing Board will total five (5). Four (4) members will be selected by the Morrisville-Eaton Educational Support Personnel Organization, one each from Custodial, Clerical, Cafeteria and Bus Driver areas. The fifth member will be the Superintendent, or designee, who will be the chairperson of the Governing Board.
2. Term of Office
The members will hold office for one (1) school year. It is highly recommended that at least one educational support employee be selected by the Educational Support Personnel Organization as a carry-over person of the Governing Board, to provide operation continuity.
3. Bylaws
a. The Governing Board will have its annual organizational meeting during the first full week of the fall session.
b. A quorum for a meeting is three (3) persons - two (2) Non-Instructional employees and one (1) administrator or designee.
c. The members of the Governing Board are all voting members. Voting will be by roll call vote.
d. The recording secretary of the Governing Board shall be a Non-Instructional employee elected by the Governing Board. All minutes and forms will be considered confidential.
e. All decisions of the Governing Board are final and will be reached by a simple majority. A written decision will be forwarded to the applicant, the District office and the Sick Leave Bank by the recording secretary.
f. In case of absence of the Superintendent, his/her designee will act as chairperson.
g. Robert's Rules of Order will be used as the guidelines for all meetings.
F. Amendment Provisions:
The governing Board may make recommendations to revise the sick leave bank procedures. Such recommendations shall require the approval of both the Board of Education and the Organization in order to become effective.
ARTICLE XIV
IN-SERVICE COURSES
A. The two parties agree that requests for participation in in-service courses by any employee require the approval of the Superintendent.
B. It is understood that the employees will be paid their current hourly rates for the time they participate in the course or courses. All costs associated with courses approved by the Superintendent will be paid by the District.
ARTICLE XV
EVALUATION
Every employee will be evaluated a minimum of once a year by his or her immediate supervisor. A copy of the evaluation is to be furnished to the employee and a copy filed with the district office. An employee may attach his or her comments to any evaluation copy that is to be placed in his or her personnel folder.
ARTICLE XVI
TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT
A. Duration of Agreement:
The term of the agreement shall be from July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2007. The Association only can open contract after June 30, 2006.
B. This agreement shall constitute the full and complete commitment between both parties and may be altered, changed, added to, deleted from, or modified only through the voluntary, mutual consent of the parties in a written and signed amendment to this agreement.
C. This Agreement and all provisions herein are subject to all applicable laws, regulations and decisions of the Commissioner of Education for New York State. In the event any provision of this Agreement is held to violate such laws, said provision shall not bind either of the parties, but the remainder of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect as if the invalid provision had not been a part of this Agreement.
D. Any individual arrangement, agreement or contract between the Board and an individual employee heretofore executed shall be subject to and consistent with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and any individual arrangement, agreement or contract hereafter executed shall be expressly made subject to and consistent with the terms of this or subsequent Agreements to be executed by the parties. If any individual arrangement, agreement or contract contains any language inconsistent with this Agreement, this Agreement, during its duration, shall be controlling.
E. Copies of this Agreement shall be printed at the expense of the Board and given to all employees now employed by the Board or hereafter employed by the Board on or before signing the statement of employment.
The Morrisville-Eaton Central School District
By:
Chief School Administrator
The Morrisville-Eaton Central School Non-Instructional Employees' Organization:
By:
President
Secretary
Date
I hereby authorize you to deduct _____ hours from my accumulated sick leave. This deduction is for the purpose of placing _____ hours on deposit in the Morrisville-Eaton Central School Non-Instructional Sick Leave Bank. I understand that by making this deposit, I become a member of the Sick Leave Bank as stated in the Sick Leave Bank regulations as approved by the Morrisville-Eaton Non-Instructional Group and the Board of Education.
I further authorize an additional assessment of _____ hours against my sick leave accumulation when necessary to maintain the quota of the bank.
Date________________________
Employee's Signature________________________
Copies to: Educational Support Personnel Member
District Office
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12.1. Observe the picture and say
- Do you know any of the above forts and where they are? Do you have any such forts in your district?
- How do you feel, when you see the above pictures? Did you ever visit any such place?
- What information do we get on either seeing them or studying about them?
- Identify the above forts / sites on the map of our state.
12.2. Chandragiri fort
There are many forts like Golkonda, Penugonda, Gadwal, Orugallu, Chandragiri etc. in our state. They were constructed by the kings for protection from the enemies and also as a mark of victory and glory. Today they remain as evidences for the hundreds of years of history. Shall we learn more about those rulers and their constructions?
What, you see above is the Chandragiri Fort. It is located in the Chittoor district of our state. It is 14 km. away from Tirupati. Are you interested to know, how the fort got its name? The local myth says that once, the moon (Chandra) did penance on this hill. Lord Shiva was pleased and gave him boons. Hence the name, Chandragiri.
Collect...
- Enquire, how your village got its name, from the elders.
- List the historical places near your place.
12.3. Gateways of the chandragiri fort
The fort has two gateways.
The two gateways are 1km apart from each other. The way leading to these gateways is in the shape of the letter 'Z'. Huge fort walls, exist on either side of both the gates.
We can reach Chandragiri Fort after crossing these two gateways. Would you like to know about the ruler, who built this fort? He was, Immadi Yadava Narasimha Rayalu and the fort was built in 1000 A.D. He used to rule over Narayanavanam, near the city of Chandragiri.
Think and say
- Can you guess, why the way leading to the main gateways is in the 'Z' shape?
- How old is the fort?
Around, 500 years back, the Saluva Kings of the Vijayanagara Empire, took over this fort. King Narasimha Raya of Saluva dynasty ruled Chandragiri and stayed in this fort. During his period, the city developed rabidly. Chandragiri served as the capital city for the Vijayanagara Empire, till they were defeated in the war of Tallikota (Rakshasa Tangadi). Initially, Hampi was the capital city. It was shifted to penugonda and from there to Chandragiri.
Later, the Araveti dynasty ruled the Vijayaagara Empire, with Chandragiri as their permanent capital city. Further, during the reign of Sri Venkatapathi Deva Raya of Araveeti dynasty, this fort became famous.
Think of the reasons for these forts being ruined which were the much glorified places of the past.
12.4. Raj mahal
The Chandragiri Fort has several huge buildings. The most important among them is the Raj Mahal. Look at the pictures below.
Think and say
♦ How many stories does the Raj Mahal have and how many arches does it have?
There are three Gopurams on the Raj Mahal. The middle one is taller than the other two.
The base of every Gopuram is broader and they become thinner towards the apex. This is called the Dravida style. The walls are made up of stones while the roof is built with brick and lime. There are verandhas and rooms in the mahal. This resembles Indo-Turk style of architecture.
Do this
♦ Observe the picture of the building carefully and try to draw it.
♦ Draw the plan of your house.
Do you know?
• Sri Krishna Devaraya and a part of Manucharitra by Allasani Peddana were scripted during their stay, here.
• This is the birth place of Tenali Ramakrishna, the court poet of Vijayanagara Kings.
Tenali Ramakrishna has written many stories on wit and humour.
12.5. Rani mahal
Now that you know about Raj Mahal, let’s know about Rani Mahal also!
Observe the picture, below, carefully.
Group work
- How many floors does the Rani Mahal have?
- How many arches are there?
- Write the similarities of both the mahals.
The top floor of Rani Mahal was used when the King and the Queen wanted to address their people and for the meetings with the soldiers. Soldiers used to stay there.
12.6. Architectural skills
You have learnt about, both the buildings - the Raja Mahal & the Rani Mahal. Now, let’s recall, is their roof similar to that of your house? It’s different. In the Raja Mahal, the roof is divided into many squares. In each square, there is a design. This design is called stucco. Stuccos remain as an example of the engineering skills of these people of those days.
Think and say
♦ Observe the roof in the picture, say the differences between these and the roof of our houses.
♦ See the picture given beside. Comment on the style of construction.
♦ Which material is used more?
♦ Why did they use it?
Stone is the basic material used for the construction. The windows on the four sides, the staircase, and the arches of the Raj Mahal were built with stone.
Group work
♦ Can you tell what was the time taken for the construction of these buildings?
♦ How many people might have built this?
♦ Presently what materials are used to build the houses?
♦ How many workers are involved in it?
12.7. Fort walls
The Fort wall surrounds the entire fort. This wall is huge and wide. In between there are watch towers. Adjacent to the fort wall, is there a hill, on which there is a mandapam. Today, during the month of karthika people light lamps in this mandap.
Think and say
♦ Why was watch tower built on the fort?
♦ Why does the watch towers have holes?
♦ In the second picture why did they build them on fort walls?
♦ The mandapam is seen in the picture below. What might be the purpose of the mandapam?
Sri Krishna Devaraya used to visit Chandragiri fort to worship Lord Venkateswara. Then he used to reside in the Raj Mahal. During the rituals while worshipping the deity, the bell was rung at the temple shrine of Tirumala. This was followed by the ringing of the bell in the Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy Temple, at the foot hills, in Tirupati. When this bell was heard at Chandragiri, then they would ring the bell at the mandapam. Then Sri Krishna Devaraya would perform puja in the Raj Mahal and would take his meal as prasadam.
There is another legend to it.
The punishments, in those days, were severe. The accused were hanged. For this, a mandapam was built on the hill on one side in the fort, so that it was seen by everyone in the city.
Think and say
♦ The punishments were severe. The culprits were hanged! It is right to do so?
♦ What do you suggest, how the culprits could be made to accept the crime and change their conduct?
♦ What else could we learn from the study of the Chandarigiri fort and its buildings?
12.8. A rich heritage and culture
The then rulers constructed great buildings, temples, etc., These constructions reveal the rich heritage and culture of our country. They provide us with the best of the workmanship and architectural skills of those people. They guide us. In addition, they also tell us about the lifestyle of the king and his people, their festivals and their rituals; the customs and traditions; the mode of entertainment; the clothing of the people, etc., Hence we have to protect these historical sites.
12.9. Temples
The Chandragiri Kings built the temples of Lord Shiva and Lord Rama in the fort. The temple of Rama is in ruins whereas that of Shiva is in better shape and is visited by people even today. Here also, they used huge stones for the construction, except for Gopurams, which were built with bricks.
The forts and the temples are huge and were built with the materials available locally. The workers were also local. Think of its significance.
Think and say
♦ What is the importance of the old and ancient temples?
♦ What are the differences between those and the present day temples?
♦ A few old temples are in ruins. How to protect them?
12.10. Save the forts from getting ruined
The relics of the Vijayanagara Empire and the sculptures in stone and metal from the temples were preserved in the museum. This museum is maintained by the Archeological survey of India (ASI).
It is our responsibility to protect the old structures as they reveal our culture and its greatness. Stop harming. Start saving!! Share with the future!!! Its our rich heritage, it should be safely passed on as legacy to the next generation of people.
Think and say
♦ List the 'Don'ts' when we visit the important places and the heritage sites / buildings.
♦ What is the significance of those buildings?
1. Conceptual understanding
a) How did the Chandragiri fort get its name?
b) What information do we get from the old / ancient buildings and the forts?
c) Describe the construction of the Raj Mahal.
d) Write are the differences between the Raj Mahal & the Rani Mahal.
e) Why were the forts built?
2. Questioning and hypothesis
♦ Latha visited the Golconda Fort with her uncle. What questions she might have asked to know about the fort?
3. Experiments - field observations
a) Visit any building or an ancient temple nearby, observe and write a note on it.
b) Archeological department displays a board near the historical sites and temples. Read it and explain it to your friends.
4. Information skills, projects
♦ Gather information about the historical buildings or the old temples of our state, in detail and tabulate it.
5. Communication through mapping skills, drawing pictures and making models
a) Sketch the structure of the Raj Mahal.
b) Point out the places - Tirupati and Chandragiri on the map of Andhra Pradesh.
c) Prepare a model of a dome.
d) Mark the districts where the forts, you have seen in the beginning of the unit, are located on the map of Andhra Pradesh.
6. Appreciation, values and creating awareness towards bio-diversity
a) What are the important aspects of the Chandragiri Fort.
b) The construction of the fort involved the labour of many people. Write a note appreciating their hard work.
c) Is it necessary to protect the historical buildings? Give reasons.
d) State, what precautions you take when you would visit the historical places?
e) How can we protect these places?
f) Name the materials used in buildings the forts. Where do they got these from?
Can I do this?
1. I can explain the importance of the ancient buildings and forts. Yes / No
2. I can pose questions to know more about the ancient buildings. Yes / No
3. I can tabulate the information about these buildings, after seeking it. Yes / No
4. I can mark the places of these historical sites on the A.P. map. Yes / No
5. I can prepare sketch of these places and can prepare their models too. Yes / No
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After-School Programs at COONLEY
Winter 2018
(Details on the other side)
Let your child see just how cool science can be!
DON'T DELAY... ENROLL TODAY!
Go to chicago.madscience.org to check out other programming including programs at the Mad Science Lab (1053 N. California)
Days off School Camps
Nov 15 – Crazy Chemistry
Dec 27 – Machine Mania
Jan 3 – Shutterbugs
Jan 15 – Radical Reactions
Feb 2 – Mad Messages
Feb 19 – DNA Detectives
chicago.madscience.org ■ (773) 227-3345 ■ firstname.lastname@example.org
SPARKING IMAGINATIVE LEARNING
Program Descriptions:
Science Inside and Out
Bugs!
Engross yourself in entomology! Inspect authentic insect specimens. Update your insect anatomy know-how. Match-up insects with their habitats, and get bug-eyed with the Insect-A-Vision kit.
Detective Science
Help crack a case. Inspect fingerprints, mystery powders, ink samples, and teeth impressions. Create a composite from memory. Use the Personal Profile to build an identity kit.
Earthworks
Dig into Earth Science! Uncover rock samples and discover how they formed. Inspect fluorescing minerals. Model the moving plates that cause bends and breaks. See how sediment stacks with the Experi-tube.
Kitchen Chemistry
Cook up a chemical reaction! Blow up a balloon with yeast. Go on a nutrient hunt. Act out digestion from start to finish. Get a glimpse of your guts-in-action with the Digestor Inspector.
Mad Machines
See how simple machines lighten your load! Launch with levers, secure with screws, and work with wedges. Use pulleys to move heavy objects with ease. Wind-up the Drag Racer for some zooming action.
Movie Effects
Discover why science is the real star on the big screen. Create cool sound effects. Toy with 3-D technology. Make motion pictures come alive. Sketch a short feature in the Cartoon Creator flipbook.
Science of Toys
What makes toys work? Move out of the way for motorized toys. Take a spin with kinetic tops. Balance a bird to reveal its center of gravity. A twist of the wrist sets your Yo-yo spinning!
Walloping Weather
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SOILS FOR THE HOME GARDEN
by Wade W. McCall*
The basic resource for a successful home garden is the soil, which provides support, nutrients, air, and water for plant growth. If the soil is managed properly, high yields of high-quality vegetables can be expected.
What is Soil?
Soil is a mixture of mineral and organic constituents that are the result of climate and vegetation acting upon parent material over a period of time. Soil is approximately one-half solid material (the mineral and organic matter) and one-half open (pore) space where the air and water are found. The amount of pore space depends upon the texture and structure (arrangement) of the soil particles. If the pore space is too small, water and air move very slowly, resulting in water-logged soils, poor aeration, and poor plant growth. If the pore space is too large, water and air move through the soil very rapidly, resulting in the leaching of soluble plant nutrients and soils that dry out too quickly.
Mineral Matter
Soil is composed of many different minerals of different sizes, and the terms “sand,” “silt,” and “clay” are a means of classifying soil by the size of mineral particles. Clay, less than 0.002 mm (1/64,000 inch) in diameter, yields a large amount of surface area and increases the water-holding capacity of the soil. Each clay particle has an electrical charge that can adsorb ions from the fertilizer materials; the electrical charge varies from positive to negative, depending upon the minerals present, pH, humus content, and climate. Most clay minerals are negatively charged and will adsorb the cations—the positively charged ions. Since many of our plant nutrients are cations, the ability of the soil to adsorb and release (exchange) these cations is important also. Clay, then, is the most important mineral constituent of the soil and will increase soil productivity if properly managed.
Sand
Sand is the largest mineral particle in the soil and generally has little effect upon the exchange capacity. Due to their size, sand particles increase drainage and aeration, reduce the water-holding capacity, and increase the leaching of plant nutrients. The white sands of Hawaii are coral, or calcium carbonate, and they increase soil pH and thus create problems with the micronutrients that are necessary for good plant nutrition. Silt, a mineral size between sand and clay, has little influence upon soil properties.
Organic Matter
The addition of organic material to the soil, such as compost, manure, and so forth, results in the formation of humus. Humus is small-sized like clay, has a large surface area and a high exchange capacity (mostly cation but also anion), and will combine with clay to develop a desirable soil structure. It will also improve the water-holding and exchange capacities of sandy soils, as well as the tilth or manageability of any soil.
The major advantage of adding organic matter is the effect upon the physical properties of the soil. It will also supply some nitrogen. Due to the great fluctuation in nitrogen supply under conditions in Hawaii, however, this small amount of nitrogen is seldom considered when recommending fertilizer for the home garden. Too much organic matter should be avoided because it will accumulate and cause excessive aeration, nitrogen deficiency, and other problems.
Soil Reaction or pH
The acidity or alkalinity of the soil has an important effect upon the availability of nutrients to the plant. If soils are too acid—for example the soil from Haiku—phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and molybdenum are likely to be...
deficient. If soils are too alkaline—for example the white sands of Hawaii—phosphorus, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, and boron are likely to be deficient. Each plant has specific pH ranges; turnips, for instance, grow best when the pH is between 5.5 and 6.8. For the majority of garden plants, pH 5.5 to 6.5 is the optimum range. If the pH is higher than this, those elements deficient in the alkaline range will probably be needed in the fertilizer. The pH may be reduced by adding sulfur or other acid-forming materials. If the pH is too low, it may be increased by adding ground coral, hydrated lime, or a similar alkaline material.
Soil Salinity
Many soils have high levels of soluble salts (salinity) in them. Proper drainage is necessary to correct this problem. Materials, such as calcium sulfate, may be added, but, if proper drainage is not available, the salinity will increase because the calcium will release additional sodium from the soil. Replacing the soil may work unless the salts are coming from irrigation water, movement of salts by capillarity from a high water table, or salty subsoil layers. Vegetables vary in their tolerance to salts; those that are resistant to salts can be grown where salinity is a problem.
Physical Improvement
The properties of soil may be improved by mixing clay and organic matter with sandy soils or by mixing sand and organic matter with clay soils. It is important that the clay added is not of the expanding type because it causes poor soil physical conditions. These materials must be uniformly mixed to the depth that plant roots will extend, generally 6 to 8 inches deep, to permit uniform moisture, aeration, and other environmental conditions for root growth and development. An excellent garden soil may be produced by composting the soil with manures and organic residues. This is especially effective for small gardens, for use in containers, or for use in beds. Plant nutrients may be added during the composting process.
The soil should be maintained in good physical condition at all times. Cultivate, as necessary, to loosen the soil, control weeds, and improve soil conditions. If the soil is in good tilth, if organic matter is added, if mulches are used on the surface, if moisture supply is adequate, and if adequate plant nutrients are properly applied, little cultivation will be needed.
Pest and Disease Treatment
Some soils are infested with nematodes, weeds, or other pests. Treat the soil by heating with steam or dry heat or with general-purpose chemicals, such as methyl bromide, nematicides, or herbicides. Heating the soil to 180 F for 30 minutes will kill all diseases, insects, and weed seeds. Using general-purpose chemicals will serve the same purpose. Nematicides will kill nematodes only. Herbicides will kill only weeds. State law requires an applicator to have a permit to apply dangerous chemicals, such as methyl bromide. Many commercial applicators can apply chemicals for home garden use.
*Soil Management Specialist
NOTE: The use of trade names is for the convenience of readers only and does not constitute an endorsement of these products by the University of Hawaii, the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the Hawaii Cooperative Extension Service, and their employees.
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Many different philosophies of education have been recommended for improving the public schools. A look at the history of education in the United States shows that the one certainty is change. A perennial question is how high standards should be set. Related questions are those of aligning learning opportunities with the standards and constructing appropriate tests. Charter schools, vouchers, phonics and whole language approaches to reading instruction, and cooperative learning are among the strategies that have been proposed to improve public school education. Some advantages and disadvantages of each are discussed. Another frequently debated question is that of heterogeneous versus homogeneous grouping for instruction. New methods of assessment, including approaches that use portfolios, are advocated. All of these are issues that need study, analysis, and synthesis to develop improved educational practices. (SLD)
Assessing Different Philosophies of Instruction
Marlow Ediger
ASSESSING DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES OF INSTRUCTION
There certainly are different philosophies of instruction recommended for improving the public schools. These can be quite different from each other. No doubt, one of the reasons for criticizing the public schools is the lack of agreement on what should be emphasized in the curriculum.
Criticizing the educational system has always been in vogue. When viewing systems of schooling in the United States, the following have been in existence since the beginning:
1. Dame schools transported from England to the United States in 1607 with the founding of Jamestown colony, but more so later on such as in Plymouth Rock (1620) and Massachusetts Bay (1630) Colonies. These were elementary schools where a woman in her home would teach the rudiments of reading along with doing her house work.
2. Latin Grammar Schools emphasized secondary school instruction, generally in Massachusetts Bay colony, beginning in 1630. Puritans believed in each pupil being able to read. Reading from the Bible was paramount. The Latin language was the medium of instruction.
3. Town elementary schools began in the later 1600s and taught the 3rs --- reading, writing, and arithmetic. They replaced the Dame Schools with a curriculum that was broader in scope than reading instruction alone.
4. The Lancastrian Monitorial Schools, beginning in 1803, taught large numbers of elementary age pupils (such as 1,000 in a single large room) by a master teacher who supervised and taught monitors. The monitors in return each taught a benchful of boys, numbering ten approximately. These inexpensive schools helped educate more pupils than formerly and helped to bring on the public school system.
5. The Boston, Massachusetts Classical School (1821) replaced the Latin Grammar Schools, although private academies, advocated by Benjamin Franklin (starting in 1750), had also replaced numerous Latin Grammar Schools due to offering a much broader and practical education, including the classics as well as vocational education (Ediger, 1974).
When viewing and reflecting upon the above dates and types of schools, it is quite obvious that there had been dissatisfaction with American schools and drastic changes and modifications made from 1607 to the early 1800s, let alone the many changes that have occurred since that time. It appears that one thing is certain and that is change which is continuous and these will now be discussed.
How High Should Standards Be Set?
This is a perennial question. Those advocating setting high
standards (objectives of instruction) have never stated how high these standards should be. Also, it has not been clarified if all in the public schools need to achieve these standards. After all, there are mentally retarded pupils as well as those with different kinds of handicaps that hinder more optimal academic achievement. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has faced the same problem. From their tests results as taken by pupils, the NAEP provides information on how well pupils are doing on selected age levels. Generally, the results are not too encouraging. Might it be that the test items are too complex, thus making for low pupil achievement? After all, test items can be written at a more complex level as compared to being easier to answer. The author told his Methods of Research ED 680 class that a test could be written whereby everyone got all responses correct as well as writing a test where all the items could be missed, unless guessing was involved.
With high standards or objectives determined by the state department of education, there still is the problem of writing each multiple choice item clearly so no leeway exists for interpretation. Pilot studies should be made of all possible tests before they are used in testing public school student achievement and progress. The level of thinking to be tested also needs to be evaluated. Facts, largely or only, may be tested. Or, more complex levels of thinking may be stressed such as comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Bloom, 1956). It does become increasingly difficult to write multiple choice items that measure higher levels of cognition.
From the teacher's point of view, there are problems in aligning learning opportunities with the high standards. Then too, selected teachers and principals may take an inordinate amount of time coaching pupils on test taking. Drill, rote learning, and memorization may occur in these situations. If high stakes testing is involved, the following may and have occurred:
1. teachers teaching toward the items on the test in a direct way.
2. principals and teachers changing pupil's incorrect to correct answers on the response sheet.
3. teachers and administrators telling correct answers to pupils during testing time.
Advantages provided for giving high stakes tests to pupils are the following:
1. pupils might achieve at a higher rate than would otherwise be the case.
2. teachers may be motivated to do a better job of teaching.
3. pupils have not achieved at an adequate rate previously and increased motivation is necessary.
Charter Schools
Generally, charter schools are those formed within a school system in which selected teachers and administrators believe they have a better curriculum to offer than what exists. The charter school receives its money to operate from public school moneys. Usually, room space is provided by the local public school. Teachers and administrators in a charter school are not bound by the red tape that the public schools must abide by.
Disadvantages given for charter schools are the following:
1. they may be selective on who is admitted to their schools. Handicapped children may then not be permitted in a charter school.
2. they operate with little in the form of accountability.
3. they have too any advantages that public schools do not have, thus their test results may be superior.
Advantages for charter schools are the following:
1. they may be quite innovative in using new teaching strategies.
2. they offer hope to selected parents in having their children achieve more optimally in an alternative to public school education.
3. they offer chances for competitiveness in challenging the public schools to improve the curriculum.
Vouchers
Vouchers provide parents the chance to use the local tuition moneys to go to a school of personal choice. Money for tuition would go from the sending to the receiving school. Public schools are then challenged to offer improved instruction or parents will use the local tuition money to spend at a different school as chosen by involved parents.
Disadvantages given for pupils attending a school where voucher moneys are used are the following:
1. transportation money is not included in the transaction. This could be a big item of expense for many parents.
2. private schools chosen may conflict with the separation of church and state.
3. private schools can reject the acceptance of some pupils whereas the public schools need to take in any and all pupils.
Advantages provided by selected lay persons and educators for having vouchers include the following:
1. they offer choices to parents in choosing a school for their offspring to attend.
2. they offer competition to the public schools, as advocated by
free market advocates. With increased competition, better teaching will result for all learners.
3. they offer variety in terms of teaching and learning situations. The variety factor may assist pupils to achieve more optimally since choices in learning opportunities are in evidence (See Ediger, 2000, 210-211).
**Phonics or Whole Language Approaches in Reading Instruction?**
A major debate has been going on for some time about the phonics versus whole language procedure in the teaching of reading. How much of each does a pupil need to become proficient in the act of reading? Here, the issue becomes the amount of phonics needed by a learner. Systematic phonics may be stressed with its very own scope and sequence. Or, phonics may be taught minimally as necessary in context when whole language approaches are used.
Disadvantages given for systematic approaches in teaching phonics are the following:
1. meaning is being omitted in obtaining ideas as compared to more holistic procedures in the teaching of reading.
2. abstract learnings in phonics are difficult for pupils to acquire.
3. phonics taught in isolation separates word identification techniques from securing subject matter ideas.
Advantages provided for phonics instruction in a systematic manner include the following:
1. it provides techniques for learners to use to unlock unknown words.
2. it provides security to pupils to be able to determine any unrecognized word.
3. it provides basic, essential learnings to pupils in learning to read. Phonics is useful too for those on higher grade levels who have failed in learning to read at a satisfactory level (Ediger, 2000, 20-29).
**Cooperative Learning versus Individualized Instruction**
The pendulum certainly has moved toward favoring cooperative learning, as advocated by educators. Thus, pupils learn together within groups. The better learners serve as role models for the others. They also assist the less able pupils to achieve at a more optimal rate. Gardner (1993) identifies eight intelligences possessed by learners. Two of the eight deal with interpersonal learning as compared to intrapersonal learning. The former stresses that some pupils do better in group work as compared to individual endeavors. Their favorite way of revealing what has been learned is through group or committee
endeavors. Intrapersonal intelligence is possessed by those who work better and achieve more optimally by themselves. The latter reveals what has been learned best through an individual endeavor.
What then are the disadvantages of collaborative learning?
1. It is not the intelligence possessed by selected pupils. All need to learn to work together well, but as a sole method of learning, cooperative learning has its negative side.
2. Gifted/talented pupils may not achieve as optimally as possible due to helping others continually.
3. It is difficult to evaluate the progress of each on a committee, as compared to pupils working individually.
Advantages given are the following:
1. Pupils can learn social skills in attempting to get along with each other.
2. Assistance may be given to each other as needed.
3. Societal endeavors require cooperation in problem identification and seeking solutions (Ediger, 2000, 41-46).
Heterogeneous versus Homogeneous Grouping
With heterogeneous grouping of pupils for instruction, mixed achievement levels are in one classroom. Usually, the mixed achievement levels of pupils in one classroom is planned. The belief is that heterogeneous grouping is more democratic as compared to homogeneous grouping. Also, the faster learners may assist the slower achievers as needed.
Homogeneous grouping stresses uniform achievement of learners in a classroom. This too is planned for. The attempt here is to obtain as uniform a group of pupils in achievement as possible within a single classroom.
Disadvantages given for heterogeneous grouping are the following:
1. The range of achievement is too great for a teacher to truly provide for the needs of learners.
2. The teacher may teach to the middle level of achievement and thus hinder the fast and slow learners from achieving optimally.
3. Gifted pupils tend to lack stimulation from assisting slow learners in order for the latter to become motivated pupils for achieving, developing, and growing.
Homogeneous grouping has the following disadvantages:
1. A class of slow learners may have no role model to emulate, such as from a gifted/talented learner.
2. Slow learners in a single classroom are left with feelings of being inferior.
3. A teacher may have preferences for teaching a single level of pupil achievement such as the gifted and has been assigned to teach a
different level such as slow learners.
Advantages given for homogeneous grouping are the following:
1. the teacher has less of a range of pupil achievement to teach toward.
2. gifted and talented pupils may motivate each other's thinking more so as compared to heterogeneous grouping.
3. teachers tend to prefer uniform achievement levels of pupils in a classroom. (See Shepherd and Ragan, 1982).
Portfolios and the Assessment Process
Portfolios have certainly been given much attention recently as an approach to assess pupil achievement. Constructivism as a philosophy of evaluation is then in evidence. Pupils' products/processes are assessed in context by the former with teacher assistance. Immediate assessment may then be in evidence. Whatever a pupil has difficulty with may be given attention with diagnosis and remediation. Thus, pupils and teachers do not need to wait for machine scored results from the state department of education as is true of mandated tests, developed by an outside group, such as on the state level.
Disadvantages given for using portfolios to evaluate pupil achievement are the following:
1. they are difficult to appraise since each portfolio should be appraised by two professionals. Agreement upon quality may be difficult to come by with Interscorer reliability.
2. they cannot be machine scored and thus it takes time to appraise each portfolio.
3. they do not have the numerical results, such as percentiles, to make it easier to report pupil progress to parents.
Advantages for the use of portfolios to evaluate pupil achievement are the following:
1. they show actual pupil achievement with their products and processes, not a test score alone.
2. they indicate sequential progress when observing earlier with later products/processes of the learner.
3. they can indicate a broad scope of what a pupil is achieving as compared to testing of learners with multiple choice items (Ediger, 2000, 22-31).
Conclusion
There are vital issues that need to be studied, analyzed, and synthesized. These issues tend to indicate different philosophies of education which make educators and the lay public view quality education from diverse perspectives. A study of the philosophy of
education has much value for teachers and administrators. Philosophy assists to clarify issues and seeks to make them more meaningful and useful. Perhaps, improved educational practices will be an end result.
References
Bloom, Benjamin S. (1956), *Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain*. New York: David McKay Company, Inc.
Ediger, (1974), *Issues in Developing the Relevant Elementary Curriculum*. Kirksville, Missouri: Simpson Publishing Company.
Ediger, Marlow (2000), “The School Principal as a Leader in Reading Instruction,” *Reading Improvement*, 37 (1), 20-29.
Ediger, Marlow (2000), “The Principal and the Reading Curriculum,” *The Progress of Education*, 74 (9), 210-211. Published in India.
Ediger, Marlow (2000), “Community Schools in Action,” *Experiments in Education*, 28 (3), 41-46. Published in India by the SITU Council of Educational Research.
Gardner, Howard (1993), *Multiple Intelligences: Theory into Practice*. New York: Basic Books.
Ediger, Marlow (2000), “Portfolios and the Middle School Pupil,” *Michigan Middle School Journal*, 24 (2), 22-31.
Shepherd, Gene, and William Ragan (1982), *Modern Elementary Curriculum*, Sixth Edition. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Chapter Two.
I. DOCUMENT IDENTIFICATION:
Title: Assessing Different Philosophies of Instruction
Author(s): Dr. Marlow Ediger
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Publication Date: 6-18-00
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Signature: Marlow Ediger
Printed Name/Position/Title: Marlow Ediger, Prof.
Organization/Address: DR. MARLOW EDIGER
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# IOWA SITE INVENTORY
**Division of Historic Preservation**
Iowa State Historical Department
26 E. Market St., Iowa City, Iowa 52240
**MAY 29 1981**
**Site Number:** 41-014-001
**District Name:**
**Map Reference #:** 41-014-001
**Topo Map:** Garner 1:24,000
## IDENTIFICATION
1. **Site Name:** Hancock County Courthouse
2. **Village/Town/City:** Garner
**Township:**
**County:** Hancock
3. **Street Address:** State Street between 8th and 9th Streets
4. **Legal Location:** Tallman's Add. 12
5. **UTM Location:** zone 15 easting 451090 northing 4771470; Acreage less than 1 acr
6. **Owner(s) Name:** Hancock County Board of Supervisors
7. **Owner(s) Address:** Courthouse
**Garner, Iowa 50438**
8. **Use:** present Courthouse original Courthouse
## DESCRIPTION
9. **Date of Construction:** 1890
**Architect/Builder:** F.W. Kinney, Architect
Gross Construction, Builder
10. **Building Type:**
- [ ] single family dwelling
- [ ] multiple family dwelling
- [ ] commercial
- [ ] industrial
- [ ] educational
- [ ] other institutional
- [x] public
- [ ] religious
- [ ] agricultural
11. **Exterior Walls:**
- [ ] clapboard
- [ ] stone
- [x] brick
- [ ] board & batten
- [ ] shingles
- [ ] stucco
- [ ] other
12. **Structural System:**
- [ ] wood frame with interlocking joints
- [ ] wood frame with light members (balloon frame)
- [ ] masonry load-bearing walls
- [ ] iron frame
- [ ] steel frame with curtain walls
- [ ] reinforced concrete
- [ ] other
13. **Condition:**
- [ ] excellent
- [x] good
- [ ] fair
- [ ] deteriorated
14. **Integrity:**
- [x] original site
- [ ] moved-if so, when?
**Notes on alterations, additions (with dates and architect, if known) and any other notable features of building and site:**
Interior remodeled - cupola, tower, roof and balustrade removed - upper floor windows boarded up - Corner tower roofs removed.
15. **Related Outbuildings and Property:**
- [ ] barn
- [ ] other farm structures
- [ ] carriage house
- [ ] garage
- [ ] privy
- [ ] other
16. **Is the building endangered?**
- [x] no
- [ ] yes-if so, why?
17. **Surroundings of the building:**
- [ ] open land
- [ ] woodland
- [ ] scattered outbuildings
- [ ] densely built-up
- [x] commercial
- [ ] industrial
- [ ] residential
- [ ] other
18. **Map**
19. **Photo**
Roll____Frame ____View ____________
SIGNIFICANCE (Indicate sources of information for all statements)
20. Architectural Significance
☐ a. Key structure/individually may qualify for the National Register
☐ b. Contributing structure ☒ c. Not eligible/intrusion
Loss of significant roof elements have compromised the architectural interest of this courthouse. Another noticeable problem is the filling-in of upper story windows and several large arched openings.
The most interesting feature is the main entrance, recessed beneath a triple-arch facade featuring short, thick columns and heavy stone pedestals and balustrade.
21. Historical Significance
Theme(s) Politics/Government
☐ a. Key structure/individually may qualify for the National Register
☐ b. Contributing structure ☒ c. Not eligible/intrusion
This courthouse is locally significant as the historical focus of county government, and of the political power and prestige derived from the community's status as the county seat. As center of county government, an Iowa town was reasonably assured of economic and population growth, and a prominent role in local social and political life. The county courthouse represents a significant public investment in a structure built not simply for utilitarian purposes, but also as a monument associated with the historical importance of county organization and development.
See Continuation Sheet
22. Sources (for primary and secondary sources, give complete facts of publication: author, title, place of publication, date, etc.):
Andreas, A.T. *Illustrated Historical Atlas of Iowa*. Chicago: Andreas Atlas Co., 1875.
Pratt, LeRoy G. *The Counties and Courthouses of Iowa*. Mason City, Iowa: Klipto Printing and Office Supply Co., 1977.
Stanek, Edward and Jacqueline. *Iowa's Magnificent County Courthouses*. Des Moines: Wallace-Homestead Book Co., 1976.
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HANCOCK COUNTY
The early business of Hancock County was carried out wherever the county officers happened to live. With the close of the Civil War, immigrants again moved west across the country. The county's population increased to a size that necessitated the location of a central place of business. Truman Seymour from the State of New York convinced the county commissioners to accept his gift of a plat of land for the first county seat. The location was dubbed "Concord" and two small buildings were erected at a cost of $2,000. The county officers were directed to occupy these structures, on December 15, 1865.
Barely two years had passed when the first county quarters were no longer sufficient to serve the county's growing needs. After one failure, a second vote was taken which resulted in 18 "no" and 55 "yes" votes for building a new courthouse. A local English immigrant was contracted to make bricks and put up the building. The bricks were made at Lime Creek and hauled over frozen muddy roads to Concord during the winter. Finishing lumber, doors, windows, and steel safe doors were hauled from the nearest railroad station at Waterloo. The $10,000 courthouse was given over to the county near the end of 1868.
In the late 1890s, the city of Garner annexed Concord in an attempt to relocate the county courthouse nearer the new railroads and business district. A county seat fight was begun between Garner, near the eastern border of the county, and Britt, near the western border. The newspapers of each respective city took to writing editorials slandering its opponent. In 1897, when the Mayor of Britt published an order requiring the confinement of cattle, hogs, and horses, which had been allowed to run loose around town, Garner's "Hancock Signal" remarked that "Britt is an excellent grazing field. Hogs grow fat from the litter. It takes less work." To which Britt's newspaper responded: "The Salvation Army is talking of going to Garner to live for a while as their work there requires constant attention. Those Garner sinners are so infernal tough that they have to be mixed over frequently to keep a good scald on them."
Success was Garner's when a number of businessmen there decided to buy a site, build a courthouse, and give them to the county. Every family on the east side of the county was asked to sacrifice something for the cause. For instance, a 50-year-old immigrant cobbler and his wife, who "took in" washing and ironing, contributed $50 toward the $25,000 that was raised. Ten thousand people arrived in town on June 8, 1899, for the laying of the cornerstone. By November the building was finished, but Britt got a remonstrance prohibiting the removal of the county records for five years. Finally, in 1903, the board of supervisors was allowed to remove the county records from the offices. | <urn:uuid:6bdbba29-f8ec-4a72-a40e-10216b7fb8d8> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/1e5e50b0-c44c-4068-a163-e5df8e83d962/ | 2019-09-15T20:25:42Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514572289.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20190915195146-20190915221146-00221.warc.gz | 587,017,733 | 1,904 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.985506 | eng_Latn | 0.998295 | [
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Water: The Big Picture
“All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water,
So useful, lowly, precious and pure”.
St. Francis of Assisi, Canticle of Creatures
“The heavens and the earth were joined together … then We clove them asunder, and made from water every living thing”
The Holy Koran 21.30
Earth is full of water. There is about 1.5 billion km$^3$ of it, so much that it covers 70% of our planet’s surface. It’s an enormous amount but it diminishes dramatically as far as the available water for human use is concerned. Nearly 97% of the whole of the water on Earth (see chart 1) is actually in the oceans and salty. The other 3% is freshwater, but three fourths of it are trapped in iced poles and the remaining almost entirely flows deeply underground, becoming accessible only when it comes out in rivers or stores in lakes. So the actual figure for water that is “readily available” for human beings is just the 0.003% of the total volume. In other words, given that the total water on the globe could fit into a 100 litres barrel, the available quantity could at most fill a coffee spoon.
| Water resources on the globe | 1 |
|-----------------------------|---|
| Estimates of global water resources vary depending on different calculation methods | |
| Volume (thousand km$^3$) | % of total volumes |
| Ocean | 1,386,000,000 | 96.5% |
| Groundwater (gravity and capillary) | 23,400,000 | 1.7% |
| Predominantly fresh groundwater | 10,530,000 | 0.76% |
| Soil moisture | 16.50 | 0.001% |
| Glaciers and permanent snow cover | 24,064,000 | 1.74% |
| Water in lakes* | 176.40 | 0.013% |
| Marshes and swamps | 11.50 | 0.008% |
| River water | 2.12 | 0.0002% |
| Biological water | 11.12 | 0.008% |
| Water in the atmosphere | 12.90 | 0.001% |
| **Total volume in the hydrosphere** | **1,386,000,000** | **100.00%** |
| Total freshwater | 35,029.20 | 2.53% |
* Freshwater for 91,000 km$^3$ and salt water for 85.4 km$^3$.
Source: UNESCO
A coffee spoon that, at least in theory, could nevertheless be sufficient to cover the need for water of human population. At the end of the last century annual use of water was split into 150 km$^3$ for domestic use, 200 for industry and 2,500 for agriculture. Needs that should be certainly met with the “asset” of water flow of about 40,000 km$^3$, returned available every year through the hydrological cycle. In fact until recently the perception that water is abundant on Earth has been prevailing. So much that Adam Smith – quite an expert on “exchange values” – was led to write in his “Paradox of Diamonds and Water” that “Nothing is more useful than water: but it will purchase scarce anything; scarce anything can be had in exchange for it.” This was, Smith argued, the consequence of the fact that – contrary to what happens with diamonds - water is abundant and accessible to everybody. Thus, the conclusion was that although essential to life, it was impossible to give water any exchange value.
However, the abundance of water – and in recent years as well the perception of it - has been progressively fading with a trend that has been dramatically accelerated in the last 50 years. In 1950 each human being had a potential annual availability of water of 17,000m$^3$. Today it dropped to just 6,600 and estimates point to 4,800 in 2025.
This is because of the combination of two phenomena: on one side the increase in water consumption mainly due to the demographic progression, and on the other side the drop in quantity of “readily available” water, mainly caused - directly or indirectly, through the impact humans have on the hydrological cycle - by pollutions generated by anthropic activities.
Given the highly irregular distribution of water both across the continents and during the different months, if we let things develop according to the current trend, it would only take 20 years to end up with 3 billion of people without the so called “minimum water supply” (see chart 2). At that point it would be virtually impossible avoiding wars to gain access to the “Blue Gold”, something that is already happening nowadays with almost 50 conflicts risen between nations for causes related to the right of use and exploitation of water resources.
To counter this trend there are ongoing discussions to redefine the legal status of water: no longer res nullius as from tradition, but – acknowledging its importance – an asset for the whole of the human beings. Access to water, especially to drinking water, would therefore become an unconditional human right to be guaranteed to everybody regardless of race, age, gender, social class, revenue, nationality, religion or local availability.
Minimum water supply
liters. Daily minimum use of water per a single person is estimated around 50 liters.
| Source: Basic Water Requirements for Human Activities: Meeting Basic Needs by Peter H. Gleick, M. IWRA - Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Sanitary | Shower and bath | Cooking | Drinking |
| 50 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 5 |
This picture calls for urgent and inevitable actions to pursue through the use of technology the increase of availability of water, not only for drinking, washing, cooking but also for agricultural and industrial utilization. As a matter of fact, these two human production activities (see Report “Agriculture’s great thirst”), essential to our life, now significantly absorb enormous quantity of water and cause stress on water resources which – especially if drinkable – should be dedicated to human consumption. Regarding this, some of the most promising technologies, that could one day really “make the difference” are:
- Desalination
- Treatment and use of wastewater
- Recovery and recycle of rain water
Stefano Gulmanelli
Agriculture’s great thirst
One day, every last drop of water which drains into the whole valley of the Nile... shall be equally and amicably divided among the river people, and the Nile itself... shall perish gloriously and never reach the sea. Winston Churchill, 1908
No technological innovations of harvesting and production of water can have more decisive impact on the level of Earth’s water resources for human use than developments of technologies and methods of farming which require less consumption of water than it is actually applied globally.
70% of water is used for agriculture (see chart 1) whose great part is in the form of irrigation. The quantity absorbed by agriculture (see chart 2) has kept increasing (so did the loss by unreliability and inefficiency of infrastructure and irrigation processes) although it is not as fast as the “domestic use” (see chart 3) which is tripled from 1950.
To get an idea how much agriculture stresses on the world water capital, it is enough to think that today it takes 2,000 litres of water to produce the average daily necessary intake of food for a single person. In less efficient situations as we see in China or India a ton of grain “drinks up” one thousand tons of water. In any case, most common crops and livestock are at water intensive (see chart 4).
| Crop/Food | kg water per kg food |
|-----------|----------------------|
| Potato | 500 to 1500 |
| Wheat | 900 to 2000 |
| Alfalfa | 900 to 2000 |
| Corn | 1000 to 1800 |
| Rice | 1900 to 5000 |
| Soybeans | 1100 to 2000 |
| Chicken | 3500 to 5700 |
| Beef | 15000 to 7000 |
Source: The World’s Water: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources, by Peter H. Gleick (Island Press, Washington, D.C.)
These figures suggest that the leverage of the greater potentiality to release water resources for man and for other animals on the planet would be that of increase of efficiency of irrigation system. (Let’s put aside the alternative way for genetic “construction” of agricultural species of low water consumption. It is possible but controversial, too.) A mere improvement of 10% of efficiency of irrigation system in the Indian Planes in Pakistan could supply water to cultivate another 2 million hectares of lands. And above all, a reduction of 10% of world irrigation requirement would mean doubling of availability of water for domestic use.
When water is scooped from aquifers to be conveyed to the crops, the substantial amount is lost in two ways: firstly the parts of such water never reach to cultivated lands because canal facilities are bad, tubes run off or simply vaporization “assures” a prime significant loss of precious resources on the road and always exits from the hydrological cycle (partly it comes back but if so, it’s even worse, because the quality could be deteriorated by insecticides or salts stripped from the passed land). When water arrives to the fields to be irrigated, it is usually distributed by gravity (canals and gutters) or by pressure (sprinklers). In both cases, the former more than the latter, the share of water reaches to roots of plants is much less than initially transported to the irrigated land. Two innovative techniques allow to reduce the gap as far as we can almost ignore it (not by chance they’re called “freshwater augmentation techniques”):
The so called “drip irrigation” creates a network of porous and pierced tubes which release water only close to roots of cultivated plants. It brings efficiency of 95%, especially if the tubes are underground and avoid evaporation. It lowers the
Agriculture’s great thirst
use of water to 45-60% compared to the normal gravity system. Today this system is adopted for 1% of the irrigated lands in the world (that are 20% of the cultivated lands). This system is expected to have an enormous potentiality of improvement. Some countries have chosen it the preferred irrigation method. Israel uses it for more than half of its irrigated lands.
LEPA (low-energy precision application) is a pressure system that however doesn’t spray in the air but near the ground to be irrigated. The necessary pressure is lower and the energy costs can be decreased. Above all it assures efficiency of around 90%.
The fact is that both dripping and LEPA have implementation costs that are often difficult to be afforded by the developing countries, in which scarcity of water is an acute problem per se.
In these situations the solution can be given – as it already happens in agricultural areas next to big urban centres like Mexico City, Asmara in Eritrea and in more than 15 different countries for around 1 million hectares all together – by a centuries – old practice, brought back to nowadays use by the increasing emergency of the situation and the advent of new technologies for treatment: the use of urban wastewater (see Report –Membrane versus wastewater).
Stefano Gulmanelli
Desalination
'Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink'.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
So far it is too obvious that we are literally surrounded by water, although salty (see Report – Water: The Big Picture). The most sensible thing to soothe the increasing thirst of human beings is therefore to desalt salt water, that is to say to remove salts and other dissolved solids and produce new freshwater.
The advantages of desalination are various and of varied nature: availability is unlimited, access doesn't cause dispute or conflict at least for coastal states (unlike in the case of rivers shared by more than one country), construction of plants, unlike of dams, doesn't bring any forced migration of indigenous populations or dramatic changes of the environment. Last but not least technologies of desalination often allow scalability – that means a gradual implementation according to the dynamic of the demands; quite the opposite to almost any kind of infrastructural projects of water supply.
SCENARIO
Today there are almost 12,500 desalination plants on the globe supplying 20 million m$^3$ of water per day, which is about 1% of the world production of drinking water. Increasing necessity of water and falling costs of desalination plants should bring the sector to grow in the next 10 years to almost $100 billion. Half of which, according to the estimate of "Research and Markets", generated by construction of new capacity of "production" - estimated 30 million m$^3$ per day - with capital expenditure of $30 billion and operational expenditure of about $18 billion.
Key to this growth will once again be the Arab Gulf region, where the combination of rapid increase in populations and substantial decrease of water reserves will create the need for doubling the total capacity of production of desalinated water.
Yet already today a great part of the global capacity is allocated in this area: Saudi Arabia which fulfils 70% of its water demand in this way, takes 30% of the world capacity of desalination, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates take 11% each. The US only comes 4th with 10%. But by now a great number of countries – although with smallest quotas – rely upon this technology to increase their water resources: as a matter of fact the 12,500 plants today globally at work spread over no less than 120 nations. Out of these plants, 15% are based on the so called Multi Stage Flash (MSF) technology - yet supplying two thirds of total capacity of distillation - 55% work with reverse osmosis, 16% with electrodialysis and the other 14% utilize other techniques. That practically means that distillation plants are much bigger (500,000 m$^3$ per day or above) than those based on the other technological approaches (see chart 1).
TECHNOLOGIES
Desalination is purifying salt water by removing dissolved mineral salts and other solids. A result that can be achieved by completely different physical and chemical principles: Distillation, membrane filtration and dialysis.
Distillation
The distillation process mimics the natural water cycle in that saline water is heated, producing water vapour that, in turn, is condensed to form fresh water. It is rather clear that the critical issue is production of the heat to allow to ignite the cycle of water evaporation. Therefore energy supply and efficiency of its use are critical. Because of that, distillation plants are often "in symbiosis" with thermal or electric power stations - which provide heat they have to disperse - to bring water up to the boiling point. The process of distillation has gradually sophisticated and evolved into the so called Multi Stage Flash (MSF), in which the heat of water vapour to condense into freshwater is
recovered and used again to heat up water in the initial stage. This brings down energy consumption by a factor of 8 compared to the process without heat recycle system. And this has an impact on the costs: The initial costs of MSF plants amount
### Advantages and disadvantages of desalination technologies
| Method | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|-----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Distillation | >The most renowned, so far obtained great reliance. | >The good functionality for a long period depends on quality of materials used in the construction phase of the facilities, that means it becomes quite expensive.
> The best tolerance for low quality of original water | >The facility of MSF is complex to install and difficult to operate. |
| Reverse Osmosis | >Simple facility for implementation and management | >Membranes are subject to rapid deterioration esp. if original water contains a lot of solids in suspension.
> The existence of many suppliers promises a wide range of selection and competitive prices. | >Need to expect pre-treatment phases for water to "feed" for reduce the degradation of membranes.
> Need constant exchange of the pieces and man power cares. |
| Electric Dialysis| >Easy to use. | >Actually there is only one supplier of the facility (Ionics).
> High energy efficiency (more products and less waste in ratio to the used) | >Not offers barrier to germs.
> Modest cost even if it depends on characteristics of place of facility and the original water. | >It can be applied only to the case of use of salty water not sea water.
> Requires continuous use of electricity (but electricity may break down). |
between $1,000 and $2,000 per m$^3$ a day and the output price varies according to the size of the plants from $1 to $4 per m$^3$ a day.
**Reverse Osmosis**
It is the most frequently used desalination technology among those with filtration through membranes (see Report –Membrane versus wastewater). The starting point is the physical principle called “osmosis”. Two containers of solutions with different concentrations are separated with a semi-permeable membrane. Water at the lower concentration starts to move into the other part until (the) concentrations on both sides reach equilibrium. The pressure at which the flow ceases is called “osmosis pressure”. If higher pressure than the osmosis pressure is applied with a pump or something, the flow can be reversed and the salt water moves back through the membrane, leaving the salts behind and turning into freshwater. Thus the name - “reverse osmosis”- to this process that separates water and dissolved salts. It is no need to boil or change forms of water. The required consumption of energy is the one needed by the pump creating the pressure differential. This makes things simpler – and costs lower – compared to distillation. The average costs of construction of the plants are about $1,000 - $1,5000 per m$^3$ a day and the production costs range from $1 to $3 per m$^3$ a day.
**Electrodialysis**
Salts dissolve in water mainly in the form of ions; either positive (cations) or negative (anions). Dialysis attract and separate cations and anions by the means of electrodes with opposite charge. Applying this principle to salt water, it is possible – through the generation of an ongoing electric field – to provoke the migration of ions beyond the selective membrane (cation-repulsive and anion-repulsive) producing water freed from the dissolved salts. Although it’s use is advisable under specific circumstances (see Advantages and Disadvantages in chart 2), electrodialysis can be very interesting in terms of costs. The initial costs may vary from $500 to $1,000 per m$^3$ a day and the operation costs are in the range from $0.5 to $1.5 per m$^3$ a day.
**RECENT INNOVATIONS**
Energy consumption is (a) critical in the process of desalination. As a matter of fact it’s the factor that - directly or indirectly (through its impact on the final costs of output) - often hinders this kind of solutions. Therefore efforts of innovation are often focused on energy savings.
Two process innovations are interesting and actually prominent because both allow dramatic improvements of energy or economical yields of desalination.
The first one is called Rapid Spray Distillation (RSD). It is an alternative and more effective method to realize distillation. Invented by AquaSonics, Albuquerque, USA, RSD ejects the salt water through a nozzle into a stream of heated air while the conventional distillation boils salt water to obtain water vapour. Misty droplets of small micron in diameter in the heat of stream come to rapid evaporation. Then water vapours condense to form distilled water. At the same time dissolved salts “precipitate” in the solid form.
This method obviously simplifies both the process – that is carried out in a single stage – and the problem of the disposal of the supersaturated water or brine produced by the conventional process. That allows a decrease in costs. The construction costs of the plants are halved as there’s no need for a boiler room. Operational costs decrease drastically due to greater efficiency and less impact from disposing materials.
The second “breakthrough” technology is one which is called “Long Beach Method”. The name comes from the city of 500,000 inhabitants in the coast of the southern Los Angels where the first plant based on this method is located. According to Diem Vuong, General Manager of Long Beach Water Dept, who conceived this process variation, the new method assures a reduction of one third of energy consumption as compared to normal reverse osmosis, and this obviously affects the final costs of output. This is possible as the process in which the seawater is pushed against the membrane separation is divided into two paths. “Instead of pushing water to a single membrane with a pressure equivalent to 1000 psi”, explains Vuong. “We use two membranes of nanofiltration”. After a preliminary filtration step that eliminates the suspended materials the first osmosis path is run at 525 psi . Only molecules of smaller salts (about 12% of the total) pass through this step; a second path run at only 250 psi refines the purification. “The final energy consumption”, concludes Vuong, “can be lower by as much as 30%.
**TOP PLANTS**
Among various desalination plants under construction or at work there are at least three worth to be mentioned because of their technical or economical characteristics.
- **Apollo Beach in Tampa Bay, USA**
It is the biggest in the US and realized in symbiosis with the adjacent Big Bend Power Station which
allows a deep cut in operative costs, thus also in the output price. The Power station in fact supplies “Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination facility” with “readily available” (filtered and heated) seawater and the energy to operate the plant of reverse osmosis. That permits to extract everyday from 44 million gallon of seawater which is “passed” from the Power Station more than 25 million gallon of freshwater at the final cost of $2 per thousand gallons, which is well below the standard price of the desalinated water, although it is still a double of the cost of groundwater. With a total construction cost of $110 million the plant is nowadays forced into a “stop and go” mode by the some technical-legal disputes, one of which is the major facility supplier’s bankruptcy.
- Ashkelon Desalination Plant, Israel
It was initiated in 2003 and its completion is expected by mid-2005. When finished it will be the biggest desalination plant (of desalination) in the world using reverse osmosis with a 110 million m$^3$ per year potential production at the cost of $0.5 per m$^3$. The project cost is $210 million and it is only the first of a series of similar plants that Israel plans to construct in the next years in the areas of Ashdod, Palmahim, Kishon and Cessarea.
- Perth Desalination Plant, Australia
It is under construction near Kwinana Power Station, 40 km south to Perth. When completed in 2006, it will be the biggest desalination plant in the Southern Hemisphere. The estimated cost is $240 million and will be able to produce up to 45 million m$^3$ per year, increasing by 20% the water resources in the city of Perth and adjacent zone.
Stefano Gulmanelli
Rainwater harvesting
A 4 million dollars plant that treats polluted stormwater and, once purified, discharges it into the Pacific Ocean. They're building it in Dana Point, California and it is named Salt Creek Ozone Disinfectant Facility. It deploys ozonization (see box 1) as technology for purification to reduce the bacterial levels of stormwater of the region and will treat up to 4 thousand litres per minute.
Salt Creek Ozone Disinfectant Facility is just one of the plants, mostly in the US, under development for stormwater treatment. Some might be meant to preserve water areas for the purpose of recreation (swimming or fishing); others should avoid contamination of aquifers. But everyone of them is increasingly considered as a potential "source" for drinking water (and/or for agricultural purpose), at least in municipalities and regions where "natural" water is scarce.
It is obvious that the example of Dana Point is in many aspects an extreme one. Recovery and treatment of meteoric water often doesn't and will not rely on advanced technologies like those embedded in a $4 million plant. In most cases, the process takes the form of the implementation of management practices of rain water that allow both the progressive increase of the quota of usable meteoric water and the progressive extension of its use, to the extent of making it drinkable. A kind of "best management practices", that will end up fading the traditionally clear borderline between the simple control of runoff and capture of stormwater and the development of treatment techniques for its reuse. A bright example in this direction is the increasingly diffusion of "intelligent" systems of rain waters recovery. Systems that perform an automatic separation of the meteoric water in "initial rain" (quite loaded with pollutants coming from the 'washed' surfaces) and "middle rain". The former is eliminated into the sewage system while the latter is conveyed (maybe after preliminary filtration) to feed water services that don't require drinking purity (for example, irrigation facilities, fire hydrants, rinse and sanitary use, industrial utilization).
Stefano Gulmanelli
Membrane versus wastewater
SCENARIO
It might look like the last option to embrace because of lack of alternatives, but that’s not the case. Reuse of wastewater may as a matter of fact become in many situations the source of water provision not only because water has become increasingly scarce but also because treatment technologies have reached a level of effectiveness that the quality of such recovered water can be as competitive – both economically but also qualitatively - as the one drawn from the aquifers. The only exception may be the water to drink, but that’s mainly due to psychological reasons. “Combination of diverse membrane filtrations” comments YuJung Chang, a PhD in “Water Treatment” and Vice President of HDR, one of the major consulting firms in management and treatment of water, “can bring reclaimed water up to such a high-quality water that it can be used for drinking purposes.”
It’s highly probable that the threshold in making wastewater drinkable will be crossed only if there’s no other choice, but we can take it for granted that in the near future the great urban aggregations, both in advanced and developing areas, will proceed along the path to recover wastewaters for all non drinkable uses, such as irrigation, car wash, toilet flushing and provision for fire hydrant. “Indeed,” added Chang, “the overall wastewater treatment market in the US is estimated to increase from $522 million in 2000 to $756 million by 2007 and the biggest part of this growth is in equipments for wastewater reuse”.
A CHAIN OF ADVANTAGES
Furthermore, reuse of reclaimed water leads to a number of advantages, although often indirect. For example, conveying - after a preliminary rough treatment - sewage waters to agricultural initiatives, supplies crops with additional nutritive ingredients, at the same time avoiding contaminations of water streams which far too often end up being the receptor of wastes. An immediate consequence is that the need for new infrastructures for sewage disposal is reduced or delayed, as are the problems and consequent interventions related to the discharge of wastewater in rivers, lakes and the sea. Another effect is that we can release stress on water reservoirs for irrigation related needs; and those same reservoirs can themselves be provisioned with treated recycled water. This, as a final consequence, diminishes the need for “importing” water from other reservoirs - often located hundreds of miles away – saving energy as well. Thus, it is not by chance, that plenty of significant experiences of reuse of “wastewater” are found in all the five continents and in various fields: agricultural use, urban usage, industrial use, or reintegration of existing hydro resources. (see boxes 1-4)
TECHNOLOGIES OF RECOVERY
Pollution, men’s use, contamination due to production activities, natural accumulation of toxic compounds and other more or less natural causes produce increasing
amount of “wastewater” – that is water which is no longer usable. To reverse the result and make such water re-usable can be done via two technological approaches:
**Biological elimination of contaminants (Bioremediation)**
**Physical removal of particles and pathogens**
Both have pros and cons. The choice among the two techniques mainly depends on the original condition of wastewater, the requested level of quality and – which is consequent - the desired use for the recovered water. All this within a framework of social considerations and economic restraints. At the end of the day, as it always happens, also in this case choosing the tool is related to the aim on one side and to the “environmental” constraints on the other.
**Bioremediation**
Basically, it’s annihilation of contaminants via biological means. It’s the process with which micro organisms in a controlled environment degrade organic contaminants and remove inorganic contaminants. The biological transformation thus generates less toxic or even innocuous products, reducing the concentrations of pollutants to levels consistent with the relevant regulations.
The most used technique of bioremediation is the “aerobic” one, where aerobic micro organisms use pollutants as a source of energy for their reproduction, that can be carried on only if a sufficient quantity of oxygen is present. As a consequence, the available techniques of bioremediation (bioventing bioslurping, biosparging) are basically nothing else than methods of oxygen administration. The by-product of the transformation of pollutants into microbial biomass is often constituted solely of anhydride carbon and water. Anaerobic bioremediation – in which the biodegradation occurs thanks to nitrates instead of oxygen - has been experimented in particular conditions, but results are far less satisfactory.
**Physical removal of contaminations**
The process is to physically separate water from the polluted elements that turned it into “wastewater”. Technically speaking, this separation can be pursued through two fundamental approaches:
- Technologies which are not based on use of membrane (non-membrane technologies)
- Technologies which use membrane (membrane technologies)
Non-membrane technologies (see box 5) have a number of restrictions so that - in terms of performance, energy efficiency, cost and other reasons - they result being quite less satisfactory for water recovery and anyway they lose vis a vis “membrane technologies”. This is why it’s often said that membranes are the real frontier in wastewater recovery, as Dr. Chang points out: “Membrane constitutes the most reliable technology to remove pathogens and soluble inorganic particles. In other words, this type of treatment can eliminate any kind of contaminants of water.”
| Non-membrane technologies |
|---------------------------|
| **Conventional methods without filtering** |
| - Distillation – Molecular separation via the heating of the original liquid and the condensing of the generated water vapour |
| - Electro dialysis – Extraction of ions from water |
| - Pervaporation – Extraction of molecular gas and volatile solutes |
| - Gas Transfer - Transfers of molecular gas from (or inside) of the water |
| Filtering (conventional techniques) |
|------------------------------------|
| - Screen filtering – It holds back waste materials beyond the holes (with different sizes and shape) of the filter |
| - Filtering by coagulation – It chemically coagulates the undesired particles to make it possible to filter them out |
| - Filter by clarification – It eliminates (by the means, for example, of sands) turbidity of water |
The basic concept of “membrane technology” is quite simple. A pressure differential is created between two different containers - one being at the starting point, the other at the destination – separated by a membrane, whose permeability let the water flow from one container to the other holding back impurities. Thus what migrates beyond the membrane is only water which is refined from undesired compositions.
In the field of membrane technologies research and development and hereby derived innovations have been - and will be – focusing on the different aspects (see box 6); it’s because of the evolutions in the last 15 years, that today membrane filtration technologies can assure the elimination of any type of contaminants from water of the most diverse sources.
| Research areas of membrane sectors |
|-----------------------------------|
| - Search for better membrane material |
| - Search for ways to modify membrane characteristics |
| - Redesign the membrane module configuration to maximize the production, and minimize the cost |
| - Re-engineer the production line to improve Quality Assurance and Quality Control |
| - Search for better ways for membrane cleaning |
Source: HDR
At the end of the day, the real issue is being able to choose a specific type of membrane according to the desired goal. “There are two main types of filtering by the means of a membrane”, explains Chang, “the first one is the so-called ‘low-pressure membrane’, which has relatively wide pores and operates with pressure differentials which are minimal. In this category we have micro-filtration membranes, which are used to remove turbidity or bacteria, and ultra-filtration membranes, through which the removal of viruses can be achieved. The water coming out of this treatment is free of particulates and can be considered ‘pathogen free’ but still contains traces of sodium, nitrates, phosphates and various other soluble organic substances; this restricts its use to non-potable utilization. To achieve greater purity ‘high-pressure membranes’ are needed:
this is the realm of nanofiltration or, even better, reverse osmosis that can give output of water of quality that one can drink”. (Type of membrane technology – see box 7)
**Membrane of carbon nanotube.** Invented 15 years ago by Sumio Iijima, a researcher at NEC, carbon nanotube, although 50 thousand times thinner than a hair - is the most resistant fibre created, ever. It’s thousands times more resistant than silver and copper, six times lighter than steel. On top of that, it can resist very high temperatures. Researchers of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, NY and Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi in India have recently created a membrane filter based on carbon nanotube. After they forced contaminated water through it, the membrane showed being able to hold back not only *Escherichia coli*, the bacteria responsible for intestinal infections, but also poliovirus, whose size is in the magnitude of 25 nanometers.
Membrane technologies are increasingly efficient, the facilities that use these approaches are – given the same amount of treated water – much smaller compared to those with competing technologies and their cost have been decreasing in the last ten years. These are elements that put membrane technologies at the centre of the stage for the future of wastewater treatment. But there’s more: “In case of terrorist attacks on drinking water reservoir or with the appearance of unknown pathogens, membranes are definitely a superior option” Dr. Chang underlines. It is true that membrane technologies are expensive and require a certain level of operational skills as compared with traditional methods of purification: “I would not recommend membranes to produce drinking water in low-income economies and less technically developed societies unless project is externally funded and the treatment plant is operated by properly-trained technicians” says Dr. Chang. “And the same applies to wastewater recycle: the cost is relatively expensive due to the quality of the original water. Therefore wastewater membrane applications are usually adopted by well-established economies that strategically decide to use membranes to produce supplemental water supply”.
Nevertheless, it’s highly probable that purification via membranes will progressively become affordable for an increasing number of countries and economies thanks to the steady decrease in cost. This is a trend that could be stimulated by competition (Dow, Hydranautics, Koch Membrane Systems, Ionics, Zenon Environmental, USFilter, Pall and Norit are main players on a fairly crowded market) and by a quite high innovation rate. Speaking of innovation, two latest developments in membrane materials may have extraordinary impacts on performance and cost.
**Liquid membranes**, which are membrane composed of liquids. In their simplest shape, liquid membranes – highly effective and selective – are membranes with micro pores in the rigid structure of separation which are filled with a liquid (so called ‘carrier’) that works as a filter and holds back contaminants.
Water’s weird characteristics
Transparent, colourless, odourless. Present anywhere. Chemically composed by the most diffused elements in the Universe. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that water is an ordinary substance. Instead, water conceals quite a few properties and characteristics which are chemically and physically unique and that no other liquids have. These are those same characteristics that make water the central element of life and the basic component of living organisms: we should never forget that from 60 to 90% of cells and tissues is made up of water.
Above all, water is the only substance which at environmental temperature and pressure is found in all three physical forms: solid (ice), liquid and gas (damp). This is the main reason for its vast diffusion in nature.
Secondly, water has a “specific heat” which is so high that it absorbs more heat than any other compound. That makes it useful to cool down the environment by seizing heat, and vice versa maintaining heat since water stores it and releases it slowly. A feature that explains the fact that in winter coastal zones - compared to inland - enjoy mild temperature, mitigated by the heat accumulated in lakes and the sea in summer and released in cold seasons.
No less important is the polarity of the water molecule: a positive charge at one extreme and a negative charge at the other (an effect given by the bond among the two atoms of hydrogen and the atom of oxygen composing the water molecule - a bond which is not linear, having an angle of 105 degrees). Because of the “electric bipolarity”, water is an excellent solvent. Or, better, the best liquid solvent. This is a decisive feature for living organisms, since it allows the complex chemical reactions which are fundamental to life itself (just think to those happening in the blood or into cellular cytoplasm).
Last but not least, the most curious among the visible features of water: the fact that – contrary to the greatest part of liquids - when it turns to solid, it increases volume and loses density. The result is the buoyancy of ice, a phenomenon of decisive importance for the life of the organisms living in water. As a matter of fact, the ice layer formed during winter on the surfaces of rivers, lakes and the sea basically acts as a thermal insulator: it prevents the lower layers from solidifying, and therefore keeps life going in the depths. Should ice not float, it would pile from the depths up to the surface, freezing the whole mass of water and trapping all living entities inhabiting it.
Arianna Dagnino
Search for water somewhere else
Every rocket that human beings launch for space exploration somehow searches for water. It is because traces of water are regarded as the minimum requirement for the existence of possible form of life, if we rely on the assumption – never contradicted on Earth - that “life is born from water”.
Water consists of two elements, hydrogen and oxygen. The origins of these two elements are respectively the Big Bang and the stellar nuclear fusion. This leads us to assume that the presence of water can be rather diffused in the Universe (the so called “cosmic water”) although not in the liquid form as we are accustomed to on Earth. As a matter of fact it is only our planet that happens to meet the right combination of temperature and pressure for water to stay liquid.
There have been relatively few missions through which it has been possible to carry on the chemical analysis of the surfaces and atmospheres of the planets in our solar system or the spectroscopic analysis on the celestial bodies, but they were enough to identify a number of possible “reservoirs” of cosmic water in the form of water ice.
It’s the case of the Moon, whose craters near the poles reflects the radar signals emitted by orbital rockets around our satellite in a way that makes us presume the presence of a great quantity of ice under its crust. It’s the case of Mars; its atmospheric pressure (100 times less than that of Earth) doesn’t allow water to exist in the liquid form, but its polar caps – although mainly composed of carbon anhydride - increase in winter and decrease in summer, a strong evidence for traces of ice water.
And it’s the case of Europe, a moon of Jupiter, with its surface scratched with fractures, probably caused by ice keeping freezing and melting continuously, that gives way to speculation on the existence of a liquid ocean under the frozen crust.
Yet planets are not the only ones in the list of the possible reservoirs. In that list we certainly can find comets, mixed aggregations of water ice, stones, rocks and other frozen compounds like methane and ammonia. “Dirty snow balls” – as they often are referred to - that some scientists believe to be the source of the water which filled the oceans on Earth during their formation. Another possible reservoirs are the “interstellar clouds” and their dust, in which the spectrum of light generated by a molecule of water has been repeatedly recorded.
All or some of these – and others similar - might one day, in a far future but fascinating future, become sources for human beings to calm our inexhaustible thirst. Thirst of water but, at the same time, also of knowledge.
Arianna Dagnino | <urn:uuid:d7e93248-4b50-4dab-9d37-d176cc969c8f> | CC-MAIN-2018-26 | http://nomads.it/gestione/doc/Water%20Report.pdf | 2018-06-19T12:48:25Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267862929.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20180619115101-20180619135101-00323.warc.gz | 237,329,664 | 8,823 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.997138 | eng_Latn | 0.9978 | [
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Dear Parents and Carers,
Please find below some useful maths questions to which every upper key stage two student should know the answer. Please keep this information to hand and when and where possible, ask and rehearse the questions and answers with your child. Knowing quickly the answers to these questions will help the children with their understanding of the maths curriculum and ultimately the SATS that they take at the end of year six.
25 things every 10 year old should know...
.....and most don’t.
1. Know all times-tables up to 12x12
2. How many weeks in a year?
3. How many days in the different months of the year?
4. How many days in a fortnight?
5. What is a 4 sided shape called?
6. How many years in a decade?
7. How many months in a year?
8. How many centimetres in a metre?
9. How many hours in a day?
10. What is a 6 sided shape called?
11. How many eggs in a dozen?
12. How many degrees in a right angle?
13. What do the internal angles of a triangle add up to?
14. How many millimetres in a centimetre?
15. How many metres in a kilometre?
16. What time is [?] on a 24 hr clock?
17. How many centimetres in a foot?
18. How many years in a century?
19. How many millilitres in a litre?
20. How many grams in a kilogram?
21. How many kilometres in a mile?
22. How many centimetres in an inch?
23. How many pounds in a kilogram?
24. What is a 5 sided shape called?
25. How many days in a year?
“All children, by the end of year 4 are expected to be able to recall multiplication and division facts for multiplication tables up to 12x12.”
Statutory requirements – Primary National Curriculum
Thank you for your support in this matter.
Mrs. Lindsay
Deputy Head Teacher and Maths Lead
(P.S. For your information: the answers are on the reverse of the letter!)
25 things every 10 year old should know
.....and most don’t.
The Answers
1. Know all times-tables up to 12x12
MATHexcellence
52 weeks
2. How many weeks in a year?
30 days has Sept..
3. How many days in the different months of the year?
14 days
4. How many days in a fortnight?
Quadrilateral
5. What is a 4 sided shape called?
10 years
6. How many years in a decade?
12 months
7. How many months in a year?
100cm
8. How many centimetres in a metre?
24 hours
9. How many hours in a day?
Hexagon
10. What is a 6 sided shape called?
12 eggs
11. How many eggs in a dozen?
90 degrees
12. How many degrees in a right angle?
180 degrees
13. What do the internal angles of a triangle add up to?
10mm
14. How many millimetres in a centimetre?
1000m
15. How many metres in a kilometre?
Add twelve
16. What time is [?] on a 24 hr clock?
30cm
17. How many centimetres in a foot?
100 years
18. How many years in a century?
1000ml
19. How many millilitres in a litre?
1000gms
20. How many grams in a kilogram?
1.6 km
21. How many kilometres in a mile?
2.5cm
22. How many centimetres in an inch?
2.2lbs
23. How many pounds in a kilogram?
Pentagon
24. What is a 5 sided shape called?
365 days
25. How many days in a year?
“All children, by the end of year 4 are expected to be able to recall multiplication and division facts for multiplication tables up to 12x12.”
Statutory requirements – Primary National Curriculum | <urn:uuid:942940b7-dbda-40e7-98a2-a26de5e66278> | CC-MAIN-2018-26 | http://stteresasprimary.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/MathsExcellenceLetter.pdf | 2018-06-19T12:05:58Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267862929.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20180619115101-20180619135101-00321.warc.gz | 306,314,011 | 901 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.99805 | eng_Latn | 0.998494 | [
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Fig. 1. Bylot Island, scale $1^\circ$ longitude approximately 20 miles. Glaciers and snowfields shaded black. Black dots mark the expedition's camp site at the mouth of the Aktineq River, and the Hudson's Bay Company trading post at Pond Inlet, Baffin Island.
A SURVEY OF THE MAMMALS OF BYLOT ISLAND, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Richard S. Miller*
The 1954 Bylot Island expedition was organized under the auspices of the Arctic Institute of North America, with additional support from the New York Zoological Society, to survey the flora and fauna of Bylot Island, and to study certain ecological problems. A general description of the activities of the expedition has been prepared (Drury, 1954) but the present paper reports only on the mammals of Bylot Island and its surrounding waters. It is based mainly on observations made in the field by the writer and other members of the expedition; data were also obtained from Arctic Wildlife Enquiry reports prepared by the Pond Inlet Detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the fur returns of the Hudson's Bay Company were made available to us. Discussion with the Tununermiut Eskimo proved most valuable, as they are accurate and reliable observers and could provide information on all seasons. Experience showed that certain Eskimo were better informed than others about particular animal species, and every attempt was made to take advantage of this.
Most of the Eskimo live on the shores of Pond Inlet, Eclipse Sound, Tay Sound, and Navy Board Inlet. There is one permanent camp at Iglookashat on Bylot Island, and a summer camp at Button Point. Hunting and trapping is confined mainly to Baffin Island and the south coast of Bylot Island, but occasionally the Eskimo travel as far north as Lancaster Sound and the Wollaston Islands, and to Maud Bight on the northeast coast of Bylot Island. They trade at Pond Inlet and make it their summer headquarters, so they were available for frequent questioning.
Idlouk, the most energetic and skilled hunter of the Tununermiut group, was attached to the expedition during our stay. His written notes on the annual abundance, migrations, and general habits of various animal species were extremely valuable.
Bylot Island is about 4,000 square miles in area, and is separated from Baffin Island by the waters of Pond Inlet, Eclipse Sound, and Navy Board Inlet (Fig. 1). The surface of the island consists mainly of rocky peaks projecting through highland ice (Fig. 2), and the only extensive lowlands are on the southwest and northeast coasts. A central mountain range forms a broad ridge along the axis of the island, stretching from Wollaston Islands in the northwest to Button Point in the southeast.
*Experiment Station, Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College.
The expedition camp was established on lowland on the south shore of the island, just west of the mouth of the Atkineq River, on 14 June 1954, and maintained until July 31. Observations were made at points along the south coast from Button Point to Ooyarashukjooet. During the frequent crossings between the Bylot Island camp and Pond Inlet, a distance of about twenty miles, and on other dog sled trips on the sea ice of Pond Inlet and Eclipse Sound, observations on aquatic mammals were possible.
The vegetation of the south coast, the only area visited by the expedition, varies with the topography, exposure to sun and wind, and frost action. The dominant vegetation is *Salix arctica*, *Dryas integrifolia*, and *Luzula confusa*. *Luzula confusa* is particularly abundant on exposed, well-drained soils, where it forms a complex with *Saxifraga oppositifolia*, *Papaver radicatum*, and the lichens *Stereocaulon* and *Cetraria*. Sheltered areas with more moisture have
heavier growths of mosses and *Cassiope tetragona*, while the exposed, wind-blown areas and extremely well-drained soils are characterized by lichens, *Papaver saxifraga*, and *Salix*. *Salix herbacea* is characteristic of places sheltered from wind and sun, where snow tends to accumulate and remain for a long time.
Lemming mounds are the centres of a distinct vegetation complex. Progressive burrowing into solifluction lobes, frost cracks, and at the bases of boulders, and the accumulation of fecal material seems to contribute to a lush, grassy vegetation.
**Mammal species**
The Tununermiut names for the animals have been listed for the convenience of others who might study in this area. These names were provided by the Pond Inlet Eskimo, through Peter Murdoch, of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who interpreted their references and spelling.
Species determinations were, in most cases, made directly from field observations with reference to Burt and Grossenheider (1952). Species not actually observed by members of the expedition were identified by the Eskimo from the illustrations in Burt and Grossenheider. Repeated tests showed that such identifications were extremely accurate and that even subtle specific differences were noted. The specific names used are those listed by Miller and Kellogg (1955).
**Thalarctos maritimus.** Polar Bear. *Nanook.*
Polar Bear are known from the Wollaston Islands east along the north coast of Bylot Island and along the east coasts of Bylot and Baffin islands. The relative abundance of this species is difficult to determine, since bears are seldom hunted anywhere but at the floe edge of Pond Inlet. The total annual kill by the Pond Inlet Eskimo is estimated at about 20 to 25, but as the hides are rarely traded there is no reliable index of numbers. Idlouk says that more bears could be taken if the hunters were to go farther afield and search for them.
**Mustela erminea.** Short-Tailed Weasel. *Tereak.*
According to the Eskimo, weasels are common along the southern coast and on the lowlands between Canada Point and Iglookashat. Several were seen by members of the expedition, usually near river beds, but once at an altitude of 3,500 feet at the edge of Sermilik Glacier.
**Alopex lagopus.** Arctic Fox. *Terereneak.*
This species is found throughout the lowlands of Bylot Island and is particularly abundant along the southern coast.
Table 1 shows the number of fox trapped annually by the Pond Inlet Eskimo for the past thirty-two years. These data are from the Hudson’s
Bay company fur returns, in which a season is the period from July 1 to June 30 of the next year. The estimates of lemming abundance are from Arctic Wildlife Enquiry reports. The records for both fox and lemming are illustrated graphically in Fig. 3.
Table 1. Seasonal abundance of arctic fox and lemming in the Pond Inlet area.
| Season | Arctic Fox¹ | Lemming |
|----------|-------------|---------------|
| 1921–22 | 318 | |
| 1922–23 | 1048 | |
| 1923–24 | 1355 | |
| 1924–25 | 312 | |
| 1925–26 | 1108 | |
| 1926–27 | 1866 | |
| 1927–28 | 844 | |
| 1928–29 | 382 | |
| 1929–30 | 1333 | |
| 1930–31 | 3515 | |
| 1931–32 | 2384 | |
| 1932–33 | 479 | |
| 1933–34 | 2811 | |
| 1934–35 | 3113 | |
| 1935–36 | 904 | |
| 1936–37 | 450 | |
| 1937–38 | 1698 | |
| 1938–39 | 971 | very abundant |
| 1939–40 | 700 | very abundant |
| 1940–41 | 844 | very abundant |
| 1941–42 | 933 | scarce |
| 1942–43 | 1020 | scarce |
| 1943–44 | 342 | |
| 1944–45 | 988 | abundant |
| 1945–46 | 1309 | scarce |
| 1946–47 | 830 | scarce |
| 1947–48 | 503 | increase |
| 1948–49 | 570 | increase |
| 1949–50 | 531 | abundant |
| 1950–51 | 857 | increase |
| 1951–52 | 1347 | increase |
| 1952–53 | 350 | very abundant |
| 1953–54 | 536 | scarce |
¹ Published by permission of the Fur Trade Department, Hudson's Bay Company.
The periodicity of the maxima and minima in the data for fox numbers is shown in Table 2. The value of 318 for 1921–22 (Table 1) cannot be compared with data from the previous year, and has not been included. Authors disagree as to how peaks should be chosen, but the figure of 570 for the 1948–49 season (Table 1) has not been treated as a peak, on the grounds argued by Butler (1953). Thus the values shown in Table 2 give a mean periodicity of 4.0 years for the maxima and minima, conforming to the usual periodicity assigned to this species in this part of its range (Chitty, 1950,
Table 2. Periodicity in the maxima and minima of fur returns for arctic fox in the Pond Inlet area from 1921–22 to 1953–54.
| Maxima | Interval | Minima | Interval |
|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| 1923–24 | | 1924–25 | |
| 1926–27 | 3 years | 1928–29 | 4 years |
| 1930–31 | 4 | 1931–33 | 4 |
| 1934–35 | 4 | 1936–37 | 4 |
| 1937–38 | 3 | 1939–40 | 3 |
| 1942–43 | 5 | 1943–44 | 4 |
| 1945–46 | 3 | 1947–48 | 4 |
| 1950–51 | 5 | 1951–52 | 4 |
| Total | 27 | | 27 |
| Mean | 4.0 | | 4.0 |
Fig. 3. Hudson's Bay Company fur returns for arctic fox at Pond Inlet from 1921-22 to 1953-54. Seasons of lemming scarcity are indicated by arrows.
pp. 182-3; Butler, 1953, pp. 246-7). It should be noted that the periods of relative abundance and scarcity of each of the "cyclical species" on Bylot Island correspond with those on Baffin Island.
Canis lupus. Gray Wolf. Amarok.
Wolves have not been seen on Bylot Island since the elimination of the caribou herd in 1943.
Phoca hispida. Ringed Seal. Netchek.
This is the common seal in the waters around Bylot Island and throughout this part of the eastern Arctic, and it is the principal animal in the economy of Eskimo. There is no reliable way of estimating its numbers or how many the Eskimo kill. Idlouk, who keeps an account of his game kill, says that his yearly kill is between 200 and 300; Idlouk is an exceptional hunter, but he also supplements his diet with other animals. If Idlouk's average were extended to the other hunters, it would mean an annual total kill of about 11,250 seals.
The stomachs of 8 seals taken in Eclipse Sound and Pond Inlet contained a large species of gammarid, which the Eskimo claim is the principal prey of the ringed seal, young and adults alike. During the spring and summer the seals do not seem to eat many fish, even though arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) are abundant. On several occasions seals were seen among the ice floes offshore from the Salmon River near Pond Inlet, where char gathered during
their migration, but the seals did not move inshore to feed on the fish nor did the stomachs of seals taken in this area contain fish.
**Phoca groenlandica.** Harp Seal. *Kyrolik.*
The harp or saddleback seal is found in Pond Inlet and Navy Board Inlet at the end of July or early in August, during an annual migration into Tay Sound, south of Eclipse Sound. These seals are quite numerous at Guys Bight.
**Table 3.** Arrival date of bearded seal and narwhal in Eclipse Sound, compared with date of ice break-up, yearly since 1946.
| Year | Arrival of narwhal and bearded seal | Date of Ice break-up |
|------|------------------------------------|----------------------|
| 1946 | 30 July | 11 August |
| 1947 | 26 July | 7 August |
| 1948 | 1 August | 28 July |
| 1949 | 26 July | 27 July |
| 1950 | 25 July | 23 July |
| 1951 | 21 July | 17 July |
| 1952 | 25 July | 4 August |
| 1953 | 23 July | 4 August |
| 1954 | 18 July | 7 August¹ |
¹. Date estimated by Idlouk, on basis of ice conditions up to July 31.
and in the northernmost waters of Navy Board Inlet, both close to their normal migration route in Baffin Bay; fairly large numbers enter Eclipse Sound from Navy Board Inlet and Pond Inlet and pass into Tay Sound along the same migration path followed by narwhal. They stay in Tay Sound until about September 25 and move out again into the open sea as ice begins to form.
**Erignathus barbatus.** Bearded Seal. *Oogjuk.*
The Eskimo report that bearded seals sometimes winter in Eclipse Sound and Pond Inlet, but they are usually seen only in summer. Since these animals are rather solitary and prefer open water, they are never very abundant in this area.
Bearded seals invariably enter the inland waters on the same day as narwhal. Table 3 shows the annual arrival of bearded seal and narwhal compared with the dates of ice break-up in these waters. These records are from the annual log kept by Idlouk, who defines the ice break-up as the first day a boat can safely cross Eclipse Sound. When the expedition left Bylot Island on July 31, Idlouk correctly estimated that it would be another week before the ice on Eclipse Sound would be open.
The two species are seen as much as twelve days before the ice breaks up, but show only eleven days range in their dates of arrival over the period for which data are available, as compared with a range of twenty-five days in the dates of ice break-up. Since the ice sometimes remains in the sounds until the second week of August and begins to reform about the middle of September, the migratory movements of mammals that prefer open water are restricted to a short period in this area. The bearded seal and narwhal are, however, able to use limited spaces of open water and can move into the sounds and inlets before they are free of ice.
Cystophora cristata. Hooded Seal. Apa.
A few hooded seals occasionally enter Pond Inlet and Eclipse Sound in the summer with harp seals; no more than 3 have ever been seen in a year. The Eskimo are, however, familiar with the hooded seal and recognize it readily by its habit of swimming low in the water with only the top of the head exposed and by the inflatable sac on the nose of the males.
Odobenus rosmarus. Walrus. Ivik.
One of the northernmost breeding grounds of the walrus is the Wollaston Islands, off the northwest tip of Bylot Island, but walrus are reportedly abundant all through Lancaster Sound. The Pond Inlet Eskimo generally hunt them along the floe edge of Pond Inlet and the total kill is only about 10 each year. A few of the Eskimo have made boar trips to the Wollaston Islands to hunt; their reports of the population size vary considerably and are probably not reliable. The most conservative estimate places the breeding population between 200 and 300 adults.
Lemus trimucronatus. Brown Lemming. Avignak, Kayook.
No brown lemmings were found by the expedition, either on Bylot Island or Baffin Island, although both are within its range of distribution (Miller and Kellogg, 1955, p. 566). The Eskimo say that the brown lemming is found on the island, but is not as common as the Greenland collared lemming. They readily identified both the brown and Greenland collared lemmings from illustrations, and though the word avignak is used for any lemming, they have different names for the two species.
Dicrostonyx groenlandicus. Greenland Collared Lemming. Avignak, Amiglak.
The summer of 1954 was a period of lemming scarcity, following a peak in 1953, and only 4 Dicrostonyx were taken; one of these was from a strictly natural habitat on Bylot Island, the other 3 were living under the buildings of the Hudson's Bay Company at Pond Inlet.
This species reportedly reaches high densities in the southwest lowlands, where favourable habitat is most extensive. A particularly intensive search for lemmings and snowy owls was made in the vicinity of Ooyarashukjooeet, where they had been most abundant in 1953. Except for sand or gravel areas where vegetation was sparse, it was impossible to walk across the tundra slopes without stepping on lemming runs or burrows, yet trapping was fruitless and all evidence of lemming activity proved to be from previous years. Only one snowy owl was seen and very few of a large sample of owl pellets were fresh.
The vegetation in this area was examined closely for evidence of heavy browsing or damage to food plants by lemmings. The stems of some of the older willows had been barked, but not extensively, and there was nothing to indicate that food or habitat conditions were unfavourable. If, as some authors
maintain (Lack, 1954, pp. 214-6, 223, 226), food is a primary factor in lemming "crashes", the effect on the flora should be apparent in the years following peak numbers. The Eskimo report that *Salix arctica* is the principal food plant of the lemmings, although they will also eat most of the other herbs and grasses; captive lemmings ate the young leaves of all willow species and the stems and leaves of *Carex misandra* and seemed to stay healthy. These plants were abundant everywhere in the tundra.
None of the Eskimo had seen a lemming migration, and such a thing is not recorded in their folk tales. They have seen lemmings on ice floes at the water's edge during periods of high numbers, but never more than a few at a time.
**Lepus arcticus.** Arctic Hare. *Okalek.*
A few arctic hares are found on the lowlands of Bylot Island. They are never as abundant on Bylot Island as they are near Pond Inlet, but periodic fluctuations in numbers are apparently synchronous in the two populations. This was learned from the Arctic Wildlife Enquiry reports and from statements by the natives.
**Rangifer arcticus.** Barren Ground Caribou. *Tuktoo.*
For some years caribou were known to be on the northeast coast of Bylot Island. The only route to this area is along the east coast where the ice is often impassable during winter, and the caribou were, therefore, beyond the reach of native hunters. In 1941, however, for the first time in several years, a party of Eskimo was able to negotiate the ice along the coast and found a fairly large herd on the lowlands near Cape Liverpool. They killed 149 deer. In 1942 another caribou hunt was organized; the herd was found between Bathurst and Possession bays and 24 caribou were shot. In 1943 a hunting party journeyed to the north coast and killed 300 caribou in the area between Maud Bight and Cape Liverpool. Few if any survived this last onslaught, and subsequent attempts to find caribou on the island have been unsuccessful.
The Tununermiut are coastal people and rarely venture more than a few miles inland, so that if the caribou could move to an inland area they would probably not be molested. Bylot Island does not afford such a refuge, and since there are very few areas that can support caribou, it is therefore improbable that this species will ever survive on Bylot Island unless completely protected.
**Balaena mysticetus.** Bowhead Whale. *Akbilk.*
Following Parry's voyage to Possession Bay in 1819, the waters off the east coast of Bylot Island became one of the most famous of the northern whaling grounds and the floe edge at Button Point was visited frequently by whalers during the next half century. Now, seldom more than a few whales are seen each year off Button Point and only occasionally do they enter Pond Inlet and Navy Board Inlet.
Whale skeletons are fairly numerous along the beaches of Pond Inlet, Eclipse Sound and Navy Board Inlet, and are sometimes found on raised beaches as much as two miles inland and 200 feet above the present shore. The Eskimo have no stories to account for these skeletons. The identification of this species was made by W. Schevill (personal communication) from photographs of skulls found along the beaches.
**Grampus orca.** Atlantic Killer Whale. *Ahgluk.*
At least 10 to 20 killer whales are seen in Eclipse Sound and Pond Inlet every August, apparently following the migratory mammals already discussed and preying on the ringed seals. The whales, in packs, drive the seals inshore where they are easy game for the Eskimo.
**Delphinapterus leucas.** White Whale. *Kaudlookta.*
This species is fairly common in Lancaster Sound where about 100 to 200 are seen in June and July each year at the floe edge of Pond Inlet. Sometimes 10 or 15 are seen in the inland waters of Eclipse Sound, usually in August, but this is not a regular occurrence.
**Monodon monoceros.** Narwhal. *Kilaluga.*
During late July narwhal enter Navy Board Inlet from Lancaster Sound, and Pond Inlet from Baffin Bay; they generally follow two migration paths that converge in Eclipse Sound off the southwest tip of Bylot Island. Between 500 and 1,000 are seen along the southern coast of the island every year, travelling in groups of as many as 200. From Eclipse Sound they move south into Tay Sound where they stay until ice begins to form in September. As mentioned earlier, the arrival of this species invariably coincides with that of the bearded seal.
The first narwhal seen on this expedition were in an area of open water at the mouth of the Aktineq River on the morning of July 18. Their progress could be followed from some distance, by the sound of their blowing when they surfaced. Several were located in this manner and observed from the ice at close range as they passed along the leads. Of the 22 narwhal seen between July 18 and 30, only 4 had tusks sufficiently prominent to identify them as males.
The Eskimo had reported that narwhal often surface in seal holes, which are enlarged late in the season by the runoff of melt water from the surface of the ice. Since the largest of these holes is seldom more than fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, this seemed somewhat improbable; however, 4 females were watched for about ten minutes as they surfaced, one or two at a time, in a single seal hole which was not more than eighteen or twenty feet across. They seemed to maintain a steady rhythm of rising, heads pointed upwards, then sliding back beneath the surface, and continued to surface in this fashion until we had crept to within about twenty feet of them.
Whales with two tusks are sometimes seen. Idlouk has a photograph of a narwhal killed in Tay Sound in 1953, with one tusk four feet long and
the other three feet long. The Pond Inlet Eskimo think that the narwhal tusks are used in fighting, but can give no real evidence to support this hypothesis.
I wish to thank the Hudson's Bay Company for permission to publish the fur returns shown in Table 1. I am also grateful to Peter Murdoch of the Hudson's Bay Company and Constable Moody, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, for help and advice during this study, and especially to Eskimo Idlouk, whose companionship and contributions were invaluable.
References
Burt, W. H. and R. P. Grossenheider. 1952. 'A field guide to the mammals'. Boston: xii + 200 pp.
Butler, L. 1953. "The nature of cycles in populations of Canadian mammals". Can. J. Zool. Vol. 313, pp. 242-62.
Chitty, Helen. 1950. "Canadian Arctic wildlife enquiry, 1943-49: with a summary of results since 1933". J. Anim. Ecol. Vol. 19, pp. 180-93.
Drury, W. H. 1954. "The 1954 Bylot Island Expedition". Unpublished MS.
Lack, D. 1954. "The natural regulation of animal numbers". Oxford: viii + 343 pp.
Miller, G. S., Jr. and R. Kellogg. 1955. 'List of North American recent mammals'. U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. No. 205, xii + 954 pp. | <urn:uuid:fba589c6-5586-4c27-82b5-fd43e89f1d87> | CC-MAIN-2017-09 | http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic8-3-166.pdf | 2017-02-26T01:20:06Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501171932.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104611-00192-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 207,008,093 | 5,815 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.994432 | eng_Latn | 0.9985 | [
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**Question**
What do I know about how a child grows, moves, and functions?
We already have some ideas about how a child grows, moves, and functions. We also have lots of questions!
**Foundation**
What makes up our food?
Food is made of molecules that contain matter and energy. These molecules have to get to cells in the animal's body.
**Inquiry**
What goes in when an animal eats? What comes out?
The mealworms gained mass and the potato lost mass, but the mealworms didn't gain as much mass as the potato lost. Animals convert stored chemical energy into motion energy.
**Explanation**
Where did the missing mass go?
Some matter leaves the body as urine and waste but most matter leaves the body as CO₂ during cellular respiration.
**Explanation**
What happens to food when it is in the body?
Matter goes into the body and is broken down during digestion. Some matter is used for growth (biosynthesis).
**Explanation**
How do other animals grow, move, and function?
All animals use the same carbon-transforming processes (digestion, biosynthesis, and cellular respiration) to move, grow, and function.
---
**Lesson 1: Expressing Ideas**
Students will take a pretest and share their initial ideas on the *Expressing Ideas Tool* about animal growth, identifying what animals need to grow and gain mass.
**Lesson 2: Foundations: Materials in Our Food**
Students will "zoom into" food and examine nutrition labels to learn about the materials in plants, animals and our food including organic materials (fats, carbohydrates, and proteins).
**Lesson 3: Investigating Mealworms Eating**
Students conduct an investigation to explore what happens when mealworms eat, move, breathe and grow. They use the *Predictions Tool* and the *Evidence-Based Arguments Tool*.
**Lesson 4: Explaining How Animals Move and Function**
Students model the oxidation of glucose to carbon dioxide and water using molecular model kits and use the *Explanations Tool* to explain what happens when cows move and function.
**Lesson 5: Explaining How Animals Grow**
Students trace the processes involved in a cow growing, digesting and biosynthesis on a poster of a cow, construct a model of the breakdown and rebuilding of molecules through digestion and biosynthesis and use *Explanations Tools* to explain digestion and biosynthesis.
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June 2005 Mineraloid of the Month: Opal
“Opal has been called the ‘Queen of Gems.’ Few descriptions are adequate to describe the finest opals: a white, snowy landscape dotted with fireflies of red, gold, blue, purple, and green; a black night streaked with rainbow lightning; the aurora borealis captured in stone. Mysterious, elusive, varied, and delicate, opal has been treasured since ancient times for its unique properties and beauty.”
–Joel E. Arem, *Gems and Jewelry*
**PHYSICAL PROPERTIES**
Chemistry: $\text{SiO}_2 \cdot n\text{H}_2\text{O}$ Hydrous Silicon Dioxide (Silicon Dioxide Hydrate) Contains varying amounts of water and often traces of iron and aluminum.
Class: Silicates
Subclass: Tectosilicates (Framework Silicates)
Group: Opal (Hydrated Tectosilicates)
Crystal System: None (amorphous)
Crystal Habits: None. Opal occurs as glass-like veins and cavity fillings, coatings, reniform aggregates, nodules, and replacements of other minerals or wood.
Color: Colorless and white to yellow, red, pink, brown, green, gray, and blue; opalescent varieties exhibit a rich, internal play of colors.
Luster: Vitreous to dull
Transparency: Transparent to translucent and opaque
Streak: White
Cleavage: None
Fracture: Conchoidal, brittle
Hardness: 5.5-6.0
Specific Gravity: Average 2.09; varies with water content from 1.9-2.3.
Luminescence: Fluorescent, greenish-yellow with short-wave ultraviolet light, white with long-wave ultraviolet light; also phosphorescent.
Refractive Index: 1.44-1.46
Distinctive Features and Tests: Opalescence in many varieties, low density, fluorescence, and lack of crystal faces and cleavage surfaces.
Dana Classification Number: 126.96.36.199
**NAME**
The name “opal,” pronounced “OH-pul,” comes from the Latin *opalus*, the Roman word for “opal” which derives, in turn, from the Sanskrit *upala*, meaning “stone” or “jewel.” Other names for opal are “opalo,” “opalite,” and “gel-quartz.”
Because of its many colors and varieties and long use as a gemstone, opal has dozens of alternate names. The three general types of opal are “precious opal,” “common opal,” and “fire opal.” Precious opal exhibits opalescence, explained in the box on page 3. “Fire opal” has an orange-to-red body color and may or may not be opalescent. Non-opalescent “common opal” is usually translucent to opaque with a wide range of colors. Variety names include “black opal,” which has a black, dark blue, green, or gray body color; and “white opal,” with its white or light body color. Names referring to specific types and colors of opalescence include “flash opal,” “harlequin opal,” “flame opal,” “pinfire opal,” “gold opal,” and “blue opal.” Common-opal names include “agate opal” (alternating layers of agate and opal), “wood opal” (opalized wood), “honey opal” (yellow), “milk opal” (white, translucent), “porcelain opal” (white, opaque), “wax opal” (yellow-brown, waxy luster), “prase opal” (green), “hydrophane” (semi-translucent opal that becomes translucent or transparent when immersed in water), and “hyalite” (colorless opal). “Boulder
June 2005 Mineraloid of the Month: Opal
"Opal" is used for ironstone concretions with opal fillings, sometimes with bands of precious opal alternating with common opal, while "Jelly opal" is transparent colorless opal with bluish iridescence.
COMPOSITION
The chemical formula $\text{SiO}_2 \cdot n\text{H}_2\text{O}$ identifies opal as hydrous silicon dioxide containing the elements silicon (Si), oxygen (O), and hydrogen (H). Opal's atomic weight and the percentile weights of its elemental components vary with the amount of water present. Between 1 and 30 percent of opal weight consists of water ($\text{H}_2\text{O}$). As an example, the molecular weight of opal with the empirical formula $\text{SiO}_2 \cdot .5\text{H}_2\text{O}$ consists of 40.58 percent silicon, 57.98 percent oxygen, and 1.44 percent hydrogen, and contains 86.96 percent silica ($\text{SiO}_2$) and 13.04 percent water. In the opal molecule, the +4 charge of the silicon cation (Si$^{++}$) balances the collective -4 charge of the double-oxygen anion [(O$^{2-}$)$_2$]. Variable numbers of water molecules (in "$n\text{H}_2\text{O}$," $n$ is a variable quantity) are bound to the silica molecules ($\text{SiO}_2$). These molecules are called "water of hydration" and are bound as integral water molecules that retain their characteristic composition and structure. Water of hydration consists of electrically neutral water molecules and does not affect the electrical balance of the molecule.
Water of hydration is attached by weak hydrogen bonds. In water molecules, oxygen atoms share electrons to covalently bond to two hydrogen atoms. Water molecules are asymmetrical, because the two hydrogen ions group together on one side of the large oxygen ions. The two grouped hydrogen ions retain a small positive charge, while the opposite side of the molecule retains a small negative charge. Hydrogen bonding, or polar bonding, occurs when the faintly positive poles of water molecules attract the electrons of other atoms. In opal, water molecules are attracted to the negatively charged oxygen ions of the silica anions.
As a silicate, the basic building block of opal is the silica tetrahedron ($\text{SiO}_4$)$^4^-$. Silica tetrahedra consist of a silicon atom surrounded by four equally spaced oxygen atoms at the corners of a tetrahedron. Silicates fall into seven groups according to the number and type of atomic bonds that link their tetrahedra together into a lattice. Opal falls into the tectosilicate or "framework" silicate group, in which tetrahedrons share their oxygens with other tetrahedra to form repeating, rigid, compact, three-dimensional frameworks.
Tectosilicates include the familiar mineral quartz (silicon dioxide, $\text{SiO}_2$). Opal is similar to quartz in that both contain silica tetrahedra. But unlike quartz, opal has no orderly, closely packed, repeating atomic structure and thus no crystal form. Accordingly, the physical properties of quartz and opal are quite different. Quartz is hard at Mohs 7.0, but opal, at Mohs 5.5 to 6.0 is much softer and brittle. And with an average specific gravity of 2.09, opal is much less dense than quartz (s.g. 2.65).
The Dana mineral-classification number 188.8.131.52 identifies opal as a tectosilicate (75). The subclassification (2) defines it as a tectosilicate containing water and organics such as carbon (C) and methane ($\text{CH}_4$). Next, opal is assigned to the opal group (1, tectosilicates containing water), as the only member (1). Despite its mineral-classification number, opal is not technically a mineral, because it lacks a crystal structure. Opal is considered a mineraloid, a naturally occurring substance that, while possessing distinctive properties, does not meet the full requirements for classification as a mineral. Opal is an amorphous, layered, solidified, colloidal silica gel. It consists of randomly arranged, hydrated silica molecules interspersed with layers of microscopic silica spherules. Because the water of hydration is held only by weak hydrogen bonding, most opal, over long periods of geological time, will dehydrate and convert to agate, jasper, or other forms of microcrystalline quartz. Mining and cutting accelerates this process and sometimes results in "crazing" (internal cracking) and in the fading of color and opalescence.
Copyright 2005 by Richard & Cheryl Sittinger
Mineral of the Month Club 1770 Orville Avenue Cambria, CA 93428
1-800-941-5594 www.mineralofthemonthclub.org
June 2005 Mineraloid of the Month: Opal
OPALESCENCE AND COLOR
Precious opal is characterized by opalescence, an iridescent, rainbow-like play of light called “fire” that was initially thought to be caused by refraction (bending) of light within thin layers of opal. Then, in the 1960s, Australian researchers studied opal with 20,000-power electron microscopes and identified tiny silica spherules less than $1/1,000^{th}$ of a millimeter in diameter. Composed of randomly arranged, hydrated silica tetrahedra, these variably sized spherules create three-dimensional structures with a network of voids between adjacent spherules. Opalescence occurs when the spherule diameters approximate the wavelengths of visible light, enabling the spherule-void interfaces to act as diffraction gratings that separate (diffract) light into its spectral red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet components. The smaller silica spherules with diameters of roughly 140 nanometers diffract blue wavelengths, while the larger spherules with diameters of 240-300 nanometers diffract red wavelengths. (A nanometer is a metric unit of length equal to one billionth of a meter.) Because diffraction angles vary with viewing angles, a precious opal, when rotated, displays a full range of spectral colors. The complex structure of precious opal also reflects and refracts these diffracted spectral components. This often creates an interference effect, in which various wavelengths of light reinforce each other to produce unusually brilliant and pure spectral colors—the “fire” of precious opal.
Common opal and non-opalescent fire opal are either devoid of these silica-spherule structures, or they contain silica spheres that are too large or too small to diffract light. Pure opal, no matter what the variety, has no base color at all. Common opal is allochromatic (other-colored), meaning its broad range of colors and degrees of transparency or translucency are due to the trace presence of nonessential chromophoric (color-causing) elements such as iron and aluminum. Precious opal, however, exhibits both allochromatic and idiochromatic (self-colored) properties. Its body color is allochromatic, but the opalescence colors are idiochromatic, due to the interaction of light passing through its silica-spherule structures.
As a low-temperature (epithermal) silicate, opal develops as fracture and cavity fillings from the slow solidification of siliceous solutions under specific conditions of chemistry and temperature. Opal does not precipitate on a molecule-by-molecule basis as do crystalline minerals. Instead, it solidifies or “freezes” into layers with random molecular arrangement. Certain layers consist largely of silica spherules that form three-dimensional, stacked structures that cause the opalescence of precious opal (see box above).
Opal forms in sedimentary and volcanic environments. Sedimentary opal, which occurs in Australia and Brazil, forms when water percolates through sandstone formations to dissolve quantities of silica. These siliceous solutions continue seeping downward by gravity until they reach a stratum of claystone or other impermeable rock, where they move horizontally atop the impermeable layer to fill voids or fractures. In proper conditions of temperature and evaporation, the siliceous solutions will concentrate and eventually solidify to form opal. Some mineralogists suggest that microbe activity plays a role in opal deposition. This idea is based on the observation that opal-bearing claystones almost always contain fossilized organic matter, especially the remains of anaerobic bacteria. The metabolic processes of these bacteria, while they were living, could have created localized conditions favorable to the later deposition of opal. This theory is supported by the fact that opal readily replaces (opalizes) wood cells and clamshells.
Most opal deposits, excluding those in Australia and Brazil, occur in volcanic environments when surface water percolates downward through such extrusive rocks as basalt, andesite, and rhyolite to collect in voids, eventually solidifying into opal amygdules, nodules, and fracture fillings.
June 2005 Mineraloid of the Month: Opal
COLLECTING LOCALITIES
While the lesser grades of opal are relatively abundant, sources of gem-quality common, fire, and precious opal are few. Most precious-opal sources are located in Australia. In New South Wales, opal is mined at Lightning Ridge; Rocky Bridge Creek; the Angledool, Collarenebri, Cumborah, and Walgett opal fields; and at White Cliffs. Other sources include the Mintabie opal field in Northern Territory, the Yowah opal field in Queensland, and Coober Pedy and the Andamooka opal fields in South Australia. Opal also occurs at several sites in Western Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania.
In Japan, opal is collected at the Yamato-Seguin Mine in Nara Prefecture and the Kawazu and Rendaizi mines in Shizuoka Prefecture. Brazilian sources include the Amazon Opal Mine at Porto Velho in Rondônia state, the Bodó Mine at Lajes Pintadas in Rio Grande do Norte state, the famed Boi Morto Mine at Pedro II in Piauí state, and the Manoel Ambrósio Ranch at São Geraldo do Araguaiá in Pará state. Among Mexico’s sources are the Cerro de Mercado Mine near the city of Durango and the Barranca Mine at Coneto de Comonfort, both in the state of Durango; the Lomo Deltoro Mine in Zimapán, Hidalgo; the Buena Vista Mine at La Yesca, Nayarit; and the Santín Mine at Santa Catarina in Guanajuato. In Honduras, opal is obtained from a deposit at Erandique in the Lempira Department.
In the United States, opal localities exist in 32 states, most notably in Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho. Nevada’s many sources include mines in the Ivanho, Delano, and Rock Creek mining districts in Elko County; the Fish Lake Valley and Tonopah districts in Esmeralda County; and the Opalite and Virgin Valley districts in Humboldt County. Oregon localities include Opal Butte in Morrow County (see About Our Specimens), Hart Mountain in Lake County, the Durkee Opal Mine in Baker County, and the Butte Creek district in Jackson County. In Idaho, specimens are still obtained from the Moscow Opal Mine near Moscow in Latah County, a site that opened in 1891 as the first commercial American opal mine.
JEWELRY & DECORATIVE USES
Opal is a popular gemstone that is mounted in pendants, earrings, brooches, and even in rings, despite its only moderate hardness of Mohs 5.5-6.0. Virtually all opal gems are cut en cabochon, the exception being certain colors of transparent common and fire opal that are faceted. Most cut opals weigh at least three carats, and stones of 10 to 20 carats are not unusual. In Australia, which produces some 90 percent of the world’s opal, opal mining is a $160-million-per-year-industry.
As mentioned, Precious opal, the variety that displays brilliant flashes of color, is far and away the most valuable kind of opal. Its value depends on color intensity, color distribution, kinds and number of colors, and cabochon shape. Play of color is extremely important, especially when two or even three colors are present; exciting colors like red, blue, green, intense purple or gold, are considered best. One expert recommends holding a gem opal at arm’s length in ordinary light (not direct sunlight or under jeweler’s lights) and observing if color flashes are clearly visible. Stones that pass this test are of high quality.
A delicate and brittle gemstone, opal is hydrous, and dehydration can eventually cause it to “craze,” or develop an internal network of fine cracks. Because crazing is most likely to affect opals stored in dry environments, stones are sometimes stored in moist cotton in sealed containers or even immersed in water. Dehydration can actually shrink the physical size of an opal, causing it to loosen in its setting. Water of hydration also makes opal vulnerable to thermal shock, and rapid, extreme temperature changes (such as sudden immersion in hot water) should be avoided.
Depletion of many opal mines has sharply reduced the availability of large-sized rough for cutting. Rough
with good opalescence is often too thin to cut into traditional cabochons. Such thin sections are now cemented to colored backing material of common opal or obsidian to provide structural strength and intensify the opalescent color. Such composite stones are known as doublets. When a clear quartz cabochon is cemented atop a doublet, the gem is called a triplet. Triplets make good ring stones because of the protective hardness of the top quartz layer. Also, the constriction caused by cementing tends to reduce crazing. Doublets and triplets are now used in virtually all mass-produced opal jewelry.
Bits of opal too small for cutting are often made into “floating opal” pendants, in which the bits are suspended in tiny, glycerine-filled quartz spheres. Opal can also be treated to enhance its color and wearability. After soaking white or gray opal in sugar solutions, immersion in sulfuric acid carbonizes the sugar, thus darkening the stone’s body color to resemble black opal. Opal is also dyed, impregnated with artificial resins to seal in the water of hydration, and cemented to glittery, artificial backings to create the illusion of opalescence.
Crude, laboratory-made opal made its appearance around 1900 as a spin-off of early attempts to synthesize quartz. But it was French synthetic gem manufacturer Pierre Gilson who “grew” the first commercial, synthetic gem opal in the 1960s, and only after research had revealed the nature of the stone’s internal structure. Today, Gilson has been joined by Russian, Chinese, and Japanese manufacturers who produce many synthetic opal varieties which are fashioned into doublets and triplets.
Opal has always been popular among mineral collectors and museum curators. In the past, exceptional opals have even been given individual names. Most such stones are from Australia. They include the 127-ounce, uncut *Olympic Australis* from Coober Pedy; the 205-carat oval *Noolinga Nera* from Andamooka; and the 252-carat *Light of the World* and 711-carat *Pandora*, both from Lightning Ridge. The National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) in Washington, D.C., displays the *Roebling Opal*, a 2,610-carat specimen from Nevada’s Virgin Valley district. Other Smithsonian displays include white-opal gems of 345, 155, and 83 carats and black-opal gems of 58, 54, and 44 carats from Australia; a 355-carat, black-opal gem from Nevada; a 143-carat, orange precious opal and a 56-carat, colorless precious opal from Mexico; and a 39-carat, pale-yellow precious opal from Brazil.
**HISTORY & LORE**
Opal has been known since antiquity. The oldest known opal artifacts have been recovered from Kenyan caves and date to 4000 B.C. According to ancient Arab folktales, opal originated when it fell from heaven in flashes of lightning. The Greeks believed that opal bestowed powers of foresight and prophecy upon its owner. Later, the Romans valued *opalus* highly as a token of hope and purity. The Roman scholar Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus, A.D. 23-79) described opal, which was then mined in what is now present-day Slovakia, as having the best characteristics of all gemstones—the fine sparkle of almandine, the shining purple of amethyst, the golden-yellow of topaz, and the deep blue of sapphire, “so that all the colors shine and sparkle together in a beautiful combination.” Roman legend tells how Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius, ca 82-30 B.C.), a general and powerful member of Caesar’s court, envied the superb, walnut-sized opal of a Roman senator named Nonius and demanded to buy the stone as a gift for Egyptian Queen Cleopatra (69-30 B.C.). Forced by Antony to choose between selling the opal or going into exile, the senator chose the latter and was eventually buried with the stone. Pliny puts the value of this legendary opal at 2,000,000 sestertces, at least $5 million by modern standards.
To English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the shifting beauty of opal represented unpredictability. In *Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will*, he likened opal’s play-of-color to the changeability of the human mind. In a classic literary use of gemstone symbolism, Shakespeare’s jester says to the
Opal remained popular in Europe throughout the 18th century. The best opals then came from the ancient Roman source, an andesite deposit at Czerwenitza, Hungary (now Dubnica, Slovakia), where a force of 300 miners provided rough for Constantinople cutters. The finished gems were then sold in Europe as "oriental opal." The largest stone from this source, mined in 1770 and weighing 21 ounces, is displayed at the Imperial Natural History Museum in Vienna, Austria.
But opal's popularity suddenly plummeted in the early 1800s. One reason was the marketing of a large supply of inferior Russian opal that soon cracked and faded. Another was the novel *Anne of Geierstein*, by Scottish author and poet Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), in which the leading character wore a dazzling opal in her hair. But her life became bound up with the beauty of the opal, and as the stone's fire faded, so, too, did her life. This widely read novel convinced many Europeans that opal was unlucky.
Until the late 1800s, when prospectors discovered huge opal deposits in Australia and smaller deposits in the western United States and Mexico, opals were relatively rare. With increased availability, opal subsequently became more affordable and regained its popularity. Expert gem-cutters at Idar-Oberstein, Germany, began turning out superb cabochons of Australian opal that further stimulated demand. British Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria, 1819-1901) also focused attention on opal by wearing it in jewelry and giving it as wedding gifts. By the late 1920s, art-deco-style jewelry made extensive use of opal, and the popularity of the stone has never waned since.
Medieval physicians administered finely ground opal internally as a healing tonic and to prevent nightmares, and recommended prolonged gazing into opals to prevent eye disease. Blonde Scandinavian women believed that opal necklaces would keep their hair from fading. Australian aboriginal shamans gazed into opals to conjure spiritual visions. According to modern metaphysical thought, opal wards off diseases and enhances love among faithful lovers, but, because opal intensifies all thoughts and actions, including those that are negative, it must be worn judiciously.
Opal has appeared on the Australian eight-cent and nine-cent stamps of 1973 and 1974, the $1.20 stamp of 1995, and the $2.50 stamp of 1998, as well as on the 600-franc stamp of Central Africa in 1998. Opal is the birthstone for October, the national gemstone of Australia, and one of two Nevada state gemstones.
**TECHNOLOGICAL USES**
Apart from serving as a model for opal synthesis, opal has no technological uses.
**ABOUT OUR SPECIMENS**
Though we have featured several minerals from western states like California, Nevada, and Arizona, this is our first (and probably only) to come from Oregon. Nicknamed the Beaver state due to the popularity of beaver hats in the early 19th century, Oregon contains some of the most beautiful scenery in the United States as well as some of the nation's most fertile soils and richest timberlands. The tenth largest state in the U.S. boasts a land mass of 97,132 square miles and a population of 3,521,515 in the year 2000.
Our specimens come from northeastern Oregon, about 35 miles south of the little town of Heppner, Morrow County, Oregon, population 1410, near the base of the Blue Mountains. At 5015 feet, Opal Butte is almost mile-high, part of the Blue Mountain Range, which covers much of northeastern Oregon. The
opal-producing mine is on the western slope of Opal Butte at 4700 feet. Summers are dry and hot, winters snowy, which limits mining to May through November.
Opal was discovered here in the winter of 1889-1890 by a shepherd tending his flocks on Opal Butte, then known as Peter’s Butte. Two pretty geodes caught his eye, and he broke them open by striking them together, revealing an even more colorful inside! He contacted a man named Levi Shaner, and before long they showed the pieces to a lapidary, who confirmed the material inside as opal. What happened to the shepherd we do not know, but Levi Shaner quickly made claims on the area, word got out, and soon prospectors were digging all over Opal Butte. By 1893, $20,000 worth of opal had been mined and sold!
A couple of factors dampened the excitement of these early miners, as it soon became apparent that very little precious opal, by far the most valuable form of opal, was to be found on Opal Butte, and that crazing was a major problem—as mentioned under *Composition*, opal has a tendency to lose some of its water of hydration, causing it to crack or craze, rendering it virtually valueless. Though these factors discouraged commercial mining, local rockhounds and others continued to work the Butte, occasionally encountering precious opal and finding many thundereggs, a special kind of spherical agate-filled nodule that occur in the perlite or decomposed perlite beds of many western states, and in British Columbia, Canada, and Australia. (Perlite is a natural volcanic glass similar to obsidian but having distinctive concentric cracks and a relatively high water content.) We would love to feature thundereggs as a future mineral, and delve into their unique formation and properties.
In the 1930’s, Opal Butte was acquired by a logging company, Kinzua Pine Mills, who for decades continued to allow rockhounds to dig opal, until the site was so thrashed that it was no longer safe. In 1986, gemstone cutter/dealer Dale Huett and geologist/jewelry designer Kevin Lane Smith formed West Coast Mining and obtained permission to begin working the deposit commercially, being the first to use a bulldozer with a backhoe to uncover the opal-bearing nodules, gradually digging a large open pit. The ultimate goal, of course, is to find...
precious opal, but there is precious little of the valuable gemstone found here, as seen in the chart in Figure 5.
The most common gem-quality opal varieties found at Opal Butte are hyalite (colorless opal) and rainbow opal (facetable clear opal with pools of reflected color shimmering on the surface). Less commonly found are the Precious Opal varieties contra luz, meaning “against the light,” where the spectral colors are seen when held against the light; hydrophane, which becomes almost transparent in water, except for its rainbow colors; and crystal opal, a transparent to translucent opal where the color play is visible both on the surface and in the interior. And rarely encountered is fire opal, a real misnomer, which has red or red-orange body color, sometimes with play of color; and dendritic opal, clear opal with fern or treelike patterns inside. Stones of incredible beauty and value have been cut from all the varieties found at Opal Butte.
The specimens we picked out for Club members are of the common opal variety, as Precious opal from Opal Butte is scarce and expensive, as you might glean from the chart in Figure 5. Actually, “Common” is a very poor choice of words as there is plenty of lovely color to go around in what some might call “Common Opal” – we have shades of white, yellow, orange, blue, and reddish brown among our specimens. When we applied shortwave ultraviolet light, we found that the clearer zones were the ones that fluoresced bright green. We noticed no fluorescence under longwave UV, nor any phosphorescence. We were so moved by a close examination of our specimens that we had to have more sent in order to have some on hand at all times!
References: *Dana’s New Mineralogy*, Eighth Edition; *Encyclopedia of Minerals*, Second Edition, Roberts, et al. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company; *2004 Fleischer’s Glossary of Mineral Species*, J. A. Mandarino; *Mineralogy*, John Sinkankas, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company; *Manual of Mineralogy*, 21st Edition, Cornelia Klein and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., John Wiley & Sons; *Color Encyclopedia of Gemstones*, Joel E. Arem, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company; *Gemstones of the World*, Walter Schumann, Sterling Publishing Company; *Gems and Jewelry*, Joel E. Arem, Geoscience Press; *The World of Opals*, Allan W. Eckert, John Wiley & Sons; *The Curious Lore of Precious Stones*, George Frederick Kunz, Newcastle Publishing Company; *Gem & Lapidary Materials*, June Culp Zeitner, Geoscience Press; *Sinkankas’ Standard Catalog of Gem Values*, John Sinkankas, Geoscience Press.; *Gemstones of North America*, John Sinkankas, Geoscience Press; “Opal,” Bob Jones, *Rock & Gem*, March-April 1971; “The Microstructure of Precious Opal,” J. V. Sanders and P. J. Darraugh, *The Mineralogical Record*, November-December 1971; “Precious Opal,” Bob Jones, *Rock & Gem*, October, 2004; “Opals from Opal Butte, Oregon,” Kevin Lane Smith, *Gems & Gemology*, Winter 1988; “A Centennial Celebration,” Dale E. Huett, *Lapidary Journal*, November 1990. Photos and chart courtesy of West Coast Mining, Inc.
Copyright 2005 by Richard & Cheryl Sittinger
Mineral of the Month Club 1770 Orville Avenue Cambria, CA 93428
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| Time | Course | Instructor | Location | Type |
|--------------|---------------------------------------------|------------------|----------|------|
| MONDAY 10.00 – 11.00 am | German Conversation | Antje Fox | Board | L |
| | New and continuing students with a prior knowledge of German are very welcome. The course will focus primarily on conversation, and will include some grammatical assistance. | | | |
| | The Earth's Amazing Atmosphere | John Todd | Theatre | S |
| | In this series of five talks I will describe the formation of the Earth's atmosphere, how it has changed over millions of years, its present physical and chemical composition, how it nurtures almost all life on Earth, the importance of climate and weather, and illustrate the beauty of this thin skin of air encircling our planet. Each week I will spend a few minutes mentioning the relevant risks we are taking as we knowingly change its character. | | | |
| | Resilience Course (max = 10) | Jenny Alger | Lecture | SS |
| | So many of us want to know more about what we can do to cope with life's small and big issues that may sabotage us. We hope this course will give you an understanding of how you can build resilience and where help is available if you need it. This course will provide a forum for: - Listening to guest speakers with particular expertise in the area of resilience; - Discussing ideas on how to manage the trials and tribulations of life; - Sharing ideas in a comfortable, non-confrontational, non-threatening environment with the idea that the individual participant may take up a suggestion put forward by invited speakers or from other participants; - Taking part in workshops to understand more about resilience. Aims: - To provide the latest research on how we can become more resilient. - To educate ourselves, regardless of age, about the services and supports available to build resilience. - To provide a safe space for the sharing of ideas. | | | |
| MONDAY 11.30 am - 12.30 pm | Truth, Lies and Propaganda: Media and Government (5 weeks: 4/3 -15/4) | Kate Eagles | Theatre | SS |
|----------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------|---------|------|
| | 'Truth, Lies and Propaganda: Government and the Media' begins with a brief look at the use of censorship by governments during wartime, referencing such authors at Phillip Knightley and Peter Greste (both have written books with the same title 'The First Casualty'). Censorship would lead into the next sections of the course, which will show how news is produced, packaged and disseminated today by the major companies and their networks. I would illustrate my points with short video clips to show how this is done. I would define and discuss truth, lies, propaganda and censorship; facts versus opinions. | | | |
| | The Arts in Tasmania (4 weeks: 22/4 -13/5) | David Waters (convenor) | Theatre | A |
| | A short series on the Arts in Tasmania, focussing on important local Arts institutions, their challenges and opportunities. Speakers: 22 April: Caroline Sharpen, CEO, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. 29 April: Brigita Ozolins, installation artist and senior lecturer, School of Creative Arts and Media. 6 May: Simon Wellington, CEO, Theatre Royal 13 May: Emma Pike, Senior Curator, MONA | | | |
| Time | Course | Instructor | Room | Level |
|--------------|---------------------------------------------|------------------|--------------|-------|
| MONDAY 11.30 am – 12.30 pm | Writing Workshop | John McRae | Board Room | H |
| | After topics are explored in class the writing is done at home. Finished work is discussed in class with constructive comments by group members and tutor, in a relaxed atmosphere. | | | |
| | Basic German (min = 5) | Antje Fox | Common Rm | L |
| | We hope to build on members’ existing level of German through conversation, and to extend their knowledge of vocabulary in a relaxed atmosphere. Minimum class size =5 | | | |
| MONDAY 1.00 pm - 3.00 pm | Italian: The first steps (1.00 - 2.00 pm) | Gianna Staples | Board Room | L |
| | This is a class for beginners. You will learn Italian vocabulary, grammar, and expressions for the most common situations. This course is ideal for preparing you for a visit to *il bel paese*. | | | |
| | Italian: Ancora un po’ (2.00 - 3.00 pm) | Gianna Staples | Board Room | L |
| | In this course you will develop more advanced skills through practising conversation, reading, using digital resources, extending vocabulary, and making connections with grammar. The course will attempt to meet your needs in making you more proficient in communicating in Italian. | | | |
| TUESDAY 10.00 - 11.00 am | Life for Early Settlers in Van Diemen’s Land | Alison Alexander | Theatre | H |
| | What was it like, trying to make a living in virgin bush in the early days of the settlement of Van Diemen’s Land? This course began last year and will continue, looking at how settlers managed to make a living, who succeeded and who failed and why; family life, health, education and other aspects of life. | | | |
| | Play Reading (continuation) | John Trigg | Lecture Room | H |
| | We will be studying, analysing and sight reading plays across a range of genres and eras. The emphasis is on sharing, enjoying the characters, plays and playwrights Class limit=15. | | | |
| TUESDAY 11.30 am - 12.30 pm | Late Medieval Europe (5 weeks 5/3 - 9/4) | Michael Bennett | Theatre | H |
| | Explores the Black Death, peasant revolts and the end of feudalism, the Hundred Years War and Joan of Arc, the schism in the church and the rise of the lay voice, decline and vitality in western Europe, c. 1350-1500. | | | |
TUESDAY 11.30 am - 12.30 pm (continued)
Let's Visit Europe (5 weeks 16/4 - 14/5)
Heinz Vojacek
Theatre
ss
Using my own photographic records, come with me as we travel to some of Europe’s iconic places and learn something about their rich cultures.
16 April - Berlin: Situated on the border between Eastern and Western Europe, once a divided city, we follow the evolution of Berlin from the seat of Prussian kings to the edgy modern metropolis of today.
23 April - Austria: We take a photographic journey through picture-postcard countryside from Vienna to Mozart’s home town of Salzburg.
30 April - St Petersburg: Let me show you the majestic city founded by Tsar Peter the Great. We delve into its turbulent history and admire the wonderful churches and palaces which have survived until today.
7 May - Rhine River: From its source in the Alps, we follow the famous river Rhine through Lake Constance, the Rhine Gorge and very different landscapes to its North Sea destination.
14 May - Loire Valley: In the centre of France we find a valley of castles. We look into their interesting histories and admire beautiful gardens and villages on the way.
Artists or Monsters (5 weeks 5/3 -9/4)
Les Crompton
Board Room
A
Considering the nasty things you may have heard about him do you wonder if you should still see the new film by Woody Allen, or perhaps an art exhibition featuring the notorious womanizer Pablo Picasso? Should an artistic genius like Richard Wagner be spared the common disapproval of the racist, or should we stop to make our moral calculations before we buy a ticket for his opera? What of the artist who left her children, like Joni Mitchell? Does her talent give her a free pass to do this?
In this class we will examine these dilemmas. We will think about freedom of speech, about cancel culture, and the ethics involved in the situation of the artist ‘monster’ and the fan. There will be plenty of time for discussion based partly on short articles sent via email.
The Yanks are Coming!
Mick Sheehan
Board Room
SS
This year America will elect its 46th president. No country plays its politics more intensely than the Americans. Their presidential election campaigns are long and protracted and financed by vast sums of money that produce a cornucopia of articles. Much of this is dross but from the quality media there arise many gems that are rich with insights into the American condition. We will seek these out for our deliberations which will focus on the American future and what that might mean for Australia.
TUESDAY 11.30 - 1.00 pm
Canasta for Beginners (5 weeks: 5/3 - 9/4)
Stuart Heathorn
Retreat
ss
A 5-week course in the basics of Canasta including the rules, strategies and team dynamics to enable you to be proficient in the game by the conclusion of the course.
It will be a fun 5 weeks and you’ll probably end up being addicted to the game.
TUESDAY 1.30 - 3.00 pm
Chess with Tricia
Tricia Chesterman
Lecture Room
ss
Learn the basics or learn new strategies, or simply enjoy a game.
For beginners or intermediate players.
| Time | Course | Instructor | Location | Type |
|------------|---------------------------------|----------------|------------|------|
| 10.00 – 11.00 am | Refine Your French | Elizabeth Eden | Retreat | L |
| | This course is for those whose previous language study and/or experience enables them to participate in lively conversation in everyday French, in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. Topics include aspects of France and its culture: history, literature, and modern life. The class is conducted in French, so a solid foundation in the language is required. With effective communication a priority, correct pronunciation and various elements of grammar are addressed as the need arises. Preference in enrolment is given to continuing class members. | Christine Farmer | Board Room | A |
| | We will work with pen and ink on the script which was developed for speed and simplicity during the Renaissance, a most popular, versatile script in C21. In addition we can also work on a variety of projects, suitable for beginners and continuers. There will be a small charge for materials. | Tim Jarvis | Lecture Rm | SS |
| | Each week Fullers Bookshop director Tim Jarvis talks to a Tasmanian writer about their work and their life. You’ll gain an insight into what motivates and inspires a writer, how they came to the craft and more. | | | |
| 13 March | Sarah Day, award-winning poet and a former poetry editor of Island magazine. | | | |
| 20 March | Karen Harrland, national Finch Memoir Prize winner for Spinifex Baby. Karen is a story-teller teacher inspired by Tasmania’s wilderness. | | | |
| 27 March | Terry Whidborne, a former swimming pool labourer, became an award-winning Art Director in advertising. He’s published the first book in a series, ‘Faeries of Tasmania’. | | | |
| 10 April | Kim Bam poet is a writing mentor and adventurer. Her first novel, *Undertow*, was inspired by living aboard a yacht. | | | |
| 17 April | Robert Cox has written seven books and a poem or two. He has had a variety of roles in publishing and is interested in Tasmania’s history. | | | |
| 24 April | Liz McQuilkin is a poet and former English teacher. She has published several volumes of her work and collaborated with other poets. | | | |
| 1 May | Ben Walter writes fiction, essays, poetry and experimental nature writing. He’s a former fiction editor of Island magazine and wrote a short story collection ‘What Fear Was’. | | | |
| 8 May | Adrienne Eberhard is an award-winning poet who has had five collections of her work published. Some of her poems have been set to music and recorded for the Radio National program Poetica. | | | |
| | Convenor: Neil Spark | | | |
| | This course covers the story of the British Isles over the centuries, the creation of England, Cymru (Wales), Alba (Scotland) and Ireland - and ultimately what we now call the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It also looks at the waves of migration that make up the current population of the islands, laced with stories of its rulers. | | | |
| Time | Course Name | Instructor | Location | Level |
|--------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------|--------------|-------|
| WEDNESDAY 11.30 – 12.30 pm | Tasmanian Politics: how it works, what you need to know in 2024 | Margaret Reynolds | Theatre | SS |
| | This course will trace the development of Tasmanian state democracy with its unique Hare Clark voting system. The course will consider the major changes in parliamentary representation and key issues of concern over more than 150 years. The course will include a visit to the Tasmanian Parliament and the opportunity to meet today’s leaders and decision makers. | | | |
| | Behind the News for Grown-Ups | Adela Morton | Board Room | SS |
| | Is celebrity culture not your idea of a satisfying news diet? Take a weekly look at Tasmanian, national and international affairs. Have your say and listen to others, on what matters today. | | | |
| | Retrieve your French | Elizabeth Eden | Retreat | L |
| | This is a continuing course, but structured to accommodate new class members. The emphasis is on reading and pronunciation, to enable confident conversation. The class is using *Short Stories in French for Beginners* by Olly Richards and Richard Simcott, ISBN 978-1-473-68343-3, available from Fullers and elsewhere. | | | |
| WEDNESDAY 1.00 – 3.00 pm | Drawing (Continued) | Jane Monaghan | Board Room | A |
| | This is a continuation class for those with some drawing experience. Leadership/coordination in the group is shared by members, who take it in turn to choose the weekly tasks, sessions and activities. | | | |
| THURSDAY 10.00 – 11.00 am | Advanced French | Marilyn Pinkard | Board Room | L |
| | These sessions are designed for those with a good knowledge of French. The course provides an opportunity for discussion of a variety of topics according to the needs and interests of the group. | | | |
| | Guided Spanish Conversation Level: A1 - | Sally Gill | Lecture Room | L |
| | The course will provide Spanish conversation practice in an interactive, inclusive and relaxed environment to help participants improve vocabulary and fluency, and gain confidence in general speaking skills. Each class will have a theme/topic to encourage dialogue and exchange. | | | |
| | Mah Jong (10.00 – 11.30) | Self conducted | Retreat | SS |
| | Mah Jong can be played in different ways. In this class we learn how it is played in China, its country of origin. | | | |
| Date | Presenter | Topic |
|------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 7 March | Tim O'Loughlin | The Rise of the Electric Vehicle - their pros and cons, and is it time to buy? |
| | | A short history of electric vehicles (EVs), their rise and fall early in the 20th century and why they've come back now. |
| | | Tim will cover 10 things in their favour (based on his experience of owning an EV for the last 2 years) and also five issues raised against EVs (fires, batteries, cost, range and charging). |
| | | Finally, if you're looking to buy an EV, is now the right time? |
| 14 March | Adjunct Associate Professor Terese Henning | Law Reform in Tasmania – process, possibilities and frustrations |
| | | Adjunct Associate Professor Terese Henning, former Director of the Tasmania Law Reform Institute will explore the various ways law reform is achieved in Tasmania. |
| | | Terese will focus on the contribution of the community and the role of the Tasmania Law Reform Institute. |
| 21 March | Margaret Reynolds | Australian Women's international Leadership….could women better manage global diplomacy? |
| | | It is often argued that women have a different leadership style and are therefore more likely to work for consensus in resolving conflict. Of course there have been few women leaders internationally so it is hard to generalise. |
| | | Margaret will consider the role of Australian women in international leadership and detail their experience - both positive and negative in negotiating the demands of male dominated international diplomacy. |
| | | From Tasmania’s Edith Waterworth to Australia’s current Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, Margaret will seek to evaluate what women have achieved and how much more they could contribute if we prioritised the Australian Women, Peace and Security Action Plan. |
| 28 March | Dr Matt Killingsworth | ‘How did we get into this mess? a short history of the international political environment’ |
| 4 April | | PUBLIC HOLIDAY EASTER - No presentation |
| 11 April | Ken Chilcott | Romanian Rhapsody |
| | | The George Enescu Music Festival, Bucharest |
| | | This festival happens for 4 weeks every 2 years and attracts worldwide major orchestras and soloists. |
| | | Ken’s organised tour experienced just 22 concerts in the 2 weeks of the tour. |
18 April: **Professor Nicholas Farrelly**
Will Thailand Move Forward?
After discussing the situation in Myanmar with us last year, this time Professor Nicholas Farrelly will explore the uncertain future for Thailand as it confronts legacies of long-term military rule and the changing roles of other institutions, including the royal family and the old political parties.
25 April: **Public Holiday Anzac Day** - No presentation
2 May: **Dr Brigita Ozolins**
Our Books will Bear Witness...
Artist Brigita Ozolins, best known for making large scale installations about our relationship to language, literature and lesser-known aspects of history, will give an illustrated overview of her practice with a focus on projects that have featured books, words and writing performances.
9 May: **Patrick Gregory**
Libraries, literature and literacy
In 2023, Hobart was declared a UNESCO City of Literature for its rich history of writing and publishing and its vibrant contemporary literary scene.
But while half our population may be readers, the other half doesn’t have the skills needed for daily life. Libraries cross both worlds and this presentation by Libraries Tasmania Acting Executive Director, Patrick Gregory, will take us behind the scenes of Libraries Tasmania as the agency celebrates its history and imagines what the future may hold.
16 May: **Gary Files**
‘How It Was’
Actor / writer Gary Files was amazed to discover when researching our Canadian Convicts with his daughter, that he had a great grandmother who was a convict. Eliza Dore arrived at the Female Factory on the last female convict ship, The Duchess Of Northumberland. This led him to write a ‘performed reading’ which featured an amalgam of Eliza’s story (now in several books about the female convicts) the Canadian convicts we had - and those free settlers who made up the colony of Van Diemen’s Land as Hobart was then. Hence his piece “How It Was”.
**THURSDAY 11.30 – 12.30 pm**
| Spanish 101 (Continued) Level: A1 - A2 (CEFR) | Sally Gill | Board Room | L |
|---------------------------------------------|------------|------------|---|
| Improve your Spanish language grammar and communication skills for personal development or travel (albeit virtually) with this elementary course in castellano. The grammar, vocabulary and expressions taught will focus on facilitating communication in everyday situations. |
| *This is a continuing class not an introductory course.* |
| French Conversation (Intermediate) | Christine Moore & Lisa Risby | Lecture Room | L |
|------------------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------|---|
| The course will build on students’ existing level of French through readings and conversation. It aims to extend their knowledge of vocabulary and French culture in a relaxed environment. |
| Time | Course Name | Instructor | Location | Type |
|--------------|--------------------------------------------------|------------------|--------------|------|
| THURSDAY 11.30 – 12.30 pm (continued) | Our Charter Stories Past and Present | Basil Sansom | Theatre | H |
| | The course is a discussion of the stories we use (or have used) to justify and explain our existence and practices in life on this earth. In the West, we run from Genesis to Climate Change. Other cultures rely on mythologies of their own. So, why are charter stories important? | | | |
| | My Mobile Phone, What else can it do? | Sue Mulcahy | Common | S |
| | Our mobile phones can do much more than embarrass us by ringing at inappropriate times. This class will look at what else our mobile phones can help with. Topics will be discussed during the first session and may include: using the camera, gadgets hiding inside, help with travel, EasyPark, streaming services... | | | |
| THURSDAY 1.00 – 3.00 pm | Reading Poetry for Pleasure (1.00 - 2.00 pm) | Heather Chauncy | Lecture Room | H |
| | Come and join a dedicated group of those who love poetry and believe it can only be fully appreciated when read aloud. Everyone is welcome. Just bring your favourite poems. | | | |
| | Watercolour Painting (1.00 - 3.00 pm) | Self conducted | Board Room | A |
| | Come and join us for companionship while doing our own paintings in a relaxed atmosphere. No teacher available as yet. | | | |
| | Reading Shakespeare (1.30 - 2.30 pm) (from 14/3) | Robert Jarman | All Saints | H |
| | Join fellow literature-lovers for out-loud reading of Shakespeare, with discussion, tea, enjoyment and discovery! A non-academic approach makes this suitable for anyone - even if you've never read Shakespeare before. In this first 2024 term we'll be reading the charming pastoral comedy "As You Like It". Please bring your own copy of the play. | | | | | <urn:uuid:cdb70e7c-5391-4995-9005-81dbf3de4935> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.u3ahobart.org.au/wp-content/uploads/programt124.pdf | 2024-04-16T20:22:30+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817106.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20240416191221-20240416221221-00059.warc.gz | 959,778,714 | 5,064 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.997605 | eng_Latn | 0.997825 | [
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OXFORD CAMBRIDGE AND RSA EXAMINATIONS
Advanced Subsidiary General Certificate of Education
Advanced General Certificate of Education
MATHEMATICS
Core Mathematics 3
Thursday 16 JUNE 2005 Afternoon 1 hour 30 minutes
Additional materials:
Answer booklet
Graph paper
List of Formulae (MF1)
TIME 1 hour 30 minutes
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
• Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the spaces provided on the answer booklet.
• Answer all the questions.
• Give non-exact numerical answers correct to 3 significant figures unless a different degree of accuracy is specified in the question or is clearly appropriate.
• You are permitted to use a graphical calculator in this paper.
INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES
• The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.
• The total number of marks for this paper is 72.
• Questions carrying smaller numbers of marks are printed earlier in the paper, and questions carrying larger numbers of marks later in the paper.
• You are reminded of the need for clear presentation in your answers.
This question paper consists of 4 printed pages.
1 The function $f$ is defined for all real values of $x$ by
$$f(x) = 10 - (x + 3)^2.$$
(i) State the range of $f$. [1]
(ii) Find the value of $ff(-1)$. [3]
2 Find the exact solutions of the equation $|6x - 1| = |x - 1|$. [4]
3 The mass, $m$ grams, of a substance at time $t$ years is given by the formula
$$m = 180e^{-0.017t}.$$
(i) Find the value of $t$ for which the mass is 25 grams. [3]
(ii) Find the rate at which the mass is decreasing when $t = 55$. [3]
4 (a)
The diagram shows the curve $y = \frac{2}{\sqrt{x}}$. The region $R$, shaded in the diagram, is bounded by the curve and by the lines $x = 1$, $x = 5$ and $y = 0$. The region $R$ is rotated completely about the $x$-axis. Find the exact volume of the solid formed. [4]
(b) Use Simpson’s rule, with 4 strips, to find an approximate value for
$$\int_1^5 \sqrt{x^2 + 1} \, dx,$$
giving your answer correct to 3 decimal places. [4]
5 (i) Express $3 \sin \theta + 2 \cos \theta$ in the form $R \sin(\theta + \alpha)$, where $R > 0$ and $0^\circ < \alpha < 90^\circ$. [3]
(ii) Hence solve the equation $3 \sin \theta + 2 \cos \theta = \frac{7}{2}$, giving all solutions for which $0^\circ < \theta < 360^\circ$. [5]
6 (a) Find the exact value of the $x$-coordinate of the stationary point of the curve $y = x \ln x$. [4]
(b) The equation of a curve is $y = \frac{4x + c}{4x - c}$, where $c$ is a non-zero constant. Show by differentiation that this curve has no stationary points. [3]
7 (i) Write down the formula for $\cos 2x$ in terms of $\cos x$. [1]
(ii) Prove the identity $\frac{4 \cos 2x}{1 + \cos 2x} = 4 - 2 \sec^2 x$. [3]
(iii) Solve, for $0 < x < 2\pi$, the equation $\frac{4 \cos 2x}{1 + \cos 2x} = 3 \tan x - 7$. [5]
8
The diagram shows part of each of the curves $y = e^{\frac{1}{3}x}$ and $y = \sqrt[3]{(3x + 8)}$. The curves meet, as shown in the diagram, at the point $P$. The region $R$, shaded in the diagram, is bounded by the two curves and by the $y$-axis.
(i) Show by calculation that the $x$-coordinate of $P$ lies between 5.2 and 5.3. [3]
(ii) Show that the $x$-coordinate of $P$ satisfies the equation $x = \frac{5}{3} \ln (3x + 8)$. [2]
(iii) Use an iterative formula, based on the equation in part (ii), to find the $x$-coordinate of $P$ correct to 2 decimal places. [3]
(iv) Use integration, and your answer to part (iii), to find an approximate value of the area of the region $R$. [5]
[Question 9 is printed overleaf.]
The function $f$ is defined by $f(x) = \sqrt{mx + 7} - 4$, where $x \geq -\frac{7}{m}$ and $m$ is a positive constant. The diagram shows the curve $y = f(x)$.
(i) A sequence of transformations maps the curve $y = \sqrt{x}$ to the curve $y = f(x)$. Give details of these transformations. [4]
(ii) Explain how you can tell that $f$ is a one-one function and find an expression for $f^{-1}(x)$. [4]
(iii) It is given that the curves $y = f(x)$ and $y = f^{-1}(x)$ do not meet. Explain how it can be deduced that neither curve meets the line $y = x$, and hence determine the set of possible values of $m$. [5] | <urn:uuid:2f666035-61bc-4566-9897-3961beb958d2> | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | http://colmanweb.co.uk/pastpapers/Papers/A%20Level/OCR%207890/2005%20June/4723%20June%2005%20QP.pdf | 2018-01-24T11:57:57Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084894125.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20180124105939-20180124125939-00731.warc.gz | 68,078,509 | 1,282 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.971929 | eng_Latn | 0.980671 | [
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The Final Roster of the Army of the West, 1846-1847
by Dwight L. Clark and George Ruhlen
Originally published in the December 1967 issue of *The California Historical Society Quarterly*.
This article was digitized by the History Office, Installation Support Unit, Camp San Luis Obispo.
3 May 2016
The Final Roster of the Army of the West, 1846-1847
By Dwight L. Clarke and George Ruhlen¹
On December 6, 1846, after the dispersal of their second charge at the Battle of San Pasqual, Andrés Pico’s men rode off down the San Pasqual Valley. The American forces hastily made a camp on the sloping hillside where the battle monument now stands to the north of Highway 78. After succoring their wounded, the dragoons undertook the burial of their dead.
Lieutenant William H. Emory, the topographical engineer, reports the melancholy task:
When night closed in, the bodies of the dead were buried under a willow to the east of our camp, with no other accompaniment than the howling of myriads of wolves, attracted by the smell. Thus were put to rest together and forever, a band of brave and heroic men.²
But despite Emory’s prediction, the dead were not to rest forever under the rocks and cactus where they had fallen. In May, 1848, a detachment of the First Dragoons under Lieutenant Davidson transferred the bodies buried at San Pasqual to a cemetery in Old Town, San Diego County. In 1851 Captain Johnston’s relatives at Piqua, Ohio, arranged to have his remains shipped to his old home. A year later a weird tale appeared in the California papers. By a strange blunder the coffin containing the body of the dead captain was supposed to have been stored in San Francisco with some boxes of stove parts. Ultimately what was believed to be the Johnston casket was received in Ohio where it was interred and a marble monument was erected over the grave in
¹Dwight L. Clarke, author of Stephen Watts Kearny: Soldier of the West, is president of the Zamorano Club and a fellow of the California Historical Society. George Ruhlen, formerly post quartermaster at Fort Rosecrans where the dead of the Battle of San Pasqual are buried, is a retired United States Army colonel.
memory of Kearny's gallant aide. Following one of San Francisco's many fires of the fifties, the boxes of stove parts found their way to a rubbish pile. When one was opened by chance, it was found to contain a human skeleton. At first foul play was suspected, but eventually it was widely believed that the bones were those of Captain Johnston. If true, the monument in Piqua stands over a box of stove parts! The story is told at length by Arthur Woodward in *Lances at San Pascual.*
The remaining bodies interred at Old Town were transferred some time in the eighties to Point Loma and again in 1888 were reinterred in the adjoining Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery—their fourth resting place! There they reposed neglected for many years under a headstone simply marked "16 Unknown U. S. Soldiers." (The graves of Captain Moore and his brother-in-law, Lieutenant Hammond, were nearby.)
Colonel George Ruhlen was post-quartermaster at Fort Rosecrans in 1911. Feeling that these heroic dead merited greater respect, he set in motion the necessary steps to mark their last resting place. His efforts, with the names of the dead, are best told in his letter to the superintendent of the cemetery (by strange coincidence a captain named Kearney). It follows:
San Diego
January 25, 1948.
Superintendent, Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery,
San Diego, California
My dear Captain Kearney:
I have obtained from Mrs. Winifred Davidson, Historian, San Diego Historical Society, the names of the victims of the San Pasqual Battle, December 6, 1846, who are buried in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, . . .
[There follows a list of names differing only slightly from those listed below.]
The . . . listed names are those marked on the bronze plate attached to the boulder marking the grave of these soldiers.
Nearby in the same section of the cemetery are the graves of Captain Benjamin D. Moore and 2d Lt Thomas C. Hammond, of Companies C and K, 1st U. S. Dragoons.
The reason the above names do not appear in your cemetery burial records may be explained somewhat by the following information.
In 1911 while I was post quartermaster at Fort Rosecrans, California, the post cemetery was under my jurisdiction. My interest was aroused by a headstone marked "16 Unknown U S Soldiers." The burial record indicates the remains in this grave had been transferred from the Cemetery at Oldtown to which place
they had been brought from the San Pasqual Battlefield. These data are recorded in the old post cemetery book which is in your possession. Nearby were the graves of Capt. Benjamin D. Moore, 1st Dragoons, and Lt. Thomas C. Hammond, 1st Dragoons, both of whom were killed at San Pasqual, December 6, 1846.
A perusal of available histories indicated that General Kearny lost three officers and 16 men killed at San Pasqual, and all leads tended to the fact that the remains in the “unknown” grave were those of dragoons killed in that battle.
It was inconceivable that brave men killed in battle should lie in an unmarked grave. Accordingly a letter was prepared for the signature of Major Geo. H. McManus, CAC, Commanding Officer of Fort Rosecrans, setting forth the facts and information obtained, which he sent to the Adjutant General of the Army requesting authority to mark the headstone with the names of those killed at San Pasqual and that the names be furnished.
The letter was returned by the War Department disapproving the request on the grounds that the proof was not sufficient that these were the same bodies, but the reply went on to quote General Kearny’s report that he had buried his dead, three officers and 16 men on the battlefield, and the names of the dead were listed in the War Department reply. This communication was filed with the cemetery burial book.
Subsequently in 1921 or 1922 while on duty in the War Department at Washington, D. C., the opportunity occurred to present the whole matter to Major General Willard A. Holbrook, Chief of Cavalry, and an old 1st Cavalryman, who immediately took a deep interest in the affair. A letter to the commanding officer of Fort Rosecrans was returned with the notation that no record could be found of Major McManus’ letter. Then I went to the Adjutant General’s office in the War Department, found the file copy of Major McManus’ letter and showed it to General Holbrook. From that time on things began to pop. The Army became interested and the San Diego Historical Society became active in the matter. A boulder was brought from the San Pasqual Battlefield, set up on the grave and bronze plates were attached recording the names of those buried there.
You may note in the old burial book a notation by Colonel Edwin Landon, CAC, Commanding Officer of Fort Rosecrans in 1922, directing attention to a letter pasted in the book on the opposite page. This letter is now missing. Also a notation I made and initialed in 1933, stating that the names of the unknown soldiers are marked on a plate on the stone now over their grave.
I trust that the information herewith will give you sufficient data to record the names of those gallant soldiers who died in battle for their country in your permanent file, where they should have been placed years ago.
Sincerely yours,
George Ruhlen,
Colonel US Army, Retired.
The names on the bronze plate referred to above are:
1st United States Dragoons
Company C
Sergeant John Cox⁴
Corporal William C. West
Private George Ashmead
Private Joseph T. Campbell
Private William Dalton
Private John Dunlap
Private Joseph B. Kennedy⁵
Private William B. Leckey
Private Samuel T. Repose
California Volunteer
Henry Baker
Company K
1st Sergeant Otis L. Moore
Sergeant William Whitress
Corporal George Ramsdale
Farrier David W. Johnson
Private William H. Fiel
Private William C. Gholston
Private Robert S. Gregory
Topographical Engineer Detachment
François Menard
Colonel Ruhlen believes this is the only correct list of San Pasqual’s dead, buried at Fort Rosecrans, that has ever been published. It will be noted that it differs slightly from the list in “Appendix D” of *Lances at San Pascual*. The Ruhlen list includes a Private Henry Baker omitted from the *Lances* Appendix but mentioned in footnote 140 on page 84, while Woodward has a line reading “One volunteer killed—Hugh McKaffray K Co. 1st Dragoons, missing.”
Colonel G. D. Murphey in a letter to Colonel Ruhlen dated February 5, 1948, enclosed a list of those killed at San Pasqual. Since two of the names were spelled differently than on the copies of the muster rolls in Colonel Ruhlen’s possession, he requested verification from the enlistment records. General Witsell in response supplied the names listed above. In Colonel Murphey’s letter, earlier referred to, he said, “the name of the civilian topographer who was killed is not known.” Colonel Ruhlen feels there can be no doubt that he was François Menard, one of Emory’s mountain men.
The names on the burial plate total eighteen. To these must be added Captains Abraham Johnston and Benjamin Moore and Lieutenant Thomas Hammond, or a total of twenty-one Americans killed or mortally wounded at San Pasqual—three officers, sixteen enlisted men, the volunteer Henry Baker, and the civilian Menard in the topographical service. McKaffray (or McCaffrey according to Company K’s roster) is not included as a casualty as his fate was unknown. He may have been killed or he may have deserted.
Of equal claim to fame are those other members of Companies C and K of the First Dragoons, who with General Kearny and his staff made the entire march from Fort Leavenworth to San Diego—a march only equalled in our history by that of the Mormon Battalion in 1846-47. General Kearny’s staff that rode with him into San Diego included Major Thomas Swords, quartermaster, Captain Henry Smith Turner, Lieutenants William Hemsley Emory and W. H. Warner of the Topographical Corps and their assistant, Norman Bestor, Dr. John Strother Griffin, assistant surgeon, the artist John Mix Stanley, and the guide, Antoine Robidoux.
The rosters of Companies C and K, including the casualties listed above, follow:
Members of Companies C and K, 1st Dragoons
Who Marched with General Kearny from the Rio Grande to California
September to December, 1846
Company C, 1st Regiment of Dragoons
Captain Benjamin Daviess Moore, Commanding Company
| Rank | Name |
|---------------|-----------------------|
| 1st Sergeant | Richard J. Falls |
| Sergeants | Richard Williams |
| | John O’Brien |
| | John Cox |
| Corporals | Paul D. Wood |
| | John W. Cassin |
| | Edward Heinricks |
| | Oliver C. Wilson |
| | William C. West |
| Buglers | Michael Halpin |
| | James R. McKee |
| Farrier | John S. Roody |
| Privates | George Ashmead |
| | Stephen A. Bishop |
| | George S. Bryan |
| | Zarah Bobo |
| | John Brown |
| Private | George Coffelt |
| | Edward Curran |
| | Michael Curran |
| | Mark D. Childs |
| | Joseph T. Campbell |
| | Jeremiah Crabb |
| | Carolus B. Callahan |
| | Thomas A. Douglass |
| | John Dunlap |
| | A. C. Donaldson |
| | William Dalton |
| | Peter Forney |
| | Erasmus D. French |
| | Thomas Grady |
| | John Hemerle |
| | Joseph B. Kennedy |
| | Matthew Lauber |
| | William C. Leckey |
| | Jacob Mauser |
| | John McNeilly |
| | James Murphy |
| | George F. Myers |
| | John Murty |
| | Ferdinand Nicholas |
| | James A. Osbourne |
| | George Pearce |
| | Henry Purcell |
| | Amasa Palmer |
| | James Pinkerton |
| | Isaac N. Randolph |
| | Samuel T. Repose |
| | James Repeto |
| | David Streeter |
| | John Stokely |
| | Michael A. Tubb |
| | William Tubb |
| | Christian Teinchman |
| | Paul Vanaken |
| | John Vyer |
| | George N. Williams |
| | Jacob Westfall |
| | John White |
(1 officer, 59 enlisted men)
Company K, 1st Regiment of Dragoons
2d Lieutenant Thomas C. Hammond, Commanding Company
1st Sergeant Otis L. Moore
Sergeants Theodore Heathcote William Whitress
Corporals Joseph Clapin George W. Whitehorn George Ramsdale
Farrier David W. Johnson
Privates Hiram Andrew Asa M. Bowen Thomas W. Beale John Brestler Samuel E. Cooper
Privates John Chambers Andrew J. Courtner John Cutler William B. Dunn Valentine Ernest John Fetzer William H. Fiel William C. Gholston Michael Green Robert S. Gregory Conrad Humbkey Jeremiah Kelliher Minard J. Lefever Hugh McElroy Hugh McCaffrey Robert Moore
Privates David H. Nickerson Godfrey Newmayer Francis O'Rourke Gilbert Powell William Pierce John Palmer William Raynor Thomas Robeson Charles Shaw John Smith Louis Steingrandt Mathew Totten Hilary Twist Israel C. Tindall F. L. Venmenmon Jacob Wilber
(1 officer, 44 enlisted men)
Two privates of Company K who accompanied Captain Cooke arrived in California in January, 1847, and were assigned to Company C. They were:
Privates: Jacob Jagge Thomas Lester
Lt A. J. Smith arrived in California with Captain Cooke and assumed command of Company C in January, 1847.\(^{11}\)
Doctor Griffin’s report (see Woodward’s *Lances at San Pascual*, p. 59) lists four on the medical staff. We can only identify three—Griffin himself and the two hospital stewards Callahan and French. Probably another dragoon not named was a third steward, but that would not change the total.
If lists of names are lacking in human interest, the remarks that the mustering officer of Company C (Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke) noted on the muster roll of February, 1847, bring them to life:
Discipline—Good
Instruction—Improving
Military appearance—Good, except for clothing
Accoutrements—Good
Clothing—A mixture of soldier, sailor, & citizen;
Many ragged, some positively naked.
To these comments should be added the harsh fact that these soldiers
had not been paid even their meager wages since ten months previously, on April 30, 1846, prior to their departure from Fort Leavenworth. The pay scale per month at that time for the several grades was:
| Rank | Salary |
|---------------|------------|
| Colonel | $122.00 |
| Major | 107.00 |
| Captain | 82.00 |
| Lieutenant | 65.00 |
| 1st Sergeant | 16.00 |
| Sergeant | 13.00 |
| Corporal | 10.00 |
| Bugler | 9.00 |
| Private | 8.00 |
Truly United States expansion a century ago, like later crises in the history of mankind, was also “purchased by blood, sweat and tears.”
NOTES
1. In the preparation of *Stephan Watts Kearny: Soldier of the West*, the author originally planned to include two appendices. The first was the roster of Companies C and K of the First Dragoons who marched with General Kearny from the Rio Grande to California, September to December, 1846. The other was a list of all American casualties at San Pasqual on December 6 and 7. In securing these data, I was greatly aided by Colonel George Ruhlen, U. S. Army retired. For lack of space these appendices were omitted from the biography, but the data gathered for them are worthy of preservation. Since the compilation is largely the work of Colonel George Ruhlen, his name is included as a coauthor now that the material appears as a separate article.
2. Lt. W. H. Emory, *Notes of a Military Reconnaissance from Fort Leavenworth in Missouri to San Diego in California*, 30 Congress, 1st sess., Sen. Doc. 7 (Reprint: Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 1951), p. 170.
3. Arthur Woodward, *Lances at San Pascual* (San Francisco, California Historical Society, 1948), pp. 47-53.
4. Died of wounds on December 10, 1846.
5. Died of wounds on December 21, 1846.
6. Resigned as corporal on November 27, 1846.
7. Appointed corporal on November 27, 1846.
8. Hospital steward.
9. Hospital steward.
10. This dragoon’s name is spelled in three different ways on the several muster rolls of Company C—Teinchard, Trenchard, and Teinchman. Bancroft spells it Tenchman; Woodward, Teinchman. It appears as Teinchman on the
muster rolls from December, 1846, to February, 1847; probably by that time the company clerk had ascertained the correct spelling.
11. The data on Companies C and K were compiled from photostatic copies of the original muster rolls filed with the National Archives, Washington, D. C., by Colonel George Ruhlen, U. S. Army, retired. The muster rolls examined were: Company C, 1st Regiment of Dragoons, Army of the United States, August 31 to October 31, 1846; October 31 to December 31, 1846; December 1, 1846, to February 28, 1847. Company K, 1st Regiment of Dragoons, Army of the United States, August 31 to October 31, 1846; October 31 to December 6, 1846. | <urn:uuid:0b1830b0-e098-4a0c-9941-c5ccb26ca552> | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | http://militarymuseum.org/RosterArmyOfTheWest.pdf | 2018-01-24T11:31:31Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084894125.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20180124105939-20180124125939-00732.warc.gz | 228,231,353 | 4,189 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.978924 | eng_Latn | 0.996316 | [
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What is Heartburn?
Heartburn, or reflux, occurs when stomach acid flows back up into the oesophagus (food pipe) which causes irritation to the inner lining of the oesophagus. Heartburn/reflux happens when the stomach’s valve, which separates the stomach and oesophagus, does not close properly. Symptoms can be worse when bending down/over.
What are the Symptoms?
- Pain and discomfort in the upper body and behind the breast bone
- Fluid or food from your stomach coming into your mouth
- An acid/sour/bitter taste in your mouth
- Sudden increase in saliva (hypersalivation)
- Burping
- Dry cough (especially at midnight)
What are some risk factors? Some factors can trigger or worsen heartburn, such as:
- Some foods (spicy/junk foods)
- Caffeinated drinks (coffee/tea)
- Soft drinks and sodas
- Having large meals
- Eating too fast
- Anxiety/stress
- Lying down after eating
- Physical activity soon after eating
- Certain medical conditions
Medicines and Treatments?
Some medicines are available without a prescription from a pharmacy. A pharmacist can advise and/or refer you to a doctor when necessary. You should always let your pharmacist know of your medications, medical conditions, allergies or pregnant & breastfeeding status so they can recommend the right treatment for you.
Medicines that help include:
| Antacids | H₂-antagonists | Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) |
|----------|----------------|-------------------------------|
| - Works by neutralising the gastric acid in the stomach for quick relief of symptoms
- Preferred if pregnant or breastfeeding
- Do not take within 2 hours of medications
- Avoid using for longer than 1-2 weeks
- Brands: Gaviscon, Mylanta | - Works by reducing the amount of gastric acid produced in the stomach
- Can be used 30-60 minutes before eating if reflux occurs with food/drinks
- Avoid using for longer than 1-2 weeks
- Brands: Zantac | - Works by reducing the amount of gastric acid produced in the stomach
- Used to prevent heartburn/reflux symptoms (does not provide a quick relief)
→ Can be used with antacids
- Brands: Nexium |
Self-care & Lifestyle Tips
- Avoid or reduce consumption of trigger foods & drinks
- Eat smaller meals more often than large meals less often
- Do not rush when eating; chew slowly
- Use an extra pillow or raise the bed’s head to avoid lying down flat
- Wear loose clothing around your waist
Resources:
1. Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Self-Care Fact Card: Heartburn & Indigestion
2. Pharmaceutical Society of Australia: Non-Prescription Medicines in the Pharmacy
Supervised by Angela (Pharmacist) | <urn:uuid:618d43e7-139e-4ebe-9f7d-28adaa31f05a> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | http://www.cunderdinpharmacy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Your-Health-Matters-Gut-Health-Part-1-Information-Sheet.pdf | 2020-09-18T14:35:58+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400187899.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20200918124116-20200918154116-00025.warc.gz | 174,087,161 | 595 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.9949 | eng_Latn | 0.9949 | [
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Hymn of the Day – “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today”
1. Jesus Christ is ris’n today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!
2. Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heav’nly king, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!
3. But the pains which He endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured; Alleluia!
Now above the sky He’s king, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!
4. Sing we to our God above, Alleluia!
Praise eternal as His love; Alleluia!
Praise Him, all ye heav’nly host, Alleluia!
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Alleluia!
Word Scramble
atEers
rayM adeganMel
otbm
nealg
srein
ceretsriroun
moewn
leuAlila
Produced by Heidi D. Sias. May be reproduced intact for congregational use only, not to be sold. For further permissions contact firstname.lastname@example.org.
Front cover art (by Ed Riojas) copyright © 2006 by Higher Things. Used by permission. Available from Higher Things through their web store at: www.higherthings.org/store.html.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Catechism excerpts from the 1912 Catechism, other art and all hymns are in the public domain.
Remainder copyright © 2010 Heidi Dawn Sias.
What to listen for during the service?
Listen for the word “Alleluia.” How many times do you hear that word today? Why do we say or sing that word so many times today? What are we celebrating?
Gospel Reading: Mark 16:1-8
(The Gospel Reading is from the part of the Bible that is about Jesus and his ministry.)
1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Questions to talk about with your parents:
1) Who went to the tomb to anoint Jesus?
2) Jesus wasn’t in the tomb any more. Who did they find there instead?
3) What did the angel say to them?
4) What did it mean when the angel said “He has risen”?
5) Why were they afraid?
People of the Bible: Mary Magdalene
In the Gospel reading we hear about Mary Magdalene. But who was Mary Magdalene? We hear in Luke and Mark that Jesus cleansed Mary Magdalene of 7 demons. She then became a loyal follower and supporter of Jesus. We hear in Matthew 27 that Mary Magdalene was at the crucifixion of Jesus as well as His burial in the tomb. As we heard in the Gospel reading today, Mary Magdalene was also one of the women that went to the tomb on Easter morning and found the tomb empty. All four Gospels record that Mary Magdalene was among the first ones to see Jesus after His resurrection. Mary Magdalene believed that Jesus forgave all her sins and He was her Savior. | <urn:uuid:508a4c1b-e2d4-4fba-a277-0266e6560fab> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | http://www.peacelutheranhastings.org/uploads/2/3/3/0/23302136/easter-2020_0412_children_bulletin.pdf | 2020-09-18T12:48:36+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400187899.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20200918124116-20200918154116-00030.warc.gz | 221,147,114 | 962 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.989023 | eng_Latn | 0.997435 | [
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From sand spit to historic site
By Jackie Weber
Ask people today what landmark they most identify with Elk Rapids and the answer will most assuredly be the historic Island House and the white wooden footbridge connecting it to River Street.
A favorite idling spot of locals and visitors alike, the Island House rose along with the fortunes of one of the town's founding fathers.
In 1866, Henry Noble and his business partner Wirt Dexter purchased a half-acre sand spit extending north of the mouth of the Elk River into Grand Traverse Bay. Later that year, Henry's brother, Edwin Noble, moved to Elk Rapids and eventually joined the family's lumber and iron business.
When it came time for Edwin to build a home, he chose a building site on the sand spit which was now an island in the middle of the river. Many townspeople were against him building there, but Edwin persisted.
He had the low spots filled with dirt and an area leveled for his home. The island was later named "The Isle of Trees" because of the numerous and varied species of trees Edwin planted there.
Edwin's sons Henry and Percy (by first wife Emmeline who died in 1879) and his daughter Natalie (by second wife Cora) were all born on the island.
The house was small at first but as Edwin's family grew, so did their household needs. Rooms were added for the servants who cooked, cleaned and took care of the family.
The house, though small by big-city standards, became one of the more impressive structures in Elk Rapids. It contained four bedrooms, a parlor, dining room, two bathrooms with marble basins and nickel-plated fixtures, and four baths – with hot and cold running water – the latter a luxury indeed at a time when most working class homes were lucky to have one without indoor plumbing.
There were lots of parties on the island. In the winter, the Noble family and their friends would have ice skating and sleighing parties together, warming themselves afterwards around a cozy fire in the parlor. They had pets of all kinds including a friendly doe, horses, ducks, chickens and even prairie dogs to play with.
Every day was an adventure for the Noble children. There were trips aboard the steamers and schooners that regularly docked in Elk Rapids to New York, Chicago and Boston, where they dined in the finest restaurants and shopped in the most exclusive shops.
There were paintings and books on all subjects available for the children in the family library, as well as private music lessons for Natalie and riding lessons for the boys.
Life on the island seemed enchanted. Good manners and formal dress were the everyday custom. Horse-drawn carriages unloaded dinner guests at a special entrance under the house so they would not soil their skirts and pants in mud or snow.
Around the turn of the century, Edwin's position within his family's company began to change and his financial holdings to diminish. He sold his beautiful island home to Elk Rapids Iron Company in 1903.
For a number of years, the Island House was used as a vacation home to accommodate the business associates of the iron company. In 1926, the property was transferred to Wirt Dexter's widow, Josephine, and later their daughter, Katherine Dexter McCormick. She never lived on the island, but allowed relatives to stay there during the summers.
In 1948, Katherine deeded the island to the Village of Elk Rapids for a community center. Rooms were rented out for civic meetings and small parties.
In 1949, the village opened a public library there. In 1979, after a lengthy campaign by local residents, the Island House and its grounds were recognized as a Michigan Historic Site.
The library underwent a major renovation in 1993, although architects were careful to retain many of the interesting features of the original house, like the stately fireplaces and rich oak moldings, making it one of the most unique library facilities in the state.
Plans were unveiled in early 1998 to add a second addition to winterize the porch and convert parts of the library's cavernous Michigan basement into work rooms and storage areas.
Good citizen Edwin S. Noble
By Glenn Ruggles
When Edwin Noble died in his sleep in 1922, most Elk Rapidians knew they had lost their postmaster of the previous 25 years. Only a few were aware that one of northern Michigan's most colorful and controversial characters was gone.
From 1865, when Noble came north with news that Lee had surrendered at Appomattox, until the early 1890s when his career in iron and lumber came to a mysterious close, Edwin Noble dominated the growth of Elk Rapids and most of Antrim County.
Said to be a wizard with figures, he was the driving force behind one of Michigan's early industrial empires: The Dexter-Noble Company and its extension, the Elk Rapids Iron Company.
Outspoken, sarcastic, witty, arrogant and violently patriotic, Noble appeared to be a contradiction at times. A man of firm principle whose wit and sarcasm could slice an opponent to ribbons, he often appeared as nothing more than a "fairy tale" character.
But whatever the final analysis discloses, Edwin Noble was typical of the ingenious, hard-driving, free-wheeling capitalist of 19th century America; he had an opinion on every issue of the day.
A long-time partner in the Dexter-Noble Company and secretary-treasurer of the Elk Rapids Iron Company, Noble was involved in blast furnaces, chemical and cement plants, sawmills and lumber camps, and brickworks.
A lifelong Democrat in solid Republican territory – he was appointed postmaster in the 1912 Democratic upset that elected Woodrow Wilson as President – Noble was an ardent advocate of free trade. His sense of humor and razor-like pen are evident in this brief collection of his best thoughts:
On philanthropy: "Is the man who attends a church social and eats fifty cents worth of provision, for which he pays 10 cents, a philanthropist or a hog?"
On the nobility of slavery: "If I wanted 200 men and found 400 sitting about, I should get them cheap. If 400 were wanted and but 200 to be had, I should pay them their price."
On sexism: "Has the man who stands at the street corner and makes suggestive remarks about ladies who pass ever had a mother, or was he always an orphan?"
Long before NAFTA, Noble had this to say about free trade: "I, as an American citizen, am not willing to own that with the best ores, best fuel and, I believe, best brains in the world, we cannot compete with the nations of the earth if allowed to do so untrammeled by legislation."
In 1892, Edwin was seriously injured in a boiler explosion aboard his pleasure boat. The steam released in the blast badly burned his legs and he would spend the next two years recovering from those injuries.
At the time of the mishap, family members suspected it may not have been an accident, because around the same time Edwin's name was taken off the list of stockholders in the Elk Rapids Iron Co., with no explanation given for the loss of his shares.
Soon after, Edwin was forced to liquidate most of his land holdings, including the Island House, and find other employment. He ran a grocery store downtown for several years, and later worked for the Elk Rapids Cement Co. until it closed in 1911.
Edwin Noble became silent in 1922, and the golden heyday of the Grand Traverse region was dulled as his seemingly endless stream of northern Michigan wisdom came to a close. | <urn:uuid:f30dccfc-6fa3-4866-adc7-ffedac42da6f> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | http://elkrapidshistoricsights.com/wp-content/uploads/sand-spit-to-historic-sight.pdf | 2020-09-18T13:37:33+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400187899.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20200918124116-20200918154116-00031.warc.gz | 44,858,951 | 1,564 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.999401 | eng_Latn | 0.999401 | [
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At Jessie Younghusband School, whenever we touch History in our curriculum, we always begin with the question ‘Where are we on a timeline?’. This is because we are aware that many of our children find it hard to think about long, long ago, when they do not think about their own history, which then links to their family history. We then help them make reference to the periods of history they have learnt about before and we then make comparison to how many years ago. We have committed to always ask the question ‘How many years ago was that?’ when comparing significant events and people from history. We also ensure we try to show this practically so children can start to visually picture when in time we are learning about. We then always want to look at the question, ‘What can we learn from this significant event or person?’ so that we can either learn from the mistakes made in history and how they contributed to our national and international development, or we can consider what attitudes or actions we should look to repeat.
In the background of this, is our hands on and connected approach to learning and we endeavour to make the abstract nature of a passage through time more concrete through the use of text, images, films and hands on experiences. This is also supported with our cross-curriculum approach as we can then be exploring history through other subjects and particularly through the arts, ICT and our teaching of English.
Our progression is developed through this intent as this structure provides the progression, along with our own professional judgement of the questions we need to ask the children at each point. As progress is made, less time needs to be spent on the grounding questions and we can spend time going deeper on the questions about the past.
Chronological Understanding
YEAR R (PRIOR LEARNING)
Vocab: history, past, present, now, future
- To talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society.
- To know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
- To understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
YEAR 1
Vocab: ancient, change, consequence
- To sequence events or objects in chronological order.
- To demonstrate and develop an awareness of the past, using common words relating to the passing of time.
YEAR 2
Vocab: identity, empire, characteristics, contrast, short- and long-term timescales
- To sequence artefacts closer together in time.
- To sequence items from events in different periods of my life.
- To describe memories of key events in my life.
- To use a timeline to place important events in order.
YEAR 3
Vocab: chronological, judgement, perspective, civilisation, historical enquiry
- To place the time studied on a timeline.
- To sequence events or artefacts within the period studied.
- To use dates and terms related to the study unit and passing of time.
YEAR 4
Vocab: diversity, society, interpretation, cultural, economic, military, political, religious & social history, Egyptian, pharaoh, pyramid, dynasty, sphinx
- To place events from the time studied on a timeline.
- To use terms related to the period and begin to date specific events.
- To understand more complex terms e.g.: BCE and AD.
- To begin to build up an overall picture of main events in history (in Britain and the world) over several centuries.
YEAR 5
Vocab: Invader, Centurion, settlement, civilisation, impact, comparison, eram culture
- To place current study of timeline in relation to previous studies.
- To know and sequence key events of time studied.
- To use relevant terms and period labels.
- To make comparisons between different times in the past.
- Describe events using historical vocabulary such as: decade, century, before, during, after, era, period.
YEAR 6
Vocab: Islam, Muslim, cathedral
- To place current study on timeline in relation to other studies.
- To use relevant dates and terminology, relevant to time period studied.
- Sequence up to 10 events on a timeline, using knowledge from prior learning.
- Make detailed comparisons between events in British history and that of other countries.
- Understand what effect world events in history had on other countries at the time and since.
KEY STAGE 3
Vocab: historical concepts, continuity, change, cause, consequence, similarity, difference, significance
- To know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day.
YEAR R (PRIOR LEARNING)
Vocab: history, past, present, now, future
- To talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society.
- To know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
- To understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
YEAR 1
Vocab: ancient, change, consequence
- To begin to describe similarities and differences in artefacts.
- To explore the differences in their own and others’ lives e.g., through discussion / drama.
- To use a range of sources to find out characteristic features of the past.
YEAR 2
Vocab: identity, empire, characteristics, contrast, short- and long-term timescales
- To find out about people and events in other times.
- To use collections of artefacts – confidently describe similarities and differences.
- To recognise why people did things, why events happened and what happened as a result e.g., drama – develop empathy and understanding (hot seating, questioning and listening).
- To recount events from a significant time in history.
YEAR 3
Vocab: chronological, judgement, perspective, civilisation, historical enquiry
- To find out about everyday lives of people in the time studied.
- To compare other people’s lives with our life today.
- To identify reasons for and results of people’s actions.
- To understand why people may have had to do something.
- To study change through the lives of significant individuals (including placing changes on a timeline).
YEAR 4
Vocab: diversity, society, interpretation, cultural, economic, military, political, religious & social history, Egyptian, pharaoh, pyramid, dynasty, sphinx
- To use evidence to reconstruct life in the time studied.
- To identify key features and events of time studied.
- To look for links and effects in time studied. e.g., what effect did the Greeks have on Britain?
- To offer a reasonable explanation for some events.
- To develop a broad understanding of ancient civilisations.
YEAR 5
Vocab: Invader, Centurion, settlement, civilisation, impact, comparison, eram culture
- To study different aspects of life of different people – differences between men and women.
- To examine causes and results of great events and the impact on people.
- To compare life in early and late times studied.
- To compare an aspect of life with the same aspect in another period. E.g. food, housing.
YEAR 6
Vocab: Islam, Muslim, cathedral
- To find out about beliefs, behaviour and characteristics of people, recognising that not everyone shares the same views and feelings.
- To compare beliefs and behaviour with another period studied.
- To write an explanation of a past event in terms of cause and effect, using evidence to support and illustrate their explanation.
- To know key dates, characters and events of time studied.
- To use prior knowledge of Greeks and Egyptians to compare and contrast with Early Islamic civilisation
- To study an ancient Islamic civilisation in detail.
- To study contrasts between a non-European civilisation and Britain at a specific period in time (e.g. 900AD)
KEY STAGE 3
Vocab: historical concepts, continuity, change, cause, consequence, similarity, difference, significance
- To gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.
- To learn how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.
YEAR R (PRIOR LEARNING)
Vocab: history, past, present, now, future
- To talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society.
- To know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
- To understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
YEAR 1
Vocab: ancient, change, consequence
- To begin to identify different ways to represent the past (e.g. photos, stories, adults talking about the past, BBC website).
- To use stories to encourage children to distinguish between fact and fiction (e.g. how reliable are adult’s memories?).
YEAR 2
Vocab: identity, empire, characteristics, contrast, short- and long-term timescales
- To compare pictures or photographs of people or events in the past.
- To be able to identify different ways to represent the past.
- To discuss which methods of research are most reliable (photos, accounts, newspapers, books, artefacts, internet etc.).
- To understand why some people in the past did things.
YEAR 3
Vocab: chronological, judgement, perspective, civilisation, historical enquiry
- To identify and give reasons for different ways in which the past is represented.
- To distinguish between different sources and evaluate their usefulness.
- To look at representations of the period – museums, cartoons, television programmes etc.
YEAR 4
Vocab: diversity, society, interpretation, cultural, economic, military, political, religious & social history, Egyptian, pharaoh, pyramid, dynasty, sphinx
- To begin to evaluate the usefulness of different sources.
- To use textbooks and historical knowledge (our own and that of other people).
- To begin to understand how historical items (museums / archaeology) help us to build up an accurate picture of how people lived in the past.
YEAR 5
Vocab: Invader, Centurion, settlement, civilisation, impact, comparison, eram culture
- To compare accounts of events from different sources - fact or fiction?
- To offer some reasons for different versions of events.
YEAR 6
Vocab: Islam, Muslim, cathedral
- To look at the evidence available to see how historical events have shaped people’s lives (including the changing power of monarchs).
- To link sources and work out how conclusions were arrived at.
- To consider ways of checking the accuracy of interpretations – fact or fiction and opinion.
- To be aware that different evidence will lead to different conclusions.
- To show confident use of the library etc. for research.
KEY STAGE 3
Vocab: historical concepts, continuity, change, cause, consequence, similarity, difference, significance
- To understand the complexity of people's lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
YEAR R (PRIOR LEARNING)
Vocab: history, past, present, now, future
- To understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
YEAR 1
Vocab: ancient, change, consequence
- To sort artefacts into “then” and “now”.
- To ask and answer simple questions about the past from sources of information e.g., artefacts, photos etc.
- To use as wide a range of sources as possible.
- To use speaking and listening (links to literacy) to ask and answer questions related to different sources and objects.
YEAR 2
Vocab: identity, empire, characteristics, contrast, short- and long-term timescales
- To use a source to find out why, what, who, how, where?
- To ask questions and find answers.
- To sequence a collection of artefacts and to understand the use of timelines.
- To discuss the effectiveness of sources.
- To estimate the ages of people by studying and discussing their features and how this shows the passing of time in a person’s life.
YEAR 3
Vocab: chronological, judgement, perspective, civilisation, historical enquiry
- To use a range of sources to find out about a period in time.
- To observe small details – artefacts, pictures.
- To select and record information relevant to the study.
- To begin to use the library, e-learning for research.
- To ask and answer questions.
YEAR 4
Vocab: diversity, society, interpretation, cultural, economic, military, political, religious & social history, Egyptian, pharaoh, pyramid, dynasty, sphinx
- To use evidence to build up a picture of a past event.
- To choose relevant material to present a picture of one aspect of life in times past.
- To ask a variety of questions.
- To use the library, e-learning for research.
YEAR 5
Vocab: Invader, Centurion, settlement, civilisation, impact, comparison, eram culture
- To begin to identify primary and secondary sources.
- To use evidence to build up a picture of life in time period studied.
- To select relevant sources of information.
- To show confident use of library, e-learning, research.
YEAR 6
Vocab: Islam, Muslim, cathedral
- To recognise primary and secondary sources.
- To use a range of sources to find out about an aspect of time past – suggest omissions and the means of finding out.
- To evaluate the usefulness and accuracy of different sources of evidence.
- To be able to select the most appropriate source of evidence for a particular task.
- To bring knowledge gathered from several sources together in a fluent account.
KEY STAGE 3
Vocab: historical concepts, continuity, change, cause, consequence, similarity, difference, significance
- To ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement.
YEAR R (PRIOR LEARNING)
Vocab: ancient, change, consequence
- To talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society.
- To know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
- To understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
YEAR 1
Vocab: flexibility, teamwork, physical activity, competition, participate
- To communicate knowledge and understanding in a variety of ways: Timelines (3D with objects/sequential pictures); Drawing; Drama/role play; Writing (reports, labelling, simple recount); ICT.
YEAR 2
Vocab: identity, empire, characteristics, contrast, short- and long-term timescales
- To communicate knowledge and understanding in a variety of ways: Class display/museum; Annotated photographs; ICT.
YEAR 3
Vocab: chronological, judgement, perspective, civilisation, historical enquiry
- To communicate knowledge and understanding in a variety of ways: discussions; pictures, writing, annotations; drama; models etc.
YEAR 4
Vocab: diversity, society, interpretation, cultural, economic, military, political, religious & social history, Egyptian, pharaoh, pyramid, dynasty, sphinx
- To select data and organise it into a data file to answer historical questions.
- To know the period in which the study is set.
- To display findings in a variety of ways.
- To work independently and in groups.
YEAR 5
Vocab: Invader, Centurion, settlement, civilisation, impact, comparison, eram culture
- To fit events into a display sorted by theme time.
- To use appropriate terms, matching dates to people and events.
- To record and communicate knowledge in different forms.
- To work independently and in groups, showing initiative.
YEAR 6
Vocab: Islam, Muslim, cathedral
- To select an aspect of study to make a display.
- To use a variety of ways to communicate knowledge and understanding, including extended writing.
- To plan and carry out individual investigations.
KEY STAGE 3
Vocab: historical concepts, continuity, change, cause, consequence, similarity, difference, significance
- To make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses. | 6fa20169-c09e-46d9-b664-7e3091231f3b | CC-MAIN-2024-38 | https://eschoolscms.blob.core.windows.net/production/schools/90/resource-items/DgG4Uex3gwfsOz1cFbeZDTtIGXL1Gp2Jp171WEmK.pdf | 2024-09-12T15:05:12+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-38/segments/1725700651460.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20240912142729-20240912172729-00859.warc.gz | 217,070,752 | 3,387 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.993429 | eng_Latn | 0.994864 | [
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Branstone
Teacher Information Pack
Branstone Farm
Sandown
Isle of Wight
PO36 0LT
Phone: 01983 865540
## Contents
| Section | Page |
|----------------------------------------------|------|
| Introduction | 3 |
| Prices and Booking | 4 |
| Workshops | 5-16 |
| Three Little Pigs | 5 |
| Owl Babies | 6 |
| Earth Walks | 7 |
| Historic Farm | 8 |
| Natural Art: Andy Goldsworthy | 9 |
| Orientation | 10 |
| Mapping | 11 |
| Shelter Building | 12 |
| Minibeasts | 13 |
| Pond Dipping | 14 |
| Tracks and Signs | 15 |
| Beak Adaptations | 16 |
| Managing Your Visit | 17 |
Branstone is a 23 acre site run by Island Futures, which is part of the Isle of Wight Council. We are located on the A3056 in the heart of the beautiful Isle of Wight countryside between Sandown and Arreton.
Established in 1973 with the vision to provide young people the chance to learn about the outdoors, Branstone now provides a fun and immersive learning experience in an exciting and safe outdoor environment.
Our range of cross-curricular workshops and self-led activities allow you to tailor your visit to meet the needs of your pupils and bring their learning to life.
Prices and Booking
Entry and Workshop Prices
Entry and one 1-hour long workshop £5.50 per child
Additional workshops £45 per hour.
Group Size
Workshops are available for a minimum of 20 pupils and a maximum of 35 pupils. We are able to accommodate larger groups for self-led activities, so please contact us to discuss your options if you would like to bring a larger group.
Booking
To book a visit or to make an enquiry please visit our website at www.iwight.com/branstone and fill in our Booking Enquiry form, contact us by phone on 01983 865540 or email us at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Workshop: Three Little Pigs
Time: 1 Hour
Age: EYFS and Key Stage One
Key Focus: Literacy and Science (Materials)
Learning Objective:
To experiment with, and understand the properties of different materials using the story of The Three Little Pigs.
Success Criteria:
- I can understand and retell the story of The Three Little Pigs.
- I can communicate and work in a team to create shelters using different materials.
- I can explain the properties of different materials and explain the benefits and downfalls of using each to build a shelter.
Content:
Children will take part in an interactive retelling of the Three Little Pigs story. Afterwards, we will focus on materials and their properties by building mini shelters out of three different materials; straw, sticks and clay before trying to huff and puff them down!
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
Introduce the subject of materials and their uses, explaining that different materials have different properties.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Explore the materials that have been used to build the school. Look to see if the materials in the Three Little Pigs story have been used in the children’s school or classroom.
Workshop: Owl Babies
Time: 1 Hour
Age: EYFS and Key Stage One
Key Focus: Literacy and Science (Habitats)
Learning Objective:
To explore and understand the habitats of different animals using the Owl Babies story.
Success Criteria:
- I can understand and answer questions about the story of The Owl Babies.
- I can explain the habitat that owls live in and how they have adapted to meet the needs of their environment.
- I can design and create my own owl using a combination craft and natural materials.
Content:
Children will listen to an interactive re-telling of the Owl Babies story and discuss the habitat of tawny owls. They will then be asked to hunt for mice on the grounds before thinking about how owls have adapted to make hunting at night easier. The workshop will end with children designing and creating their own owls using information learnt from the session.
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
Introduce the subject of adaptation and look at how different animals have adapted to their environment.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Compare owls to other nocturnal animals such as bats and look at the different ways animals have adapted to hunt in the dark.
Workshop: Earth Walks
Time: 1 Hour
Age: Key Stages One and Two
Key Focus: Environment
Learning Objective:
To use our senses to experience the awe and wonder of the world around us.
Success Criteria:
- I can name our five senses
- I can use my senses to explore the environment around me
- I can discuss how these different perspectives make me feel.
Content:
In this workshop children will use their senses to explore the natural environment at Branstone. They will be asked to ‘explore a leaf’, mix smelly cocktails out of plants and create a collage out of the rainbow of colours that can be found in nature.
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
What do children enjoy/find exciting about the world around them? Write a poem to describe nature using as many senses as possible.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Use palettes to make a display back at school. Write up ingredients list for smelly cocktails with cocktail name and picture. Some of the activities could be repeated back at school for comparison.
Workshop: Historic Farm (Iron Age, Saxon or Viking)
Time: 2 Hours
Age: Key Stages One and Two
Key Focus: History
Learning Objective:
To use real historical techniques used for survival and to experience life for a child on an Iron Age, Anglo-Saxon or Viking farm.
Success Criteria:
- I can describe what life was like for an Iron Age, Anglo-Saxon or Viking farmer.
- I can use historical techniques to create items needed for survival.
- I can explain how different materials can be processed to create new items.
Content:
In this immersive workshop children will experience life on a historic farm by trying some of the following activities:
- Spinning and weaving wool.
- Grinding corn on a quern stone.
- Making butter.
- Making a wattle fence.
- Playing games.
- Making ink and writing in runes.
- Selecting their own Iron Age, Anglo-Saxon or Celtic name.
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
Introduce the subject of the Iron Age, Anglo-Saxons or Vikings by looking at timelines and discussing migration.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Look at stories from the Iron Age, Anglo-Saxon or Viking Age and ask the children to write and perform a story incorporating knowledge learnt during the workshop.
Workshop: Natural Art: Andy Goldsworthy
Time: 1 Hour
Age: Key Stage Two
Key Focus: Art Sculptures
Learning Objective:
To understand Andy Goldsworthy’s style and use the environment around us to create Andy Goldsworthy inspired sculptures.
Success Criteria:
- I can explain what makes Andy Goldsworthy’s sculptures special.
- I can create my own Andy Goldsworthy style sculpture.
- I can ‘critique’ my own and others sculptures, suggesting how well they fit the style.
Content:
Children will see examples of Andy Goldsworthy’s natural sculptures and will work alone or in small groups to create their own piece of natural art using the landscape and natural objects found in our woodland area. At the end of the workshop there will be the chance for children to discuss their work and to take photographs for display at school.
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
Introduce the children to some examples of Andy Goldsworthy’s work.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Create Andy Goldsworthy inspired sculptures at school. What materials can they find there?
Workshop: Orientation
Time: 1 Hour
Age: Lower Key Stage Two
Key Focus: Mapping Skills
Learning Objective:
To use photographic landscape cues to recognise and find a place.
Success Criteria:
- I can look carefully at clues in a photo.
- I can match a photo to a landscape.
- I can safely travel to an area.
Content:
Boris the Branstone Badger has gone missing, but he has left a photo trail of where he has been for the children to find! Children will be asked to work in pairs to find locations at Branstone using visual clues in photographs to guide them. The fastest pair to find all locations will find a message left by Boris guiding them to a prize.
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
Interpreting pictures and photographs.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Children can make their own photo trail of the school or playground.
Workshop: Mapping
Time: 1 Hour
Age: Key Stage Two
Key Focus: Way Finding: Mapping
Learning Objective:
To use a map to find identified signs.
Success Criteria:
- I can use a key to recognise landscape features.
- I can orientate a map.
- I can use landscape features to identify where I am.
- I can use my map to help me travel to a point.
Content:
In this exciting workshop children will work in pairs to find specific locations marked on their map. They will learn how to use a key, orientate their map and travel to the location. They will have to move fast, though, as they will be racing their classmates to win a prize!
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
Simple map work and how to use a key.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Children can create a similar activity for a known area, such as their school or playing field. This could involve drawing a map and/or marking the location of tags on a map.
Workshop: Shelter Building
Time: 1 Hour
Age: Key Stage Two
Key Focus: Teamwork; Problem Solving
Science: Habitats
Learning Objective:
To solve a problem systematically and apply knowledge to a practical setting.
Success Criteria:
- We shared and decided on a plan.
- We tried our plan out.
- We reviewed and adapted our plan.
- We communicated effectively.
- We used our knowledge of habitats and environments to design a shelter fit for purpose.
Content:
Your class has been stranded on a deserted island and will need to work in groups to create shelters to protect them from the sun, wind, rain, snow and wild animals. The children will be encouraged to think about important elements needed for a shelter, while developing key team-working skills. At the end of the workshop you will be able to test the effectiveness of each shelter by spraying it with water while the children are inside.
The content of this workshop can also be adapted to fit in with habitat and history themes. Please indicate when booking if you would like to do this.
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
Introduce the idea of teamwork and collaborative working on other projects. Introduce the ‘plan, do, review’ way of working when working on craft projects.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Ask the children to apply the teamwork and problem solving skills to other situations in their lives.
Workshop: Minibeasts
Time: 1 Hour
Age: Key Stage One and Two
Key Focus: Environment
Learning Objective:
To use knowledge of habitats to locate minibeasts and use a key to identify them.
Success Criteria:
- I can identify places where minibeasts can be found
- I can explain what is meant by the term minibeast
- I can safely locate minibeasts and transfer a minibeast to a pot.
- I can look closely to identify features and answer questions to use a key
Content:
We’re going on a bug hunt! Search through grass, under leaves and in trees to hunt for mini beasts. Children will be asked to predict where they will find the most insects, use a key to identify the creatures they have caught and discover which insects live in which environment.
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
Research minibeasts and ask the children to make predictions about what they will find where.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Create a graph showing the results of their findings. Survey of school grounds and compare with their results from Branstone.
Workshop: Pond Dipping
Time: 1 Hour
Age: Key Stage Two
Key Focus: Environment
Learning Objective:
To identify species using a key and explain how they are adapted to their habitat.
Success Criteria:
- I can suggest what I might expect to find in the ponds.
- I can safely use equipment to dip in different pond locations and observe the creatures closely.
- I can identify features of a creature to follow a branching key.
- I can identify ways in which pond creatures are adapted to their habitat.
Content:
Explore the insects living in Branstone pond, learn about the life cycle of a frog and arrange food chains for different aquatic creatures in this hands-on workshop. Children will have the opportunity to catch their own insects, use a key to identify them and record what they have found. They will also be asked to identify aspects of each insect that has allowed them to adapt to life in water.
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
Using keys.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Use the information gathered during the activity in data handling. If possible, have a dip in the school pond and compare the results or survey and compare adaptations of creatures found to those found in the pond.
Workshop: Tracks and Signs
Time: 1 Hour
Age: Key Stage One and Two
Key Focus: Environment
Learning Objective:
To find and record evidence of mammals in a woodland habitat and use this to identify different species.
Success Criteria:
- I can explain what a mammal is
- I can predict what evidence I might find and where I could find it
- I can use an information sheet to identify what type of mammal left the evidence I found.
Content:
Your class is on a mission to save Branstone from being turned into a car park by looking for clues to prove that the site is an important habitat for different mammals. During the workshop we will discuss what a mammal is, as well as the signs they might leave. Children will then work in pairs to find and identify evidence of animal life, recording their findings as they go.
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
Discuss what a mammal is. Practice using keys for identification.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Take a copy of our identification sheets back to school to find out if there is any evidence of mammals living in the grounds. Make a plaster cast of an animal print.
Workshop: Beak Adaptations
Time: 1 Hour
Age: Key Stage Two
Key Focus: Environment
Learning Objective:
To recognise how animals adapt to suit their habitat and diet.
Success Criteria:
- I can suggest what I might expect to find in the ponds.
- I can safely use equipment to dip in different pond locations and observe the creatures closely.
- I can identify features of a creature to follow a branching key.
- I can identify ways in which pond creatures are adapted to their habitat.
Content:
Children will role-play as different birds to discover how different beaks have adapted to meet the needs of different species’ environment and diet. After recording their findings, the children will have the opportunity to get creative by designing their own bird based on features suited for different environments.
Suggested Activity Before Visit:
Link to science topic on adaptation and habitats.
Suggested Follow Up Activity:
Design a bird could be taken back to school in many ways e.g. as a stand alone activity, to influence an art project. Apply knowledge to other creatures, e.g. minibeasts.
Managing Your Visit
Parking
Coach parking is available at the entrance to Branstone. Please park by the blue ‘Branstone’ sign and walk through the gate to reception, where you will be met by a member of staff.
Timings
School visits to Branstone generally run Wednesdays and Thursdays 09:30 to 14:30. This allows time for up to three hours of workshops or self-led activities, breaks and lunch. A timetable of your day will be sent to you before your visit. If these times do not fit in with your day, please let us know as we are able to be flexible to meet your needs.
Lunch
There will be time during your visit for your class to have lunch and you are welcome to eat either outside on the grass or at the tables in our outdoor or indoor classrooms, depending on the weather.
We do not have any catering facilities on site, so please make sure your pupils bring a packed lunch and drinks for their visit. Lunches will be stored in our indoor classroom, so please make sure they are labelled to avoid confusion.
Clothing
The majority of our workshops take place outside. Please ensure that your pupils are dressed appropriately for the weather. This usually involves sunhats in the summer and waterproofs in the winter. Long sleeved tops and trousers are advised in all weather.
Children are asked to wear closed-toe footwear throughout the seasons that are appropriate for walking outdoors (trainers or wellies). Children will be asked not to take part in activities if their footwear is unsafe.
Health and Safety
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Dbacks Team-Up with the Gila River Indian Community for Native American Recognition Day Event
Christopher Lomahquahu
Gila River Indian News
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Gila River Hotels & Casinos hosted the 23rd Annual Native American Recognition Day after a year hiatus due to COVID-19. The NARD event was held before the start of the Dbacks’ July 18 game against the Chicago Cubs.
The annual NARD event brings out numerous cultural dance groups, tribal royalty and guests from tribal communities to the midsummer affair. This includes two members from an Indian community given the honor of throwing out the first pitch and singing the National Anthem.
Michael Preston, Akimel O’odham Pee-Pore Youth Council Coordinator, was given the honor to throw out the first pitch this year. He was joined by Adrian Thomas from District 5, who was selected to sing the National Anthem. Additionally, the colors were presented by the Ira H. Hayes American Legion Post 84 from District 3 Sacaton.
“We are the only tribal community to have a relationship with a Major League Baseball organization like the Dbacks,” said Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis. He credited the Dbacks efforts to sponsor NARD and the team’s sponsorship of the Community’s youth baseball tournament.
Gov. Lewis said the standard has been set between the Community’s partnership with the Dbacks through the work of the Gila River Hotels & Casinos team, who have been a big part of maintaining the relationship for 23 years.
Tribal royalty also made an appearance at the game to represent their respective communities from across the state of Arizona. “I am so excited to be here. This is one of our first big events the Gila River royalty has attended,” said Miss Gila River Alyse Marrietta.
“It means a lot, because we just started our terms right before COVID-19 hit,” said Jr. Miss Gila River Areca Jackson, who is also proud for us to be out here and share our platforms with other tribal royalty and the Community members in attendance at the game.”
Jackson again had an opportunity to represent the Community two weeks later, when she was chosen to throw out the first pitch before a Dbacks game against National League West division rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 30.
“I was nervous and excited at the same time,” said Jackson, who was happy to be accompanied on the field by her family. “I only had two practice pitches-in before I got here.”
Motivated by her family, Jackson’s ceremonial pitch was a
More on Page 6
COVID Vaccine Efforts Continue Across GRIC in Push for “Community Immunity”
Emma Hughes
Gila River Indian News
With COVID-19 cases continuing to be a concern in the state and for GRIC, Gila River Health Care continues to administer COVID-19 vaccines with daily clinics and Mobile Vaccination Units spread around the Community, including the D2 gymnasium on July 27.
Zella Jones, District 3, works in a health care facility and understands the importance of getting vaccinated. “For people on the fence, it is really important to get vaccinated,” said Jones, who brought her two sons to get vaccinated. “It helps protect you and your family by reducing the chance of getting infected by COVID.”
As the Delta variant spreads, the U.S. and the state of Arizona have recently experienced an increase in positive test results. The most recent GRHC statistics show that the Community has had 98 positive tests between July 12 and Aug. 1. Since then, the Community has administered more than 267,000 COVID tests with a positivity rate of 3.3 percent.
Nearly 21,000 COVID vaccines have been given thus far, according to the COVID-19 report released by the Tribal Health Department on August 2. Currently, 43 percent of individuals 18+ years who live within GRIC’s boundaries have been fully vaccinated.
Jacob Jones, Zella’s son, just received his first vaccination. “I didn’t want to, I didn’t really want to come, but I know COVID can be serious, so I thought I might as well get the vaccine now,” said Jacob who felt a little more at ease after receiving the shot before receiving his fall semester at Imagine Prep in Coolidge.
Schools returning to classes both virtually and in-person in some areas has prompted more individuals to get vaccinated. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are currently available, with Pfizer being administered to those 12 years and older. COVID-19 vaccines have shown to be highly effective against the virus and its variants.
The Delta variant has proven to be more transmissible than other forms of COVID-19. While fully vaccinated individuals may still become infected, medical research shows that their symptoms are often less severe and the vaccine drastically reduces the possibility of being hospitalized or dying. In addition to the vaccine, it is crucial to continue washing your hands, maintain physical distance from others and continue to wear a face mask.
Cherish Kisto, D2 came out to the event to get her second dose of the vaccine. “I work with children and it makes sense to get vaccinated, not to mention I have two children of my own as well,” said Kisto, who shared that she had been hesitant to get vaccinated. “To be honest I didn’t want to get it at first. But now, seeing everyone else get it, it has put me at ease,” she said.
With the Community continuing to push for “Community Immunity,” members can expect
More on Page 6
What does Executive Order No. 12 include?
- Gatherings are restricted to no more than 15 people, including funerals.
- All persons over two years of age on the Reservation shall wear a face mask inside any public building, regardless of vaccination status.
- All teachers, staff, students or visitors to any school on the Reservation shall wear a protective face mask, regardless of vaccination status.
- Schools will resume in-person student learning for the 2021-2022 school year.
- Urge all Community members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the earliest opportunity possible in order to ensure the health and safety of our entire Community.
To view the full Executive Order, visit mygilairver.com or Facebook.com/gilariver.
Monsoon Season Safety Tips in The Event of a Storm
Emma Hughes
Gila River Indian News
Monsoon season brings severe weather conditions including thunderstorms, flash floods, dust storms and extreme heat. Monsoon begins in June and typically lasts until September. The season can cause dangerous disruptions like flooding and interruptions to electric and utility service.
Plan ahead and monitor the weather conditions for the day and the week. There are many ways to get information: radio, television and even through applications on your mobile device.
During the recent monsoon storms, GRIC utilized social media and a text messaging service for subscribers to receive information on weather and power outages.
Severe thunderstorms can bring winds that reach 100mph and cause structural damage. Flash floods can occur in a matter of minutes, leaving roadways severely flooded. Avoid driving and walking through any flooded areas. Six inches of rushing water can knock down a person and 12 inches is enough to move a vehicle.
Dust storms are also hazardous and can reduce visibility in a matter of seconds. Avoid driving during a dust storm. If you get caught in a dust storm while driving, pull off the road as far as you can, set your parking brake and turn off your lights.
Stay away from downed power lines and report them if possible. Rapid winds and lightning strikes can hit power poles resulting in an electrical outage. If you happen to become trapped under a power line while on the road, remain in your vehicle until help arrives.
During a storm, it’s important to take precautions and be prepared. Protect your electronics and appliances by using a power surge protector to avoid damage to your devices in case of a power outage. If you are able, unplug sensitive electronic equipment before a storm arrives.
Have an emergency supply kit containing essential items and at least three days’ supply of food and water for each person and pet. Water and food should be stored in a cool dry place. Try to have at least one gallon of water per person per day. Keep yourself and pets hydrated with plenty of water and a shady place to keep cool.
The emergency kit should include a first-aid kit, prescription medication if needed, and non-perishable foods with a long life, such as peanut butter, crackers, canned meat and vegetables, trail mix, and dried fruit. Flashlights and radio along with extra batteries and back-up power banks for mobile devices should also be in your kit.
In the event of a power outage, keep your refrigerator and freezer doors closed to help keep food cold for at least 4 hours. If the outage lasts longer, pack cold and frozen food into coolers. Perishable foods should not be kept at temperatures above 40 degrees for more than two hours. Dry ice can be used to keep food cold, but should not come in direct contact with food. Use care when handling dry ice, wearing dry, heavy gloves to avoid injury.
Power outages during monsoon season may take time for service to be repaired and restored. Generators should only be used outdoors and at least 20 feet away from the home to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Extreme heat can also occur during the monsoon season, making it important to stay hydrated to prevent any heat-related illness. Drink plenty of fluids, especially water, regardless of how active you are. Heavy sweating removes salt and minerals from your body. Sports drinks can help replace them but avoid sugary and alcoholic drinks which cause you to lose more body fluids.
Monsoon storms that develop later in the evening have the potential to create hazardous conditions across the Community. Christopher Lomahquahu/GRIN
AOPPYC Hosts Online Game Night for Youth as End of Summer Event
Kyle Knox
Gila River Indian News
As summer break comes to a close for school-aged youth, the Akimel O’odham/Pee-Posh Youth Council hosted an online Game Night on Friday, July 30. Youth participants were able to play games together safely from the comfort of their own homes utilizing their chosen game console, phones, and tablets with Internet connectivity.
“We wanted an end of summer activity which any youth could join and have fun. And the main goal was to bring youth together to socialize and create new friendships among one another,” said Michael Preston, AOPPYC Coordinator.
Utilizing Zoom and online gaming platforms, local youth and others from California and Washington played Among Us, Fortnite, Mario Cart Tour, Wheel of Fortune, and Mini Militia. Numerous prizes were awarded to the winners of each game and raffle drawings were held throughout the night.
A month of planning went into the event. Members had to research games that were easily accessible and did not require money to play. In addition, several AOPPYC members volunteered to host and coordinate the gameplay. Though the AOPPYC is accustomed to hosting virtual events, this new venture posed some Internet connection challenges that were quickly overcome, ensuring everyone could play.
AOPPYC member Waylon Webb coordinated the Fortnite portion of the event and enjoyed the evening. “Web” liked the chosen games because it is “what the youth play nowadays.” He also mentioned the opportunity to host more game nights with new games if the AOPPYC decides to host future events.
“I think the Game Night was a lot of fun, as it gave us a way to connect with each other online through Zoom, and I really enjoyed being able to be a part of the event and finish off our summer on a good note,” said AOPPYC member Jada Young, who coordinated the Wheel of Fortune and Among Us games. “I hope we can continue this event and expand it more, so more youth can participate,” said Young.
Despite minor connectivity issues, the AOPPYC provided an enjoyable, safe night of games for everyone who participated. At the conclusion of the event, many youths shared their “gamer tags” with each other to continue their gameplay outside the event.
Future “game nights” are a possibility based on the success of this event. The idea will be a topic of discussion for AOPPYC members at their next meeting.
COVID-19 VACCINE AVAILABILITY
AUGUST 2021 SCHEDULE
| DATE | LOCATION | TIME |
|------------|---------------------------|----------|
| Aug. 9 | D3 Boys & Girls Club | 9 am - 3 pm |
| Aug. 16 | D3 Boys & Girls Club | 9 am - 3 pm |
| Aug. 23 | D3 Boys & Girls Club | 9 am - 3 pm |
| Aug. 30 | D3 Boys & Girls Club | 9 am - 3 pm |
NOTICE
IN-PERSON VISITATION IS SUSPENDED
Another wave of COVID-19 is impacting the GRIC and surrounding areas, causing a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections. In an effort to protect our patients and staff, the following changes are effective immediately:
“IN-PERSON VISITATION IS SUSPENDED”
The Caring House
Thwajik-Ki Residential Treatment Center
Virtual Visitations Are Available
Please contact the facility for more information:
The Caring House (520) 562-7400
Thwajik-Ki Residential Treatment Center (520) 796-3860
Reminder! Gila River Health Care’s Administrative Offices and Outpatient Clinics will be
CLOSED MONDAY, 9/6/2021 - LABOR DAY
CLOSED FRIDAY, 9/17/2021 - NATIVE AMERICAN DAY
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
Gila River Indian Community CRISIS HOTLINE: 1-800-259-3449
Dignity Health Chandler Regional Medical Center Completes Construction on Second New Patient Tower in Less than a Decade
Submitted by
Dignity Health
CHANDLER, Ariz. (July 16, 2021) – Dignity Health Chandler Regional Medical Center today held a special dedication prior to the opening of its newest patient-care tower, Tower D. Designed to respond to the growing East Valley community’s increasing health care needs, this is the hospital’s second major expansion in less than a decade. Tower D is scheduled to open to patients early next month.
In addition, the Gila River Indian Community contributed half a million dollars to directly support the construction of the new patient-care tower at Dignity Health Chandler Regional Medical Center, according to the Dignity Health East Valley Foundation. We’ve also learned that the Tribal Council will soon vote on the name of a plaque and where it will appear within the new tower.
Dignity Health in Arizona is grateful for the ongoing partnership with the Gila River Indian Community, and how your continued support is allowing us to help meet the health care needs of the greater East Valley area.
“This expansion project is very exciting for all of us at Chandler Regional, and for the community at large,” said Mark Slyter, President and CEO of Dignity Health Chandler Regional and Mercy Gilbert Medical Centers. “It is a direct result of the outstanding work our team provides. Their hard work and dedication are why people seek services at Chandler Regional and why the hospital has continued to undergo tremendous growth.”
Tower D will serve as the hospital’s main entrance and include 96 additional patient care beds. This will bring Chandler Regional’s total bed count to 429, providing greater access to excellent and compassionate care. The impressive structure includes:
- **First floor:** a new main hospital entrance and lobby, patient admitting, cardiac rehabilitation, ambulatory therapy unit, gift shop and chapel.
- **Second floor:** a surgery registration area, pre-operation and post-anesthesia care units and 24 thoracic patient rooms.
- **Third floor:** 36 intensive care unit patient rooms.
- **Fourth floor:** 36 standard patient rooms.
- **Fifth floor:** shell space for future beds.
- **Basement:** a new pharmacy, materials management department and a new loading dock.
In addition to the new five-story Tower D, the construction project also includes a new parking structure with 1,000 additional space parking to accommodate more than 1,100 vehicles and renovations to existing space that will allow for eight new surgical suites, and the expansion of key outpatient services and operational departments.
Chandler Regional first opened in 1970 as a true community hospital with only 42 beds, but has steadily grown over the last 5 decades. In the summer of 2014, Chandler Regional opened the first of its major expansions of the last decade, Tower C, which provided space for the hospital’s Level One Trauma Center and 96 additional patient beds.
“We’re excited to see what our team will accomplish as we settle into this next evolution of growth on our campus,” adds Slyter. “The new tower will not only bring a large number of new jobs to the East Valley, but it will allow us to further our commitment to provide the best care possible to our growing community.”
Devaney Group Architects and McCarthy Building Companies served as the project’s design build team. Others on the project included WSP, Stantec, RVI, Buehler Engineering, Cannon & Wendt Electrical Co., TDIndustries, The Berg Group, and Schuff Steel Management Company.
Las Vegas-Style Games Debut on Friday, Aug. 6 at Gila River Hotels & Casinos
Wild Horse Pass to add 14 Live Roulette, Baccarat and Craps Tables to Deliver More Fun
Submitted by Gila River Hotels & Casinos
Wild Horse Pass will also unveil a High Limit Salon with a dedicated host Live table games coming to Lone Butte and Vee Quiva shortly after.
CHANDLER, Ariz. (Aug. 4, 2021) – The official launch of Las Vegas-style gaming at Gila River Hotels & Casinos – Wild Horse Pass is Friday, Aug. 6. Gila River Gaming Enterprises Inc. (GRGE) announced today the addition of 14 live roulette, baccarat and craps table games to the Chandler property as a result of Arizona’s amended gaming compact that went into effect in May.
Wild Horse Pass will also unveil a new, intimate High Limit Salon that will include six, multi-baccarat tables, four high-limit blackjack tables, two high-limit roulette table featuring an exclusive “chocolate chip” valued at $5,000 a private cashier cage and a delicious Asian buffet.
Gila River is also excited to welcome So Young-Kish, an executive host with over 20 years’ experience from several global markets. Young-Kish is dedicated to assisting high-limit guests with exclusive access to the best gaming experiences, premium dining and high-energy entertainment.
Gila River’s two additional casinos, Lone Butte in Chandler, and Vee Quiva in the West Valley, will debut live roulette, baccarat and craps table games in the coming weeks. All three properties will also increase the number of slot machines and betting limits, bringing more exciting and diverse gaming options to guests.
“Gila River is proud to advance and elevate our entertainment offerings to better treat our guests who seek the excitement and variety of a full-fledged Las Vegas-style casino,” said Kenneth Manuel, CEO of Gila River Hotels & Casinos. “This is truly a historic moment in our 27-year history that will benefit both the Gila River Indian Community and the State by providing additional jobs and tourism, as well as increased opportunities to support the Community.”
Gila River’s Chief Operations Officer, Richard Strafella, has an exceptional perspective on gaming. His comprehensive leadership background in gaming and hospitality includes more than 40 years in operations and development for highly regarded casinos in Las Vegas.
Strafella, who is a natural in his role, had the extraordinary opportunity of playing Robert De Niro’s executive assistant in the movie, “Casino.”
“Guests today expect to find entertaining, rewarding and experiential games when they visit a casino,” Strafella said, “Whether you’re seeking all the glamour and glitz or you desire to be low-key in a high-stakes game, you can find it here at Gila River Hotels & Casinos.”
Rat Pack Tribute and China Gold Shows
The celebration of the live table games will continue into Friday evening, with “Singin’ Swingin’ Drinkin’”, a special show and salute to legendary icons Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin.
The Rat Pack musical tribute and parody will transport the audience back to the days when swingin’ talent, singing, dance and comedy ruled the stage. The high-energy, entertaining show starts at 8 p.m. in the Wild Horse Pass Showroom.
Heading into the weekend, “China Gold,” a special acrobatic show that balances intense, acrobatic performances with graceful choreography will take place on Saturday, Aug. 7 at 8 p.m. in the Wild Horse Pass Showroom.
Tickets for both events cost $25.
Earn More Points with THE Card®
Gila River’s Chief Strategic Marketing Officer, Dominic Orozco, said guests enrolled in Gila River’s loyalty program can enjoy added benefits when they play with THE Card®.
“Our loyalty program is the strongest in the area,” Orozco said. “Not only will our new table games offer card members higher rewards than Las Vegas, guests can now play at all three of our properties while earning on the same card.”
Orozco said some of the new table games will also be sports-themed, aligning with Gila River’s brand designation as “Arizona’s Official Sports Headquarters.”
“Our partnerships with the Arizona Cardinals, the Arizona Coyotes, Arizona Diamondbacks, Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and Salt Lake Athletics have provided our guests with exclusive and enhanced experiences,” he said. “We are confident that these new games, including sports-themed chips and a vibrant setting, will resonate with sports fanatics.”
The gaming enterprise is also slated to open a $143 million expansion project at Wild Horse Pass this fall — bringing 205 additional guest rooms, new meeting space, outdoor pools and a rooftop restaurant and lounge to the Chandler property. The project marks the first expansion since Wild Horse Pass opened in 2009.
Thank You Director Lewis for Your Service to GRTI!!
GRTI recognizes and deeply appreciates the eight years of service Mr. John Lewis gave as a member of the GRTI Board of Directors. Director John Lewis was appointed to the GRTI Board in 2013 and over the next eight years, he supported and challenged GRTI through a period of unprecedented growth. Director Lewis championed expanding GRTI's existing, non-regulated businesses including Alluvion (fiber provider outside the Community), Native Technology Solutions (cabling and network installation company) and GRBC (Broadcast & Media Production). The growth of these GRTI subsidiaries brought a doubling of the full-time GRTI jobs held by Community Members.
Service on the GRTI Board meant hundreds of hours of board meetings, strategic planning sessions, Community Council and Committee meetings and advocacy before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tribal Telecom issues. During this same period of service, Mr. Lewis also offered his time and talents as a Director on the Gila River Indian Community Utility Authority (GRICUA) Board. As a GRICUA Director, Mr. Lewis helped establish the STEA3M Summer Program for students in the Community eager to learn about Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Architecture, Agriculture and Mathematics. GRTI Board of Directors and GRTI Staff thank Mr. Lewis for his years of service to Gila River Telecommunications, Inc. and wish him good health, professional success, and much happiness in the future.
A Gila River Indian Community member just completed a mentorship of a lifetime! As part of Gila River Hotels & Casinos’ partnership with the Arizona Coyotes, GRIC member Tyler Owens was afforded the unique opportunity to shadow an Arizona Coyotes department of her choosing for nine months. This mentorship program is one of the many initiatives the Coyotes host for Community members throughout the season.
Students in the GRIC aged 18-26 looking to gain invaluable experience in the business of professional sports alongside a first class organization can apply for the program. The personalized mentorship allows participants to shadow a department within the organization that interests them. The program also gives the mentee the opportunity to create relationships and an invaluable network within professional sports while gaining professional skills along the way.
Owens’ nine-month mentorship was with the finance department due to her experience and business interests. Some of the projects she worked on included using data for ticket and parking sales, as well as players’ equipment and game day meals for both the Arizona Coyotes and the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League.
“Tyler’s knowledge and work ethic were a great fit for our Finance team,” said Arizona Coyotes CFO Lowell Heit. “She is a quick learner with the ability to see the bigger picture. With her politeness and team-first mentality, Tyler will have a bright, successful future.”
Owens’ mentorship program began in January of 2020 but was cut short when the pandemic hit in March. Through those three short months, she formed a meaningful working relationship with the finance team. In January of 2021, Tyler resumed the program and successfully completed it in June 2021. Owens’ biggest takeaway from the relationships she built and the knowledge she gained as to what goes into operating NHL and AHL teams.
“We are proud to partner with an organization that finds such value in creating opportunity for community members and that truly cares about making an impact on young professionals and the greater Arizona community alike,” said Gila River Hotels & Casinos’ CEO Kenneth Manuel. “I am excited for Tyler as she takes the invaluable lessons learned in this program and applies them in her future endeavors, as well as the future mentees that get to experience this mentorship!”
The mentorship program will continue for the 2021-2022 season, and the Coyotes are excited to make another positive impact in the career development of a future GRIC member participant. Mentees applying for the program in the future will have the ability to shadow many different departments including the Arizona Coyotes Foundation, Marketing, Corporate & Premium Partnerships and Hockey Development, among others.
“We were very excited to team up with our great partner the Gila River Indian Community on this mentorship program,” said Coyotes President & CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez. “Part of our responsibility as an organization is to pay it forward and provide opportunities to those interested in a career in professional sports. The Gila River Indian Community members deserve to be better leaders in our community, and making it a priority to give back to others. We look forward to continuing our partnership on this program in the future.”
Tyler’s advice for anyone thinking of applying with an open mind. If you do that, “the things you will learn will be limitless.”
For more information on how to apply for the Arizona Coyotes Mentorship Program, contact Teaya Vicente at firstname.lastname@example.org.
NABI Makes an Impact Beyond Hoops Tourney
Christopher Lomahquahu
Gila River Indian News
The 18th Annual Native American Basketball Invitational recently completed another year of partnership with the Gila River Indian Community. With the final seconds of game time run out and the final shot made, it’s time to look back at this year’s NABI tournament and what it means for the Community as one of the tournament’s longest-running sponsors.
“We have a long history with NABI, and the participation of [our] young people. As [you] can see from this previous week just seeing them out there with all their teammates they are just some of the best in Indian Country,” said Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis. He said the strength and resiliency of Native youth shows through in how they come together to play a sport they deeply love.
“They really showed us how resilient they are, especially now. What makes this tournament special is giving them opportunity to be a safe environment in front of our family,” said Lewis. He added that in addition to the game of basketball, the tournament also promotes the importance of a healthy lifestyle and an emphasis on education and leadership skills.
“NABI is hope for your kids,” said Ginamarie Scarpa, NABI President & CEO. “We have longtime partners that are dedicated and committed. … That combination brings programs to our Native youth who are benefiting from the tournament.”
Scarpa said NABI’s partnership with generous partners and backing from tribal communities like Green, who has brought GRIC, Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Tohono O’odham Nation and the Seminole Tribe gives NABI confidence in moving forward year after year. The confidence is a boost to the NABI Foundation, which last year had to cancel the games due to COVID-19.
Scarpa said NABI plans to do more work within Native communities, including the creation of NABI 360, which will give tournament alumni a chance to participate in sharing their passion for basketball with the younger generation of ball players. Although it is still in the works, Scarpa believes NABI 360 will benefit the youth by encouraging them to go on to the next level in their athletic endeavors.
“The NABI tournament has been the long-time interest of former Phoenix Suns power forward A.C. Green, who has brought his knowledge off the court to the game of basketball to help our Native youth. “[This] is what basketball is all about, seeing these young men and women come out and play so hard with their passion,” said Green.
He said the young ballers play with a flair that shows they are all in and ready to take the game of basketball to the next level.
“Working with (President) Scarpa and Chairman Ernie Stevens on various projects, I’ve seen first-hand the impact that NABI has on our youth. It’s a great opportunity for our youth to get involved in the game of basketball and learn the values of teamwork, sportsmanship and respect,” said Green.
Gov. Lewis (second from left), is presented the Phil Homerahta award by NABI Chairman Ernie Stevens, along with Ginamarie Scarpa, NABI Founder (second from right) and Lynette Lewis, Director of Basketball Operations & Program Development. Christopher Lomahquahu/GRIN
GRIC’s First Ombudsman Brings a ‘Spirit of Listening’ for Community and Government
Kenneth Young serves as GRIC’s Ombudsman, is tasked with working to address Community members with their questions and concerns. Kyle Knox/GRIN
Kyle Knox
Gila River Indian News
Kenneth Young has started his work as the first official Ombudsman for the Gila River Indian Community. Although the position is a new role, Young – first appointed in May – has a history of working in various roles in the Community. As Ombudsman, Young says he hopes to help members access public services efficiently and in a timely manner, while strengthening the Community as a whole.
“My hope is for the Community to understand that I am working in the Community as a guest, to serve and help reach conclusions for matters that are of concern to them,” said Young.
In most organizations, the ombudsman’s role involves addressing concerns from the public, including complaints and grievances, while working to assess and improve services available to constituents.
The Ombudsman also investigates complaints against departments and programs and ensures that ethical violations are addressed.
For Young, his scope includes all GRIC departments within the Office of the Community Manager. He is tasked with providing an impartial view of all grievances that come to his office.
His role includes providing safeguards and what he calls a “spirit of listening” where he creates a safe and confidential environment for community members to voice their concerns and to address all matters professionally and promptly.
While the role is still new and under development, Young says his goals include helping Community members understand what the ombudsman is and the services the Office can provide.
“I feel it’s my duty to present myself,” said Young, “to show my face to everyone, so they understand my role.”
While this new role is complex, Young believes his work history in the Community will help him as he navigates the challenges ahead. Before the ombudsman position, Young worked at both Gila Crossing and Casa Blanca Community Schools in various roles. During that time, he says he grew to admire the Community’s sovereignty. He cites the Community’s years-long pursuit of its water rights settlement as a testament to that sovereignty.
“To have your own government and services, with identity embedded in that is very unique and powerful,” said Young, “I’m happy to be here and to be a part of it.”
Job Announcements
Casa Blanca Community School
3455 W. Santa Clara Road
Bapchule, AZ 85121
Vacancy Announcement:
• Assistant Principal (1)
• Bookkeeper (1)
• Bus Drivers (3)
• Bus Monitor (5)
• Cook (1)
• Culinary Instructor (1)
• Co-Culture Instructor (1)
• Desktop Specialist/Instructor (2)
• Elementary Teachers (8)
• Food Service Worker (1)
• Early Childhood
Teacher (FACE) (1)
• Security (1)
• Instructional Assistants (Intervention, Guidance & ESS) (1)
• Maintenance Technician (1)
• Parent Educator - FACE (1)
• Teachers - ESS (2)
• Teacher – Reading Interventionist (1)
(All positions are open until filled.)
Benefits:
Medical, Vision, Life, Retirement Plan, Insurance, 401K Retirement Plan, Competitive Salaries.
Contact Information:
For additional information regarding a position, contact the Human Resources Office at (520) 315-3489 ext. 2531.
Casa Blanca Community School is located in Bapchule, Arizona, approximately 10 miles from Interstate 10 and only 25 miles south of Phoenix Metropolitan Area. The Bapchule District is located on the Gila River Indian Reservation south of Chandler, Arizona.
How to apply: For more information and online application please visit: www.cbcschools.com
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is announcing the 30-day public comment period for the renewal of the air quality operating permits for the following facilities:
| Facility Name | Facility Type | District |
|------------------------|--------------------------------|----------|
| Air Maricopa | Concentrated Processing | 6 |
| Gila River Sand & Gravel - Maricopa | Aggregate Processing | 4 |
| Gila River Sand & Gravel - Santan | Aggregate Processing | 4 |
Air Contaminants Emitted: Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
Particulate Matter (PM)
Particulate Matter <10 Microns (PM10)
Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)
Public Notice Start Date: August 6, 2021
Public Notice End Date: September 5, 2021
Public comments will be accepted in writing until the public notice end date, after which staff will review and respond to all the comments received.
Any person may submit a written comment or a request to the DEQ to conduct a public hearing for the purpose of reviewing the proposed permit and any other pertinent documents. All written comments and requests shall be received by the DEQ within 30 days of the date of the first publication notice. A written comment shall state the name and mailing address of the person, shall be signed by the person, his agent or his attorney and shall clearly set forth reasons why the permit should or should not be issued. Grounds for denial of a permit shall be based upon the proposed permit meeting criteria for issuance prescribed in the GRIC Code: Title 17, Chapter 9 of the Air Quality Management Plan. Only persons who submit written comments may appeal a permit decision.
Copies of the permit application, the proposed permit, and relevant background material will be available for review on the AQP website at:
http://www.gricdeq.org/index.php/education--outreach/public-notices/
Requests and written comments may be delivered or mailed to:
Gila River Indian Community
Department of Environmental Quality
Attn: Ryan Eberle
Physical Address: 168 Skill Center Rd., Sacaton, AZ 85147
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 97, Sacaton, AZ 85147
For further information or to schedule an in-person review, please contact Ryan Eberle at (520) 796-3781 / email@example.com
CALL TO ORDER
The Second Regular Monthly Meeting of the Community Council held Wednesday, July 21, 2021, by WebEx Platform was called to order by Governor Stephen R. Lewis at 9:03 a.m.
INVOCATION
Provided by Councilwoman Carol Schurz
ROLL CALL
Council Secretary Shannon White called the roll
Executive Officers Present:
Governor Stephen R. Lewis
Lt. Governor Monica Antone
Council Members Present:
D1- Joey Whitman; Arzie Hogg; D2-Carol Schurz; D3-Avery White; Rodney Jackson; D4-Jennifer Allison, Delmar Jones, Regina Antone-Smith, Christopher Mendoza; D5-James De La Rosa, Marlin Dixon, Brian Davis, Sr., Wahleah Riggs; D6- Anthony Villareal, Sr., Charles Goldtooth, Terrance Evans; D7-Devin Redbird
Council Members Absent:
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION MADE AND SECOND TO ACCEPT REPORT #1 AND #2; ACCEPT AND APPROVE RESOLUTION #1 AND #3 ON THE CONSENT AGENDA
MOTION MADE AND SECOND TO APPROVE THE REGULAR AGENDAS AS AMENDED PRESENTATIONS/INTRODUCTIONS REPORTS
ACCEPTED AND APPROVED AT APPROVAL OF AGENDA
4. A Resolution Authorizing And Approving A Five Year Funding Agreement Between The Community Services Department On Behalf Of The Gila River Indian Community And The Inter Tribal Council Of Arizona Inc. Area Agency On Aging, Region 8 For The Elderly Nutrition Program And Elderly Services Program
Presenters: Laurie Thomas; Mary Dixon
APPROVED
ORDINANCES
(GOVERNOR LEWIS CALLED FOR A 10 MINUTE BREAK; THE MEETING RECONVENEAD AT 9:38 A.M.)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1. Education Standing Committee Appointment One (1) Council Seat
Presenter: Community Council
MOTION MADE AND SECOND TO APPOINT COUNCILWOMAN WAHLEAH RIGGS
NEW BUSINESS
*1. FYI – Loan Product – COVID Mortgage Catchup Loan (EDSC forwards to Council as FYI)
Presenter: Teresa Mandelin
MOTION MADE AND SECOND TO ACCEPT MINUTES
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ADJOURNMENT
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 10:00 A.M.
* Denotes TABLED from previous meeting(s)
> Denotes a CONSENT AGENDA ITEM
After School Programs Open
WELCOME BACK!!
Starting August 10th for 12 to 18 year olds!
Students must be members of the community and must be vaccinated!
Club open from 3 pm - 7pm every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Virtual programs for 5-11 year olds will soon be announced.
To register and find more details visit: www.bgcgric.org
Komatke
5047 West Pecos Road
Komatke
520. 550.1113
Sacaton
116 South Holly Street
Sacaton
520.562.3890
Submission
By A. Alexander
Dear Friend,
Hello, I’d like to wish all of your people an amazing finish every day in life.
Negativity is a thief, and it steals happiness. Happiness is the meaning and purpose for life, the whole aim and end of human existence. There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the scope of our control, and then there is a time in everybody’s life when they have to stop being scared and say that they can’t do what they need. The holding onto only leaves them with regret and unhappiness! The happiness of their lives depends on the quality of their thoughts. And beauty might bring happiness, but happiness will always bring beauty to those that believe in the Creator of all life. Life is filled with challenges and let sorrow and fear not let sadness or anybody steal your happiness, it was never their to take Just because you are left, doesn’t mean that their happiness is gone. Happiness doesn’t depend on anybody but ourselves. And may your tomorrows be better than yesterdays in the coming days.
NOTIFICATION REGARDING CANCELLATION OF DIANE ESKRIDGE’S RESIDENTIAL HOUSING IMPROVEMENT POLICY AGREEMENT AND REQUEST THAT THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS TERMINATE THE RESIDENTIAL LEASE
The Community Council held a Special Council meeting on June 23, 2021. The event, leading up to the meeting included several incidents of harassment, stalking, and threats of harm against Community members by a non-indian, Thomas Eskridge, who was last excluded from the Gila River Indian Reservation during June 2019.
Mrs. Eskridge is married to Diane Eskridge, a Community member. Mrs. Eskridge threatened to rape Mrs. Eskridge’s mother and threatened to murder one of Mrs. Eskridge’s children. In August of 2019, the Gila River Police conducted a traffic stop of Mrs. Eskridge while driving with Mr. Eskridge in the vehicle near her home, violating the exclusion order. Mrs. Eskridge was found at Mrs. Eskridge’s home, again in violation of the exclusion order. Mrs. Eskridge was also found in possession of several other non-Indians in her home. The Community passed the following three motions, at the conclusion of the Special Council meeting:
1) To cancel Diane Eskridge’s RHIP agreement and formally request the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to administratively terminate Mrs. Eskridge’s residential lease;
2) To direct the Department of Housing Development to schedule demolition of the RHIP home within 90 days with coordination with the BIA; and
3) To publish in the Gila River Indian News a detailed summary of events leading to the cancellation/termination of the RHIP agreement and residential lease.
Submitted by Bernadette Cooper
Devan J. Jose
Skyline Gila River
Promotion from 8th grade
Continuing to Skyline Gila River for high school level instruction.
Congratulations Devan!
We are so proud of you!
Bernadette Cooper
Important to the Following Individuals
The following list contains the names of individuals and other parties with outstanding Gila River Indian Community checks reconciled as of December 31, 2019. In accordance with the Escheat Ordinance GR-10-09, the Community will publish on a bi-annual schedule or as deemed necessary by the Community Treasurer, the Escheat Public Notice. Public notice of unclaimed checks will be published in the Gila River Indian Newspaper and GRIC’s official website. If the last known owner is known to be a Community member, the department, program or entity shall also post a notice at all District Service Centers. In order to claim the check, the owner must claim it in person within 30 days of publication of posting. In addition, to make claim, the person must provide the department, program or entity with positive identification, including a photo identification showing the person claiming the check is the last known owner. If the check is unclaimed for 60 days after publication, it shall escheat and title thereof shall vest in the Community or as applicable to the Federal, State, or other agency that provided the funding. If you are the recipient of the unclaimed property, please contact the GRIC Finance Department, Meagan Kisto at (520) 562-9847 or Morgan Escalante at (520) 562-9658, for further instruction.
City Wide Pest Control, Inc. Clayton, Eboni
Clean Scene AZ, LLC
Climbingbear, Kyra Cristina
Cooper, Natasha K. Creamer, Francis
Crowe, Ronnie L.
Curry, Jordan
Davis, Joseph R.
Delowe, Dallas
Digital Media, LLC dba Medex District Four
Community
District Seven Community
District Six Community
Dollface Company
Donahue, Lauren
DV Tires, LLC
Early Morning Rising, Inc.
Eberle, Ryan
Enos, Marilyn Faye
Estell, Louvina M.
Express Medical Transportation, LLC
Fitzpatrick, Christopher Flores, Ashley N.
Franklin, Devin A.
Garcia, Kayla Avery
Garvey, John D.
Gary, Renee S.
Garza, Marla
Gila River Health Care Corporation Gishy, Stephanie Ann
Gray, Kayla M.
Gonzales, Haili
Gutierrez, Mandra
Hendricks, Amy Lanice Hernandez, Esperanza R.
Herrera, Gabriel
HR Answers, LLC
Huff, Candace Lee
Indigenous Products, LLC
Indian Oceans, LLC
Contractors Inc. Staggs, Dominique
Stone, Shayne
Stone, Shyla
Sunn, James
Sunnia, Gerald E.
Sutton Jr., John S.
Swanson, Josephine Taylor, Brenda
TB Consulting, LLC Teran, Alexis A.
Thomas, Chantel M.
Thomas, Derald Thomas, Edith
Thomas, Hubetha
Thomas, Jacqueline
Thomas Jr, Leslie
Thompson, Judith
Thompson, Semana A.
Travis, Janet
Traylor, George John Van Drift, Douglas
Vanderslice, Eleanor Vavages, Hannah Villanueva, David F.
Villa, Vivian
Vilcesca, Teresa
Viola, Treness
VST Fuel Management, Inc.
Mix, Arlene
Mix, Shawna R.
Morago, William S.
Morago, William T.
Morgan, Linda Gayle
Mouray, Courtney
MTO Smoke Shop
Murgia, Julian M.
Nash, Patrick
Natal, Thomas A.
Nelson, Bernice
Ortiz, Angel R.
Otis Elevator Company Pablo, Amber
Pancotti, Rita
Parker, Brenda
Pedro, Jeanette
Percy, Licia
Perez, Gabriel H.
Phillips, Cynthia
Phoenix Arena Dev.
Limited Partners Phoenix
Children's Hospital
Pilger, D'andre
Preferred Global, Inc.
Ramirez, Antonio
Redbird, Gaylan C.
Redbird, Shannon Marie
Riggs, Wahleah
Rigley, Brittany
Rivera, Jose
Robbins, Collin M.
Robinette, Talmadge L.
Romero, David Nathaniel Royal Bees LLC Ruiz, Alicia
Salcido, Isaac
Salt River Project Sampson, Josie Marie Setoyan, Renee
Shackelford, Mark T.
Sieveyumptewa, Francine Smilehorwoski, Elizabeth Smith, David Smith, Starrie Soke Davien Patrikia Southwest Waterworks
Bus Driver Applicants must:
Possess a High School Diploma or the equivalency Certificate
Possess current CDL and a Student Transportation Certification
Must have a valid physical, visual, and hearing examination.
Must be alert, careful, and possess the ability to remain calm and collected in periods of emergency. Be First Aid/CPR Certified.
Possess a valid Arizona Fingerprint Clearance Card (IVP Card)
Must possess a valid food handler’s card when necessary
Must be able to lift 100 lbs.
Possess a High School Diploma or the equivalency Certificate Be First Aid/CPR Certified.
Possess a valid Arizona Fingerprint Clearance Card (IVP Card)
Possess a valid Arizona Driver’s License
Possess a valid Arizona Fingerprint Clearance Card (IVP Cat) Knowledge of Language and Gila River Indian Community is preferred
Possess a High School Diploma or the equivalency Certificate Be First Aid/CPR Certified
Possess a Valid Arizona Driver’s License
Possess a valid Arizona Fingerprint Clearance Card (IVP Card) Possess a valid Food handler’s card
** All applicants must have the Ability to successfully pass a pre employment drug test and extensive FBI background check.
Contact: Karen McQueen, Human Resources (520) 558-4834 Ext. 246 or (844) 738-6505
Job Announcements
of the equivalency Certificate Demonstrate working knowledge of monitoring children
Be First Aid/CPR Certified
Possess a valid Arizona Fingerprint Clearance Card (IVP Card)
Cultural Assistant Applicants Must:
Possess a High School Diploma or the equivalency Certificate
Be First Aid/CPR Certified
Possess a valid Arizona Driver’s License
Possess a valid Arizona Fingerprint Clearance Card (IVP Cat) Knowledge of Language and Gila River Indian Community is preferred
Possess a High School Diploma or the equivalency Certificate Be First Aid/CPR Certified
Possess a Valid Arizona Driver’s License
Possess a Valid MVP Fingerprint Clearance Card
Food Service Worker:
Possess a High School Diploma or the equivalency Certificate Be First Aid/ CPR Certified
Possess a valid Arizona Driver’s License
Possess a valid Arizona Fingerprint Clearance Card (IVP Card) Possess a valid Food handler’s card
We are now accepting online applications for the following mentorship position:
Position
Assistant Director
Recruitment Period
08/01/2021 - 08/31/2021
Must be a Gila River Indian Community Member to apply.
Please visit playatgila.com and submit your online application by the closing date.
Contact Norma Perez, Recruitment Manager at 1-800-946-4452 ext. 8369 if you have any questions.
IF YOU THINK YOU OR A DECEASED LOVED ONE WAS HARMED BY OPIOIDS LIKE HYDROCODONE, OXYCODONE, CODEINE OR ROXICODONE, OR IF YOU CARE FOR A CHILD EXPOSED TO THESE OPIOIDS IN THE WOMB, YOU CAN VOTE ON THE MALLINCKRODT BANKRUPTCY PLAN.
VOTING IS IMPORTANT. IT HELPS DETERMINE HOW OPIOID CLAIMS ARE TREATED. VOTE BY SEPTEMBER 3, 2021. SPECIFIC DETAILS ABOUT VOTING ARE SET FORTH BELOW IN THIS NOTICE AND AT MNKVOTE.COM.
VISIT MNKVOTE.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION
WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?
Mallinckrodt is a manufacturer of opioid pain medication that filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2020. On June 17, 2021, Mallinckrodt plc and its affiliates (the “Debtors”) filed their Plan of Reorganization (the “Plan”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and their related Disclosure Statement. You may have the right to vote on the Plan of Reorganization.
WHAT DOES THE PLAN PROVIDE?
Mallinckrodt’s Plan channels claims based on harm or injury related to the Debtors’ manufacturing of opioids and related activities to one or more opioid trusts. These opioid trusts will be established for the purpose of distributing money to individuals and corporate entities holding Opioid Claims and for abatement of the opioid crisis. If the Plan is approved by the Bankruptcy Court and you have an Opioid Claim, you will be entitled to assert your claim directly against the applicable opioid trust at a later time. There is nothing you need to do right now to assert your Opioid Claim. Information regarding how to assert your Opioid Claim against an opioid trust will be made available at a later date. The Plan, if approved, will forever prohibit any opioid claimants from asserting any Opioid Claim or seeking any money on account of any Opioid Claim against the Debtors, their officers and directors, or certain other parties specified in the Plan as the “Protected Parties.”
WHERE CAN YOU GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLAN?
Copies of the Plan and related documents, including the Disclosure Statement and a letter from the Official Committee of Opioid Related Claimants (a representative of Opioid Claimants in the Debtors’ bankruptcy cases appointed by the Office of the United States Trustee) setting forth its position regarding the Plan can be obtained free of charge at MNKVote.com.
WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS?
Vote on the Plan:
If you are eligible to submit a vote, your vote must be submitted so it is received on or before September 3, 2021, at 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Detailed instructions on how to vote are available at MNKvote.com or by calling 877.467.1570 (Toll-Free) or 347.817.4093 (International). If you do not follow the detailed instructions, your vote may be disqualified.
Object to the Plan:
If you disagree with the Plan, you can object to it in writing so it is received on or before September 3, 2021, at 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Objections not filed and served properly may not be considered by the Bankruptcy Court. Detailed instructions on how to file an objection are available at MNKvote.com or by calling 877.467.1570 (Toll-Free) or 347.817.4093 (International).
If the Plan is confirmed, everyone with a Claim against or Interest in Mallinckrodt plc and its affiliates will be bound by the terms of the Plan regardless of whether or not they vote on the Plan or file a claim against the opioid trust.
WHEN IS THE HEARING?
The Bankruptcy Court has scheduled the hearing to consider confirmation of the Plan to be held on September 21, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (the “Confirmation Hearing”). The Confirmation Hearing will take place before the Honorable John T. Dorsey, United States Bankruptcy Judge, in the Bankruptcy Court, located at 824 Market Street, 5th Floor, Courtroom 5, Wilmington, Delaware 19801.
THIS IS ONLY A SUMMARY OF THE MALLINCKRODT PLAN OF REORGANIZATION. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Call: 877.467.1570 (Toll-Free)
347.817.4093 (International)
Write: Mallinckrodt Ballot Processing
c/o Prime Clerk LLC
One Grand Central Place
60 East 42nd Street, Suite 1440
New York, NY 10165
Visit: MNKvote.com
Email: firstname.lastname@example.org
- or - email@example.com
PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT PRIME CLERK, THE DEBTOR’S NOTICE AND CLAIMS AGENT, IS AUTHORIZED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT, AND PROVIDE ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THE PLAN AND OTHER SOLICITATION MATERIALS, BUT MAY NOT ADVISE YOU AS TO WHETHER YOU SHOULD VOTE TO ACCEPT OR REJECT THE PLAN.
GRIC RECYCLING CALENDAR 2021
**DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS (520) 562-3343**
*D3 RECYCLE PICK UP IS ON MONDAYS*
**ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (520) 562-2234**
**ALL OTHER DISTRICTS ARE EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY**
**SCHEDULES MAY CHANGE DUE TO HOLIDAYS OR OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES**
Coming soon: a better Valley.
ADOT’s I-10 Broadway Curve improvement project is in the works. When complete it will improve access to Sky Harbor, improve travel time and help support our growing economy.
Stay #AheadOfTheCurve with traffic updates at i10BroadwayCurve.com or download “The Curve” app for your phone.
An eleven-mile stretch of Interstate 10 between Loop 202 and I-17.
CROSSROADS AUTO WANTS YOU TO TAKE A VACATION
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2017 Ford F150 4x4
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2020 Toyota Corolla SE
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2019 Ford Ecosport SE
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2018 Chevy Equinox
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2019 Kia Forte
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2019 Nissan Kicks
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Chevy Malibus
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2018 Kia Niro
3rd Seat and Loaded
2019 Chevy Traverse
$355/mo
2020 Hyundai Elantra SE
$235/mo
2016 Nissan Altima
Don't Miss Out
2018 Dodge Challenger SXT
Special Financing Available
$175/mo
2014 Kia Optima EX
CROSSROADS AUTO CENTER
1026 N. PINAL AVE., CASA GRANDE
520-836-2112
INSTANT CREDIT APPROVAL • www.crossroadsauto.org
*Payment based on 720 credit score, 2.99% APR @ 72 mos. with TT&L down. Not all customers qualify based on approved credit. Must present ad at time of service.
27¢ DOWN MELTDOWN
SCOTTSAYSYES.com
WE SERVICE ALL MAKES AND MODELS | NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY
4 Oil Changes for $40 / Synthetic Oil Changes for $70
Valid Monday-Saturday. Offer expires 8/31/21. See store for more details. Offer may not be combined with any other offer, discount or coupon and/or offer. Promotions have no cash value. Offer cannot be sold or transferred.
Full AC System Check & recharge $125.00
Valid Monday-Saturday. Offer expires 8/31/21. See store for more details. Offer may not be combined with any other offer, discount or coupon and/or offer. Promotions have no cash value. Offer cannot be sold or transferred.
Tires at dealer cost *must be installed at dealership
Valid Monday-Saturday. Offer expires 8/31/21. See store for more details. Offer may not be combined with any other offer, discount or coupon and/or offer. Promotions have no cash value. Offer cannot be sold or transferred.
For more details contact 520-800-1084 or visit www.premiermitsubishi.com/service/
1648 N Pinal Ave Casa Grande, AZ 85122
START YOUR WINNING CAREER AT GILA RIVER HOTELS & CASINOS
Meet with our HR team and discover your next career today!
This is your opportunity to start a fulfilling career at the Valley’s most exciting entertainment destination! We at Gila River Hotels & Casinos take pride in our high level of attention to guest service and our positive impact on communities around Arizona. If you are looking for a fun, fast-paced work environment, a position at one of our three locations along the 202 freeway will be perfect for you! Visit our hiring event to see if Gila River Hotels & Casinos is a good fit for you!
Hiring Event
August 10, 2021
9AM-3PM
Shelde Building
5710 W. North Loop Rd.
Chandler, Arizona 85226
@PlayAtGila | PlayAtGila.com | 800-WIN-GILA
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INTRODUCTION:
The chalutzim (early pioneers in Israel) felt that Israel needed to have a national style of art that reflected the way Jewish people had come to Israel from all over the world. The style, named “Bezalel,” was a mixture of European and Middle-Eastern, and was taught at the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts. Students at the Bezalel School carved sculptures from the wood of Israeli olive trees. They also made ritual objects, like candle sticks, kiddush cups, and menorot. These were often made from metal. Bezalel students also designed posters to tell the rest of the world about Israel.
The Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts was founded in 1906 and was named after Bezalel ben Uri, the man appointed by Moses to oversee the design and construction of the Tabernacle, the portable Temple that the Israelites carried with them in the desert.
Today, the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design is Israel’s national school of art. Graduates are famous artists, architects, fashion designers and film makers. Their work is seen all over the world.
ACTIVITY: DELET DECORATION (Delet דלת means door in Hebrew.)
Make a beautiful sign for your door – Bezalel style!
You’ll Need: disposable baking tin • scissors • ball point pen • pad of paper • tape • plastic spoon
What to Do:
1. Use your scissors to cut away the sides of the disposable baking tin. After you have cut out the bottom, carefully fold down the edges so that they are smooth.
2. Cut a hole in the top of the sheet of metal so that you can hang it on your doorknob. Cut the hole in a square shape so you can easily fold the edges back and make them smooth.
3. If your disposable baking tin had any kind of writing or designs on it, place it on top of the pad and rub it with the plastic spoon until the writing disappears.
4. Draw your design on a sheet of paper. (design suggestions: your family’s name in Hebrew or English, symbols of Israel)
5. Place your metal sheet on top of the pad. Tape the paper with the design onto it so that it won’t slip.
6. Trace over the design with the ball point pen. Press hard, so the design will be raised on the metal.
7. When you are finished, hang your Delet Decoration proudly!
Click on the photo below to see a video of the instructions. If the video doesn’t play, click here.
CONVERSATION:
• Do you have a special toy or other item that makes you feel calm and safe when you hold it? Is there a special place you like to go when you want to feel cozy?
If you enjoyed this activity, subscribe to Chai Mitzvah’s Grandparents and Beyond! Receive a new sourcebook each month filled with meaningful conversations and fun activities to engage all ages.
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“I don’t grow roses to compete” by Larry Baird, CR
Most rose growers who exhibit their roses and attempt to assist other growers in this next level of rose enjoyment have heard this statement. Whether it is an excuse, a reason or just a way to get us to quit bothering them is a matter of opinion.
Most rose exhibitors, do not do so as a matter of competition, but a way to further enjoy the rose.
Certainly it is a pleasure to place your rose on the table for all to see, and it does add to the enjoyment to have your entry chosen the best in its class, but additionally participating in a rose show is a way to assist the rose society to put roses in front of people who may not have the knowledge or love for roses which we enjoy.
I recently had the pleasure of hearing a nationally known exhibitor talking on the way he handles his roses and the things he does to grow, transport and show his roses. If this type of program is where you receive your understanding of how a rose show must be done, I don’t blame you for being apprehensive.
At the risk of alienating some of our top exhibitors, let me say “it is not necessary that you cut your roses at any particular time of day, nor that you condition your rose in the perfect temperature water, nor that you have the perfect cooler to transport your roses.
What is necessary is that you have a love for your roses, and a desire to share this love with others.
If I may, I would like to take a moment here to explain what you can expect at your first show.
First on the afternoon before, or the morning of the show, go into your garden and select the blooms you feel are the best you see. Try to cut blooms with canes 20 to 22 inches, but there are classes for blooms without canes, so cut what looks good to you. They may not be the ones that the judges feel are the best, but who cares, we are not competing, we are showing our roses.
On the morning of the show put these blooms in a container of water and take off early to the show.
When you arrive, you will see roses of all kinds, as well as people of all kinds, but that happens everywhere.
First thing, find a smiling face (and there will be some) and ask for assistance in placing your roses. Most rose growers as you have already found, will be glad to help you enjoy roses.
One of the first things to do is read the schedule (the rule book of the show) and determine what classes your roses will be eligible for. (Be sure to enter the novice classes) Ask questions.
Do not hesitate to ask questions, just remember, everyone there at one time entered their first rose show.
Gather the containers you will need to enter the classes you have chosen. Ask questions.
At this time you may want to wipe any spray residue off your leaves and make obvious adjustments to your blooms, don’t get too technical, let’s just enter a rose show. After we get comfortable entering a show, then later we can start learning the fine arts of grooming.
Complete the entry cards for the blooms chosen. Ask questions.
Place your blooms in the containers and place the containers on the placement table.
There, you have entered a rose show, not too painful was it?
Now, you have entered your roses walk around and see what others are doing, at this time you might want to just look and not ask questions as it is getting close to time to get all the entries in and everyone will be concentrating on their entries.
Once all the entries are in and the judging begins, everyone has to leave the showroom, this is the perfect time to ask all the questions you like, as everyone is waiting for the judging to be completed.
After the showroom opens again, take the time to examine the winners and see why they were winners.
Check your entries and see what awards you may have won and why other entries may have done better.
Well, that is what is involved in entering and enjoying a rose show. Hope you had fun and look forward to seeing you at the next show.
Ed note: Larry Baird is a long-time rose grower, exhibitor, current president of Nashville Rose Society, and will be presenting the program at our September meeting.
From the President by Kathy Dodson, Consulting Rosarian
BGRS has an exciting meeting coming up next Friday, September 9 at 6:30. Our location will be at the Greenwood High School library since the Extension Office will be in use by one of its sponsored groups.
Our guest speaker will be Larry Baird, president of the Nashville Rose Society. He is coming all the way from Duck River, Tennessee, so I hope we have a good crowd at our meeting. Bring yourself and a guest if possible. Larry and his wife Connie are successful rose growers and exhibitors. He will be sharing information about exhibiting, and he would be happy to answer any questions about growing roses. This would be great preparation for the fall rose shows coming up in Louisville, Nashville, and the Tenarky District show in Knoxville.
It has been a long, hot summer and I’m looking forward to some cooler fall weather. I am encouraged that the Japanese beetles have been fewer than in years past and hope this trend continues. Now is the time to build new rose beds and get the ground ready for next spring’s planting season. I’ve built a new raised bed on the east side of my house and will be adding the dirt this fall.
See you at the meeting. Brenda is in charge of refreshments.
New Roses from Weeks for 2012—www.weeksroses.com
Roses In Review
It’s time again for the annual Roses in Review survey. The July/August issue of the American Rose magazine will have the RIR insert with the paper forms and the list of varieties. The online survey will follow shortly thereafter on the ARS website. This survey is the source of all the Garden ratings in the Handbook for Selecting Roses. It gives us all an idea of how the newer roses are doing in other rose growers gardens. Clearly, the more people we have reporting, the more reliable the results will be.
Completing the survey is easy. The deadline for submission is September 26. Even if you only have one of the roses on the list, your input is important. Join the 1,000+ other rose growers around the country (and the world) who participate in Roses in Review. The Handbook for Selecting Roses is widely used by rose growers for their buying decisions. As you complete the survey, you also help yourself by reviewing the performance of your own roses.
Go to www.ars.org and fill out your report electronically. You will have to register the first time. If you need to come back and finish at a later time, you will not have to register again. For those who do not have access to a computer, you can send in paper reports. Make as many copies of the evaluation sheet as you need.
Our RIR coordinator is: Jeff Garrett, 2049 Linwood Circle, Soddy Daisy, TN 37379.
Roses, Friends and MORE!
♦ More roses....Roses from all over our district!
♦ More friends .... More rosarians and more future rosarians!
♦ More info .... More information that will help you grow great roses!
♦ More fun ... Good food, entertainment, and gardens to visit!
The Tennessee Rose Society is celebrating its 65th Anniversary and planning an exciting Tenarky District Convention and Rose Show for September 23, 24 and 25th at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Don’t miss this fun-filled event with more roses, more friends, more new rose information and just more fun.
FRIDAY, September 23
♦ Registration: Entrance to UT Gardens-4:00-6:30 p.m.
♦ Friday Night Picnic: Beall Family Rose Gardens 6:00-7:30 p.m.
♦ We will gather at UT Gardens off Neyland Drive for one of Buddy’s Best Bar-b-q Buffets. This favorite bar-b-q became famous in Knoxville during the 1982 WORLD’S FAIR. Enjoy bar-b-q pork and chicken with all the trimmings, tour the beautiful gardens before and after eating, and listen to genuine bagpipe music by Kay Irwin as she strolls through the gardens. For directions to the UT Gardens and more information, please visit http://UTgardens.tennessee.edu
SATURDAY, September 24
Rose Education Day
♦ Hollingsworth Auditorium located in the Ellington Building on AG Campus, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
♦ Rose Grooming area open: 6:30 a.m.
♦ Registration: 9:00 a.m.
♦ Rose Show Judging: Horticulture 10:30 a.m. Artistic 11:00 a.m.
♦ Rose Show Open to Public: 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Rose Education Day Seminars
1:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
♦ Noah Wilson – “Getting Started with Roses”
♦ Connie Baird – “Flower Arranging with Roses”
♦ Jimmy Moser – “Growing Knockout Roses and Successfully Winterizing all Types of Roses” and is a member of the Memphis-Dixie Rose Society.
♦ Tom Stebbins – “Identifying Rose Diseases and Pests”
♦ Susie Epperson – “Fragrant Garden Roses”
♦ Sara Johnson – “Johnson Nursery and Garden Center”
TENARKY District Meeting
4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Banquet: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Four Points by Sheraton Knoxville
♦ Wine and cocktails will be available in the hotel lounge.
Buffet will feature beef tips with mushroom bordelaise and rosemary marinated chicken.
♦ Jerry Maloy, Pianist, Featured Entertainer
♦ Dr. Mark Windham, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Guest Speaker
SUNDAY, September 25 - Garden Tours: 9:00 a.m.
♦ Dr. Joseph and Rhonda Spruill-9705 Tunbridge 37922
♦ Dr. Tom and Mary Frances Carlson-917 Hayslope Drive 37919
♦ Kathy Brennan- 525 Altamira Drive 37934
♦ Michael and Mary Bates- 513 Altamira Drive 37934
For Registration, Rose Show Schedule and Rose Education Day Seminar information visit:
http://tenarky.org or http://tennesseerosesociety.org
Editor’s Note: Several BGRS members are planning to attend so make plans to be there for the workshops and enter some of your roses in the district show.
News from our Members
• Vi Hudson will be having surgery soon. Yvonne Wright and Howard Snyder recently had surgery. Please keep them in your prayers.
• Ruby Hicks, age 90 and former member of BGRS passed away on August 7, 2011. Her memorial service was in Belleville, TN. She and her husband Pete were very active members. There is a James and Ruby Hicks Scholarship
What is a Consulting Rosarian? by Ann & Bob Jacobs, Consulting Rosarians
A Consulting Rosarian has a willingness to share knowledge and enthusiasm for the joys of growing roses with members of their local rose society and non-members when called upon.
Bob and I received a call from a woman in a nearby community. Her call was, “Help my roses are dying. What can I do as I was not the one who planted and cared for these 35 bushes. Now it is up to me. And I do not want to lose them.”
After asking a few questions, we agreed it would be best to drive to her home to see the rose bed. As we drove up to the garden, we looked at each other and said, “food and water”. The summer neglect had stressed out the roses.
With her assistance we cut back most of the roses to about 18 inches. Then pulled out the hose to water the entire bed for the afternoon.
Our recommendation was for her to use liquid fertilizer such as Miracle Grow on a weekly basis and water deep. And to spray with Honor Guard and Immunox on a weekly basis.
We plan to stop by in a couple weeks to see how the roses are doing. She was so very thankful for our help and promised to give us a call with any further questions.
Being a Consulting Rosarian gives you a different insight on growing and maintaining roses. Also, this gives you an opportunity to have contact with people of the community to promote growing roses, our National Flower.
MONTHLY IN-CLUB COMPETITION—JUNE - NOVEMBER
The competition shall consist of ONE entry in each of the following classes: One bloom per stem, except for sprays. Groom and fill in tags as if entering a regular rose show. Judges will comment on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice. The top scorer in horticulture and arrangements will be recognized at the December meeting.
Class 1—1 Single Bloom Hybrid Tea/Grandiflora
Class 2—Single Bloom Miniature
Class 3—1 Single Bloom Floribunda
Class 4—1 Floribunda or Miniature Spray
Class 5—Specimen, Any Other Type
Class 6—Arrangements (Traditional—large or small roses)
What Bob is Doing in his Rose Garden by Bob Jacobs, Consulting Rosarian
I hope everyone is getting your roses in shape now that we can look for some cooler weather after the strange year we have had with early rains then the long, dry hot days. Early on I had a black spot problem in my rose garden that has taken some time to control. I sprayed with Honor Guard, Mancozeb and Immunox. I sprayed with the Mancozeb every three or four days.
With the hot weather you needed to be watering very deep about every three or four days. And, spray the bushes during the day to cool them off. I do this early in the day so they have an opportunity to dry before dark. With the hot weather comes the spider mites. These can really suck the moisture from the leaves. I like to spray with a hard stream of water under the leaves. There are chemicals you can use but they are expensive and the water works as well. Most important at this time you will want to keep up your spray program and water. You can still use your liquid fertilizer, but do not use any slow release fertilizer after the first of September.
GARDEN GOOD GUYS—EARTHWORMS
“I doubt that there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world” said Charles Darwin of the earthworm. More descriptive perhaps, Aristotle called worms the “guts of the earth.” In either case, it is apparent that these little critters below our feet have been recognized for their valuable contribution for centuries. If you see lots of earthworms in your garden soil, be thankful and congratulations! It’s a sign of healthy soil, one of the key elements in growing good roses, or any other plant.
Some interesting facts about earthworms:
- They are animals, classified as annelids
- They are the dominant animal life in the soil (they can number several million to an acre in good soil and bring 20 tons of soil to the surface each year)
- They occur in most temperate soils and many tropical soils.
- There are 3 families, more than 700 genera, and more than 7,000 species of earthworms
- They range from an inch to two yards in length and are found seasonally at all depths in the soil
- They are nocturnal
- Direct exposure to sunlight can be fatal to them in less than three minutes
- They breathe through their skin
- They have a brain and are sensitive to taste, touch, light and vibration
- They are mostly muscles and nerves - muscles run the length of the body as well as circling the body
- The first one-third of the body contains the vital organs; the remaining two-thirds contains the intestine
- They are hermaphrodites, meaning that they exhibit both male and female characteristics
- Offspring can live for 10 – 12 years, provided they aren’t found by a hungry bird, a gardener’s spade or pesticides in the soil
- They can eat their weight in decaying plant matter each day
For most gardeners, earthworms are a common site, and one to be encouraged. What do earthworms really do? Lots of good things to the soil including:
**Mix and aggregate the soil** - As they consume organic matter and mineral particles, earthworms excrete wastes in the form of casts, a type of soil aggregate. The burrowing action of the worms moves soil particles closer together near burrow walls, and the mucus secreted by the worms as they burrow can also help bind the soil particles together. By mixing the soil, they help achieve the proper air, water, and solids ratio for maximum plant growth.
**Stimulate microbial activity** - Although earthworms derive their nutrition from microorganisms, many more microorganisms are present in their feces or casts than in the organic matter that they consume. As organic matter passes through their intestines, it is fragmented and inoculated with microorganisms. Free-living nitrogen fixing bacteria (good for plants) are more numerous around the sides of earthworm burrows.
**Increase infiltration** - The worms maze of tunnels increases the soil’s ability to absorb water. Some species make permanent burrows deep into the soil. These burrows can persist long after the occupant has died, and can be a major conduit for soil drainage, particularly under heavy rainfall. At the same time, the burrows minimize surface water erosion. The horizontal burrowing of other species in the top several inches of soil increases overall porosity and drainage.
**Improve water-holding capacity** - By fragmenting organic matter, and increasing soil porosity and aggregation, earthworms can significantly increase the water-holding capacity of soils.
**Provide channels for root quality** - The channels made by deep-burrowing earthworms are lined with readily available nutrients and make it easier for roots to penetrate deep into the soil.
**Bury/shred residues** - Plant and crop residue are gradually buried by cast material deposited on the surface and as earthworms pull surface residue into their burrows.
**Neutralize soil pH** - Analysis of earthworm castings, or earthworm manure, shows that the soil that comes out of the back end of an earthworm is closer to a neutral pH (7) than what goes in the front end, regardless of whether the existing soil is above or below pH (7). This is achieved by the action of the worms calciferous gland and the buffering action of carbonic acid. Soil which has passed through the gut of an earthworm shows much more available phosphorus and potassium than the same soil which has not passed through the worm.
**Reduce harmful nematode populations** - As yet, the exact reasons are unclear, but soil with earthworms invariably has less harmful parasitic nematodes than soil without earthworms.
**Improve overall soil quality** - The activity of the earthworm gut is like a miniature composting tube that mixes, conditions, and inoculates plant residues. The earthworm removes plant litter from the soil surface, turnGARDEN GOOD GUYS—EARTHWORMS (continued from page 5)
ing it into free manure. It has been demonstrated that earthworm castings contain about five times the nitrate, seven times the available phosphorous, three times the exchangeable magnesium, eleven times the potassium and 1.5 times the calcium as regular soil. Research has also shown that microbial activity in worm castings is 10 to 20 times higher than in the soil and organic matter that the worm ingests.
There are two major types of earthworms—the deep-burrowers ("nightcrawlers") build large, vertical, permanent burrows that may extend 5 to 6 feet deep or more; they pull plant residues down into the mouth of their burrow, where the residues soften and can be eaten at a later time. The shallow-dwelling worms (known as red-worms, gray-worms, fish-worms, and many other names) are comprised of many species that live primarily in the top 12 inches of soil. Adults are usually 3 to 5 inches and they do not build permanent burrows; they randomly burrow throughout the topsoil, ingesting residues and mineral soil as they go. Nightcrawlers tend to be more active in spring and fall, but they may not go into a complete resting state in summer or winter since they can retreat to the bottom of their burrows during extremes of heat or cold. New worms will generally only emerge when soil moisture and temperature conditions are suitable.
Earthworms thrive best on organic debris that contain a high percentage of nitrogen. This is encouraged through the addition of organic soil amendments and mulch. Water is also a major necessity of earthworms as they contain about 80% water by weight and lose about 15% per day. If moisture is not available they will dig deep into the soil to find it. Simply adding earthworms to poor soil won’t do much good. However, if you add organic material to your soil, chances are the worms will come. So, it is pretty easy—just add organics when planting or mulching, and keep things watered—and the worms will come.
Earthworms are truly the gardener’s best friend. And one last added benefit … they provide free fishing bait!
Nanette Londeree is a member of the Marin Rose Society in California. This article is reprinted with her permission.
Diagram of an earthworm’s permanent vertical burrow
Photo by North Appalachian Experimental Watershed, USDA-Agricultural Research Service,
Leaf Scorch on Rose Bushes—what am I doing wrong? by Mary Ann Hext, CR
Is it due to lack of water?
Is it due to over fertilizing?
Is it due to over spraying?
Is it due to spraying when it is too hot?
—Or is it all of the above?
During the past three weeks, I have had leaf scorch on several of my rose bushes. At first I thought it was just more black spot; however, on further examination, I realized the spots were brown and that it was something else. Since we have had only one-half inch of water during the past month, I have been watering twice each week. I have also been spraying weekly and fertilizing every two weeks early in the mornings or in the evenings; but sometimes it is very hot at these times of day. I also have been experimenting with different mixtures of fertilizer. Any advice is appreciated.
Aspirin and Roses By Charles Shaner – Master Rosarian
I have seen several newsletters with articles about aspirin and roses this spring. I wrote an article on this several years ago and use aspirin in my spray every time I spray. I am sold on it and have had excellent results. The application of salicylic acid to plants helps to enhance the natural immune system of the plant and aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid. Salicylic acid is a natural component in all plants.
Many people were using Messenger a few years ago. Messenger did the same thing but was expensive and had a very short shelf life. The company which produced Messenger is no longer in business.
Dissolving two aspirin tablets to a gallon when sprayed on plants will help to prevent diseases, some insects, and environmental stress. In the years I used aspirin weekly, I did not have a single case of Rose Rosette Disease in my roses. I got lax on using it for a year and the Rose Rosette Disease returned. I do believe the regular use of aspirin in your spray will aid in the prevention of RRD.
You will notice the aspirin is slow to dissolve in water. I drop the aspirin in a bottle of water and place it on a shelf for a couple of days and shake the bottle occasionally as I walk by. I always mix two gallons of spray so I will place four aspirin tablets in the bottle. When I am ready to mix my spray I dump the contents of the bottle in the sprayer.
Keep in mind that aspirin is not a registered pesticide or fungicide. It only works as a preventive and will not kill insects or diseases after the plant is infected. Any brand of aspirin will work. I usually buy the cheapest one I can find and use a 325 mg tablet. Do not use coated aspirin as it will not dissolve.
The aspirin not only enhances the plant’s immune system but also produces an all around healthier plant with more vigorous growth. I have always heard it said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Aspirin is the ounce of prevention.
Editors note: This article is reprinted from the Shenandoah Rose Society (Virginia) newsletter May 2011, with permission from the author.
It Really Works! By Charles Shaner – Master Rosarian
As many of you know, I am one to experiment with new ideas in hopes of making rose growing easier, better, and more efficient. I receive many newsletters from around the nation and they have some pretty good ideas in them. One I picked up from the Tampa Rose Society was a tip on how to control thrips.
This is so easy and inexpensive it is hard to believe it actually works not only on thrips but other insects as well. You take a blue plastic cup, coat it with STP oil treatment and hang it on a stake in your garden. The thrips and other insects will be attracted to it and stick there and die. When the cup gets coated you simply wash it in warm soapy water, recoat it and hang it back up.
I purchased a pack of 15 cups from Dollar Tree for $1 and, instead of STP, I purchased the Advance Store brand for $3 (a dollar cheaper than STP and it is the same thing). The stake can be anything you want to use. I had a supply of metal electric fence stakes which work great.
The first I put these out, my cups were coated with bugs within 24 hours. Most were small and appeared to be thrips. Coated with the oily substance it is hard to tell. My thrip damage has become less and less with the use of these cups. I have three in each of my 40 foot beds.
They say “necessity is the mother of invention”. Rosarians can be very inventive and this is just one example of one that really works.
Editors note: This article is reprinted from the Shenandoah Rose Society (Virginia) newsletter August 2011, with permission from the author.
2011 Rose Show Sponsors
Please support these businesses who make our rose show possible.
- Batteries Plus
- Springhill Pharmacy
- BB&T
- Cambridge Market & Cafe
- RC Bottling Corp.—Mike Trimble, GM
- Merrill Lynch—Michael Manship
- Alvaton Nursery—Brad Kirby
- All Seasons Gas Grill & Fireside Shop
- Greenwood Ford
- Chaney's Dairy Barn
- Southern States
- Better Hearing Centers
- Simply Mulch
- Drakes Creek Nursery
- Richpond Hardware
- Jackson's Orchard
- Motor City Bar & Grill
- Chuck's Liquors
- Kent & Claire Campbell
- Anonymous
IMPORTANT DATES - 2011
- September 17: Louisville RS Rose Show
- September 23-24: Tenarky District Rose Show & Convention—Knoxville, TN
- October 1-2: Nashville Rose Show
- October 12-16: ARS Fall National Convention and Rose Show—Universal City, CA
- October 16: Memphis & Dixie RS Rose Show
2012
- May 19: Bowling Green Rose Show
2011 BGRS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President: ........................................ Kathy Dodson
270.842.3475
email@example.com
Secretary: ........................................ Brenda Coffey
270.842-8255
firstname.lastname@example.org
Treasurer: ........................................ Ben Matus
270.745-9935
email@example.com
Member at Large: ................................ Ricky Lockhart
270.526-6866
firstname.lastname@example.org
Past President: ........................................ Bob Jacobs
270.781.2592
email@example.com
Publications: ........................................ Mary Ann Hext
270.781.8171
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What to Do When an Earthquake occurs
Proper action must be taken in order to ensure the least possible damage from an earthquake. Here is the information you need to prepare for an earthquake, starting today.
Stay Calm and Take Action
Ensure your safety
- Crouch down on the ground.
- Hide under a sturdy desk or table.
- Cover your head with your arms or bag.
When the shaking stops
- Extinguish any fires as quickly as possible.
- Open doors or windows to create evacuation exits.
When evacuating
- Wear shoes to help prevent injuries caused by broken glass.
- Turn off the electrical breaker and gas supply.
- Work with others to rescue any injured persons.
- Do not evacuate by car. Use telephone only in case of emergency.
- Take only necessary items with you.
Obtain accurate information
- Try to obtain accurate information through radio or public announcements.
- Move to an evacuation area such as a park (Write down on a piece of paper your destination and put it on the outside of your house or any place where it catches attention.)
Cooperate with your neighbors
- Participate in the activities organized by the Autonomous Disaster Prevention Committee.
- Observe the rules at Emergency Shelters.
- Do not approach enter collapsed houses (They can be damaged by aftershocks.)
Evacuation Area in Yamato City
Confirm the location of your nearest evacuation area/shelter.
Legend
- Large spaces for temporary evacuation
"Koiki Hinan Basho" 広域避難場所
The places for evacuation from the spread of fire, radiant heat or smoke when a large scale disaster occurs.
- Designated temporary refuges
"Shitei Hinan Jo" 指定避難所
The temporary places to house people whose homes have been destroyed.
Evacuation Instructions
1. Before evacuating, check that all flames have been extinguished and turn off the electrical breaker.
2. Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants, shoes with thick soles, a helmet or protective headgear and gloves.
3. Carry the Emergency items in a rucksack on your back.
4. Evacuate on foot. (Do not evacuate by car)
5. Hold the hands of senior citizens and children and guide them.
6. Evacuate as a group with your neighbors.
7. Avoid walking down narrow roads, near walls, along rivers, or under power cables.
Evacuation Instructions
1. Before evacuating, check that all flames have been extinguished and turn off the electrical breaker.
2. Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants, shoes with thick soles, a helmet or protective headgear and gloves.
3. Carry the Emergency items in a rucksack on your back.
4. Evacuate on foot. (Do not evacuate by car)
5. Hold the hands of senior citizens and children and guide them.
6. Evacuate as a group with your neighbors.
7. Avoid walking down narrow roads, near walls, along rivers, or under power cables.
Daily Precautions
Be prepared and provide against emergencies.
Emergency Items to Carry Out
Medicines: Cold medicine, painkillers, bandages, prescriptions, etc.
Valuables: Cash, bank books, cash cards and dry seal
Portable radio, flashlight: Do not forget batteries
Others: Diapers, baby formula, lighters, candles, masks, hand sanitizer, thermometer, etc.
Emergency Items to Store
Drinking water: (3 liters per person per day for at least three days use)
Food: Rice, canned foods, biscuits, chocolate
Fuel: Tabletop stove, gas cylinders
Other: Blankets, clothing, and sleeping bags
Talk With Your Family
1. Where to evacuate
2. Where to put your emergency supplies backpack
3. Where to meet after an earthquake
4. Secure large furniture, such as shelves or cabinets, with metal filings to ensure they do not fall.
5. Attach anti-shatter film to glass.
Daily Japanese Language Class
Would you like to study Japanese language at the Association for Supporting Refugees’ Settlement in KANAGAWA? For more information, contact the following Association.
Association for Supporting Refugees’ Settlement in KANAGAWA
TEL・FAX: 046-268-2655 Email: email@example.com
MO Heim No.102, 1773-2 Kami-wada, Yamato City
(8 minute-walk from the east exit of Sakuragaoka Station)
| Class | Period, Day, Time | Expenses | Level Check Test |
|-------|-------------------|----------|------------------|
| Introductory Class | April 5 - April 9 (total 5 times) Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs, Fri, 10:00 - 12:00 | 5,000 yen plus text expense | March 30 (Tue), 10:30 |
| Beginner’s Class Level 1 | April 12 - May 26 (total 28 times) Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs, Fri, 9:30 - 12:00 | 28,000 yen plus text expense | March 30 (Tue), 10:30 |
| Beginner’s Class Level 2 | May 31 - July 7 (total 28 times) Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs, Fri, 9:30 - 12:00 | 28,000 yen plus text expense | May 21 (Fri), 13:00 |
| N4 Preparation Class | April 13 - June 29 (total 10 times plus mock exam.) Tue 10:00 - 12:00 | 13,000 yen plus text expense | March 30 (Tue), 10:30 |
※Please note that any paid fee/text expense will not be refunded for any reason.
※Depending on the situation regarding COVID-19, classes may be cancelled.
Announcement from Yamato International Association
Address: Shimin Katsudou Kyoten Betelgeuse North Build. 1st Fl., 1-3-17 Fukami-Nishi, Yamato
TEL: 046-265-6051 FAX: 046-265-6052
Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri., 1st and 3rd Sat., 8:30-17:00
Tue., and Thu.: 8:30-20:15
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org
URL: http://www.yamato-kokusai.or.jp
住 所：大和市深見西1-3-17 市民活動拠点ベテルギウス北館1階
電話番号：046-265-6051 FAX番号：046-265-6052
開 庁 日：月曜、水曜、金曜、第1、3土曜 8:30-17:00
火曜、木曜 8:30-20:15
Email: email@example.com
ホームページ：http://www.yamato-kokusai.or.jp
Japanese Classroom
At the Yamato International Association, we have a Japanese classroom for all who want to smoothly converse in Japanese at work or with neighbors. If you are interested, please apply at the International Association.
Term: 12 May 2021 - 30 March 2022
Every Wednesday, 6:30-8pm (40 sessions total - No classes in August)
Location: International Salon (Betelgeuse Bldg. North Wing, 1F)
Institution: Yamato Foreign Language School
Contents: Students will learn how to converse in various real-life situations, how to introduce their home country, and Kanji.
For: Anyone who can speak a little Japanese, and read/write both hiragana and katakana (12 students total)
Tuition: 1,000 yen per month
Apply: Please apply to the International Association by telephone, email, or in person. First come, first served. If there is room for more students, applications will be accepted during the learning term.
As of 1 February 2021:
Barbecues at the Fureai Forest Plaza are Prohibited
Because previous issues with litter and noise complaints at the Fureai Forest Plaza have not improved despite efforts to inform all users, barbecues are prohibited as of 1 February 2021.
If you are planning to have a barbecue, please use Hikichidai Park, Yamato Yutori Forest, or the Izumi-no-mori Fureai Campground.
*Barbeque sites - Reservations required
●Hikichidai Park (Contact: 050-3816-6374)
●Yamato Yutori Forest (Contact: 046-268-0535)
●Izumi-no-mori Fureai Campground (Contact: 046-260-5795)
Questions: Midori Park Section Parks Management Office
Telephone: 046(263)9221
Online International Festival 2021
The Yamato International Friendship Club will host the 2021 International Festival online. All are welcome. Please feel free to reserve a spot. (Free of charge)
Date: 27 March (Saturday) 10:00-12:00
Place: Join us from home via Zoom, with your computer or mobile phone. If you are not comfortable with using Zoom, feel free to come to the 1st floor meeting room in the Yamato Citizens’ Activity Center. You can join the Zoom chat from here.
Contents: Group discussion, bingo, etc.
Apply: Yamato International Friendship Club (IFC)
Telephone: 046-272-1885 (Hasebe)
firstname.lastname@example.org
WEB版インターナショナルフェスタ2021
やまと国際フレンドクラブでは、WEBで「インターナショナルフェスタ2021」を開催します。どなたでも参加できます。お気軽にお申し込みください。（参加料無料）
日 時：3月27日（土）10:00-12:00
場 所：ご自宅からパソコンや携帯でZoomにつないでどこからでも参加できます。
Zoomは自信がないという方は、大和市民活動センター1階会議室にきていただくても大丈夫です。ここから含参加者へZoomをつなぎます。
内 容：座談会、ビンゴゲームなど
申込み：やまと国際フレンドクラブ（IFC） 電話：046-272-1885（はせべ）
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UNDERSTANDING EUROPE
Approaches to diversity-oriented peer education
Dear readers,
We are celebrating our anniversary: 10 years ago, *Understanding Europe* was launched as a peer project by the Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe.
The EU Crash Course originated from the idea to provide students with basic knowledge for taking part in discussions on European policy issues and to increase their interest in Europe. Since then, the project has come to foster core competences for young people to take part in participation-oriented teaching and learning. The aim is for participants to feel empowered to be active citizens for a pluralistic and open Europe. Annually and in 15 European countries, about 280 peers and 12,500 students in public schools and vocational schools are involved in the *Understanding Europe* project.
The peer trainers are at the core of *Understanding Europe*. They act as mediators in the classrooms, implement projects on the ground, develop new European-related educational material and organise qualification programmes for regional groups. With this publication, we wish to share the experiential knowledge that we have gained from and with our peers in the last years. This includes how safe spaces for learning and encounters can be created to offer young people opportunities and the ability to test themselves, as well as get to know and better understand their own and others’ world views, experiences and backgrounds.
With the *Understanding Europe* project, we are still in the process of learning about inclusive and diversity-oriented peer education, which will become clear in some of the sections to come. With this in mind, we look forward all the more to supporting this wonderful project in the coming years and, together with our peers, to developing it further.
Enjoy reading and trying out our approaches and methods!
Anne Rolvering, Lena Prötzel and Thimo Nieselt
In the first section, we will share our pedagogical approaches. What do we mean by peer education? Why does this approach work? And what do we mean by participation? These questions will be answered in Chapter 1. Continuing with Chapter 2, we will share how core competences are conveyed to Understanding Europe peers within the qualification framework. Furthermore, the “Competences for Democratic Culture” model developed by the Council of Europe will be introduced. In Chapter 3, Prof. Dr. Karim Fereidooni explains – based on concrete situations – how racism-critical work can be done in the classroom.
In an interview with the satirical group “Datteltäter” in Chapter 4, we get a glimpse of how openness and a genuine interest in target groups is necessary in order to talk to students as equals. In Chapter 5, based on an evaluation from the Centre of Inclusive Civic Education (ZipB), we describe the conditions for successful, inclusive civic education processes. Finally, in Chapter 6, peers from Understanding Europe have a conversation with educational expert, Dr. Helle Becker. They discuss, among other things, the challenges of civic education, young people’s political understanding, and school as a place for learning.
In the second section, we share several concrete methods and share some practical advice. In Chapter 7, based on the method “Europe in 4 Corners,” we explain how to start a dialogue and engage in controversial discussions with students. In Chapter 8, we describe life-world approaches to the topic of Europe on the basis of four political-didactic principles (experiential, biographical, problem-oriented learning and controversy). Chapter 9 illustrates the attitudes and viewpoints that can be successful when telling a multi-perspective European history in the classroom. Furthermore, tips on implementing the “timeline method” are given.
In Chapter 10, we explain what needs to be taken into account when organising a “Dialogue on participation” event and how to develop participation ideas with students. Chapter 11 describes the method of peer counselling that enables joint learning. Finally, in Chapter 12, we explain the principle of controversy in civic education based on the “Red Line” method and give tips on how to handle degrading and anti-democratic statements in the classroom. The most important terms are defined in a glossary of terms at the end.
## Contents
### OPENING
2 Preface
4 Introduction
8 In which countries was *Understanding Europe* active in the last 10 years?
### OUR PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES
12 Peer trainers’ voices from *Understanding Europe*
14 **CHAPTER 1**
Participatory and on equal terms
*Our Peer Approach*
16 **CHAPTER 2**
Learning through trainings and educational practices
*Development of competencies*
20 **CHAPTER 3**
Practical examples from classroom situations
“Racism critique” in school
24 **CHAPTER 4**
An interview with “Datteltäter”
“How do you become a sweet potato?”
26 **CHAPTER 5**
How to achieve participation of all students
*Principles of an inclusive civic education*
28 **CHAPTER 6**
A conversation with peers and Dr. Helle Becker
*On the challenges of civic education, life-worlds and schools as learning spaces*
## IN PRACTICE
| Page | Chapter |
|------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 40 | **CHAPTER 7** |
| | Dialogue-based learning |
| | “Europe in 4 Corners” |
| 44 | **CHAPTER 8** |
| | Approaches to the topic of Europe |
| | “What does Europe have to do with me?” |
| 48 | **CHAPTER 9** |
| | The timeline method |
| | Teaching a multi-perspective European history |
| 56 | **CHAPTER 10** |
| | “Where can I have an impact?” |
| | Organising a “Dialogue on Participation” |
| | on your own |
| 62 | **CHAPTER 11** |
| | Joint reflection on course situations |
| | Case-based peer counselling |
| 64 | **CHAPTER 12** |
| | The principle of controversy in civic education |
| | Room for expression |
## CONCLUSION
| Page | Section |
|------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 70 | Glossary |
| 73 | Authors |
| 74 | Schwarzkopf-Stiftung Junges Europa |
| 75 | Understanding Europe |
| 75 | Acknowledgements |
| 78 | Imprint |
In which countries has Understanding Europe been active in the last 10 years?
Also peers from Georgia, Poland, Lithuania, Norway and Ireland participated in Understanding Europe trainings.
NUMBER OF COURSES AND TRAININGS
JULI & BERTRAND
Sofia, 2019
Our pedagogical approaches
Peer trainers’ voices from Understanding Europe
“As a trainer for Understanding Europe, you are not just conveying European content – you moderate, argue, negotiate and coordinate, you take responsibility, listen to students and you are part of a dynamic and motivated team.”
— CARMEN, BERLIN / GERMANY
“Thanks to the experience of developing my own ideas within the framework of Understanding Europe, I have now started my own organisation to support and develop youth projects in the field of music.”
— ARITZ, SPAIN
“My main motivation for being an Understanding Europe trainer is my personal development. My second motivation is my faith in this project. In my view, sharing different ways of thinking, life-worlds and experiences with each other as well as finding common solutions leads to more open-mindedness and to more critical thinking.”
— SARA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
“Discussing the European project is not sufficiently implemented in school curricula in the Czech Republic. For me, participating in educating the future generation in this field is therefore an honor, as well as a passion.”
— VIKTOR, CZECH REPUBLIC
“[…] above all I have learned how I can excite people about complex subjects and how to convey important content to students. Since becoming a trainer, I am also more open to unfamiliar points of view and to opposing views.”
— TORGE, HAMBURG / GERMANY
“Sometimes students give us brand new viewpoints on topics because they see things from a different perspective compared to us.”
— MELTEM, HAMBURG / GERMANY
“In a feedback round, a student said that she enjoyed the course because she had never met anyone her age who is interested in politics – and she thought that was pretty cool!”
— MARIE, NORTH RHINE WESTPHALIA / GERMANY
“Understanding Europe is especially important in Armenia, one of the easternmost countries participating in the project. Seeing the enthusiasm and eagerness to learn in participants’ eyes motivates me to continue being involved in conducting and organising courses and trainings in Yerevan and in remote Armenian regions.”
— LEVON, ARMENIA
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY PEER EDUCATION?
The project *Understanding Europe* works with a participation-oriented approach for peer education in schools. What does this mean? Peers are people who move in common social spaces and share similar interests and experiences with each other. They often engage with the same questions and topics, speak a similar language, and are close in age. In the case of *Understanding Europe*, peer trainers are between 16–28 years old and share similar life-worlds with students.
Peers take on a double role in the project and, in so doing, profit from this educational format in distinct ways. On one hand, peers are intermediaries, as young people learn more easily from and with members of their own age group. With *Understanding Europe*, spaces are created for young people to discuss their own life-worlds (subject orientation) and political views without assessments or grading taking place. Peer authenticity is a great strength of this approach. At the same time, peers are learners themselves and are further developing their own personal competences through these formats, all within the trainers qualification framework (→ chapter 2).
We understand the peer approach as taking place on two levels: **in the classroom**, through the acquisition of knowledge on commonly accessible subjects (→ chapter 5), peers and students learn with and from one another and **in trainings** as well as other accompanying formats, peers learn through, for example, peer feedback and peer consulting.
**The peer-approach works on two levels:**
- **IN THE CLASSROOM**
- Peers – Students
- ↓
- Subject and life-world orientation
- **IN TRAININGS**
- Peer – Peer
- ↓
- Peer feedback and peer counselling
WHY PEER EDUCATION?
The aim of peer education is to strengthen participation and self-determination. Through the transfer of responsibility within the project, peers can experience **self-efficacy**, or the conviction to be able to successfully manage difficult situations through their own strengths and of their own accord. Optimally, this participatory experience in the context of diversity and differences leads to a wish to **co-design society** and create a more open and pluralistic Europe.
Furthermore, co-determination and the participation of peers strengthens their opportunities of **ownership**, meaning that peers view the project as their own. As part of *Understanding Europe*, peers’ perspectives and, in particular, **transnational perspectives** are strengthened through this approach.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY PARTICIPATION?
Participation is an essential part of peer education. Students participating and peer trainers can co-design the format and content of these courses. It should be made possible for the peers, according to their individual strengths, time capacities and preferences, to contribute to the educational project in various subject areas and degrees. Responsibility can be conferred for the following task areas and roles, amongst others:
- Implementation of courses, as well as designing educational settings
- Training other peers (including the planning and implementation of trainings)
- Developing new educational formats and materials
- Taking over project implementation (e.g. as an on-site coordinator)
**CAUTION** Peer participation requires, in many cases, particular knowledge, time and financial resources. This can lead to the problem of academic reproduction, meaning that specific academic language knowledge is being reproduced by academic peers, limiting accessibility to students from lower educational backgrounds.
**RECOMMENDATION:**
→ Our Checklist for the Participatory Designing of Educational Formats (Fuhrmann / Scharnetzky / Nieselt, 2019) can be found via the following link:
https://schwarzkopf-stiftung.de/en/participatory-design-formats
---
1 Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie e. V. (2019): *lebensweltnah & partizipativ – Mit Peer Education gesellschaftliche Vielfalt und Demokratie fördern*.
2 cf. Elard Apel: *Peer-Education – Eine historische Betrachtung aus Sicht der Jugendverbandsarbeit*; pp. 16 ff. in: *Peer Education. Bildung und Erziehung von Gleichaltrigen durch Gleichaltrige*, Münster 2003.
CHAPTER 2 LEARNING THROUGH TRAININGS AND EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE
Development of competencies
The qualification programme allows peers to reflect on their roles as multipliers and their social positions, deepen their knowledge related to Europe and to critiques of power and successfully use methods that are inclusive and sensitive to all forms of discrimination. The qualification modules with which these core competencies can be fostered will be discussed in this chapter. The yearly multi-day trainings are organised and executed by qualified peers in each country.
BY
THIMO NIESELT
1. REFLECTION COMPETENCIES
The first competence area includes “confronting one’s own attitudes and reflecting upon one’s own assumptions, values, strengths, weaknesses and privileges, as well as understanding one’s own role as a peer.”\(^1\) We see critical self-reflection as a basic requirement in order to be able to lead open and diversity-oriented discussions with students. This includes, amongst others, the aspects on the right.
- Privilege and power relations with regard to individual and socio-cultural positions (→ chapters 3 and 4)
- Participation opportunities and experiences
- Analysing individual as well as collective constructions of identity
- Reflecting on basic rights and norms
- Impact of Europe on oneself
- Own role as a peer
2. FACTUAL EXPERTISE
Topic and content-related knowledge (that is critical of power asymmetries) should also be part of the qualification programme. At this point, it should be conveyed to peers that they are not expected to know everything at all times and are allowed to not know the answer to a question. Content discussed should also relate to the peers’ interests. This includes, amongst others, the aspects on the right.
- The goals and principles of (European) civic education (→ chapter 8)
- Local problems in the European context (referencing life-worlds)
- EU policy fields (e.g. refugee and asylum policy, monetary policy)
- Opportunities to participate in politics at local and European levels
- The histori(es) of European (dis-)integration (→ chapter 9)
- Post-colonial and power-critical knowledge
3. METHODICAL COMPETENCIES
Finally, trainers’ competencies for discernment and action are developed in our qualification programme. This encompasses the question of how content is conveyed to the target group. An additional key area lies in pedagogical methods for dealing with conflict and discrimination, as well as for dealing with heterogeneity in groups. These methods include, amongst others, the aspects on the right.
- Moderating groups and dialogue (→ chapter 7)
- Giving and receiving feedback (→ chapter 11)
- Shaping inclusive learning environments (→ chapter 5)
- Using narrative-oriented and forward-looking methods (→ chapter 9)
- Dealing with degrading or derogatory statements (→ chapter 12)
- Developing expertise in media literacy
4. DEVELOPING COMPETENCIES AS A GOAL OF DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION
The aim of Democratic Citizenship Education is ultimately to support citizens’ competencies to actively participate in a democratic society. With this aim, the Schwarzkopf Foundation fosters the empowerment of young people to engage as active citizens in a pluralistic and open Europe.
The Council of Europe has identified such “Competences for Democratic Culture (CDC)” and has presented these in a model with four areas: values, attitudes, skills, as well as knowledge and critical thinking (see graphic on p. 21). These competencies, in turn, can be characterised with descriptors, or statements identifying observable behaviour. This model can be used for educators’ self-observation and self-reflection (see exercise on p. 21) in addition to planning and evaluating educational activities.
As part of the project Understanding Europe, students and peers alike do the learning (→ chapter 1). Within the framework of these trainings, we wish to foster, amongst others, the following competences in our peers: tolerance for ambiguity, appreciation of diversity, self-efficacy (trust in one’s own ability to act), flexibility, empathy, the ability to listen and a critical understanding of the world (in the sense of taking multiple perspectives into account).
→ All documents on the Reference Framework of the Council of Europe, “Competences for Democratic Culture,” can be found via the following link:
www.coe.int/en/web/education/competences-for-a-democratic-culture
Tolerance for ambiguity
“Understanding plurality and dealing with contradictions, meaning tolerance for ambiguity, is measured by the ability to ‘take ambiguity and insecurity into consideration and to be able to tolerate this,’ […] To not only withstand ambiguity, but to also be able to react to it sympathetically, without aggression and without feeling discomfort.”
— Naika Foroutan
1 Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie e. V. (2019): Lebensweitnah & partizipativ – Mit Peer Education gesellschaftliche Vielfalt und Demokratie fördern. pp. 38.
2 Hartmut Häcker/Kurt-Hermann Stapf (2004): Dorsch Psychologisches Wörterbuch. 14th edition. Bern: Huber. pp. 33.
3 Lothar Krappmann (2000): Soziologische Dimensionen der Identität. Strukturelle Bedingungen für die Teilnahme an Interaktionsprozessen. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag.
4 Naika Foroutan (2019): Die postmigrantische Gesellschaft – Ein Versprechen der pluralen Demokratie. transcript Verlag. Bielefeld. pp. 128.
5 Council of Europe (in preparation for 2020): The self-reflected democratic practitioner – A journey to democratic teacher ethos and a democratic culture in school.
THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE’S MODEL, “COMPETENCES FOR DEMOCRATIC CULTURE”
VALUES
• Valuing human dignity and human rights
• Valuing cultural diversity
• Valuing democracy, justice, fairness, equality and the rule of law
ATTITUDES
• Openness to cultural otherness and to other beliefs, worldviews and practices
• Respect
• Civic-mindedness
• Responsibility
• Self-efficacy
• Tolerance of ambiguity
SKILLS
• Autonomous learning skills
• Analytical and critical thinking skills
• Skills of listening and observing
• Empathy
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Linguistic, communicative and plurilingual skills
• Cooperation skills
• Conflict resolution skills
KNOWLEDGE AND CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING
• Knowledge and critical understanding of the self
• Knowledge and critical understanding of language and communication
• Knowledge and critical understanding of the world: politics, law, human rights, cultures, religions, history, media, economies, environment and sustainability
COMPETENCE
EXERCISE FOR SELF-OBSERVATION AND SELF-REFLECTION BY MEANS OF THE COMPETENCE MODEL 5
1. Choosing a situation
Think about a situation from everyday life or from your educational practice where you experienced something challenging or conflictual. Write down a short description of the situation.
2. A closer look
Reflect on how this situation could have been solved in constructive ways. What was in the way of such solutions? What could have contributed to such solutions? Take some notes.
3. The competence model
Choose three competences of the model you think are most important for this situation.
Think about previous situations in which you showed or did not show these competencies.
Study the descriptors for the competencies you have chosen (Volume 2).
4. Self-observation
In the days to come, observe yourself in some of the “typical” situations in which you would use these competences.
How did these situations go? Take notes about your own behaviour using the list of descriptors.
5. Debriefing
Take notes – what new insights did this activity give you? What was difficult? How do you want to further develop your CDC in everyday life?
“Racism critique” refers to a comprehensive examination of social structures and individual behaviours that are influenced by racisms and that amplify racism. Particularly in the field of education, dealing with racism is necessary because negotiation processes that are racist-relevant exist and are reproduced. Racism-critical education aims to integrate racism critique as a professional competence for teachers, peers and multipliers. Educators and pupils should thereby develop skills to recognise inhumane positions and be able to position themselves against them. The question: “What has racism to do with me?” serves as a guide to reflection and as a basis for obtaining a racism-sensitive attitude.
Hereafter, two practical examples will be shared that are taken from a publication by Professor Dr. Karim Fereidooni. He explains two classroom situations in which he worked in a racism-critical way with his students.
In the following, I would like to elaborate on two situations that I experienced during my six years of teaching German, Politics/Economy and Social Science at a gymnasium in the Ruhr area of Germany. It is not my intention to denounce the students involved as being racists. My aim is, rather, to present the ways in which racism is endemic to school education and in pedagogical materials, and that educators as well as peers and multipliers in the educational field need to be aware of this in order to react in an appropriate, professional manner.
**Situation no. 1**
Political Studies in 7th Grade
In this group, I was asking each of my pupils, in turn, to give a five-minute presentation on a current news story at the beginning of each lesson. Using this method, I wanted to encourage my pupils to regularly watch the news, put what they were seeing into an overall political context related to the lesson topic and acquire a variety of perspectives on current events. Subsequently, I wanted them to develop their own political judgements from a justifiable perspective, one which would be commensurate with their own everyday reality as well as reflective of society as a whole.
Furthermore, this approach allowed me to bring modern-day politics into the classroom. Themes and topics from the curriculum would appear on the news in the most up-to-date forms, and this provided my pupils with more impressive subjects of instruction than their partially-outdated textbooks. In addition, this method is learner-centred, since the respective pupils could select the news items themselves. As time went on, they made use of the criteria to decide which news items were worthy of attention, and which topics might be of interest, but did not reflect on issues pertaining to our class – related to political problems, urgency and uncertainty.\(^1\) Moreover, this method follows the didactic principle of case orientation because it is “an incident, an event in which agents interact in [their] individuality [to] those more general social and economic structures and political problems that enable [them]”\(^2\).
I will now present a situation from this setting, since it shows the implicit racist aspects in supposedly “normal” everyday teaching moments that, on the surface, seem to have nothing to do with racism.
One of the pupils, Leonard\(^3\), gave a report about the apple plantations in Moldova that are no longer being harvested, since numerous workers are emigrating because the country is one of the poorest in Europe. The eleven-year-old continued his presentation by saying that he finds it “a shame” that the apples are now “rotting in the fields” and that the people “don’t get any apples.” In his opinion, “the apples should be sent to Africa, because the people there have nothing to eat.” His four-minute report came to an end at this point and then it was time for questions. His fellow pupils wanted to know where Moldova is, why it is amongst the poorest countries in Europe, and where people are emigrating. After all the questions were answered, I asked Leonard to return to his seat. I now had two possibilities for the continuation of this lesson: a) go on with the planned lesson content or b) pose the following question to my 32 students, which I opted for: What enters your minds when you think about Africa? They all considered this question briefly before responding with their various ideas. This survey produced the following results: the pyramids are the most positive thing about Africa and associations with AIDS, poverty, drought, famine, wars, clay huts and dusty streets. After this exercise was completed, we reviewed what the pupils had come up with, and they noticed that they held very one-sided views of the continent. According to the 11- and 12-year-olds, their images of Africa were largely negative, and barely a single student had come up with a positive association. This prompted one female to ask: “Why do we think like this about Africa?” We took this initial question as an opportunity to reflect on possible origins for the ideas of Africa that we carry around in our heads. As a result of this, we decided to analyse the
children’s books and textbooks that the students had been reading. We then spent several months working on this and were able to establish that, in some of the children’s books, Africa is connected with the various associations that the students had raised in class. Thus, their one-sided representations of Africa were drawn largely from their children’s books.
That these representations are not coincidental but systematic has been pointed out by Marmer and Sow (2015), as well as Mätschke (2017), amongst others. The latter developed a system of categories that school students can use to analyse representations of Africa, African people, and people who are perceived as African. In his research, he determined that Black people in children’s books are often portrayed as primitive, exotic, anti-social and as a threat to society. These categories reappear across many children’s books and in school textbooks, thus (re-)producing a specific “racist knowledge” whose origins date back to colonial times. Of course, there are droughts in Africa and people die due to AIDS, of starvation and in wars, but the African continent is much larger and the lives that are lived there are much more complex than our images of them. Our associations, propagated in children’s books, school textbooks and in other media sources have been fantasies passed down over centuries, and were constructed by white, Christian European colonisers as well as Muslim colonisers from the Middle East in order to represent Africa as uncivilised; “justifying” colonial exploitation.
Teaching objectives could be oriented around the concept of unlearning colonial and racism-relevant bodies of knowledge. Apart from attending to the racist aspects of images of Africa, classroom engagement with precolonial Africa, in particular, could provide a learning opportunity for both pupils and teachers to engage with Africa not only in relation to the history of colonialism, but to highlight the social, cultural, political and economic achievements of African states prior to the Maafa.
**SITUATION NO. 2**
**German Lesson in 8th Grade**
The second situation relevant to issues of racism took place in a German lesson in 8th grade on the topic of arguments. I split my 32 students into groups of five and had them do a roleplay scenario where children had to convince their parents that they should receive more pocket money.
After presenting the task, one of the groups approached me and said: “Mr. Fereidooni, we’re going to roleplay a Turkish family.” I was familiar with my pupils’ everyday reality, attending a private Catholic gymnasium in Münsterland where few or none of them have had any kind of contact with those being referred to as Turks. Children of colour and/or Black children in the school are something around one in a thousand, and for the teachers, I was the sole person of colour. When the pupils told me that they were going to roleplay a Turkish family, I expected that they would make use of their racism-relevant notions of families of colour because of their lack of contact with such families.
When it was time for their group to present, the introduction was as follows: “We’re a Turkish family. The parents can’t speak German, so we’re going to speak Turkish now.” The two imaginary parents presented the following argument: “Mate, me no give you money, ‘cos me no work. You go yourself work. Me no money, understand.” The whole class journeyed through this racialising fantasy-world with their students. As such, signs of racism do not operate with facts, but rather, with false conceptions that are stored as knowledge so as to systematise one’s own everyday reality and self-image in terms of who is the “other” and what is “familiar.” These students had no point of contact with the people they were designating as Turks, and yet, every member of the group felt that they knew exactly how to act on the basis of stored-up images of supposedly Turkish people, and went on reproducing these internalised images.
After the group had concluded their theatrical performance, as their teacher, I had the following options in terms of how to react:
- **Scandalise / moralise:** I could have told my pupils that I was very disappointed in them and their racist presentation.
- **Not react / ignore the racism in their presentation:** I could have remained silent regarding the racism in their performance and instead concentrate on their arguments, following the topic of the lesson.
- **Draw attention to the racist images of the pupils in a non-demoralising manner.**
I decided to apply the third approach, which I will recall here.
I thanked the group for their performance, then asked the rest of the class to give them some feedback. One female student raised her hand and said the following: “I find what you did a bit strange. Didn’t you say the parents couldn’t speak any German? Okay, so they were speaking Turkish. But then why did you make it so that the parents spoke Turkish with an accent, and also made mistakes? Isn’t Turkish supposed to be their mother tongue, or not?”
This statement was the starting point for a group discussion and a reflection on the pupils’ imaginations. We were concerned with the following question: “Where do your images of people whom you consider to be Turkish come from?” In the lessons which followed, we examined the origins for the racist images in the pupils’ heads and discovered that many originated in the media, in conversations with friends or family, as well as in children’s books, young adult literature and school textbooks. This racialised estrangement of certain human beings does not use victim-perpetrator language and tends to leave out moralising arguments. As a result, opportunities to learn from racism-relevant knowledge are not taken up because people feel uncomfortable and mentally shut themselves off from learning a lesson. Addressing racist situations in a racism-critical manner is not about guilt, but about responsibility; namely, about assuming responsibility for one’s own social positionality in relation to structures of inequality that have intersectional effects. It is important to view and address racism as only one of many structural inequalities that are operative in our society. Our social reality is also influenced by other structural inequalities such as sexism, classism, bodyism, ageism, ableism and heteronormativity, and therefore the theme of structural privilege has to be presented in its full complexity.
I am of the opinion that all people should concern themselves with racism because every person is affected by it. Although this occurs in qualitatively different ways, every person should be asking themselves: what does racism have to do with my own life? People who have experienced racism themselves, too, should reflect on whether and to what extent they have internalised racism and other forms of structural inequality. Only by dealing with racism together, as a whole society, from an egalitarian perspective and in a respectful and sensitive manner can individual and structural sensitisation take place.
→ The complete publication can be downloaded here:
www.schwarzkopf-stiftung.de/en/rassismuskritik/
1 Walter Gagel (1988) zitiert in: Reinhardt, Sibylle (2018): Politikdidaktik. Handbuch für die Sekundarstufe I und II. 7th edition. Berlin: Cornelsen. pp. 99.
2 Ibid., pp. 128.
3 The real name of this student is not used to maintain anonymity.
4 Marmer, Elina/Sow, Papa (Hrsg.) (2015): Wie Rassismus aus Schulbüchern spricht. Kritische Auseinandersetzung mit Afrika’Bildern und Schwarz-Weiß-Konstruktionen in der Schule. Ursachen, Auswirkungen und Handungsansätze für die pädagogische Praxis. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa.
5 Mätschke, Jens (2017): Rassismus in Kinderbüchern: Lerne, welchen Wert deine soziale Positionierung hat! In: Karim Fereidooni und Meral El (Hrsg.), Rassismuskritik und Widerstandsformen. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. pp. 249–268.
6 Ibid.
7 Castro Varela, Maria do Mar/Heinemann, Alisha B. (2016): Ambivalente Erbschaften. Verlernen erlernen. Zwischenräume #10. Available at: http://www.trofo-k.at/_media/download/Zwischenraeume_10_Castro-Heinemann.pdf, last access 16.06.2019.
8 cf. Anta Diop, Cheikh (1987): Precolonial Black Africa. Chicago Review Press.
9 “Maafa… comes from the Kiswahili [and] means ‘catastrophe, great tragedy, terrible event’, and designates the complex, interdependent mixture of slavery, imperialism, colonialism, invasion, oppression, dehumanisation and exploitation… Maafa and African/Black Holocaust are… used synonymously…” (Ofuatey-Alazard 2011, p. 594).
In this interview, we spoke with members of the satirical YouTube group, “Datteltäter,” Marcel Sonneck (M), Fiete Aleksander (F) and Younes Al-Amayra (Y). In their videos, they talk about the everyday experiences of Muslims in Germany and describe themselves as “prototypes of a contemporary generation of youth who stand for dialogue and building bridges.” They were awarded the 2017 Grimme Online Award for their videos.
You have a lot of experience in schools and have also worked in schools yourselves. What’s your advice for teachers to be sensitive to discrimination?
F Well yeah, ask questions and don’t think that you already have the answers. I mean, a lot of teachers and also educators who I got to know in my time as a social educator don’t take the time to speak with their “clients,” as you say in social pedagogy – something which I, conversely, did during my time at work. I asked them, “What’s going on at home?,” “What do you like and what don’t you like”? I tried to somehow understand their realities only then could I work with them. But a lot of teachers haven’t worked that out, even though it’s an elementary component of pedagogy.
There are many stories from German classrooms in response to the #MeTwo² hashtag. When you think back on your time at school, what would you have wished for from classmates who were not affected by racism? How should they have reacted to comments like “camel runners,” which you have discussed before?
Y So, my teachers weren’t overtly racist towards me. Maybe indirectly – I’d have to theorise about that now. But there are enough other examples where I wish someone had
spoken up. That I hadn’t been left alone. Otherwise, you think that “no one understands me.” Your classmates may not know if something was said in a racist way. There is a huge lack of understanding. Also, again in this case, understanding can only be created where there are exchanges. So yeah, I definitely wished there was someone there advocating for me.
You’ve previously explained that you’ve been politicised, exampled, by Pegida,\(^3\) as a counter-movement. Are there positive sources of inspiration that have given you strength in fighting inequality? Who are your role models?
F “Key and Peele” are our main role models. They are a comedy duo, two African Americans who address problems and tell stories about the Black community in the U.S.A. in very funny and intelligent ways. We were really inspired by them – lots of ideas for our videos come from them.
You all know Jilet Ayşe, for sure. She’s played a bit with the word “Kartoffel”\(^4\) and has said that “There are also ‘Süßkartoffeln.’”\(^5\) A question for you: How does one become a “Süßkartoffel”?
F By converting to Islam (looks at Marcel, laughs).
M Exactly. That would be good (laughs). I’m still a regular ‘Kartoffel,’ though.
Y A ‘Süßkartoffel,’ what does she mean, exactly?
M A great German. Respectful, tolerant.
Maybe someone who engages with others, shows signs of solidarity, reflects and asks questions?
M Who gets out of his or her comfort zone. I don’t mean it geographically, like going to Neukölln\(^6\), but that you really – She also meant looking for new friends.
F Yeah, for sure.
M Yeah, absolutely. It’s like that for me, too. I have a lot of friends with migrant background who are also Muslim and that’s why it was pretty easy for me to understand their world.
Y You also had this process. That’s why contact is important to you.
M Correct. When I was 15 or 16, I didn’t have these types of friends yet. But I was also not actively looking for them. “Just become a ‘Süßkartoffel’” is always relatively easy to say. You also have to actively say, “Ok, now I’m actually going to listen.” And don’t say automatically, “Nah, I don’t want anything to do with them”. Opening yourself up is the first step but it has something to do with your environment, too. When you grow up in Brandenburg or in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the countryside then it’s really hard to get to know people with migrant backgrounds.
Thank you for the talk!
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1 “Datteltäter” is a play-on-words with the terms “Attentäter”, meaning terrorist or attacker, and “Dattel,” the German word for a date (which could be used in a derogatory way to describe Arabs).
2 #MeTwo is a hashtag against discrimination of people with migrant backgrounds. Since the hashtag was first used in July 2018 by social activist Ali Can, #MeTwo has been used thousands of times on Twitter to share experiences of everyday racism in Germany.
3 “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident,” known as Pegida, is a German nationalist, anti-Islam, far-right political movement.
4 “Kartoffel” – literally a potato – is a slang term used to describe “white Germans.” In a multi-ethnic context, it is used to distinguish white Germans from Germans with a migrant background.
5 “Süßkartoffel” – literally a sweet potato – is a play-on-words from “Kartoffel” (see above), coined by comedian İdlı Baydar playing the Turkish-German character “Jilet Ayşe,” urging white Germans to show more solidarity with Germans with migrant background.
6 Neukölln is a borough of Berlin known for having one of the highest percentages of immigrants and non-German residents, predominantly Turkish, Arab and Kurdish.
Inclusive civic education enables extensive access, self-determination and participation for all. Shaping an inclusive learning environment is not static but rather, is a process, and must be developed cooperatively over and over again with each learning group. Educational formats must provide enough flexibility to be able to work on four levels (see the graphic above). Not only the setting, but also the attitude of the educators determines the degree to which inclusion can be achieved.
The conditions for the success of inclusive civic educational processes will be illustrated in this chapter. The basis for this is the evaluation of the project “Kick for Europe – Youth Exchange for Europe” (Jugendaustausch für Europa) by the Zentrum für inklusive politische Bildung (ZipB). Our peers have participated in this project by bringing Understanding Europe to the football stadium.
The project “Kick for Europe” is a European exchange that connects football with European educational work. The aim of this project is to use enthusiasm for football to discuss European political questions/issues in age-appropriate manners. The project is funded by the TUI Foundation.
For more information, visit: www.schwarzkopf-stiftung.de/kickforeurope
“*Inclusion is an interactive process of transformation for the whole of society that aims to break up discriminating social constructions and enable participation for all people. Here, participation includes enabling access, equality of opportunity and self-determination.*”
— ZENTRUM FÜR INKLUSIVE POLITISCHE BILDUNG
1. RECIPROCAL EXCHANGE WITH ONE ANOTHER IS CENTRAL TO A LEARNING SITUATION
Dialogue is a process that can have high emotional intensity. An exchange is said to occur when “a counterpart takes up his/her own expressions in an interaction and then processes, reflects and answers these” with another person reacting similarly. Learning is often made possible through such resonance processes. For *Understanding Europe*, this includes (see right):
- Methods calling for cooperation and dialogue
2. RECOGNITION AND PERSONAL CONNECTION AS KEY TO SUCCESSFUL LEARNING PROCESSES
An important aspect of learning is “an appreciative interaction where students are taken seriously in their thinking, their language and their opinions”. Connections between peers and students is of primary importance, as well as students bonding amongst themselves. These connections require a safe, appreciative and trustworthy environment so that peers and students can enter into meaningful exchanges with one another. Such aspects include (see right):
- Appreciative communication
- Seeking contact with participants from the beginning
- Strengthening connections to participants’ life-worlds
3. MEANING-MAKING IN PROCESSES OF INTERACTION
A principal factor for internalising educational content is “whether negotiated learning topics have personal meaning for the students and whether the forms of negotiation make sense to them.” This means, among other things, that the sequence of events and learning conditions must be made transparent and comprehensible to participants. Furthermore, participants’ self-determination is central to meaning-making. For our project, this means (see right):
- Including peers’ and participants’ life-worlds
- Using visualisations through multiple channels
- Encouraging self-determination and co-determination of participants
- Avoiding the use of technical expressions and abbreviations
- Developing working material that is not too complex or academically-oriented
- Applying broader political understanding
- Allowing and giving time to controversy
4. METHODICAL AND LINGUISTIC APPROACHES – ADOPTING COMMON TOPICS
To make exchanges successful, the language used and the ways in which peers communicate should fit the needs of the students. The topics of learning should be accessible to all as well as developed collaboratively by using different approaches. Moreover, meaningful learning processes take place when action-oriented and product-oriented work are both at the core of the educational process. This includes using (see right):
- Adaptive language
- Diverse methods
- Dividing tasks into group work
- Focusing on subjects (instead of text and speech)
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1 Zentrum für inklusive politische Bildung. In: www.zipb.de/was-ist-inklusion/, last accessed 21.11.2019.
2 cf. Fuhrmann / Scharnetzky (2018): Prinzipienmodell inklusiver Lernumgebungen. Frühjahresschulung Europa Verstehen 2018.
3 Jugel, David / Hölzel, Tina (2018): *Und dann / wir waren schon im Thema, obwohl wir keine Ahnung davon hatten – / keiner von uns wusste, was ist die europäische Union.* “Kick for Europe” evaluation paper for the Zentrum für inklusive politische Bildung/ pp. 8.
4 ibid., pp. 11.
5 ibid., pp. 12 f.
6 cf. ibid., pp. 17 ff.
On the challenges of civic education, life-worlds and schools as learning spaces
The following interview is a conversation between alumni and peer trainers of the project *Understanding Europe* in Nord-Rhine Westphalia – Mevlut Özev (M), Lydia Schröder (L) and Sonem Nangpal (S) – with educational researcher Helle Becker (H). The interview was moderated by former peer trainer Nicola Roth (N).
**N** Motivating young people to participate in political processes, to become active themselves and enabling them to articulate and share their opinions are important goals of the EU Crash Course. Implementing these goals, however, is not that simple. When in your work or in your activism have you failed to integrate or involve young people?
**L** It was in a vocational school class. We were not told in advance that a member of the class had recently arrived in Germany and barely spoke German. We didn’t understand at all in the beginning that he didn’t understand us. Fortunately, there was someone in the class who could translate. But the process of translating resulted in a strange dynamic. The whole time we had the feeling that the student felt like he was under pressure.
**M** Several examples from EU Crash Courses come to my mind. We have increasingly had the problem of not reaching young people because they come into the courses with pre-existing biases. Coming from the Schwarzkopf Foundation, we were seen as being part of the elite. From some students’ perspectives, we’re coming into schools to make them believe that the EU is the solution to all of their problems, which, of course, is not the case. Instead, we want to be able to critically discuss European politics and other topics. Students can feel uncomfortable and, to some extent, overloaded in these situations.
**S** In general, I think I’ve always failed when I’ve thought I could diffuse a certain dynamic within four hours, or when I’ve thought that our moderation guidelines can always be applied and adapted to every situation. Courses just haven’t been successful when the pre-existing class dynamic is tense or when cohesion isn’t working. Some students have been marginalised in their classes before, and sometimes things just aren’t working between the teacher and the students.
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Prior knowledge of language capabilities as well as knowledge of students’ personal experiences and backgrounds (such as experiences of displacement) should be discussed with respective teachers in a preliminary discussion if they are relevant for the learning setting.
At the beginning of the course, all educational goals should be made clear – in particular, creating an open and critical space for discussing (European) topics.
In some cases, it can be useful to break up the class and mix up the groups.
To answer the question as to whether I’ve ever failed to integrate or involve young people, I will just say quite boldly, never. Never in my life. And I will mention three points that are decisive for this. It starts with the goal – I wouldn’t say that I can motivate or interest someone. I would precisely turn the perspective around and say that I can only work with what I encounter. And I am convinced that every person has political and philosophical thoughts in terms of how they would like to arrange their lives, how their future will be and what they experience as problems and conflicts. Also from my practical experience, all young people have points of reference with respect to Europe.
So, you mean that we should be open to there always being results?
Exactly. But I’m talking about the point of departure right now. Pedagogy in schools typically aims to achieve certain goals and to set standards with grades. In contrast, “intentional pedagogy” creates a setting in which particular educational experiences are possible. Whether these experiences will be made is open. I can immediately comprehend that something wasn’t working for you in a formal school setting. In a non-formal setting, I do have certain freedoms and I also have completely different perceptions of the young people participating. They know precisely that they will not be assessed – it’s not about a curriculum, it’s not about instruction. When non-formal education occurs in schools, you’ll have a really hard time of convincing students that they’re allowed to go.
Can you confirm that for in-school settings? Because you are, indeed, working in schools and most of these courses take place within classrooms.
In the beginning, it should be made clear that the following hours are not part of a regular school lesson. There is no assessment. Also, alternative arrangements (e.g. sitting in a circle) and referring to students as equals can help to dissolve barriers.
I find that always depends. I have also experienced that there are problems when teachers are very present and see it as their role to appear as a teacher, and that interest rapidly declines when teachers continue to emphasise the assessment context.
My position on this is not clear. In my opinion, the presence of teachers when courses take place can definitely ensure a comfortable atmosphere, especially when it is clear that students won’t be assessed. I have often had the impression that students shut down when it’s only us in the room because they feel that “It’s pointless. My engagement here isn’t worth anything.”
Dr. Becker looked rather shocked as you just said that the students shut down when the teacher is out of the room.
Teachers mark the setting. Many are happy when teachers are present because the class is better disciplined. But that is only necessary when you find yourself in a setting that is built on a relationship of obligation for students. In schools, students have a particular role, which very often implies that private life is separate from school. I had a situation with a class where this was very obvious. The teacher was convinced that her students didn’t care the slightest bit about the EU. So, the first thing I asked was, “What are your hobbies? What do you do outside of school?” And then one student said, “I’m active in animal rights campaigning” and it became clear that she is part of an organisation for the protection of animals. Then I asked, “And have you made any progress?” and she said “Yes, we protested against a directive for chickens that was also brought to the EU Parliament. Now we have a directive that has changed the conditions for battery hens.” The teacher got really annoyed, because it became clear that actually half of her students are linked to the EU in their private lives.
“I enjoy that I primarily work with students who, even if they are going to a youth club, wouldn’t sign up for the EU Crash Course.”
— Sonem Nangpal
S This example shows, though, that a non-formal format in a formalised setting is not necessarily an impediment. I think it’s much more about how teachers understand their own role. I think teachers have to be told in advance that they shouldn’t play a dominant role. Then, I’ve often had the experience that you can have a discussion with students where they reveal a lot of personal things. If you manage to treat them as equals and bring up controversies, then a very lively discussion will likely develop. Discussions that are sometimes, for me personally, even a bit too lively.
H I would make a guess, based on the research, that a significant factor in the setting that you’ve described is, in fact, yourself. You are points of contact with your peers, you are equals. And that leads to the fact that you don’t have the feeling that this is a formal setting, but rather, that it’s a lively discussion.
S The advantage that I see in schools as locations as opposed to youth clubs is that it enables a great depth for the course on offer. I enjoy that I primarily work with students who, even if they are going to a youth club, wouldn’t sign up for the EU Crash Course. And these are also the students who often say at the end, “That was really fun today – EU politics is not nearly as complicated as I thought.”
H The selection is greatest in schools. Schools are the institutions that aggregate age groups, social groups, regional groups and educational groups, so they have the least heterogenous groups. Indeed, we often say that we reach everyone in schools. But more and more, the realisation prevails that this is not the case.
N I would like to come back to the topic of political understanding. Helle, you said that many young people, when asked, don’t identify at all as political at first. On this point I have a quote that you’ve mentioned from an English study: “It actually doesn’t take much to include young people, to understand their democratic will and to increase their participation. Because the willingness to participate and the feeling of efficacy results from the feeling of belonging.” What is lacking when young people’s political understanding, at times, doesn’t correlate with the understanding of politics that is predominant in civic education?
H It is mainly the feeling that “I’m not seen or heard by politics.” Studies on youth exemplify again and again that young people of course formulate their own opinions about politics. I am in no way going to assert that any person is apolitical or outside of politics – outside in the sense that a person never thinks about questions like how our society should be constructed, which rules should prevail, and what justice should look like. That is a conscious positioning that the students sense, which therefore determines their access. The problem is really that, until now, research has been conducted according to formal understandings of politics: “What do you think of party XYZ?” At the moment, we’re seeing with “Fridays for Future” that youth latch onto politics in ways other than the parliamentary system and institutions, finding linkages, instead, to their daily life circumstances. Fridays for Future is also an example of how young people are not even taken seriously first. Young people have real-world experience, yet they are unable to vote. They are, therefore, neither literally nor
At the moment, we’re seeing with “Fridays for Future” that youth latch onto politics in ways other than the parliamentary system and institutions, finding linkages, instead, to their daily life circumstances.
— DR. HELLE BECKER
emotionally addressed by politics. They can hardly make themselves understood, so they’re not being heard, either. It must be understood that, aside from voting, there are other possibilities for young people to influence politics. This empowerment is necessary on many levels to develop young people’s feeling of belonging.
N How do you assess this based on your experience? When young people have already written off the legitimacy of their own political involvement, how do you then manage to reach them in their own world?
S I find the connection to their life-world also highly important. You come into a class and work with what you’ve got. It can be the legalisation of cannabis or even a position that I myself don’t agree with. If it’s, for example, a very hostile opinion toward refugees, I find that you effectively achieve a lot more by saying, “I’ll make a note of that and try to shape the next four hours around that.” Our task is then to piece everything together. When you manage to make a connection between students’ real life-worlds and abstract knowledge, I always take that as a success.
M I think this topic shows one of the weak points of our courses. They mostly pivot around current topics that students catch wind of in the media, in their neighbourhoods or with their families at home. We discuss these topics and then that’s it. Whether the students then realise or implement what has been discussed, we cannot control. I also don’t believe that we can motivate students to do so within four hours at all.
H May I console you with the fact that I don’t believe this? All impact studies in the area of non-formal education show that short formats are also effective when particular factors are activated. For example, when formats happen in a particular situation or stage of an individual’s personal development. This is very individual; it can’t be generalised. They can have an enormous impact that sometimes hits home a year later. They can also have an initial effect, a kind of domino effect. Educational impact can’t be immediately identified, with the exception of something like learning vocabulary. But with personality-developing educational approaches, such as these, other factors must be considered.
Empowerment can only occur in a space of recognition, where students are listened to and their political opinions are taken seriously.
Students are best engaged when addressing their personal interests, questions, and realities, however controversial.
If we go back to how you first instil in young people that they are political creatures, in my experience, it is highly beneficial to express that in the first place – to make it clear that what they do, think or say is very likely political. If they are more interested in the new sports grounds in their town than who’s being voted into the new European Parliament, that’s no less political. Rather, it’s a completely different level of politics, one which is not at all to be neglected. And quite often, discussions need this acknowledgment in order for young people to trust themselves to express other political opinions. They then have the feeling: “Because I’m now conscious that I have something political to add, I can say what I think. Others believe that I can think politically.”
I think we are mixing up two aspects – we can create entry points for politicisation to occur, or we may intensify students’ politicisation with the inputs we provide. And as far as I understand, it’s about a step which, for me, is subsequent – that students learn about a culture of debate and that developing conscious opinions is encouraged. I think that these are two separate aspects.
“You’re on the road with so many different schools, you meet so many different people and are confronted with so many different opinions and outlooks.”
— MEVLUT ÖZEV
N In civic education, these aspects blend, interlock and build upon one another.
S Most certainly. To the point I believe that democracy pedagogy, as is attempted partially in schools, often supposes a politicisation that sometimes does not exist. Today, I would say that my politics classes in school did not propel my process of politicisation, but rather, the opposite.
N Can I perhaps ask a question to this point? I am more familiar with previous EU Crash Courses when factual knowledge was at the forefront. We worked based on the assumption that general knowledge was necessary for participation to even take place. What’s your view of this now in the course and, related to this, what role does students’ prior knowledge play?
M Prior knowledge is not so important because we are able to adjust the course contents to the level of the class. But I would say that prior knowledge for discussions we lead is of great importance because the topics are mostly very current, such as Brexit, right-wing populism or the conflict between Brussels and Poland.
S I have often had the experience that you can lead a discussion without a lot of prior knowledge, but the associations and emotional connections to particular topics will already be there.
L Sometimes I ask myself if it is not more important at the moment to convey factual information, because I have certainly had the experience that young people are very grateful to have learned something about specific processes. I find it useful to equip them with this knowledge. On the other hand, it is not my task as a peer educator to send EU experts out into the world, but rather, to make the participants understand that politics is important, that politics is relevant to their realities, and that they are also political actors.
I can speak to this more abstractly and would like to start by saying that my concept of education works on the assumption that young people are mature. This is very important as a kind of guiding principle. The question of the relationship between “teacher and student” in pedagogy is highly important. Which role plays education and which role plays schooling in this relationship? It is also often the latter which is in need of coming out of its shell sometimes.
I would not say that someone first has to know something before they’re allowed to think, say or do something. There is always something to build on, to talk about and to learn from – and to look for ways to implement in your own life. There is another obstacle that should not be underestimated: In some cases, prior knowledge can be an absolute hindrance to dealing with something. You would then have a large barrier to overcome in order for this student to engage cognitively with such institutions at all. Prior knowledge can, of course, have different effects. It’s not a bad thing that students’ prior knowledge differs. I would then promote mutual peer learning so that students who know a lot can inspire or advise others. The overall dynamic is relevant and it’s undesirable that students end up thinking that it is their ‘fault’ if they don’t know something.
Let’s look at the project level, as we have peers here who are part of the Understanding Europe project. How have you all personally developed within this project?
It’s difficult to summarise all of the last years. I would say that I’ve learned through my work as a trainer to find compromises more easily. You’re on the road with so many different schools, you meet so many different people and are confronted with so many different opinions and outlooks. You have no other choice but to somewhat deviate from your position, to accept the opinions of others and to meet somewhere in the middle. Not necessarily because you are personally involved in the discussions, but because you experience these discussions as an outsider, as a moderator. You understand that there’s no other way.
I would formulate it differently; I might mean something different, too. I have learned to tolerate these unbreakable tensions. There is one opinion and there is the opposite opinion, and it’s fine that there are these opinions. The political understanding I gained from school was that we have to find the perfect compromise that makes everything fine. Through the EU Crash Courses, I’ve learned to work around this and that this is not always going to be the case, and that’s totally fine. Politics is much more than unifying opinions and applying this into a law; rather, politics is all about the diversity of opinions.
When using the interests and positive associations of the participants, concurrent peer-learning within the group can be strengthened.
For peers trainings, “tolerance for ambiguity” should be encouraged, meaning that trainers should be able to tolerate different opinions and work with differences in the classroom (→ chapter 2).
S I have learned that I go into discussions more openly and with fewer prejudices. In the beginning, I often experienced that the teacher with whom I communicated with in advance would say that, “It will be really difficult. They know nothing. Hopefully you’ll achieve something.” And then you go in and you work out pretty quickly that what was meant by a lack of knowledge has been equated with a lack of politicisation. And that’s definitely not applicable. In that sense, I’m also learning to go into classes and to not think through a discussion in advance or to consider an alternative scenario – instead, I just see how it develops. Generally, a discussion almost always develops by itself, unless it’s not working on a personal level – if I as the peer and the students are not harmonising well.
H What you just said has another component. Teachers tend to attach the so-called “deficit perspective,” meaning to see what one can or can’t do or know or doesn’t know, and to judge social behaviour in a tightly constrained framework. I just had to laugh, because I imagined teachers thinking sometimes: “Oh God, they’ve really sought out the worst little troublemakers.” I can go on all day about this completely different assessment of the students I meet. In a different setting, these young people prove themselves to be especially mature and especially engaged. In my experience, I can only affirm this argument.
N Thank you to all for the discussion!
PARTICIPANTS
Dr. Helle Becker
is an expert in cultural and education studies and has specialised for over 20 years in applied research and its practical application. Her specialist topics are political and cultural education for young people and adults, international and European youth work and education, cooperation between different education sectors and quality development. She is the director of the non-profit organisation “Transfer for Education” (Transfer für Bildung e.V.) and is a lecturer at the University of Osnabrück.
Nicola Roth
is an advisor on education for the Association for the Promotion of Policy Action (Verein zur Förderung politischen Handelns). She studied European Studies in Passau and Frankfurt (Oder) and possesses a wide range of experiences in the areas of civic education, youth participation, and international youth exchanges. In her time as a peer trainer, she (co-)designed and developed various seminar formats for the Schwarzkopf Foundation.
Mevlüt Özev
was an Understanding Europe trainer from 2015–2019. He studied Political Science in Cologne and Aachen and is currently writing a dissertation on the relationship between religion and foreign policy.
Sonem Nangpal
was an Understanding Europe trainer from 2015–2019. She studied Law in Cologne and worked extensively on international criminal law. She will soon begin her legal traineeship.
Lydia Schröder
has been an Understanding Europe trainer since 2017. She studied Social Sciences in Bochum. She is currently completing a research internship in Hamburg and will begin her bachelor thesis afterwards.
ELAN
In practice
How can I initiate a controversial conversation amongst students? How can I create a learning environment where students can openly share their interests and opinions? A good framework for reaching these goals is the activity “Europe in 4 Corners”. This activity is particularly suitable for the beginning of a seminar (after an icebreaker), when you are just getting to know the opinions and interests of the group. It can be especially helpful to non-formal educators who are meeting a completely new group. With the following instructions, notes as well as inputs for the moderation are explained.
**OBJECTIVE**
The activity “Europe in 4 Corners” is used to create an atmosphere of recognition, and can offer space for discussing controversial issues. This activity is helpful for identifying topics, questions and “hot topics.” It can also serve to confront students with opinions that are different from their own.
**INSTRUCTIONS**
Students should stand in the middle of the room. The room should be organised so that the students have plenty of room to move around. The trainers should present the questions and the 4 possible answers with the PPT slides. Each possible answer will be allocated a corner of the room (A, B, C, or D). The students position themselves according to their answers. The students should be presented with the option of placing themselves in the middle of the room if they can’t find an answer that fits their opinion, or if they want to discuss an option that is not mentioned in the 4 answers. The last question should be a speculative one that inspires students to add some questions to the Question Pool (→ chapter 8).
**BY**
AGNES SCHARNETZKY
BRIGITTE FUHRMANN
→ Sample questions for “Europe in 4 Corners” can be downloaded here: www.schwarzkopf-stiftung.de/en/four-corners/
Try and create discussions with **authentic follow-up questions**. Try to hold back on explanations. Create a discussion between the different corners. Try to not present yourselves as experts, but as facilitators of discussion and peers who are interested in students’ answers.
If you come across **prejudicial or stereotypical statements**, use your judgment to decide whether to react by following up on the statement (what do you mean by that exactly?), involving the others (what do the others think about that?), directly responding and countering the statements (as in the case of statements that are clearly racist) or deciding to come back to the subject later.
**INPUTS FOR MODERATION**
The most important things are authenticity and flexibility. The following inputs can serve as a flexible guideline for facilitation:
- Reflecting and summarising: “Did I understand you correctly that…?”
- Reinforcing: “And you think we should take action against / for this?”
- Encouraging taking a stand: “And do you think that’s right/necessary / unfair / illogical?”
- Connecting: “Do you think that’s similar to…?” “So you would disagree with…?”
- Questioning: “That’s a bold theory” “For every anecdote, there’s a counter-anecdote”
- Intensifying a point: “The consequence of that would be…”
- Deliberately misunderstanding: “What I think you’re saying is…”
- Personalising: “I have a friend who…” “This would also apply to your classmates” “Imagine if this was affecting one or your friends”
**COMMENTS ABOUT THE CONTENT OF THE QUESTIONS**
Next to showing the different levels of “the political” (polity, politics and policy), the questions should highlight or create personal connections to the students’ daily lives. The guideline below for asking questions should be helpful. On the next page, we will share an example to clarify what we mean. This example is only a suggestion – it is not meant to be copied directly or limit your spontaneity. We distinguish between three kinds of follow-up questions:
1. **Follow-up questions that relate to the students**
2. **Follow-up questions concerning the content**
3. **Questions that create a connection to other opinions / corners**
EXAMPLE “WHAT BOTHERS YOU THE MOST ABOUT THE EUROPEAN UNION?”
REMARK This example question is not low threshold. With every question, it should be made clear at the beginning what is meant by the answer options (especially, in this instance, “national autonomy”). Furthermore, the question should not be used if it could remind group members of traumatic experiences (i.e., with EU borders).
A. LOSS OF NATIONAL AUTONOMY
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS THAT RELATE TO THE STUDENTS
• You’ve chosen to stand here, can you explain why?
• Can anybody think of a concrete example from day-to-day life that illustrates this problem?
• Do you think that this is something we should be doing something about?
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE CONTENT
• What does national sovereignty mean to you? (Also ask the other corners)
• What would a process of further European integration that doesn’t threaten national autonomy look like?
• Are there fields of politics where national autonomy is less important? (Economic policy? Foreign and security policy?) What about values and norms?
QUESTIONS THAT CREATE A CONNECTION TO OTHER OPINIONS / CORNERS
• Why did you pick this corner?
• What do the others who chose this corner think?
B. NOT ENOUGH BORDER CONTROLS
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS THAT RELATE TO THE STUDENTS
• What is it about the EU that bothers you?
• Could you explain why you chose this corner?
• Can anybody think of a concrete example from day-to-day life that illustrates this problem?
• …and you think that’s necessary/illogical?
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE CONTENT
• Do you know of any border controls?
• What do you think is the point of border controls? What do they offer citizens of the EU?
QUESTIONS THAT CREATE A CONNECTION TO OTHER OPINIONS / CORNERS
• More borders mean higher costs – would you be willing to spend that money? (point to corner D)
• Why is the need for more border controls more important to you than the loss of national autonomy?
C. THE LACK OF UNITY AMONG EU MEMBER STATES
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS THAT RELATE TO THE STUDENTS
• You’ve chosen this spot, could you explain why?
• Can anyone think of a concrete problem from everyday life that illustrates…
• …and you think that’s unnecessary/that this… doesn’t make sense?
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE CONTENT
• Why do you think a good compromise is difficult to reach?
• Do you think that Lithuania has the same goals in the EU as Spain?
QUESTIONS THAT CREATE A CONNECTION TO OTHER OPINIONS / CORNERS
• You’ve heard the arguments that were made by the other groups – there seem to be differences of opinion. Autonomy means less of an obligation to find agreements with others. Would you say that it would make more sense to have fewer things decided upon together?
D. THAT MY COUNTRY PAYS SO MUCH MONEY INTO THE EU
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS THAT RELATE TO THE STUDENTS
• This corner is, arguably, the most connected to a German perspective. Why did you choose this corner?
• Can anyone think of a concrete example from everyday life that illustrates…
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE CONTENT
• Do you have an idea of what you’d rather spend the money your country pays into the EU for?
• Do you think that the money that Germany contributes to the EU is being put to good use?
• How would you decide how much money is too much? (the EU can only work if everybody is willing to contribute)
QUESTIONS THAT CREATE A CONNECTION TO OTHER OPINIONS / CORNERS
• Wouldn’t you need more money to pay for border controls?
• To what extent do you think the positions of A and D are connected?
**QUESTIONS GENERATE DIALOGUE**
**HOW CAN I DEAL WITH STUDENTS’ QUESTIONS?**
| **TRAINER PERSPECTIVES** | **STUDENT PERSPECTIVES** |
|--------------------------|-------------------------|
| **ROLE OF THE QUESTIONS** | **SOLVE PROBLEMS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH UNDERSTANDING (E.G. FOREIGN WORDS)** |
| **DIAGNOSIS** | What does that mean?
What’s that about?
What does the one thing have to do with the other?
What are we really talking about? |
| Gain insight into students’ prior knowledge, existing classroom attitudes that can and should be dealt with and students’ motivation for this course, or for addressing the proposed topics | **CONTRIBUTE YOUR OWN ATTITUDE / OPINION** |
| | I know that …
I’ve heard that …
Isn’t it the case that … |
| **REQUIREMENT TO UNDERSTAND (COMPLEX) RELATIONSHIPS** | Why is that so?
Why is it dealt with like this?
Why don’t they simply solve it like this … |
| | **DEALING WITH QUESTIONS: FOCUSING ON DISCUSSION AND DIALOGUE** |
| **TRAINERS AS MODERATORS** | **Can someone explain this?**
**Does anyone know what this means?**
→ **Can someone help?** |
| • Generate controversy
• Be student-focused | **What do the others think?**
**Does anyone have a different point of view?**
**Which attitudes/opinions have you already noticed?** |
| Don’t give a monologue; rather, moderate students’ statements | Strengthen weak positions
Strengthen democratic and pluralist positions |
| **TRAINERS AS EXPERTS** | **That is, …**
**That means …** |
| • Explain examples
• Orientate discussions scientifically
• Be problem-focused
• Apply the controversy principle | **If we apply your position to the following example, then …**
**There is also the view that…**
**Another argument would be that…**
**This attitude can result in the problem of…** |
| Switch back to the moderator role | **From this example you can understand that …**
Real-life examples
→ **When you try to break it down, you can say that …**
Recognise that it is all quite complex |
“The students want to hear my opinion. What should I do?”
Can you tell the student your opinion about a certain political topic? We would say yes, as long as you mark the answer as your personal opinion, and refer to other existing opinions, as well. To answer this question, we will share the view of Prof. Anja Besand. She claims that you should take a position in educational contexts and not be afraid of passionate controversies.\(^1\) If you do share your personal opinion with the pupils, be especially conscious of your role. Do opposing opinions to your own have enough space? Do not introduce opposing opinions as if the “others” are abstract – make their views tangible. Maybe a friend of yours thinks differently from you? In this way you can also share emotional and personal experiences.
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\(^1\) Anja Besand (2016): Zum Verhältnis von Emotionalität und Professionalität in der politischen Bildung. In: Heinrich-Böll Stiftung (eds.): Ideologien der Ungleichwertigkeit Schriften zur Demokratie – Band 42.
A goal of European civic education is to transmit knowledge to participants about EU institutions and political processes. However, the challenge with this is that EU institutions generally only touch upon the life-worlds of students in an indirect way. In the sense of adopting common topics (→ chapter 5), “thematic footholds from the experiential world of students must therefore be used in order for them to open up to the topic of Europe.”¹ Furthermore, the meaning of Europe for their own (emotional) experiential world must be demonstrated for them.
Especially in the case of non-formal civic education, collecting data on the interests and experiential worlds of the participants is, therefore, useful. This inquiry should be conducted during the seminar (e.g. during the activity “Europe in 4 Corners”) or prior to the class with teachers. For this, diagnostic competencies of the peers (especially the ability to listen well) and an actual interest in the target group are needed. A simple diagnostic method is the Question Pool. How this can be used is explained in the following.
The peer trainers distribute the moderation cards amongst the participants and ask: “What questions do you have on the topics of politics and Europe?” Students’ questions are collected by the moderator and made visible for all. Students’ self-efficacy can be strengthened by:
- Make their questions transparent (by pinning or taping them to a board)
- Put sticker dots on some questions that are most important to them; and/or
- Address some questions in the workshops or straightaway in the group discussion
Should there be a need for more reflection, you can conduct a second survey with another colour. E.g. “What annoys you about this topic?” or “What concerns do you have about this topic?”
**DIDACTIC PRINCIPLES OF CIVIC EDUCATION**
In the following, four didactic principles of civic education will be discussed that enable an approach to the topic of Europe: learning from examples, life stories as illustrative approaches, examples for problem-oriented learning and the principle of controversy (→ chapter 12).
### 1. LEARNING FROM EXAMPLES
The goal is to create a learning process that is structured by concrete cases. This can be achieved by including concrete examples in the learning process wherever possible. Ideally, examples used should offer a connection to the students’ own lives, for example by using themes from their daily lives or questions from the Question Pool. This method follows the didactic principle of building on examples. The idea is that examples are not just used to illustrate or reinforce a general principle, but rather, as the basis from which more general processes can be established and explained. Examples serve as a concrete way to understand and relate to more general ideas. Valuing the students and their self-efficacy, it is particularly exciting to use examples that come from the students themselves.
**EXAMPLES**
- Focusing on an institutional understanding of the EU often makes accessibility more difficult, which is why departing from topics/policy areas is more advisable.
- In 2019, in our courses, questions were often centred around the EU copyright reform (Article 13) and the (European) climate policy.
2. USING LIFE STORIES AS POSSIBLE ACCESS POINTS
It makes sense to connect complex processes – even legal ones – to individuals’ life stories. Successful learning processes also allow students to be emotionally invested in the topics discussed. This is easier when processes are not just described in general terms, but are also illustrated by stories from real people. These stories should be chosen in a way that offers the students a chance to identify with them. The examples chosen should ideally come from people who share the students’ age and way of interacting in order to reinforce the peer-to-peer approach.
EXAMPLES
- To illustrate participation possibilities in Europe, stories from engaged young people can be shown: www.stories.europa-verstehen.de/en
- When speaking about the topic of refugees and asylum in Europe, experiential stories and voices from refugees and migrants should be heard
3. PROBLEM-ORIENTED LEARNING
This principle is applied throughout our courses and is utilised through the Question Pool. The students write down both questions about things they want to understand and things they are interested in discussing because they find them problematic. The deciding factor in choosing the questions to refer to as a trainer should be the urgency of the addressed problem and the degree to which it is a public issue. Problems brought up by the students should answer both criteria. Keeping in mind the aims of offering students recognition and reinforcing their self-efficacy, their questions should become a central point of the course.
EXAMPLE
- In order to include current topics, you can work with media snippets (videos, photos) or smartphones for spontaneous research
4. CONTROVERSY
To make students excited about the European idea, it is important to be able to openly discuss controversial points and problems regarding European integration with them. Addressing problems can be particularly fruitful learning experiences because students aren’t just presented with answers, but are given the space for further speculation, analysis and discussion with their peers.
EXAMPLES
- Negative experiences must also find space, e.g. if participants are personally restricted in their mobility within the EU, or were restricted when entering the EU
- Similarly, post-colonial perspectives and critiques of power can be introduced and contrasted with Euro-centric narratives
Topics from the emotional, experiential world of young people (Besand/Hölzl/Jugel 2018)6
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1 Jugel, David / Hölzel, Tina (2018): Und dann / wir waren schon im Thema, obwohl wir keine Ahnung davon hatten – / keiner von uns wusste, was ist die europäische Union. “Kick for Europe” Evaluierungspaper des Zentrums für inklusive politische Bildung. pp. 8.
2 Wolfgang Sander (2007): Politik entdecken – Freiheit leben. Didaktische Grundlagen politischer Bildung. Wochenschau Verlag. pp. 193.
3 Cf. Hölzel, T./ Jugel, D.: Inklusion in der Praxis verwirklichen - Eine Betrachtung aus der Sicht der politischen Bildung. In: Bock, B. M./Fix, U./Lange,D. (eds.): Leichte Sprache im Spiegel theoretischer und angewandter Forschung. Berlin: Frank & Timme 2017, pp. 447–484.
4 Wolfgang Sander (2007): Politik entdecken – Freiheit leben. Didaktische Grundlagen politischer Bildung. Wochenschau Verlag. pp. 194.
5 → Glossary
6 Image derived from: Besand, Anja; Holzel, Tina; Jugel, David (2018): Inklusives politisches Lernen im Stadion – Politische Bildung mit unbekanntem Team und offenem Spielverlauf. Weiterdenken – Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Sachsen (eds.), Dresden.
1. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS
In textbooks, migration is typically not recounted as a normal part of history (Georgi, 2015).¹
In newspapers, in teacher trainings and in the EU’s portrayal of its own institutions, the history of European integration is not only told without migrant perspectives, but is also told largely in absence of the perspectives of Black Europeans, People of Colour, Jews, Sinti and Roma as well as Eastern Europeans, including East Germans.
How can we succeed in teaching a multi-perspective European history in the classroom? What attitudes do teachers and peers need to develop to create a space for diversity-sensitive historical learning (Baricelli 2008)?²
The following text provides inspiration for how peers as well as teachers can tackle European post-1945 history in the classroom with consideration to multiple perspectives. In addition to questions about one’s own attitude, the Timeline Cards method used in Understanding Europe’s history workshop will be introduced and example-based tips and formulations of questions will be given.
DECOLONISING HISTORY – ALLIES IN THE CLASSROOM
In city planning, squares, streets, and school names give little information as to the diverse post-war history of Europe, including the people who helped shape it. When European history is told, it is sometimes transnational, but is mostly told from a Eurocentric perspective. In addition, textbooks frequently illustrate social diversity, yet people with a history of migration or minority groups that are made to be “foreign” are depicted as “non-actors,” Viola Georgi argues.\(^3\)
Teachers and extr-curricular peers, in particular, have important roles to play in these narratives, making space for all – in more inclusive and participatory ways.
In educational and learning contexts, which are characterised by a culture of individual recognition, students are encouraged to see their own stories and experiences as part of historical narratives and debates. In this way, history in schools is made relevant to students’ life-worlds and is not only seen as important to learn for exams. As such, though, students and their own histories should never be considered as objects of research – particularly when marked as “diverse” or “different”.
“Build a stage together, where you can meet as equals. That is the basic element of discrimination-critical practice.”
— CAN GÜLCÜ UND IVANA PILIC\(^5\)
“Assignments are often based on the perspectives of those in a ‘dominant’ society. […] Children and adolescents from migrant families are often made the object of study of their classmates without migration backgrounds. […] They are singled out in the class, seen as ‘special’ or ‘different’ and, in contrast to their classmates, often have to share private information about their supposedly different way of life, their family or their religion, within a framework that they perhaps do not wish for at all.”\(^4\)
— VIOLA GEORGI
Teachers and peers must be prepared in advance to critically question their own canon of knowledge and, above all, to unlearn potentially discriminatory knowledge.
Knowledge of historic persons and debates that are not part of the dominant white, non-Jewish, non-Muslim European narrative are not easily accessible to students. Such a focus requires independent, prerequisite research and knowledge, whereby teachers and peers can play an important role for students in opening doors and as allies for multi-perspective dimensions. Adding to this, suggestions for future lectures, videos and (digital) displays can be found at the end of the article.
Teachers and peers can be important allies in bringing up and elaborating upon histories that have been made invisible. It is not only important to use sources, video interviews and quotes that are sensitive to diversity, but to also extend invitations to non-formal educational projects as well as time witnesses who are engaged in issues pertaining to diversity. For example, projects that take place outside of school can offer the representation and subject-matter expertise that may be missing and can help make ignored histories visible through self-directed storytelling. In addition, marginalised perspectives of history in relation to the continuity of racism and anti-Semitism in post-war Europe can be brought to the fore.
1. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEACHING MULTI-PERSPECTIVE EUROPEAN POST-WAR HISTORY AND / OR EU HISTORY
In preparation for a workshop, the following considerations are important for teachers and peers.
**Checklist for your own preparation**
- Is there a genuine interest in the stories, justifications and approaches that young people have on the topic?
- Reflect on your own historical knowledge: Where does your knowledge come from? Has your family history been discussed in textbooks or in lectures?
- What other perspectives on historical or current events have broadened or limited your own existing knowledge? In the past few years, have there been encounters, explanations or debates that have led to a change in your perspective? Do you know people personally who have experienced completely different histories and have different points of connection with, or a disconnection from Europe?
- Which Timeline Cards available for the workshop tackle topics that are personally important to you? Why are they important? Which topics, thematised on the “Timeline Cards”, already interested you during your time at school?
- Do you have any knowledge of the group’s composition and their interests – in order to adapt the material to them?
**Tips and strategies for implementation**
- Keep your own inputs as short as possible – always with the goal of opening up exchange and dialogue between students. The aim is for the students to mutually support each other and hear each other’s arguments.
- Create an atmosphere of recognition and make room for diverse and controversial statements – tolerating controversy and ambiguity. Nothing better illustrates that history(ies) can be interpreted, judged, and viewed differently and can compete with one another than such an exercise.
- Use the historical knowledge, lack of interest and questions concerning the future of the learning group in order to address controversies, different understandings, and the meaning of history and historical events in concrete and illustrative ways (life-world orientation).
- Understanding Europe: Help the group listen to one another and get to know each other’s perspectives on historical events. If students’ perspectives are missing, bring your own input(s) (e.g. through extra Timeline Cards).
- Only EU history(ies)? An openness to hearing diverse stories and to finding solutions are part of a good workshop! Also, in terms of the indoctrination ban (“Überwältigungsverbot”), a European history of integration should also contain questions about disintegration. There should be space for history outside of the EU or outside the European continent – even transnational history – to be shared. Events that are deemed important can, of course, be before 1945 and can even be stories that focus on modern-day or future-oriented scenarios, as part of the pre-determined learning topics of the group, such as: “What would happen if all member states left the EU?;” or “What will happen if all climate goals are not met?”
A multi-perspective European history is one that …
• Creates space for students to reflect on their personal stories
• Acknowledges grandparents and parents who have worked for decades as “guest workers” in the European steel industry and who hardly appear in textbooks when it comes to the economic boom and the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community (1952) – the pre-cursor to today’s EU
• Considers that Winston Churchill is not just well-known for “a United States of Europe,” but also goes down in history for his degrading and racist comments about colonised countries (Mehta 2019)
• Not only speaks of the founding fathers of the European Union, but also about women and minorities. For example, the first woman president of the European Parliament, the French feminist and Holocaust survivor, Simone Veil, and the Spanish politician, Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia, who, following the end of the Franco dictatorship and entry of Spain in 1986, was the first Roma EU parliamentarian
• Is aware that the European “post-war period” can also refer to family histories and stories of asylum from former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the consequences of the genocide in Srebrenica.
Simone Veil was a French politician and Holocaust survivor. She was the first female president of the European Parliament and in office from 1979 until 1982.
WORKSHOP METHOD STORIES OF EUROPEAN (DIS)INTEGRATION
Step 1
The peer trainers lay out a selection of 10–15 Timline Cards on the floor. A moderator then asks the students to – without speaking to one another – look at all of the events quietly. Afterwards, students are asked to point out where an important or characterising event in the history of European integration / EU history lies, or if one of the Timeline Cards tackles a topic that is personally important to them.
Optionally, the peer trainer can begin by asking which event or image is familiar, and if it means anything to the participants. Individual participants then briefly explain what they recognise and, if necessary for the other participants, explain the significance of the event, from their point of view. In case there are other perspectives or possible controversies on the event, the peer trainer may ask for clarifications or other opinions from the group.
Step 2
The group should put all of the event cards together in chronological order (on the floor). Options: If the years of the events have been covered up, revealing these can be used as a moment for students to loosen up. As part of Step 2, the participants can line up along the event cards according the years they were born. Each group member can look at what has happened during this period, as well as before and after.
Step 3
A moderator then asks each participant to elaborate on a topic or one of the event cards in the timeline that:
• Has been missing from the discussion so far that someone would like to discuss; or
• Has had a personal, national, European, or global influence, or which is a current cause for concern
Depending on the topic and the learning group, the peer trainers can bring in their own examples at the beginning to make clear that no knowledge is being tested here, but rather, that a trusting atmosphere is being created in order for everyone to be respected and heard. A moderator asks individuals who would like to share in more detail why an event has been chosen and asks for further information of perspectives from other students, if needed.
Step 4
The peer trainers now ask the group to jointly select between 8–15 cards (from the existing and newly created ones, → p. 42) that are most important to them to understand the history of European integration. The other cards are then turned over and can be looked at during a presentation, e.g. by another timeline group.
Step 5
The peer trainers’ evaluation questions can be: How was the workshop for you? What was new or exciting? Did something bother you or surprise you? What was the reason for you to add, choose, or turn over certain events? How easy was it to come to a common history? What perspectives are missing when we talk about history in general?
All Timeline Cards can be downloaded here:
www.schwarzkopf-stiftung.de/en/material
Two perspectives on May 1945 and the post-war period in Europe
One of the key issues that often comes up in question-and-answer sessions is why the EU was founded.
At the end of World War II in 1945, a Northern and Western history of Europe were quickly reproduced, which left out many other stories and experiences, i.e. the continuation of dictatorship and tyranny in Eastern Europe and the civil wars that broke out after the war, with remaining dictatorships in Spain, Portugal and Greece.
→ In the moderation or pre-selection of possible event cards, these points can be brought up with Timeline Cards, for example, on Greece’s military dictatorship from 1967-1974 and the late entry of Spain and Portugal into the EU in 1986, only after the end of dictatorships in both countries.
→ Quotes from other experiences and perspectives can be used, such as the following:
“We Germans tend to reduce the EU to the fundamental issue of war and peace in the post-war period – according to the motto: Back then, people learned from the lessons of World War II and created peace. But that was not how it was. No EU member state has been deterred from going to war when it seemed to be of national interest. France went to war in Indochina and Algeria with hundreds of thousands of casualties, the United Kingdom sent its army to war against Argentina in 1982, and so forth.”
— KIRAN KLAUS PATEL, A GERMAN-BRITISH HISTORIAN
Two perspectives on 1989
The fall of the Berlin Wall is not only seen as one of the most symbolic images and events of the reunification of East and West after the end of the Second World War, but it is also one of the things that separates students from an older generation of teachers.
Flavia Citrigno (a project alumna who works in the House of the Wannsee Conference, a memorial and educational site) about possible approaches
Students who are born after 2000 often have difficulty comprehending how much Europe and the world has changed in the last 30 years, and yet, the consequences and influences of 1989 are still recognisable in their lives. This makes the task of deconstructing this historical event all the more important.
- Where was the “Iron Curtain”? Using a map of the world, let students visualise where exactly the separation was.
- For countries outside of the EU: What was Turkey’s stance on the fall of the Berlin Wall? And China?
- Why do you think people were so happy about the collapse of the Iron Curtain? Contrarily, why were some countries, people and groups concerned?
- Where did your parents and grandparents live in 1989? Did they move after the Iron Curtain’s collapse?
- Have you visited regions where the Iron Curtain once was? Where were you? Did you notice any similarities/differences to when the Iron Curtain once existed? Do you have any family or friends living in the area?
The fall of the Berlin Wall is also an event that was watched with concern by marginalised Jews and people affected by racism in Germany, who feared a reinvigorated nationalism from Germany following reunification, which was seen with the violent racist riots and arson attacks in Mölln, Rostock-Lichterhagen and Solingen. An important perspective on this view of German unity can be found in the poem, “Zum Tag der Deutschen (Sch)Einheit” by the German poet and activist, May Ayim. May Ayim is one of the most prominent representatives of the Black community in Germany.
“I will anyway be African even if you want me to be German and still will be German even if my being Black does not seem to fit …”
— MAY AYIM
FURTHER LINKS AND LITERATURE ON THE TOPIC OF MULTI-PERSPECTIVE EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL HISTORY (WITH A FOCUS ON THE HISTORY OF MIGRATION AND POSTCOLONIAL PERSPECTIVES)
→ **Accept Pluralism Handbook on Tolerance & Cultural Diversity in Europe. Concepts and Theories (2012).**
Anna Triandafyllidou (editor).
→ **The Unsettling of Europe. The Great Migration, 1945 to the Present (2019). Prof. Peter Gatrell**, University of Manchester.
Focuses on migration in the context of colonialism and decolonisation in Great Britain as well as the history of guest worker programmes in Europe and the EU’s migration and asylum policies.
→ **This Land is Our Land. An Immigrant’s Manifesto (2019). Assistant Prof. Suketu Mehta**, New York University.
Focuses on migration and transnational family histories in and between North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
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1 Interview with Viola B. Georgi, Professor of Diversity Education, Stiftung Universität Hildesheim (2015), Neue Studie: Integration und Migration im Schulbuch, https://www.uni-hildesheim.de/media/presse/Schulbuchstudie-Georgi-2015.pdf, last accessed 29.11.2019.
2 Michele Barricelli, Professor für Didaktik der Geschichte und Public History an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, für Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte/bpb.de (2018): Diversität und historisches Lernen: Eine besondere Zeitgeschichte, https://www.bpb.de/apuz/275894/diversitaet-und-historisches-lernen?p=all, last accessed 29.11.2019.
3 Cf. Interview with Viola B. Georgi
4 Ibid.
5 Gulcü, Can/Pilic, Ivana (2019): Partizipative und diskriminierungskritische Kulturpraxis: Strategische Partnerschaften und Allianzen bilden. Eine Einleitung. In: Die Zukunftssakademie NRW 2013 – 2019: zak nrw. jetzt change grow impulse. work book, pp. 346 – 350, https://www.zaknrw.de/files/redaktion/Workbook/zaknrw_workbook.pdf, last accessed 29.11.2019.
6 Suketu Mehta (2019): This Land is Our Land. An Immigrant’s Manifesto, p. 64.
7 Kübra Gümuşay: “Ich fürchte die Kraft der Erinnerungen”, http://ein-fremdworterbuch.com/2013/07/ich-furchte-die-kraft-der-erinnerungen/, last accessed 29.11.2019.
8 “Die EU sollte sich ehrlich machen” (2019), an interview by Peter Müller and Klaus Wiegrefe with Prof. Kiran Klaus Patel, a German-British historian and the Jean Monnet History Chair for the Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Found under: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/historiker-kiran-klaus-patel-ueber-die-geschichte-und-zukunft-der-eu-a-1270974.html
9 Translation of a poem by May Ayim, taken from: Azadé Pesmen (2019): Nicht-weisser Blick auf die Wende. Das neue “Wir” ohne uns, www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/nicht-weisser-blick-auf-die-wende-das-neue-wir-ohne-uns-976.de.html?dram:article_id=462792, last access 01.12.2019.
Organising a “Dialogue on Participation” on your own
“Where can I have an impact? What do I actually want to change? How can I implement this change?” “Dialogue on Participation” is an event format that attempts to create the space to look for answers to these questions. Do you want to organise this type of event in a school or in another learning space? The following guide will make clear what you should be conscious of when planning a “Dialogue on Participation”.
BY
BERNARD DRÖGE
1. WHAT DOES A “DIALOGUE ON PARTICIPATION” ENTAIL AND HOW DOES THE EVENT WORK?
Through this format, democracy can be experienced as an accessible and shapeable space. Participants have the possibility to identify topics that have a direct link to their daily lives and to create links from their life-worlds to European dimensions. Political participation, then, is not merely treated as an abstract topic, but rather, can be understood as a concrete opportunity to act – using numerous approaches to do so. With this in mind, participants can formulate questions as well as demands and, in so doing, (further) develop their own sense of “active citizenship.”
ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP
“The power of people to exercise and defend their democratic rights and responsibilities in society, to value diversity and to play an active part in democratic life.”¹
IN INTERCHANGEABLE SETTINGS, IDEAS FOR ENGAGEMENT CAN BE DEVELOPED BASED ON 5 STEPS:
1. **Defining themes**: What is important to me? What bothers me?
2. **Developing demands**: What should I change? Who views this similarly and wants to start a working group with me? Or who would prefer to work in the media group? (→ p. 61)
3. **Gaining an overview**: Who decides about these demands? What opinions are there about my/our demands?
4. **Drafting plans**: What can we do concretely? How can we motivate others to participate?
5. **Discussing**: At the end, the ideas will be shared with the others.
For Steps 2 and 3, participation experts – people who have various experiences with political engagement from different backgrounds – are invited to give advice to the participants. In previous “Dialogues on Participation” experts have been, amongst others:
- (Particularly young) politicians and candidates from national, regional, and local parliaments as well as the European parliament, or chairs of youth groups of political parties
- Activists in various fields
- Representatives from unions, interest groups, and other associations;
- Academics who work on democratic participation
- Representatives from authorities (e.g. integration commissioners, voluntary associations, etc.)
Concluding discussions can be opened up to a wider public audience.
2. EVERYTHING STARTS WITH THE PARTICIPANTS
By following some didactic approaches (→ chapter 8), participants can freely shape the contents of the event. When preparing and carrying out the event, the organising team should, above all else, have the participants in mind and make sure that everyone can participate/get involved.
PARTICIPANTS
- How many participants, and what are their ages?
- Do they know each other already?
- How motivated are they?
- Which aspects must be taken into account so that the event “works” for everyone?
- How can I incorporate feedback after the event?
MODERATORS
- Responsible for:
- Concept
- Peer approach (see other chapters)
- Current discussions (e.g. if the dialogue takes place before an election, the election programmes should be available)
- Event space and available materials
LOCATION
- Accessible for all participants (proximity of location, accessibility for people with disabilities)
- Sufficient space and equipment (a space for a larger meeting, other rooms for working groups), a projector, if needed
- The space is selected and designed so that all participants feel welcome
- In the case that there is a host who has made the space available, they should be invited to make opening remarks
EXPERTS
- Inspiring and non-partisan composition of experts (using the principle of controversy)
- Diverse backgrounds (i.e. social representation regarding gender, age, educational background, migration background, BPOO) as well as experiences and opinions on topics that may arise
- Flexibility to discuss other topics
- Points of reference for participants (e.g. similar age, similar experiences)
3. FINDING TOPICS
To begin, it is recommended to do an activity that encourages free thinking and/or has an activating effect (see the organisational package, → p. 62). Following this, participants should be able to reflect for themselves. To do this, it can be helpful to pose a question, i.e. how he/she would use power: “If you could make all decisions in Europe/your city/in your school for a day, what would you do?” In doing this, the often-inhibiting questions of feasibility are set aside in order to open up utopian thinking. Participants are also not distracted by others’ ideas – collaboration and compromise are brought in at a later point. In order for ideas to not be forgotten or lost, all participants should keep a written copy of their own ideas. Answers to these introductory questions often take the form of direct demands, which is worthy to note (i.e. “Raise the wages of care workers!” “Improve the food in the school cafeteria!” “Implement a quota for young people in the European Parliament!”).
4. GROUP WORK
After individual reflection on possible ideas for topics, participants can come together in different working groups of 5 to 10 people. Prior to this, the trainers or the participants can sort the demands into overarching themes, which can determine how the groups organise themselves. Alternatively, the participants can organise themselves and “recruit” others to their calls for action. In doing this, the trainers should make sure that all participants (and not only the most extroverted / most popular ones) are able to share their topics and demands.
4.1 “CALLS TO ACTION” GROUPS: WHAT DO WE WANT TO CHANGE?
After groups have been formed according to topic areas and demands, they can then build a common understanding of their demand(s) and identify stakeholders as well as potential barriers / inhibitors to implementation. They should also ask themselves what kind of promising methods could be used to motivate other young people to participate. The definition and contextualisation of the demands can, for example, be presented on a poster.
The demand should arise as directly as possible out of the daily lives of the participants and be feasible to implement. The question of feasibility, which was initially set aside, is brought forward again with a positive connotation: Where do we potentially have more influence than we previously thought? There are no “bad” or “wrong” calls for action. Based on our experiences, though, a call for action for “more bikes paths in our neighbourhood” is easier to work with than “The EU should draw up a masterplan for bike infrastructure.” The first demand is more concrete and easier to enact; aspects that should be part of implementation processes.
Groups have access to various materials (e.g. election programmes, a “participation poster”, flipcharts, etc.). Each group is also supported by a trainer. Additionally, a participation expert (with their own history of engagement, e.g. with experience in political science / media studies) can also be included in the process.
4.2 MEDIA GROUP: DOCUMENTING THE WORK OF OTHER GROUPS
An optional parallel activity – one group follows and documents the work of the others as “journalists.” This group is ideally moderated by media educators. Questions to explore include: What topics are considered important? What approaches do the groups choose? How do their plans change in the process? To begin, some groundwork for the media group will have to be established and defined. For example, how do I ask questions in ways that the answers will be interesting? What questions do we want to ask our interviewees in order to have continuity?
The main focus is on producing smartphone videos that can be supplemented with photos and short texts. It’s not about producing high-quality videos.
5. PRESENTING AND DISCUSSING THE RESULTS
In the final step, the results of the working groups are shared in a fishbowl discussion with the experts. Different approaches to each topic allow for the participants to reflect on the process individually, i.e. “On demand 1, I agree with party A (or group X) but I don’t agree with their opinion on demand 2.” Additionally, participants can also ask the invited guests (participation experts as well as other discussion members) questions. Regardless of who is present for the discussion, the largest part of the discussion should, as always, be reserved for the young participants.
If not already done, the people and organisations who have made the event possible should be made visible and acknowledged. Enough time should also be devoted to provide feedback from the participants. Finally, a brief summary should be made of what happened during the “Dialogue on Participation,” preferably with concrete references. As far as possible, agreements should be made for groups that wish to continue their work. Can the organising team, for example, offer or arrange follow-up talks in order to help groups continue their efforts?
ORGANISATIONAL PACKAGE FOR DOWNLOAD
(CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ONLY IN GERMAN):
www.schwarzkopf-stiftung.de/material/beteiligungsdialog
→ Example of a running order
→ Detailed suggestions for timing and how to plan for and prepare activities
→ Course material, signage
→ Additional materials
→ Template for contacting experts
→ Follow-up possibilities
→ The Participation Poster can be downloaded here (available in Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Ukrainian):
www.schwarzkoepf-stiftung.de/en/participation-poster
1 In: Council of Europe, www.coe.int/en/web/edc/what-is-edc/hre, last access 12/11/2019.
14 Ideas How to Change Europe
- Vote!
- Run for political office
- Demonstrate!
- Wear clothes displaying a political statement
- Stop hate speech! #Tweet
- Join an NGO or a party
- Express your opinion
- Sign or start a European Citizens’ Initiative
- Sign or start a petition
- Track your representatives’ voting record
- Visit your representatives
Our peer education approach, as described in Chapter 1, also includes peer feedback and peer counselling. Peer feedback can, for example, take place directly after a course. Peer counselling offers a more structured form of consultation which, for example, can support trainers in reflecting on a course situation that was experienced as being challenging or problematic. This case-based approach will be explained further in this chapter.
CASE-BASED PEER COUNSELLING involves guided reflection on professional practices (e.g., pedagogy), taking both internal processes and external influences into account.¹
FEEDBACK SHOULD...
- be future-oriented
- be descriptive
- be concrete
- be formulated in a subjective way
- contain positive aspects
CASES THAT HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED DURING UNDERSTANDING EUROPE TRAININGS (2017 / 18):
- The teacher sends a student out of the room. The student is apparently tired, but quiet. How should I react?
- It is one of the last days before holidays and motivation in the class is very low. How can I activate the group?
- A student claims that the statements the trainer makes are lies and part of some sort of “Umwolkung” (ethnicity inversion). How can I respond?
INTRODUCTION
All case presenters give a brief overview of their situations/cases.
CASE DECISION
The group decides to work on one particular case.
PRESENTATION
of the case by the case presenter
TYPICAL SEQUENCE OF A CASE-BASED PEER COUNSELLING SESSION
during which:
a visualisation is developed of the essential points of the case
it is important to:
stick to this specific case as strictly as possible
Who is involved in the case?
What processes took place/didn’t take place?
What characterises the situation?
Final points:
Does the case presenter have any questions?
WHAT DOES CASE-BASED PEER COUNSELLING FACILITATE?
Peer counselling “follows a given structure and proceeds as a systematic conversation that aims to develop solutions and ideas.”\(^1\)
It thus facilitates working through problems and difficulties resulting from professional interactions (e.g. between teachers or peers and students). The aim is to better understand the situation, relieve pressure and improve one’s own personal skillsets as well as possible responses.
GUIDELINES FOR CASE-BASED PEER COUNSELLING
**IMPORTANT** Peer counselling involves highly structured conversations. Many participants find it difficult to keep to such a structure. However, it is very important to do so if the potential of the counselling is to be reached.
**One moderator** is needed per group in order to ensure that participants hold to specific discussion phases. A run-down for case-based peer counselling can be found in the graphic below.
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| CLARIFYING QUESTIONS by the group | DISCUSSION of the case by the group | THE MODERATOR GIVES A SUMMARY | Only now does the case presenter respond with an ASSESSMENT |
|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 |
| Avoid comments and justifications as much as possible | The case presenter is prohibited from speaking | The case presenter is asked if he/she has any further questions for the group | The statement includes which solutions he/she considers useable and implementable. |
during which:
a visualisation of the proposed solutions is developed
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\(^1\) cf. Lippmann, E. *Intervision. Kollegiales Coaching professionell gestalten*. Heidelberg 2013.
\(^2\) Korsmeier, S. “Kollegiale Fallberatung,” in Markus Schwemmle and Bernd Schmid (Eds.), *Systemisch beraten und steuern live – Modelle und Best Practices in Organisationen*. Göttingen 2009. p. 204
According to the Beutelsbach Consensus, civic education is committed to embracing the idea of controversy: “Everything that is controversial in science and society must also appear controversial in the classroom and in settings of civic education.” However, the “law of controversy” demands, however, a minimum of consensus, namely that all parties are equal in their differences and can agree to disagree. In liberal democracies, furthermore, there is a minimal consensus that values cannot become the subject of negotiation. However, values can be negotiated in specific cases, such as where the boundary between a ‘non-controversial’ and a ‘controversial’ argument should be drawn.\(^1\)
In educational processes, the drawing of boundaries between a “non-controversial” and a “controversial” realm of argument is more flexible than in a public debate. Most importantly, students should be given enough space to formulate their own points of view, even when this pushes or oversteps the minimum consensus. Were this not the case, students would quickly fall into a “mechanism of ambivalence,” and would only align themselves with the anticipated positions of their peers.\(^2\)
That does not mean, however, that comments that seem critical to a trainer or a student should go unchallenged. Rather, positions should be clearly taken up and participants encouraged to dissent, also amongst themselves. The role of the peers can be to strengthen the position that critically deals with a difficult or provocative statement. At the same time, it is important that not only those positions are discussed in depth. Instead, a climate should be created in the classroom where students are able to question the positions of others on an equal footing. As part of this is, whenever possible, instead of initiating dialogues between peers and students, dialogues should take place between students, which are then moderated by the peers.
Nevertheless, there are remarks that should not be left unchallenged. Beyond the negotiable border between positions on a pluralistic spectrum and remarks around the minimum consensus, there are remarks that are clearly racist, misanthropic and/or anti-democratic. These remarks can and should be rebutted by the peers – not primarily to change the mind of the person who raised them, but rather, to make the taboo clear to the other students, thereby leaving no room for a relativist argument.
**THE BEUTELSBACK CONSENSUS**\(^3\)
1. **The indoctrination ban**
It is prohibited – regardless of ways and means – to overpower students and thereby hinder them from being able to “arrive at an independent judgement.”
2. **Showing controversies**
Topics that are examined will include different and even opposing aspects. When there is no space for differing opinions, when options are disregarded and when alternatives remain undiscussed, the road to indoctrination has been taken.
3. **Student orientation**
Students need to be able to analyse a political situation and their own (related) interests, as well as feel empowered to seek ways and means to influence said political situations.
During train-the-trainer events, it is important that the peer trainers understand the “principle of controversy” and its limits. They need to be able to negotiate and identify where they see their boundaries between negotiable, problematic and taboo statements. The “Red Line” method can support this process.
Its goal is to, on the one hand, help identify boundaries when it comes to problematic statements and be able to typify these boundaries. This method also helps participants perceive and negotiate the differences between their tolerance limits as well as identify the boundaries of other peers. The aim of the exercise is not to agree on clear boundaries, but rather, to reflect on one’s own perspectives by comparing them with the positions of others.
SEQUENCE FOR THE “RED LINE” EXERCISE
1. INTRODUCTION
The moderator should make clear to the training participants that some of the content discussed in this module may be disturbing, and that nothing should be repeated outside of it. Reproducing statements by writing them down and giving them space in the discussion in this exercise does not mean that the people who brought them up allow for them to be reproduced by others in the future. The moderator should make this point clear and thereby provide a safe space for all participants.
Following this, the “principle of controversy” and the Beutelsbach Consensus will be introduced to the participants (the box on p. 66).
4. ON THE SPECTRUM
With the help of several metres of masking tape, a spectrum with a “red line” marking a divide between “taboo” and “provocative” statements is arranged on the floor (see below). After presenting the selected situations, the people who raised the situations in the small groups can place themselves on the spectrum according to their tolerance levels. One side is for situations that are deemed acceptable to discuss in classrooms (the right-hand side of the graphic below) and the other side is for unacceptable situations (the left-hand side). Depending on where the situations are placed on the spectrum, the categorisation of these statements of these statements are either clear (placed far from the red line) or unclear (placed close to the red line). The participants place themselves along the spectrum, first without further comment.
2. DOCUMENTING YOUR OWN BOUNDARIES
As part of the “Red Line” method, it is important for the participants to work with concrete examples that they have been confronted with before. For the first step, participants are asked to name at least three situations that pushed their own boundaries in a seminar or workshop, using key words. The situations can include, for example, racist, populist or extremist statements. A situation can also include a statement that was perceived as provocative and/or absurd from their experiences as a peer trainer. One piece of paper should be used per situation.
5. CHANGING PLACES
When all the selected situations from the small groups have been introduced and placed on the spectrum, there is a moment of 5–10 minutes for reflection, when all the participants have the opportunity to move the sheets of paper based on their personal assessments of the statement. The new placements occur simultaneously for all situations and is done without further comment.
3. DISCUSSION IN SMALL GROUPS
For the second step, the situations collected are shared in small groups (3–4 persons) and are briefly discussed. Peers can then, for example, discuss how others view the situations presented. Others might see a clear taboo, perceive the situation as clearly problematic, or not. Two to three situations that were seen as particularly controversial should be selected and presented to the larger group.
6. REFLECTION AND STRATEGIES
The entire group discusses the reasons as to why, in some situations, the assessment was very clear (and did not move much from the “red line”) and why the placement for others was more contested. The moderator can focus on some contested statements or concentrate first on statements that were not moved and why. In particular, problematic aspects, underlying assumptions, processes of othering, etc. should be made visible. For all situations, the group can discuss possible reactions – ideally as concretely as possible, i.e.: “How would you respond to such a statement?”
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1 Grammes, Tilmon: Kontroversprinzip. In Wolfgang Sander: Handbuch der politischen Bildung. Bundeszentrale der politischen Bildung, 2013. pp. 129.
2 Ibid. pp. 133f.
3 https://www.lpb-bw.de/beutelsbacher-konsens.html, last accessed 29.11.2019.
4 Thimm, Barbara, Gottfried Kößler, Susanne Ulrich (editors): Verunsichernde Orte. Selbstverständnis und Weiterbildung in der Gedenkstättenpädagogik, 2010. pp. 156ff.
5 Based on Thimm et al. and modified for the peer training for Understanding Europe
POTENTIAL STRATEGIES FOR THE CLASSROOM
1. **Accept that some statements and topics might be too complex to be discussed in-depth in the course.** This is especially true if participants may be affected by the statement themselves. In such a case, an offer should be made to interested students to discuss the topic another day (e.g. with an expert or with a teacher).
2. **Stay authentic** – make it clear to the students that trainers are also people who have emotions and may be affected by the statements in the workshop. If a trainer is affected by what is said, it is okay and important to express this.
3. **Help each other** – if one of the trainers finds it difficult to cope with a certain situation, he or she should be able to rely on the other trainer in the team to take over and help. Other students and teachers can also jump in and help.
4. **Take the students seriously.** Challenge statements with follow-up questions:
a. “That would mean that …”
b. “And do you think that is fair?”
c. “How could that be unfair?”
5. **Use the PIC Concept** (from Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie e.V.)
a. Perception: What did I just hear?
“What I’ve heard you say is that all Muslims are terrorists.”
b. Impact: How did that make me feel?
“That made me angry because the statement seems to portray that all Muslims are the same.”
“I am hurt / I am sad / I feel offended / I am sorry that you feel this way / …”
c. Concern: What I wish for …
“I would like to see that we differentiate between Muslims and terrorists.”
6. Take up degrading and anti-democratic statements and talk about them. Break up generalisations / “othering” / homogenisation by making underlying assumptions visible and by pointing to contradictory facts. By questioning, for example, the racist assumption that there is an “us” and a “them” or “others,” and that these groups stand in a hierarchical relationship, processes of reflection can be initiated.
7. **Position yourself clearly against racism, discrimination and hate speech.** Your personal attitude, based on respect and a recognition of human rights, should be made visible and transparent.
8. Watch your body language and **stay calm**.
9. **Try not be judgmental, moralising or arrogant.** Do not blame students for their statements – they might just be repeating what they have heard somewhere else.
POTENTIAL DISCUSSIONS FOR PEERS
→ How much space and time would you give to a critical statement, even though it crosses the “Red Line?”
→ Are there certain values that are considered universal in your society/environment?
→ What is freedom of speech and when is it violated/violating?
→ How should we deal with facts? What are “alternative facts?” How can we provide students with facts? How can statistics help, or be misleading?
→ Where does racism come from? Where do prejudices and images about certain groups come from? How can we react to and counter prejudices and racist statements? (→ chapter 3)
Students clapping in a circle.
Conclusion
Ableism
The structural discrimination of people with an (assigned) disability, or people who are handicapped.\(^1\)
Active Citizenship
“The power of people to exercise and defend their democratic rights and responsibilities in society, to value diversity and to play an active part in democratic life.”\(^2\)
Ageism
The structural discrimination of people based on their ascribed older age and the stigmatisation of being “elderly.” For example, socio-cultural associations predominantly include illness as well as physical and mental decline.\(^3\)
Beutelsbach Consensus
The “Beutelsbach Consensus” was formulated in the 1970s and, since then, refers to three didactic principles of formal civic education in Germany: the indoctrination ban, the principle of controversy and student orientation (\(\rightarrow\) chapter 12).\(^4\)
Bodyism
Discrimination and dominance due to physical beauty and health standards.\(^5\)
Classism
The discrimination of people based on their (assigned) economic, social, educational and political status/background. This discrimination can occur on an interactional, institutional, and/or socio-cultural level.\(^6\)
Diagnostics
All activities that determine the conditions for successful teaching and learning processes. In addition, learning processes are analysed and their effectiveness, which is reflected in the learning outcomes, is determined. The aim of diagnostics is to optimise individual learning processes.\(^7\)
Dimensions of the political
Polity encompasses the form or structure of the political and refers to institutional aspects. Policy comprises the contents of political disputes and is about the objects, tasks and goals that actors want to formulate and realise. Politics focuses on processes such as political procedures (i.e. voting, passing laws, lobbying) and on conflict analysis, involving how interest groups aim to push through their concerns.\(^8\)
Diversity
The diversity approach departs from a multi-dimensional perspective in that individuals are characterised by numerous differences and their belonging to a number of different groups in a highly ordered social context and society. Based on multiple affiliations to various diversity dimensions, such as gender identity, ethnic and cultural background, skin colour, religion, worldview, sexual orientation, disability, age, social status, occupation, etc., there simultaneously exists differences and commonalities between individuals, depending on the context. The diversity approach picks up on intersectionality in so far as it draws particular attention to the linking of affiliations or ascriptions and social status to the location of these in societal dominance structures.\(^9\)
Empowerment
Characterised by the U.S. civil rights and self-help movements, it stands for the self-empowering or self-enablement of people. It refers to a process in which disadvantaged people develop their own strengths and abilities to participate in political and societal decision-making processes and do so to improve their living circumstances and development opportunities – independent of the “benevolence” of the majority population.\(^{10}\)
**Eurocentrism**
Judging non-European cultures from the perspective of European values and norms. Here, Europe is at the centre of thought and action. Europe’s history of development is seen as the standard for any comparisons with other countries and cultures.\(^{11}\)
**Hate Speech**
The expression of hate through targeted degradation, insults and threats to individuals or groups of people.\(^{12}\)
**Heteronormativity**
The presumed “natural, exclusive binary division of sexes (into men and women),” and, mutually, heterosexual desire, which are both seen as societal norms and, accordingly, binary stereotypes.\(^{13}\)
**Inclusion**
“An interactive process of transformation for the whole of society that aims to break up discriminating social constructions and enable participation for all people. Here, participation includes enabling access, equality of opportunity and self-determination.”\(^{14}\)
**Intentional Pedagogy**
All conscious, planned educational measures. This refers to all activities by which peers/educators, guided by ideas of values, aim to impact peers/students by fostering their individualities.\(^{15}\)
**Intersectionality**
The analysis of interdependence (mutual conditionality) and the combined effects of various categories of difference with dimensions of social inequality and exclusion. In order to gain a thorough understanding of discrimination, their individual forms (such as racism, sexism or heterosexism) should not be considered as independent of one another.
**Migration background**
“Persons with a migration background” are foreigners, in this context, living in Germany, naturalised Germans who immigrated to Germany after 1949 as well as children born in Germany with a German passport, whose migration background is derived from at least one parent. The term is used in bureaucratic and academic language, although it also entered colloquial language sometime after the year 2000. Today, the term is often perceived to be stigmatising, as it is mostly associated with (Muslim) “problematic groups”.\(^{16}\)
**Othering**
A process in which people are construed as the “others” and differentiated from a “we.”\(^{17}\)
**Peer education**
“Peer education is a pedagogical approach which enables learning from and with people who have similar experiential backgrounds and share life-worlds.”\(^{18}\)
**People of Colour (POC)**
An analytical and political term that applies to all people and communities who have been racialised and oppressed as “others.” Meanwhile, the term BPoC (Black and People of Colour) is more commonly used to explicitly include Black people. The term is extended to BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People of Colour), which also includes indigenous people.\(^{19}\)
**Postcolonialism**
The period following the independence of former colonies, the cultural status of a post-colonial society, as well as the critical confrontation and intellectual deconstruction of the societal, economic, and political consequences of colonialism.
**Racism-critique**
The comprehensive examination of social structures and individual behaviours that are influenced by racisms and that amplify racism. Particularly in the field of education, dealing with racism is necessary because negotiation processes that are racist-relevant exist and are reproduced there (\(\rightarrow\) chapter 3).
**Self-efficacy**
The conviction to be able to successfully manage difficult situations through one’s own strengths / of one’s own accord (\(\rightarrow\) chapter 1).
**Setting**
Places where educational processes take place. Classical places of learning, such as schools, are described as formal settings. Non-formal settings can include multiple ways of gaining competencies beyond schools, classes and other standardised teaching-learning processes (e.g. through youth work).\(^{20}\)
**Sexism**
Any form of discrimination against people based on their (assigned) gender and the ideology underlying this phenomena.\(^{21}\)
**Tolerance of ambiguity**
“Understanding plurality and dealing with contradictions, meaning tolerance for ambiguity, is measured by the ability to ‘take ambiguity and insecurity into consideration and to be able to tolerate this,’\(^{22}\) […] To not only withstand ambiguity, but to also be able to react to it sympathetically, without aggression and without feeling discomfort.”\(^{23, 24}\)
---
1 www.idaev.de/recherchetools/glossar/, last access 21.11.2019.
2 In: Council of Europe, www.coe.int/en/web/edc/what-is-edc/hre, last access 12/11/2019.
3 www.idaev.de/recherchetools/glossar/, last access 21.11.2019.
4 Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (2011): Beutelsbacher Konsens, http://www.bpb.de/die-bpb/51310/beutelsbacher-konsens, last access 17.12.2019.
5 www.idaev.de/recherchetools/glossar/, last access 21.11.2019.
6 www.idaev.de/recherchetools/glossar/, last access 21.11.2019.
7 https://www.web.de/wissen/diagnose/pädagogische-diagnostik.html, last access 21.11.2019.
8 http://politischebildung.ch/fuer-lehrpersonen/grundlagen-politische-bildung/polity-policy-politics, last access 21.11.2019.
9 www.ewdv-diversity.de/diversity/intersektionalitaet/, last access 21.11.2019.
10 www.idaev.de/recherchetools/glossar/, last access 21.11.2019.
11 www.i куд.de/glossar/eurozentrismus-definition.html, last access 21.11.2019.
12 www.scout-magazin.de/glossar/begriff/hate-speech.html, last access 21.11.2019.
13 www.idaev.de/recherchetools/glossar/, last access 21.11.2019.
14 Zentrum für inklusive politische Bildung. In: www.zipb.de/was-ist-inklusion/, last accessed 21.11.2019.
15 https://lexikon.stangl.eu/12005/intentionale-erziehung, last access 21.11.2019.
16 https://glossar.neuemedienmacher.de/glossar/filter/m/, last access 21.11.2019.
17 www.zhdk.ch/forschung/ehemalige-forschungsinstitute-7626/iae/glossar-972/otheering-5894, last access 21.11.2019.
18 Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie e. V. (2019): lebensweltnah & partizipativ – Mit Peer Education gesellschaftliche Vielfalt und Demokratie fördern.
19 https://glossar.neuemedienmacher.de/glossar/filter/p, last access 21.11.2019.
20 www.bpb.de/geellschaft/bildung/zukunft-bildung/149483/alltagsbildung?p=all, last access 21.11.2019.
21 www.idaev.de/recherchetools/glossar/, last access 21.11.2019.
22 Hartmut Häcker/Kurt-Hermann Stapf (2004): Dorsch Psychologisches Wörterbuch. 14th edition. Bern: Huber, pp. 33.
23 Lothar Krappmann (2000): Soziologische Dimensionen der Identität. Strukturelle Bedingungen für die Teilnahme an Interaktionsprozessen. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag.
24 Naika Foroutan (2019): Die postmigrantische Gesellschaft – Ein Versprechen der pluralen Demokratie. transcript Verlag, Bielefeld, pp. 128.
25 www.idaev.de/recherchetools/glossar/, last access 21.11.2019.
**AUTHORS**
**Agnes Scharnetzky**
is a research assistant for the project “Strong Teachers – Strong Students” at the Technical University in Dresden and has been working as a civic education consultant and moderator since 2012. She was a project coordinator for the Bavarian Youth Council as well as an advisor for the “Kinder- und Jugendring Sachsen e.V.” She specialises in European civic education as well as right-wing extremism and memorial culture.
**Prof. Dr. Karim Fereidooni**
holds the Junior Professorship for Didactics of Social Scientific Education at the Ruhr University in Bochum. His work focuses on racism-critical pedagogy in educational institutions, civic education in the context of post-migrant societies, diversity studies and diversity-sensitive research on schools. He has previously taught German, Politics / Economy and Social Science at the St. Ursula Gymnasium in Dorsten.
**Bernard Dröge**
is a project manager at the Schwarzkopf Foundation and, together with his peers, has further developed the implementation of the format “Dialogue on Participation.” He has also organised several educational events in other contexts. His interdisciplinary studies, “Ethics – Economy, Law and Politics,” took place in Bochum.
**Lena Prötzel**
leads the “Seminars and Travels” programme area at the Schwarzkopf Foundation. She works on the topics of migration, diversity and historical learning. She established *Understanding Europe* in Hamburg and Saxony and as well as the Germany-wide Margot Friedländer Award. She also worked as an advisor on youth education and public relations in Bonn. She studied Modern and Contemporary History, Political Science and Art History, with majors in migration and Jewish history.
**Brigitte Fuhrmann**
is a Social Studies, Law, Economics and English teacher at a public school in Leipzig. Between 2010 and 2017, she was a research assistant for the Chair for Didactics of Civic Education at the Technical University in Dresden. She specialises in the areas of civic education evaluation, particularly for educationally-disadvantaged youth, and European civic education.
**Thimo Nieselt**
took over in 2017 as project manager for the pedagogical management of the qualification programme and educational formats for the “Seminars and Travels” programme area at the Schwarzkopf Foundation. Before this, he was a peer trainer from 2014 for the project *Understanding Europe*. He also worked for the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR) and authored a publication for the “Rat für Migration.” He studied European Studies with a major in “Migration, Ethnicity, and Ethnocentrism.”
**Fikri Anıl Altıntaş**
has been a project manager at the Schwarzkopf Foundation since 2018 for the “Seminars and Travels” programme. Before then, he worked as an advisor for an association working on migration policy. He studied Political Science, Ethnology and Eastern European Studies. He is also a freelance author and writes on post-migration topics and Orientalism.
The non-partisan Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe (Schwarzkopf-Stiftung Junges Europa) was founded by Pauline Schwarzkopf in 1971 in Hamburg. As part of its work, the Foundation dedicates itself to the empowerment of young people to become active citizens of Europe who contribute to a pluralistic and democratic society, and appeals against ideologies of inequality and societal polarisation. As a recognised organisation for civic education, the Schwarzkopf Foundation makes educational work by young people, for young people possible in forty European countries.
With the Foundation’s educational programmes, we work in participatory ways – equipping and consulting young people on how to implement dialogue-based projects to experience democracy. We create a safe space for learning and encountering an active and pluralistic civil society. We offer young people the possibility to become engaged in the idea of Europe. Furthermore, we encourage students to stand for tolerance and civil courage and to actively process German history in the 20th century.
With these goals, we hold lectures, seminars and debates. Since 2009, within the framework of the project *Understanding Europe*, we have been working directly in schools Europe-wide. In exchanges with politicians, activists, journalists, economists, witnesses to history as well as artists, young people have the opportunity to directly experience politics up close and to participate actively. We also award travel grants and annual awards for the “Young European of the Year,” the “Schwarzkopf Europe Award” and the “Margot Friedländer Award.”
The European Youth Parliament (EYP) has been a project of the Schwarzkopf Foundation since 2004 and promotes dialogue between young people across Europe. EYP international meetings bring engaged young Europeans together with think-tanks to lead lively exchanges on Europe. The Young Islam Conference (JIK) has also been a part of the Schwarzkopf Foundation since 2019, and provides an independent dialogue platform for young Muslims and non-Muslims to discuss an innovative and sustainable migration society.
www.schwarzkopf-stiftung.de
As part of the *Understanding Europe* project, young peers between the ages of 16 to 28 hold 4–5 hour seminars in public as well as vocational schools. Those interested are currently able to choose between three different formats: the EU Crash Course, the EU Asylum Course, and the media literacy “Good News!” course. In addition, the “Dialogue on Participation” event format offers the possibility of a longer project day. The main target group are students from the age of 14, or 9th grade. The participation-oriented peer approach in schools creates a space for young people to talk about politics in Europe and their own life-worlds without being graded.
The peers see themselves as moderators and discussion partners at an equal level with the students. They also bring their own personal backgrounds and competencies to this project. Our qualification programme enables peers to reflect on their role as multipliers and on their societal positions, to deepen their knowledge on European topics and critiques of power as well as to apply inclusive and discrimination-sensitive methods to educational work. The annual multi-day training courses are largely organised and carried out by specially qualified peers.
Across Europe, 280 peers and around 12,500 students in public and vocational schools are involved annually in the *Understanding Europe* project. Within Germany, there are peer teams in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, North Rhein-Westphalia and Saxony. In cooperation with the European Youth Parliament, *Understanding Europe* has been implemented in 14 other European countries. Peer trainers are responsible for implementing the project on the ground.
**www.europa-verstehen.de**
**ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS**
We would like to warmly thank all of our active and former peers, the national youth associations of the European Youth Parliament, participating students, teachers, our partners, speakers, our team at the Schwarzkopf Foundation and all others who have contributed to the success of *Understanding Europe*. We would especially like to thank the **Mercator Foundation**, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth within the framework of the federal initiative “**Demokratie leben!**” and the **TUI Foundation**, who, with their financial support, have made this project possible.
The workshop was designed to be interactive and engaging, with a focus on active learning and collaboration. Participants were encouraged to share their ideas and perspectives, and to work together to develop solutions to real-world problems.
Throughout the workshop, participants were given opportunities to practice their communication skills, including public speaking, group discussion, and active listening. They also had the chance to learn about different problem-solving techniques and tools, such as brainstorming, mind mapping, and prototyping.
The workshop was facilitated by experienced trainers who were able to create a supportive and inclusive environment for all participants. They were able to tailor their approach to meet the needs of each group, ensuring that everyone felt valued and heard.
Overall, the workshop was a success, with participants leaving with a greater understanding of how to apply design thinking in their own work and lives. They were also inspired to continue exploring this approach and to bring it into their organizations and communities.
The Schwarzkopf Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports young people in Europe to develop their potential and become active citizens. We believe that every young person has the right to grow up in a safe, healthy environment and to be able to make decisions about their own lives. We work with young people from all backgrounds and cultures, helping them to develop the skills they need to succeed in life.
We offer a range of programs and services, including:
- **Youth Work**: We provide training and support for youth workers, helping them to develop the skills they need to work effectively with young people.
- **Education**: We offer educational programs for young people, helping them to develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life.
- **Health and Wellbeing**: We work to improve the health and wellbeing of young people, providing support and resources to help them stay healthy and happy.
- **Volunteering**: We encourage young people to get involved in volunteering, helping them to develop important life skills and make a positive contribution to their communities.
Our programs are designed to be inclusive and accessible to all young people, regardless of their background or circumstances. We believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential and we are committed to working towards this goal.
If you would like to learn more about our work or get involved, please visit our website at [www.schwarzkopf-foundation.org](http://www.schwarzkopf-foundation.org) or contact us directly. We look forward to hearing from you!
IMPRINT
Publisher
Schwarzkopf-Stiftung Junge Europa
Sophienstraße 28/29
10178 Berlin
www.schwarzkopf-stiftung.de
V. i. S. d. P.
Anne Rolvering
Editor
Thimo Nieselt
Concept
Lena Prötzel
Thimo Nieselt
Authors
Agnes Scharnetzky
Bernard Dröge
Brigitte Fuhrmann
Fikri Anil Altıntaş
Karim Fereidooni
Lena Prötzel
Thimo Nieselt
Translation
Alice Backwell
Amy Herr
Pia Sombetzki
Design and illustration
Friederike Schlenz
Photos
© Schwarzkopf-Stiftung / Stefanie Loos: p. 12, 18, 19 (2), 40, 70, 80 (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11), 81 (5, 7–11), Marcel Kusch: p. 80 (2, 6, 8, 12), 81 (1, 4, 6), EYP Armenia: p. 19 (1), 80 (4), Janne Vanhemmens: p. 4, Adrian Jankwoski: p. 81 (2), Photothek / Trutschel: p. 81 (3)
Print
Ruksaldruck GmbH + Co. KG
Year of publication
2019
Copyright
Text and illustrations are protected by copyright.
The publications do not represent any particular opinion on behalf of the Mercator Foundation, the BMFSFJ or the BAFzA. The author(s) bear(s) all responsibility for substantive claims made in the text.
We look forward to your feedback:
email@example.com
This publication was funded by the
STIFTUNG MERCATOR FOUNDATION
and
Funded by as part of the federal programme
Demokratie leben!
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We invite you to join us in Iceland to see the Total Solar Eclipse over the North Atlantic and enjoy splendid nights observing the Aurora Borealis!
This trip includes both wonderful astronomical phenomena in one location and is a rare occurrence and real opportunity!
To see the Total Solar Eclipse, we will fly in chartered aircraft from Reykjavik about an hour to the east to the point of maximum Totality! This will be a wonderful adventure, with excellent shared viewing out the plane’s windows.
We will also discover famous Icelandic sites, including the renowned Geysir (after which all of the world’s geysers are named), plus geothermal wonders, such as the Blue Lagoon and Myvatn in Iceland’s northeast.
There will be special lectures on geology, volcanism, the Aurora Borealis, the Icelandic sagas from the 10th and 11th centuries, and the Total Solar Eclipse. We will also visit a new Japanese research site for study of the Aurora Borealis near Husavik.
You will travel with veteran Betchart and Planetary Society leader Bob Nansen, plus our excellent local naturalist, Siggi Tomasson.
We hope you will join us!
Best Regards,
Margaret M. Betchart
President, Betchart Expeditions Inc.
for AAAS, Sigma Xi, ACS & The Planetary Society
**Leadership**
Leading this expedition will be **Bob Nansen**, popular leader of many Betchart Eclipse and Aurora expeditions, and Icelandic naturalist **Siggi G. Tomasson**.
Bob leads Aurora Borealis expeditions to Alaska each March and led the Atlantic Crossing Total Solar Eclipse Expedition in 2013, Australia in 2012, and Tahiti in 2010. He will be leading our Bali & Indonesia Eclipse Expedition in 2016.
Siggi became a guide to share his passion for natural history, plants, and birding. He has his own shows on Icelandic radio and TV and is very knowledgeable about Iceland society in general. Siggi has been a popular leader of Betchart’s Wild Iceland trips the last several years.
Bob and Siggi look forward to sharing the delights of Iceland, the Aurora, and the Total Solar Eclipse with you!
---
**Itinerary**
**Days 1/2 JFK, Boston or Seattle to Reykjavik**
Today, we will depart from JFK International Airport (or Boston or Seattle) on IcelandAir for Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. Arrive on the morning of Day 2. Meet your leaders and transfer to the *Hotel Lind* (*4 nights*). This morning enjoy a Reykjavik city tour before stepping back in time at the Settlement Museum to learn about the heritage of Iceland.
Afternoon to explore the world’s most northern capital and the cultural center of Iceland. We will have a special visit to the Northern Lights Center for an introduction to the Aurora Borealis, including photography suggestions. Welcome social, orientation & dinner. B,D
**Day 3 Gullfoss, Geysir & Pingvellir Plain**
Today, we will visit Pingvellir (the “plains of parliament”) where Iceland’s democracy began in 930 AD. Pingvellir National Park is not only the birthplace of a nation, but also a highly interesting area for its unique geology and lake biology. It marks the crest of the remarkable geologic feature, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which separates Europe and North America, and runs the length of the Atlantic Ocean, surfacing in Iceland. It is also home to Thingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland. We will continue to the hot springs area around the great Geysir (after which all of the world’s geysers are named) and Gullfoss Falls, one of Iceland’s star attractions. Enjoy an evening of Aurora viewing with local star gazers to view the night sky and Aurora Borealis. B
**Day 4 Blue Lagoon & Reykjanes Peninsula**
This morning, we will have a morning talk on the geology of Iceland, volcanism, and glaciers, and then drive south of Reykjavik to the Blue Lagoon, one of Iceland’s most famous locales. The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa which is believed to have natural healing powers. It offers warm and luxurious soaking in a place that is both enchanting and mysterious, so bring your swimsuit, and you may enjoy a soak or swim (optional!) in the luxury of its warm waters, now an Icelandic tradition!
We will then head south along the Reykjanes Peninsula, which is well known for its raw lava and rocky landscape, which many compare to the Moon. We will see miles and miles of new lava formations, lakes, and the start of ecological succession with rocks covered by moss and lichen. Our expedition naturalist will talk about the evolution of the geologic landscape. This evening Aurora enthusiasts may enjoy another evening of Aurora viewing. B
**Day 5 Icelandic Sagas & Eclipse Lectures**
This morning, you will have time to explore Reykjavik on your own. After lunch, we will visit the National Museum for insight into the history and culture of Iceland. The Museum begins with a ship in which medieval settlers crossed the Atlantic to Iceland. We will also have a lecture on Icelandic history, as recorded in the famous sagas from the 10th and 11th centuries. A lecture on the Total Solar Eclipse will help prepare us for our Eclipse flightseeing adventure tomorrow. B,D
**Day 6 Total Solar Eclipse Flight**
We will depart this morning for the Reykjavik City Airport for our charter flight to see the Total Solar Eclipse over the Atlantic Ocean to the east of Iceland. We will fly directly to the center line of the Eclipse.
The Eclipse occurs at 9:42 Universal Time (which is based on the Greenwich Meridian). Our flight from Reykjavik will take about an hour and then we will be right on the line of Totality! We will fly through the Eclipse path, where passengers will see the Eclipse right out their windows. It will be a great adventure, unlike anything imaginable…from full sun as the Eclipse starts, to the shadow of the Moon starting to cover the face of the Sun, and then totally covering it (all while we are in flight)!
We will then continue our flight to Akureyri, on the north central coast of Iceland, situated just south of the Arctic Circle. The Eclipse is right at the time of the spring solstice or equinox, when there are 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.
We will have a luncheon celebration of the Eclipse in Akureyri, and explore the town. We will then continue to the north coastal community of Husavik. *Fosshotel Husavik (2 nights).* B,L
**Day 7 Husavik & Aurora Borealis**
This morning, we will enjoy exploring the hamlet of Husavik on the Peninsula Tjornes which is known for fossilized seashells and spectacular seascapes. We will visit the fossil museum and learn more about these ancient sea creatures. Also visit the Husavik Whale Centre, Iceland’s only center dedicated to the study and appreciation of these marine mammals. See skeletons and skulls of whales and other items while you learn about the species of whales found in Icelandic waters and about the history of whaling around Iceland. We will continue further north up the Peninsula to visit the new Japanese research station for the Northern Lights at Manarbakki farm. Learn about their research and have a special evening looking at the night sky and Aurora Borealis. B,D
Aurora Borealis & Total Solar Eclipse
This trip includes two wonderful astronomical phenomena in one location—the Aurora Borealis and the Total Solar Eclipse. This is a rare occurrence and is a real opportunity!
The electric Aurora Borealis shines brilliantly on many Arctic dark nights. As the solar wind blows against the Earth’s magnetic field lines, charged particles excite upper atmospheric gases and the mysterious light of the Aurora glows.
The intensity of Aurora activity is greatest around the Equinoxes, but can and does occur any time of the year. The colors of the Aurora vary with the gases that are excited, and can range from white to green, yellow, and red, with many shades in between.
The centerline of the Total Solar Eclipse is over the Atlantic Ocean east of Iceland. Our charter plane will fly about one hour east of Reykjavik to the zone of Totality and maximum eclipse (2 minutes 46 seconds at Latitude 64 degrees 26.3’N and Longitude 6 degrees 39’W).
We will first have a dramatic view of Iceland from the air and then see First Contact of the Eclipse and then Totality. We will watch with anticipation as the Sun is slowly covered by the Moon. Everyone will have protective solar glasses to watch the Eclipse safely. The aircraft windows are of a style which can be shared to allow everyone to see and photograph the Eclipse.
Day 8 Lake Myvatn
We will depart this morning for Lake Myvatn. For a nature enthusiast to describe the Lake Myvatn area is virtually impossible. The whole area is a natural wonder of its own in a world that has nothing else like it. The lake is approximately 37 sq km, making it Iceland’s fourth largest lake. In summer, it hosts a profusion of birdlife. It has been described as a meeting place of two worlds, where you are able to find flora and fauna from both the temperate and the Arctic zones.
It is a highly active volcanic area situated on the west edge of the meeting point of the Eurasian and North American geologic plates. You will see a range of pseudo-craters, volcanoes of different sizes, hot springs, and new lava fields with lava pillars. We will also have a relaxing soak in the Myvatn Nature Baths.
Not far from Myvatn we will visit a geothermal power plant which transforms the earth’s heat into electricity and learn more about its importance in Iceland. Have a farewell dinner in celebration of our adventure this evening, and another evening of Aurora viewing!
Hotel Geysir or Sel Hotel Myvatn. B,D
Day 9 To Akureyri and Reykjavik & Flights Home
We’ll head to Akureyri this morning for our return flights to Reykjavik and the USA. B
RESERVATIONS #1385
Yes! I/we want to join the Iceland Eclipse & Aurora Borealis Expedition, March 15-23, 2015, offered by AAAS Travels, Sigma Xi, ACS, and The Planetary Society. Please reserve ____ space(s). As a deposit, I/we enclose a check for $______________ ($1,000 per person) payable to Betchart Expeditions Inc. Trust Account.
Name(s) ___________________________________________ Age ____________
_______________________________________________________ Age ____________
Address _______________________________________________
City __________________________ State ___ Zip __________
Phone: Home (______)____________________________________
Work (______)___________________________________________
Email Address ___________________________________________
Membership: ___ AAAS ___ Sigma Xi ___ ACS ___ Planetary Society
Accommodations Preference:
___ Twin ___ Single Twin Share: ___ with a friend or
___ Nonsmoker ___ Smoker ___ assign a roommate
Signature ___________________________________________ Date ___________
Signature ___________________________________________ Date ___________
Please Mail To: Iceland Eclipse 2015
Betchart Expeditions Inc.
17050 Montebello Road
Cupertino, CA 95014-5345
Responsibility
Betchart Expeditions Inc., the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, the American Chemical Society (ACS), and The Planetary Society act only as agents for the passenger with respect to transportation and hotels, and exercise every care possible. However, we can assume no liability for injury, damage, delay, loss, accident or irregularity in connection with the services of any airplane, ship, motorcoach, or any other conveyance used in connection with our arrangements. We also assume no responsibility whatsoever for losses or additional expenses due to delay or changes in air or other services, sickness, weather, strike, war, quarantine, terrorism, acts of God, or other causes beyond our control. All such losses and expenses must be borne by the passenger, as insurance provides no arrangements only for the time stated. We reserve the right to substitute another leader of similar expertise or reserve the right to cancel any tour prior to departure. In which case the entire payment will be refunded with no further obligation on our part. The owner also reserves the right to refuse to retain any person as a member of the tour. No refund will be made for the unused portion of any tour unless arrangements are made in sufficient time to avoid penalties. The price of the program is based on current tariffs and rates, and is subject to change. Any tariff, excise, or other tax imposed after the date of issue of the contract shall be added to the owner’s risk entirely. It is understood that the air ticket when issued shall constitute the sole contract between the passenger and the airline concerned. The airlines concerned are not to be held responsible for any act, omission, or event during the time passengers are not on board their plane or conveyance.
©2014 Betchart Expeditions Inc. All rights reserved.
Photos courtesy of Taunya DeYoung, Steve Hample and the Iceland Tourist Board.
Map by April Milne.
Iceland
Total Solar Eclipse & Aurora Borealis
March 15-23, 2015
Costs & Conditions
Trip Fee: $5,495 per person twin share (plus air fare of $950 from JFK or Boston or $995 from Seattle to Iceland, RT, plus $995 in-tour flights Reykjavik into the path of Totality, with return Akureyri to Reykjavik.
Expedition Fee Includes: Land transport; group airport transfers; accommodations twin share; meals as indicated from breakfast on Day 2 through breakfast on Day 9; entrance fees; tips to local guides and drivers; baggage handling; leadership, administration.
Expedition Fee Does Not Include: Air fare (quoted separately); independent transfers; some meals; optional Blue Lagoon swim; gratuity to expedition leaders; personal items such as laundry, phone calls, beverages at meals, alcoholic beverages, snacks; personal insurance, or foreign airport departure taxes.
What to Expect: This expedition is for travelers who would like to see the Total Solar Eclipse and Aurora Borealis, led by an Icelandic naturalist and Betchart naturalist and astronomer. The trip includes charter flights into the path of Totality of the Eclipse.
The whole adventure is a rich natural history and cultural experience with opportunity to see and photograph the Eclipse from our flight. Explore fascinating landscapes of volcanic Iceland and view the Aurora Borealis, have intriguing lectures and excursions to view the unique natural world from geysers to the mid-Atlantic Ridge. Walks will be at a leisurely pace suitable for discovery and photography.
The trip is at the Spring Equinox with 12 hours of daylight each day, just south of the Arctic Circle. Midday temperatures will be in the 30’s to 40’s. The expedition will be a tremendous experience for travelers with an appetite for adventure. The trip includes travel to the drier northeast of the country where there are excellent prospects for clear skies for Aurora viewing (though clouds could obscure the sky). We will have a grand adventure of discovery! (No smoking in vehicles, during lectures, or meals please.)
Air Fare & Airline Ticketing: Please phone Taunya at Betchart Expeditions, (800) 252-4910 for information about the group flights. The group flight departs from JFK, Boston, or Seattle on IcelandAir.
Accommodations: Are in comfortable first class hotels, twin share with a private bath. Limited single accommodations are available for a supplement of $695.
Reservations, Deposits, & Payments: Please mail a deposit of $1,000 per person with the completed reservation form to:
Iceland Eclipse 2015
Betchart Expeditions Inc.
17050 Montebello Road
Cupertino, CA 95014-5435
The balance is due 150 days before departure.
Questions: Please call Betchart Expeditions Inc.
Telephone: (800) 252 4910 (USA)
or (408) 252 4910 (International)
Fax: (408) 252 1444
Email: firstname.lastname@example.org
Cancellations & Refunds: The initial deposit is refundable up to 150 days before departure less a handling fee of $250 per person. There is no refund after that period unless your place is resold, then only the $250 per person handling fee is withheld. There are no refunds for unused meals or other expedition features. Travel insurance is recommended. | <urn:uuid:938718ac-036a-4a32-b1c2-c46c8ae6097d> | CC-MAIN-2018-43 | http://solareclipsetrips.com/pdf_files/1385_Iceland_2015_Jx.pdf | 2018-10-19T00:13:04Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-43/segments/1539583512161.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20181018235424-20181019020924-00416.warc.gz | 321,338,388 | 3,524 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.996376 | eng_Latn | 0.997391 | [
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Dichotomous Key for Plants at Robinswood
1. a. Is it a tree? Go to 2.
1. b. Not a tree? Go to 4.
2. a. Is it deciduous? It’s a big leaf maple.
2. b. Is it evergreen? Go to 3.
3. a. Does it have rough bark? It’s a Douglas Fir.
3. b. Does it have softer bark you can peel? It’s a red cedar.
4. a. Is it a fern? It’s a sword fern.
4. b. Not a fern? Go to 5.
5. a. Is it a plant that trails along the ground? Go to 6.
5. b. Is it a bush / shrub? Go to 8.
6. a. Does it have prickly stems? It’s trailing blackberry.
6. b. No thorns or prickles? Go to 7.
7. a. Does it have glossy green 5-lobed leaves? It’s ivy.
7. b. Does it have glossy leaves with one point and blue or white blossoms? It’s vinca.
8. a. Is it deciduous? It’s an Indian plum.
8. b. Is it evergreen? Go to 9.
9. a. Are there thorns on the stems and branches? Go to 10.
9. b. No thorns? Go to 11.
10. a. Groups of 5 oval leaves with serrated edges? It’s Himalayan blackberry.
10. b. Groups of 3 – 5 deeply toothed leaves? It’s Evergreen (Cutleaf) blackberry.
11. a. Does it have sharp spines along the edges of the leaves? It’s holly.
11. b. Not sharp spiky edges? Go to 12.
12. a. Does it have narrow, pointy leaves with obvious serrated edges? Oregon grape.
12. b. Does it have fat, pointed leaves with slight serrations? It’s salal.
Plants in Robinswood Park
Big Leaf Maple
acer macrophyllum
How to recognize: 5 fingered leaves, seeds are double-winged samaras ("helicopter seeds"), bark has grooves and ridges, often hosts moss and lichen.
How big: up to 100 feet tall, branches spread up to 50 feet wide, leaves up to 12 inches in diameter.
What kind of plant: deciduous tree
Where do they grow: west coast; second most common tree in Pacific Northwest
Plants in Robinswood Park
Douglas Fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii
Evergreen coniferous tree
Look for: Single green needles, 1 inch long, encircle the stem. Soft, flexible. Cones up to 4 inches. Bracts (shaped like mouse tails) protect the seeds. Bark thick, rough, and deeply furrowed on mature trees.
How big: up to 300 feet tall (second tallest trees in the world), trunk as wide as 4 to 5 feet. Live 500—1000 years. (Douglas firs have been around since the time of the dinosaurs.)
Uses: Deer, elk, and rodents eat young seedlings and saplings. Chipmunks, mice, shrews squirrels, and birds eat seeds. Northern spotted owls and red tree voles live in large Douglas Firs. Historically, native Americans used for building, basket, and medicine. Modern Americans use for: Houses, furniture, fences, flooring, paper, and Christmas trees.
Western Red Cedar
*Thuja plicata*
Evergreen coniferous tree
Look for: Tiny, flat, needles that grow in alternating pairs, that form fan-shaped sprays.
Very small cones, under 1 inch long.
Stringy bark that pulls off in long strips.
Can be up to 200 feet tall, 10 feet around. Can live 1000 years. Bark and needles have a distinctive smell.
Find it: Grows in moist areas, in shade of other trees. Often near Douglas Firs.
Uses: Deer eat the needles. Birds such as robins and cedar waxwings also eat cedar. Golden cheeked warblers make their nests from cedar bark. Historically, Native Americans used it to build houses, canoes, boxes, clothes. Modern Americans use it for roof shingles, fences, boxes, perfumes and insecticides.
Plants in Robinswood Park
Blackberries
Trailing Blackberry
*Rubus macropetalus*
Native.
How to recognize:
Trails along the ground, up to 25 feet spread. Height less than 20 inches.
Stems: slender (1/4"), hairless or slightly prickly.
Leaves are egg-shaped with points, roughly toothed and slightly hairy on both sides. Leaves alternate along the stem, and usually come in 3 leaf clusters, with the center leaf the biggest.
Flowers white. 5 petals.
Bloom in April to July. Berries in August.
Non-Native Blackberries
Noxious Weeds in King County.
How to recognize: bushes up to 10’ tall, in thickets 5—50’ long.
Stems are thick—up to 3/4”, reddish brown, with stiff thorns.
**Himalayan Blackberry**, *rubus armeniacus*
How to recognize: Leaves are oval with serrated edges, in groups of 5 leaves. Dark green on top, gray-green on the bottom.
**Evergreen (Cutleaf) Blackberry**, *rubus laciniatus*
Backs of leaves are hairy, 3—5 leaves per stem, deeply “toothed” leaflets, with jagged tips.
Comparing Blackberry Leaves
Trailing (Cluster of 3)
Himalayan (Cluster of 5)
Evergreen ("Cut-leaf")
Beware Stinging Nettle!
How to recognize:
Plant is 3—7’ tall.
Leaves paired on the stem, 2 –5” long.
Leaves & stems are very hairy. Some of those hairs will sting!
If stung, rub with spores on the back of sword fern leaves, or crush some nettle stems and apply the juice. Or use aloe vera gel, baking soda and water, diaper rash ointment or toothpaste.
Plants of the Month: December
English Ivy
*Hedera helix*
Not Native / Invasive. Evergreen.
How to recognize: Climbing shrub (can climb almost anything.) If there’s nothing to climb, it will trail on the ground.
Leaves: Dull green, lighter colored veins, grow alternately along the stems. 5 lobes.
Vines exude a glue-like substance that lets them stick to almost any surface. Older vines can be as thick as 5 inches.
Flowers: Small yellow green flowers in the fall.
Berries: Small, dark purple-black berries in late winter / early spring, mildly toxic to humans.
English ivy is an invasive plant, considered a noxious weed in King County. It can crowd out other plants, and because of its shallow roots, it doesn’t protect from erosion and landslides like other plants can. It can damage walls and fences. When it climbs a tree, the tree is more likely to have rot and disease, and more likely to blow over in a windstorm.
Plants in Robinswood Park
Vinca
*Vinca minor*
a.k.a. common periwinkle
Non-native, evergreen, ground cover
Leaves: Glossy green, oval, taper to a point. Green all year round.
Flowers: Usually purple, sometimes white. 5 petaled. Lots in spring, some all year round.
Grows as ground cover—spreads out along the ground. Often in shady areas.
Uses: Ornamental. Used to make vincristine, a chemotherapy medication used to treat cancer.
Indian Plum
Oemleria
a.k.a. osoberry or skunk bush
Deciduous shrub. Native.
Leaves come out early in spring. Bright lime green, darken in summer, turn yellow in fall. If you crush, they smell like cucumber or watermelon rind.
Flowers in March or April. Whitish green bell / pendant shape. Clusters of ~10 blossoms. Female flowers smell like cucumber. Male flowers smell bad.
Orange berries ripen to deep blue-black in early summer. Edible. Bittersweet.
Twigs are slender and green. Bigger branches are reddish / purplish brown.
5—20 feet tall. Grows straight in sunny places, arches in the shade.
Uses: Birds, rodents, deer, bear, foxes and coyotes, all eat the small, bittersweet fruits. (Birds usually eat them before humans can get to them!) Bees enjoy the nectar from the flowers. Fruit is edible. Native Americans ate berries fresh or dried, and made tea from the bark. They chewed twigs then mixed with oil to use as an anesthetic salve. The wood can be used for arrows, spoons, combs, carvings.
Holly
*Ilex*
Not Native. Evergreen.
How to recognize:
Grow in shrubs, typically 5—8 feet tall, but can range.
Leaves: Glossy. Dark green on top, lighter underneath, thick, stiff. Sharp spines along edge of leaves.
Stems:
Flowers: Inconspicuous greenish white flowers.
Berries: Bright red berries. Birds eat, but they’re poisonous for children and pets. Eating even a handful can cause symptoms.
Mahonia aquifolium
Native. Evergreen.
How to recognize: 2 feet tall. Leaves glossy, green, serrated, paired. Sometimes confused with holly. Stems reddish, slender. Small golden flowers in spring. Blue berries, not glossy.
Use
The blue fruits are edible but very tart (they improve after a frost.) Can be used in wine or jam. Medicinal: antiseptic, stimulates liver and spleen. In the garden, attracts hummingbirds. Yellow roots can be used as dye.
Salal
*Gaultheria shallon*
Native. Evergreen.
How to recognize: Glossy dark green leaves, waxy with a leathery texture. New twigs are reddish green. Older branches grayish brown, and smooth. Blossoms: Small bell-shaped flowers, pink to white. Slightly sticky and hairy. Appear in early summer. Berries: Small, round, purplish black berries, hairy. Undergrowth in evergreen forest—3 to 5 feet tall.
Uses:
The berries are edible. They can be eaten fresh, or dried and baked into cakes, or used for jam. Leaves were chewed to suppress hunger or to flavor soup. Pick a nice healthy leaf and roll it into a cone. It makes a natural “dixie cup.”
Robinswood Park
Please return this plant guide to this bench | <urn:uuid:37ae1b5d-b2e2-4097-861e-cb20ca10920b> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | https://bellevuetoddlers.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/robinswood-plant-guide.pdf | 2018-03-20T03:55:03Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257647280.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20180320033158-20180320053158-00616.warc.gz | 539,262,293 | 2,344 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.995688 | eng_Latn | 0.996617 | [
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Up for a Challenge?
Dashing Through the Snow!
**MATERIALS**
- Dash robot
- Blockly app
- Background Music
**Dance Rehearsal**
Dash is getting ready for the Interstellar Dance Contest! Let’s create a dance move for Dash to use in the contest.
**Steps**
1. Use the “Dance Rehearsal” Dash Challenge Card to create a sequence of commands for Dash.
2. Open the Blockly app on your compatible device* and create a new program.
3. Follow the instructions on the Challenge Card by dragging the block commands onto your screen. Connect them in order below the START block.
4. Be creative when choreographing Dash’s dance moves. Don’t be afraid to use trial and error until it looks just right.
5. Press the green PLAY button to test your program.
What Can You Do with Cue?
**MATERIALS**
- Cue robot
- Cue app
- Background Music
**Blank Challenge Card**
**Steps**
1. Take a look at the “Dance Rehearsal” Dash Challenge Card.
2. Create your own Challenge Card outlining a similar robot dance using functions for Cue.
3. On the front side, add an image with a title and problem statement. On the back, outline your challenge in simple steps!
4. Open the Cue app on your compatible device*.
5. Share away!
Record a video of Dash or Cue running your program successfully. Share your video on Twitter @WonderWorkshop with the hashtag #FunWithWonder.
*www.makewonder.com/compatibility
Cut out the Dash Challenge Card and fold in half or glue back to back.
Dance Rehearsal
Dash is getting ready for the Interstellar Dance Contest! Let’s create a dance move for Dash to use in the contest.
1. Use a Function block to make Dash’s new dance.
2. What do you want Dash’s dance to look like? You can add blocks like these inside the Function block.
3. Under the When Start block, program Dash to do the dance at least 2 times.
Add lights and sounds to Dash’s dance as well.
Use more functions to create new dance moves for Dash!
Design your own Challenge Card. Cut and fold/glue when you are done.
Now Let’s Get Creative!
Use your coding skills to create a winter pageant for Dash or Cue! Dress up Dash or Cue in their winter finest and program a runway walk. Use craft materials or LEGOs to outfit your robot in elaborate costumes. Then use the Path, Blockly, Wonder, or Cue app to program Dash or Cue to move down the runway or across a stage. Be sure to add a little style and attitude to your robot’s walk. And don’t forget the runway music!
**MATERIALS**
- Dash + Path app OR Blockly app OR Wonder app
- OR
- Cue + Cue app
(Dot robot optional)
Crafting materials: fabric scraps, construction/scrapbook paper, pipe cleaners, pom poms, stickers, etc.
Scissors, (double-sided) tape and/or stapler
Building Brick Connectors and LEGOs
Painter’s tape or cardboard/wooden blocks to outline the runway
**STEPS**
1. Create a “runway stage” with painter’s tape or blocks.
2. Create costumes for Dash or Cue using a variety of craft materials.
3. Program your Dash using Path, Blockly, Wonder, or program Cue using the Cue app to show off their costume with a creative runway walk.
4. Make sure to add lots of turns, and maybe even a little dance animation or two. Want more flair? Add some lights and sound! Show off your robot’s personality.
5. Use a clap, voice command, or other event to run your program.
**LEVEL UP!**
Create a uniquely shaped runway, maybe in the shape of a “T”, a “U”, or a “+” sign. Use blocks or small cardboard boxes to “fence in” the runway. Use the “IF” programming blocks (you may need more than one) to program your robot to sense the runway’s end and then keep turning until it has a clear runway path again.
**VOCABULARY**
Function A sequence of instructions, usually given a name, that can be reused throughout a program or in other programs.
Record a video of Dash or Cue running your program successfully. Share your video on Twitter @WonderWorkshop with the hashtag #FunWithWonder.
Design Your Own Robot!
**MATERIALS**
List the recyclable materials you found around your house here:
---
**DESIGN PLAN**
Sketch a design for your robot using the materials you have found:
Recommended Reading
Take a look at our recommended book.
Have it heard about it before?
Do check out our other recommended picture and chapters books that have to do with coding and robotics at:
www.makewonder.com/blog/stem-recommended-reading-list
How many books on the list have you read?
Color in our robot’s eye to show how many books you’ve read:
FUN FACT
Two robots, Spirit and Opportunity, landed on Mars in 2004 to assist NASA with space exploration. Opportunity is still transmitting data to this day!
Want more free resources?
Go to www.makewonder.com to discover more activities and lesson plans, plus special savings! | <urn:uuid:c2de11af-5835-40a2-8816-ce29ce291061> | CC-MAIN-2018-47 | https://s3.amazonaws.com/makewonder.com/WinterPacket2018_5.pdf | 2018-11-21T12:01:43Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-47/segments/1542039748315.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20181121112832-20181121134832-00078.warc.gz | 728,955,507 | 1,104 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.996624 | eng_Latn | 0.997192 | [
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SPRING READ ALOUD BUNDLE
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
8 DIFFERENT BOOKS
ALSO INCLUDES GOOGLE SLIDES
This bundle includes resources created for students with significant challenges (like autism and ID) and most were non-readers. This is a great way to expose all students the same curriculum their peers are following.
This bundle includes 8 different books. Each has one week's worth of activities. It includes:
- Busy Spring
- Lola Plants a Garden
- Spring Stinks
- Spring Book
- Toad Weather
- When Spring Comes
- Tops and Bottoms
- The Tiny Seed
All units have printable AND digital versions.
Every unit has a table of contents. There is a separate file with directions and links to the digital activities.
From: The Tiny Seed
| Worksheet pages | Title |
|-----------------|--------------------------------------------|
| 4-5 | Story board |
| 6-9 | What a seed needs to grow circle map |
| 10-12 | Dangers the seed avoids circle map |
| 13-14 | Sequence how a seed grows |
| 15-17 | Sorting monthly events from the story |
| 18-21 | Tiny Seed close worksheets |
| 22-34 | Where is the Tiny Seed preposition booklet |
| 35-36 | Terms of Use |
In a separate file:
• Directions and links to digital activities
• Activities in black and white
• Social Story
Every unit has a storyboard to use while reading the book aloud. Suggestions for use are included.
From: Tops & Bottoms
Most books come with a circle map covering a concept in the book. These come with an errorless option and an option with wrong answers mixed in.
From: Toad Weather
Some units include a word map to introduce a word that may not be familiar to students. This is an errorless activity.
From: Spring Stinks
Sort the following things depending on if it would grow in Lola’s garden (flowers) or her mom’s garden (vegetables).
Many units include a sorting activity. There are suggestions for differentiation included.
From: Lola Plants a Garden
Match the picture that goes best with each example of personification.
| The rainbow painted color across the sky. | The lightning danced across the sky. |
|------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| The garden was sleeping in the winter. | The bee flew by in a hurry. |
| The birds chattered in the trees. | The plants raced to get more light. |
| The flowers were begging for some water. | The petals came dancing down. |
| The fireflies winked to me in the woods. | The robin told me spring was coming. |
Many units include a matching activity. There are suggestions for differentiation included or a color-coded option is included.
All units include a writing prompt. This is an errorless activity and allows students to write their own stories about winter.
From: When Spring Comes
Place the following in the circle map showing dangers the seed faced.
- burned by the sun
- icy mountain
- drown in the ocean
- die in the desert
- eaten by a bird
- eaten by a mouse
- shaded by big plant
- stepped on
- picked
There are digital versions of the activities included. Students click and drag the answers.
From: The Tiny Seed
Sort the pictures into those that show those things you would eat the tops of and those you would eat the bottoms of. If you are not sure, place it on the middle line.
Included is a set that is completely differentiated using color.
Also included is a video of the book read aloud from YouTube.
Every resource comes in a zipped folder. You will need to unzip the folder to access all the contents which include:
- Activities in color
- Activities in black and white
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I. People. Match the name on the left with the correct description by placing the correct letter in the blank.
1. Chuza
A. father of Anna
2. Alpheaus
B. Herod’s household manager
3. Caiaphas
C. Caesar when the word of God came to John
4. Cleopas
D. son of Shealtiel
5. Herodias
E. father of James
6. Lysanias
F. a man who stood still, looking sad
7. Naaman
G. a tetrarch
8. Phanuel
H. high priest
9. Tiberius
I. wife of Herod’s brother
10. Zerubbabel
J. the Syrian
II. Places. Match the place on the left with the correct description on the right.
11. Bethsaida
A. where Jesus preached from Simon’s boat
12. Capernaum
B. region where Philip was tetrarch
13. Bethlehem
C. where Jesus says, “Be silent and come out of him!”
14. Gennesaret
D. where Jesus feeds 5,000
15. Iturea
E. city of David
16. Nain
F. where a tower fell
17. Nazareth
G. where Jonah preached
18. Nineveh
H. where Jesus says, “Do not weep”
19. Siloam
I. where Elijah was sent during a famine
20. Zarephath
J. where they wanted to throw Jesus down a cliff
III. One-time words. Match the following words with the correct scripture where they can be found in Luke.
21. arm
A. 1:51
22. cheek
B. 4:11
23. fingers
C. 5:8
24. foot
D. 6:29
25. hairs
E. 11:46
26. knees
F. 12:7
27. lips
G. 13:28
28. neck
H. 15:5
29. shoulders
I. 17:2
30. teeth
J. 22:71
IV. Arrange each of the following groups in the order in which they occur in Luke by writing 1,2,3,4 in the blanks.
Example:
1 captives (found in 4:18)
3 clings (found in 10:11)
2 cure (found in 9:1)
4 crops (found in 12:17)
31. ______ thornbushes
______ mulberry tree
______ vine
______ sycamore
32. ______ eyewitnesses
______ guilty
______ kings' courts
______ lawyer
33. ______ sunrise
______ dawn
______ midnight
______ moon
34. ______ ravens
______ vultures
______ pigeons
______ hen
35. ______ hypocrisy
______ shrewdness
______ patience
______ wickedness
36. ______ white
______ green
______ purple
______ copper
37. ______ moneylender
______ innkeeper
______ nobleman
______ sower
38. ______ camel
______ donkey
______ lamb
______ dogs
39. ______ chains
______ terrors
______ graves
______ beheaded
40. ______ prophetess
______ queen
______ girl
______ female servants
V. Numbers. Match the clues on the left with the correct numbers on the right by placing the correct letter in the blank.
41. Anna's age A. 3
42. servants called by a nobleman B. 5
43. Jesus' age when He began His ministry C. 10
44. days Jesus spent in the wilderness D. 12
45. months Elizabeth his herself E. 15th
46. Jesus' age when He was left at the temple F. 18
47. year of the reign of Tiberius G. about 30
48. returned with joy H. 40
49. killed by the tower falling I. 72
50. measures of flour J. 84
Find the Verse (Open Bible)
Using your Bible, write the chapter and verse from Luke for each quotation in its matching box on the right.
| | |
|---|---|
| 1. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. | | |
| 2. Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. | | |
| 3. And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. | | |
| 4. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done. | | |
| 5. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. | | |
| 6. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required | | |
| 7. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. | | |
| 8. was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? | | |
| 9. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. | | |
| 10. You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. | | |
| 11. Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you! | | |
| 12. but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. | | |
| 13. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. | | |
| 14. Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. | | |
| 15. But he who is forgiven little, loves little. | | |
| 16. I will; be clean. | | |
| 17. And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. | | |
| 18. Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you. | | |
| 19. O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! | | |
Round 1/Kirkwood [25 minutes] Turn Sheet Over
| | |
|---|---|
| 20. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. | |
| 21. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces. | |
| 22. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. | |
| 23. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures | |
| 24. And he went out and wept bitterly. | |
| 25. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. | |
| 26. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. | |
| 27. My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. | |
| 28. relax, eat, drink, be merry | |
| 29. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple | |
| 30. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” | |
| 31. Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation. | |
| 32. Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. | |
| 33. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. | |
| 34. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. | |
| 35. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. | |
| 36. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. | |
| 37. The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me. | |
| 38. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. | |
| 39. Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. | |
| 40. Where are the nine? | |
Fact Finder (Open Bible)
Round 2
Using your Bible, answer each of the following multiple-choice questions by marking the letter corresponding to the correct response on your answer sheet.
1. "I am not worthy to have you come under my roof . . ." said . . .
A. Zacchaeus
B. the Centurion
C. the sinful woman
2. Peter "saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home. . ."
A. wondering"
B. weeping"
C. marveling"
3. The one who, "perished between the altar and the sanctuary" was named . . .
A. Zechariah
B. Zerubbabel
C. Zephaniah
4. Mary went to visit Elizabeth and remained with her about . . .
A. a month
B. two months
C. three months
5. Jesus was told about the Galileans whose blood was mingled with their sacrifices by .
A. Caesar
B. Pilate
C. Herod
6. "...he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of..."
A. a crowd
B. the apostles
C. the Romans
7. Those who "devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers" were...
A. priests
B. judges
C. scribes
8. Lifting up his hands he blessed them after leading them out as far as ...
A. Bethany
B. Olivet
C. Capernaum
9. Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a ...
A. safe place'
B. handkerchief'
C. box'
10. "Stay dressed for action and keep your....
A. lamps burning"
B. weapons near"
C. sandals on"
11. "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" Jesus asked a ...
A. lawyer
B. scribe
C. priest
12. "And fear came on all their neighbors. It was talked about in all the hill country of...
A. Galilee"
B. Ephraim"
C. Judea"
13. "...the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of...
A. Melea"
B. Sala"
C. Perez"
14. Naaman the Syrian was cleansed in the time of the prophet...
A. Elijah
B. Elisha
C. Ezekiel
15. "And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and ...
A. great glory"
B. with angels"
C. with the saved ones"
16. Jesus was arrayed in splendid clothing by...
A. the Council
B. Pilate
C. Herod
17. "...whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high..." said ...
A. Elizabeth
B. Zechariah
C. Mary
18. Anna spoke of God "to all who were waiting for the redemption of...
A. the Christ"
B. Jerusalem"
C. the lost"
19. "Those who are well have no need of a physician" said Jesus at the house of...
A. Simon
B. Levi
C. a Pharisee
20. Jesus healed a centurion's servant in...
A. Bethany B. Jericho C. Capernaum
21. Jonah became a sign to the people of...
A. Jerusalem B. Babylon C. Nineveh
22. "Have you anything here to eat? Asked Jesus. The disciples gave him...
A. broiled fish B. fruit of the vine C. unleavened bread
23. "This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of...
A. Judea" B. Syria" C. Galilee"
24. "...be content with your wages" said John to the...
A. soldiers B. tax collectors C. teachers
25. On a Sabbath, the scribes and Pharisees were "filled with fury" when Jesus healed...
A. a blind man B. a leper C. a man with a withered hand
26. "So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my...
A. brother" B. child" C. disciple"
27. "Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might...
A. touch them" B. bless them" C. heal them"
28. But if we say, 'From man,' all the people will...
A. forsake us' B. stone us' C. mock us'
29. "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for...
A. your leaders" B. yourselves" C. my disciples"
30. Herod's household manager was...
A. Chuza B. Alphaeus C. Arphaxad
31. "You cannot serve God and ...
A. Satan" B. money" C. man"
32. When Jesus healed the blind man near Jericho, all the people...
A. "were amazed" B. "grew angry" C. "gave praise to God"
33. David ate the bread of the ...
A. "Tabernacle" B. "Presence" C. "Holy Ones"
34. "Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite...
A. Capernaum" B. Bethsaida" C. Galilee"
35. Moses and Elijah appeared in glory and spoke to Jesus of his...
A. departure B. ministry C. accomplishments
36. The number of sparrows sold for two pennies was ...
A. 2 B. 5 C. 8
37. "The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be...
A. predicted" B. denied" C. observed"
38. "Teacher, you have spoken well" answered some of the...
A. Sadducees B. Pharisees C. scribes
39. The distance from Jerusalem to Emmaus was about...
A. seven miles B. five miles C. three miles
40. "...the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear" refers to the
A. disciples B. shepherds C. women at the tomb
Identification (Open Bible)
Using your Bible, complete each of the following multiple-choice questions by marking the corresponding letter to the correct response on your answer sheet.
1. "We have seen extraordinary things today" they said when Jesus healed the...
A. lepers B. Paralytic C. blind man D. all of these E. none of these
2. Jesus met Zacchaeus in...
A. Jericho B. Nain C. Jerusalem D. all of these E. none of these
3. One of the men Jesus met on the road to Emmaus was named...
A. Cleopas B. Caiphas C. Cosam D. all of these E. none of these
4. Zechariah was a priest of the division of...
A. Korah B. Abinadab C. Abijah D. all of these E. none of these
5. A man who was "waiting for the consolation of Israel" was named...
A. Simon B. Simeon C. Joseph D. all of these E. none of these
6. The woman who was bound by Satan for 19 years was called "the daughter of..."
A. God B. David C. Mary D. all of these E. none of these
7. And he was numbered with the...
A. thieves' B. Gentiles' C. transgressors' D. all of these E. none of these
8. The rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus to his five...
A. sons B. brothers C. friends D. all of these E. none of these
9. "And when you hear of wars and tumults do not be...
A. amazed" B. dismayed" C. terrified" D. all of these E. none of these
10. A member of the council who had not consented to their decision was...
A. Joseph B. Pilate C. Herod D. all of these E. none of these
11. Jesus healed a man with dropsy at the house of a ruler of the ...
A. Sadducees B. Pharisees C. Herodians D. all of these E. none of these
12. When his younger son returned, the father gave him...
A. a robe B. a ring C. shoes D. all of these E. none of these
13. By day Jesus taught in the temple but at night he lodged on the mount called...
A. Hebron B. Sinai C. Olivet D. all of these E. none of these
14. "Do you think I have come to give you peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather...
A. war" B. tumult" C. division" D. all of these E. none of these
15. "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord" said...
A. Jesus B. Peter C. Mary D. all of these E. none of these
16. "And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of...
A. Asher" B. Levi" C. Judah" D. all of these E. none of these
17. "Certainly this man was innocent" said ...
A. Pilate B. Herod C. Barabbas D. all of these E. none of these
18. "You shall be brought down to Hades" said Jesus to...
A. Chorazin B. Bethsaida C. Capernaum D. all of these E. none of these
19. "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is...
A. confusion" B. hypocrisy" C. deception" D. all of these E. none of these
20. "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite you...
A. friends" B. brothers" C. rich neighbors" D. all of these E. none of these
21. Those who belonged to Herod's jurisdiction were...
A. Herodians B. Jeshurun C. Galileans D. all of these E. none of these
22. "...this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel...for a sign that is...
A. opposed" B. confirmed" C. denied" D. all of these E. none of these
23. Seven demons had gone out of...
A. Mary B. Joanna C. Susanna D. all of these E. none of these
24. "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven...? Asked...
A. Peter B. Philip C. Judas D. all of these E. none of these
25. Those who deny that there is a resurrection are the...
A. Pharisees B. Sadducees C. Romans D. all of these E. none of these
26. The Passover lamb had to be sacrificed on the day of...
A. Redemption B. Departing C. Atonement D. all of these E. none of these
27. "...I thank you that I am not like other men..."
A. extortioners" B. unjust" C. adulterers" D. all of these E. none of these
28. "...a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be...
A. taxed" B. informed" C. registered" D. all of these E. none of these
29. Prepare the way of the Lord,' was written in the book of the prophet...
A. Isaiah B. Jeremiah C. Ezekiel D. all of these E. none of these
30. "He casts out demons by Beelzebul" they said when he cast out a demon that was...
A. Legion B. mute C. unclean D. all of these E. none of these
31. Jesus was ridiculed by those who were lovers of money, the...
A. Pharisees B. Sadducees C. tax collectors D. all of these E. none of these
32. Jesus was held in custody by men who...
A. beat him B. mocked him C. blasphemed him D. all of these E. none of these
33. "...do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be...
A. unsure" B. confused" C. worried" D. all of these E. none of these
34. The tetrarch of Abilene was...
A. Philip B. Tiberius C. Lysanias D. all of these E. none of these
35. "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men," said Jesus to...
A. John B. Simon C. James D. all of these E. none of these
36. "I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than...
A. David" B. Abraham" C. John" D. all of these E. none of these
37. "Return to your home..." said Jesus to a man who had been healed of...
A. leprosy B. dropsy C. blindness D. all of these E. none of these
38. "...there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the...
A. resurrection" B. crucifixion" C. Kingdom of God" D. all of these E. none of these
39. A Samaritan gave an innkeeper two...
A. denarii B. shekels C. pennies D. all of these E. none of these
40. Yet wisdom is justified by all her....
A. actions B. children C. efforts D. all of these E. none of these
Without using your Bible, mark on your score sheet the letter corresponding to the book and chapter number in which each of the following quotations is found.
1. "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
A. 21 B. 22 C. 23 D. 24 E. none of these
2. "This man receives sinners and eats with them."
A. 12 B. 13 C. 14 D. 15 E. none of these
3. "he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty."
A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. none of these
4. "But who do you say that I am?"
A. 8 B. 9 C. 10 D. 11 E. none of these
5. "Increase out faith!"
A. 15 B. 16 C. 17 D. 18 E. none of these
6. "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone"
A. 20 B. 21 C. 22 D. 23 E. none of these
7. "His name is John."
A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. none of these
8. "This is by body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
A. 21 B. 22 C. 23 D. 24 E. none of these
9. "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man."
A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. none of these
10. "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
A. 7 B. 8 C. 9 D. 10 E. none of these
11. "Why do you seek the living among the dead?"
A. 21 B. 22 C. 23 D. 24 E. none of these
12. "Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."
A. 9 B. 10 C. 11 D. 12 E. none of these
13. "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"
A. 18 B. 19 C. 20 D. 21 E. none of these
14. "I find no guilt in this man."
A. 20 B. 21 C. 22 D. 23 E. none of these
15. "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."
A. 18 B. 19 C. 20 D. 21 E. none of these
16. "And who is my neighbor?"
A. 10 B. 11 C. 12 D. 13 E. none of these
17. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased?"
A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. none of these
18. "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve."
A. 3 B. 4 C. 5 D. 6 E. none of these
19. "Young man, I say to you arise."
A. 5 B. 6 C. 7 D. 8 E. none of these
| Question | Statement | Options |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|
| 20 | "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" | A. 1 |
| | | B. 2 |
| | | C. 3 |
| | | D. 4 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 21 | "What is your name? And he said, 'Legion.'" | A. 9 |
| | | B. 10 |
| | | C. 11 |
| | | D. 12 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 22 | "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." | A. 12 |
| | | B. 13 |
| | | C. 14 |
| | | D. 15 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 23 | "You will be hated by all for my name's sake." | A. 18 |
| | | B. 19 |
| | | C. 20 |
| | | D. 21 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 24 | "Have you anything to eat?" | A. 21 |
| | | B. 22 |
| | | C. 23 |
| | | D. 24 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 25 | "Stretch out your hand." | A. 4 |
| | | B. 5 |
| | | C. 6 |
| | | D. 7 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 26 | "I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg." | A. 15 |
| | | B. 16 |
| | | C. 17 |
| | | D. 18 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 27 | "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it." | A. 11 |
| | | B. 12 |
| | | C. 13 |
| | | D. 14 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 28 | "Child, arise." | A. 6 |
| | | B. 7 |
| | | C. 8 |
| | | D. 9 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 29 | "Friend, move up higher." | A. 11 |
| | | B. 12 |
| | | C. 13 |
| | | D. 14 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 30 | "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown." | A. 1 |
| | | B. 2 |
| | | C. 3 |
| | | D. 4 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 31 | "...but you have made it a den of robbers." | A. 18 |
| | | B. 19 |
| | | C. 20 |
| | | D. 21 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 32 | "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" | A. 6 |
| | | B. 7 |
| | | C. 8 |
| | | D. 9 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 33 | "Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness." | A. 9 |
| | | B. 10 |
| | | C. 11 |
| | | D. 12 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 34 | "Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled." | A. 14 |
| | | B. 15 |
| | | C. 16 |
| | | D. 17 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 35 | "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them." | A. 20 |
| | | B. 21 |
| | | C. 22 |
| | | D. 23 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 36 | "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets." | A. 10 |
| | | B. 11 |
| | | C. 12 |
| | | D. 13 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 37 | "I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home." | A. 3 |
| | | B. 4 |
| | | C. 5 |
| | | D. 6 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 38 | "Look, Lord, here are two swords." | A. 21 |
| | | B. 22 |
| | | C. 23 |
| | | D. 24 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 39 | "Show me a denarius." | A. 20 |
| | | B. 21 |
| | | C. 22 |
| | | D. 23 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 40 | "Woman, you are freed from your disability." | A. 11 |
| | | B. 12 |
| | | C. 13 |
| | | D. 14 |
| | | E. none of these |
Without using your Bible, mark on your answer sheet the letter corresponding to the book and chapter number in which each of the following events is found.
1. The Beatitudes
A. 5 B. 6 C. 7 D. 8 E. none of these
2. The Parable of the Lost Sheep
A. 12 B. 13 C. 14 D. 15 E. none of these
3. Judging Others
A. 6 B. 7 C. 8 D. 9 E. none of these
4. The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. none of these
5. The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
A. 12 B. 13 C. 14 D. 15 E. none of these
6. The Parable of the Persistent Widow
A. 14 B. 15 C. 16 D. 17 E. none of these
7. Zechariah’s Prophecy
A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. none of these
8. Jesus and Zacchaeus
A. 16 B. 17 C. 18 D. 19 E. none of these
9. The Parable of the Sower
A. 6 B. 7 C. 8 D. 9 E. none of these
10. The Temptation of Jesus
A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. none of these
11. The Widow’s Offering
A. 19 B. 20 C. 21 D. 22 E. none of these
12. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
A. 9 B. 10 C. 11 D. 12 E. none of these
13. The Boy Jesus in the Temple
A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. none of these
14. The Parable of the Prodigal Son
A. 13 B. 14 C. 15 D. 16 E. none of these
15. Dedication to Theophilus
A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. none of these
16. Paying Taxes to Caesar
A. 17 B. 18 C. 19 D. 20 E. none of these
17. The Transfiguration
A. 7 B. 8 C. 9 D. 10 E. none of these
18. Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son
A. 7 B. 8 C. 9 D. 10 E. none of these
19. The Parable of the Ten Minas
A. 18 B. 19 C. 20 D. 21 E. none of these
| Question | Topic | Options |
|----------|--------------------------------------------|---------|
| 20 | Jesus Calls the First Disciples | A. 3 |
| | | B. 4 |
| | | C. 5 |
| | | D. 6 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 21 | Jesus Before Herod | A. 21 |
| | | B. 22 |
| | | C. 23 |
| | | D. 24 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 22 | Parable of the Good Samaritan | A. 10 |
| | | B. 11 |
| | | C. 12 |
| | | D. 13 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 23 | The Lord's Prayer | A. 8 |
| | | B. 9 |
| | | C. 10 |
| | | D. 11 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 24 | Jesus Foretells Destruction of Jerusalem | A. 21 |
| | | B. 22 |
| | | C. 23 |
| | | D. 24 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 25 | The Lord's Prayer | A. 8 |
| | | B. 9 |
| | | C. 10 |
| | | D. 11 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 26 | Love Your Enemies | A. 5 |
| | | B. 6 |
| | | C. 7 |
| | | D. 8 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 27 | Institution of the Lord's Supper | A. 19 |
| | | B. 20 |
| | | C. 21 |
| | | D. 22 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 28 | Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus' daughter | A. 8 |
| | | B. 9 |
| | | C. 10 |
| | | D. 11 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 29 | Martha and Mary | A. 8 |
| | | B. 9 |
| | | C. 10 |
| | | D. 11 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 30 | Divorce and Remarriage | A. 12 |
| | | B. 13 |
| | | C. 14 |
| | | D. 15 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 31 | The Narrow Door | A. 12 |
| | | B. 13 |
| | | C. 14 |
| | | D. 15 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 32 | Who Is the Greatest | A. 11 |
| | | B. 12 |
| | | C. 13 |
| | | D. 14 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 33 | Peter Denies Jesus | A. 21 |
| | | B. 22 |
| | | C. 23 |
| | | D. 24 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 34 | The Sign of Jonah | A. 8 |
| | | B. 9 |
| | | C. 10 |
| | | D. 11 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 35 | Let the Children Come to Me | A. 15 |
| | | B. 16 |
| | | C. 17 |
| | | D. 18 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 36 | Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ | A. 9 |
| | | B. 10 |
| | | C. 11 |
| | | D. 12 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 37 | Jesus is Buried | A. 21 |
| | | B. 22 |
| | | C. 23 |
| | | D. 24 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 38 | A Herd of Pigs is Drowned | A. 7 |
| | | B. 8 |
| | | C. 9 |
| | | D. 10 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 39 | The Rich Man and Lazarus | A. 16 |
| | | B. 17 |
| | | C. 18 |
| | | D. 19 |
| | | E. none of these |
| 40 | Jesus Calms a Storm | A. 9 |
| | | B. 10 |
| | | C. 11 |
| | | D. 12 |
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VOTING
MORE THAN JUST A RIGHT
Importance of Voting
Especially for Union Members
Fighting Voter Suppression
Election Day Mishaps
& What You Need To Know About Voting
How a PUBLIC SECTOR UNION
Came to Represent Private Sector Groups
“The whole purpose of democracy is for every person to have a say in what goes on, and when less than half the country is voting, not everyone’s voice is being heard. And when not everyone is being heard, that’s not a democracy.”
Why You Should Vote In This Year’s Elections
It is not just the president on the ballot
How much the next president can do depends on which political party controls the Senate and the House. The size of those parties’ majorities also makes a difference. A filibuster-proof supermajority in the Senate, for instance, can enable or cripple a president much more decisively than a simple majority.
Higher turnout makes our democracy more representative
Many Americans who support labor-friendly policies do not bother voting — particularly in elections when the presidency is not at stake.
Voting is a right generations of Americans struggled to win and people in other countries are still fighting for
Citizens may take their right to vote for granted, but it wasn’t that long ago when entire groups of the population — like women and African-Americans — were denied that right. Women gained suffrage in 1919, meaning the grandmothers of many not-voting millennials were alive during a time when they were prohibited from casting a ballot.
Voting is your voice
Voting is an important, meaningful way to back the issues you care about — and the representatives you think can best effect the changes you want to see. If nothing else, voting gives you a justifiable right to complain about your elected officials. Your grievances will carry more weight if you speak out as a voter trying to hold your candidates accountable for their promises.
Quote from moody.utexas.edu. Reasons to Vote from huffingtonpost.com
Especially for Union Members
VOTING. Everyone talks about it. Not enough actually do it.
There is so much hype about voting. We are encouraged by our parents and families to vote. Politicians tell us we need to vote. And even our unions remind us to cast our vote on Election Day. Yet, too many still ask “what’s the big deal; why should I bother?”
Voting — an expression of opinion or preference. Considering how many things in the United States are decided by voting, more people should be running to the polls. President, governors, state and federal legislators, and judges are all voted on by the general population.
“Considering how much of our government, and everything else for that matter, revolves around voting and elections, it would seem likely that more of us would be rushing to the voting booth,” said CWA Local 1180 President Arthur Cheliotes. “No matter how many times people are told that voting is a right and a responsibility, that voting is in the best interests of all of labor, that voting is a necessity for labor unions to succeed, not enough of us actually head to the polls.”
According to published reports, the 2008 US Census Bureau says that only 63% of all people registered to vote actually did so. That doesn’t seem like such a horrible number until you realize that only 72% of Americans are even registered to vote in the first place. In reality, only 45% of Americans are voting in elections even though the general populace has the power to sway this country.
Here’s a quick history lesson from constitutioncenter.org: Amendment XXVI gives young adults between the age of 18 and 21 the right to vote. The measure is another in a line of constitutional changes that expanded the right to vote to more citizens. At the time of the ratification of the Constitution in 1788, most states limited voting to white, male citizens who were over the age of 21.
It took 82 years for African American slaves to gain a constitutional right to vote. 132 years for women’s suffrage and 183 years for those 18 to 21 years old to join the voting population. The impetus for this change was the passage of amendments to the Voting Rights Act in 1970 that set 18 as the minimum voting age for both federal and state elections.
The problem is that young adults and minorities often see little value in actually voting for anything other than President. What they don’t realize is that everyday things like college financial aid, the opportunity for jobs, and how much they pay in taxes are all controlled by politicians. So in reality, casting a vote in your late teens and early 20s actually does make a difference. According to an article in the New York Times, “In one of the more pleasant surprises of this presidential campaign, young Americans are voting in big numbers, contributing to some unexpected results so far. This is the first presidential campaign in which people age 18 to 29 make up the same proportion of the electorate as do baby boomers — about one-third. This year, the youth turnout for both parties in the primaries so far is rivaling 2008, the year of Barack Obama’s first campaign.”
That’s the good news. However, while the U.S. may be the world’s oldest continuous democracy, we won’t remain a democracy if people don’t vote. Reports show that this country had the ninth lowest voting rate among the 35 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (huffingtonpost.com). The 2008 presidential election, in which the first African American had a chance to lead our nation, saw more people register to vote than in recent history.
The excitement and enthusiasm that surrounded that election year, and the subsequent 2012 election year, gave Americans something to be proud of. Everyone wanted to be a part of history in casting their vote to put a non-traditional white male in the Oval Office.
The same type of invigoration and rejuvenation in the American spirit that President Obama instilled in our youth and black populations, is what Bernie Sanders did in this election cycle. According to that same New York Times article, “Many find it odd that the 74-year-old Sanders would have this appeal. But John Della Volpe wasn’t surprised. Surveying young voters in November 2015, Della Volpe, the director of polling at the University of Massachusetts, found support for Sanders among potential voters age 18 to 29 had rocketed from 1 percent to 41 percent in about six months. Asked what they valued most in a candidate, young voters said integrity, level-headedness, and authenticity, in that order. Political and business experience were far down the list.”
Young voters have typically been tough to motivate. They just don’t see the value in voting. They want to take on active roles in campaigns. They want to volunteer. They just need a reason to do so. And there’s one of the underlying problems with getting different age groups out to vote. There needs to be a reason.
Fast forward to the November 2018 election and the enthusiasm has significantly waned. Voters have said time and again that there just isn’t anyone worth voting for so they won’t be going to the polls. As a labor union, members must spread the word that nothing can be further from the truth.
Voters have said time and again that there just isn’t anyone worth voting for so they won’t be going to the polls. As a labor union, members must spread the word that nothing can be further from the truth.
As union members, our votes hold a lot of weight. CWA and Local 1180 spend ample time scrutinizing candidates and through their weight behind those who will be labor friendly and work with unions on issues and causes of importance to our members.
Since there is strength in numbers, if members get behind the labor-endorsed candidates and all head to the polls, we can succeed in putting the right politicians in office. With major issues in this election centering on wages and income inequality, union members are expected to turn out in record numbers, according to Cheliotes.
He said that as a country, we need to work together to stem a system that is controlled by the rich and corporations, a conclusion that is backed by recent research of political scientists.
According to PewResearchCenter, the economy and terrorism are the top two issues for voters this fall. Overall, 84% of registered voters say that the issue of the economy will be very important to them in making their decision for president and 80% of voters say it will be an important determining factor. Other top-ranking issues of importance in how Americans will cast their vote are foreign policy, health care, gun control and immigration. An open seat on the U.S. Supreme Court also weighs in to some voters’ decision making.
“These are issues of importance across the board, regardless of which populace you fall into,” Cheliotes said. “And these are the issues that Local 1180 and CWA have delved into when deciding which candidates to support.
“Being a member of a union and exercising your right to vote should be something you set aside time for on Election Day,” he said. “No matter what your age, religion, gender or color, we all need to vote. We are the 99%. Our voices must be heard. As individuals, no one hears us. As union members, united for the causes we believe in, our roar is deafening.”
Cheliotes said that no matter what, every American should get out to vote if we are going to keep this country as a true Democracy.
This year, 17 states will have new voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election. These new laws range from strict photo ID requirements to early voting cutbacks to registration restrictions. The repercussions of these voting restrictions will be far reaching for years to come, and could eventually make their way into New York if something isn’t done to halt these tactics of keeping certain blocks of voters away from the polls.
Voter suppression laws as they are known concern allegations about various efforts, legal and illegal, used to prevent eligible voters from their right to vote. These laws place huge burdens on eligible voters trying to exercise their basic fundamental constitutional rights. In the last eight years, many states have passed stricter measures making it more difficult for certain ethnic groups to vote, particularly African-Americans, the elderly, students and those with disabilities.
As a union representing a heavy population of those categorized as minorities, fighting voter suppression is at the top of Local 1180’s list, according to President Arthur Cheliotes. “We must engage in advocacy and litigation in order to stop these harmful voter suppression measures once and for all,” he said. “The stories we have heard from members regarding the difficulties they have experienced at the polling places have been eye opening.”
More than 30 states have considered laws that would require voters to present a government-issued photo ID in order to vote. Studies suggest that up to 11 percent of American citizens lack this type of identification and would be required to navigate governmental bureaucracy in order to obtain one or forego the right to vote entirely.
Most will undoubtedly choose the latter.
Since 1965, the Voting Rights Act (VRA) has protected minority voters at the polls. It knocked down the suppressive measures that had previously prevented African-Americans from voting in the South for decades.
After the VRA was passed, federal registrars were sent to the South to register voters in the area’s most segregated places like Selma, AL, where only 2% of the African-American population was registered to vote at the time.
This Selma story was turned into the critically-acclaimed film of the same name, and while it was expected to garner many votes for Best Picture in 2015, ended up receiving a paltry two nominations. In addition, the Academy’s 20 acting nominations went to a group with no representation from communities of color. This situation ignited an onslaught of well-deserved criticism of the Academy and its voting process.
“It’s ironic that a film depicting history about voter suppression at a time when voter suppression is surging in America did not receive more recognition,” Cheliotes said.
According to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, “…too many Republicans are in a race-to-the-bottom to further disenfranchise voters. In 2014 alone, at least 83 restrictive voting bills were introduced in 29 states. This regressive wave of voter suppression efforts targets and most affects voters in the same communities already fighting for inclusion in other aspects of life: young people, low-income families, and people of color.
“This is a movie we have seen before. Despite plot twists — such as poll taxes, literacy tests, voter ID, and contracted early voting windows — and a changing cast of characters, the script remains the same: a concerted, coordinated effort to suppress the basic right to cast a vote and have it counted. “One might say it’s as though some conservatives are vying for the Academy Awards of Voter Suppression.”
Cheliotes said that in June 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the coverage formula (Section 4) used for how the Justice Department enforces Section 5 of the VRA, which required jurisdictions with significant histories of voter discrimination to ‘pre-clear’ any new voting practices or procedures. In its 5-4 decision however, the Court did not strike down Section 5 itself, leaving it to Congress to devise a new coverage formula.
While that Shelby County v. Holder decision is now three years old, it’s expected to have a huge impact at the polls for the 2016 presidential elections. State legislatures have been far more active since the Shelby decision, with more than 20 states, including New York, making positive changes for voters, like implementing online voter registration. But voting regulations have a long way to go.
“In some areas we have made progress, but it isn’t enough. As we approach the first presidential election in 50 years without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act, we need to take further action,” Cheliotes said. “We are asking our members to be vigilant when they go to vote and immediately report anything that seems out of the ordinary. States have wasted no time implementing new voting restrictions and we must do all we can to ensure that similar-type restrictions do not make their way into New York.”
— By Marci Rosenblum
Local 1180 Communications Director
Sitting Out This Election Just Is NOT An Option
Our union is actively involved in politics because we understand that our members’ standard of living is directly tied to the decisions elected officials make that impact our lives. In essence, those we put in office control wages, hours, working conditions, benefits and so much more.
Government also affects us in our homes and neighborhoods, the quality of our health care system, education, housing, public health and safety protections. Zoning and land use determines if we can afford to live in our neighborhoods. Politics and political power shape government policies; politics determines who will pay for government services and who will benefit from them. Many of our members play an important role in providing government services but if those services are scaled back, our members not only lose those services they could lose their jobs.
Members’ interests drive our union’s political activity and help determine which candidates we support. As we all know our political system has not been responsive to our needs. For example, healthcare is very expensive but very profitable for a few who know how to shape public policy. The result is we spend twice per capita for healthcare than Canada or Great Britain, yet lag far behind in quality and outcomes. More than 500,000 Americans file for bankruptcy yearly due to healthcare costs in our nation, something unheard of in Canada or Great Britain. The very idea that healthcare should be a profit center for corporations is irrational in a civilized society. Profiting under these circumstances is immoral and should be illegal.
Healthcare profiteering is one of the many examples of a political system rigged to meet the wants of the 1%, not the needs of the 99%. So when presidential candidate Bernie Sanders proposed “Medicare for All,” we paid attention. His other policy proposals also made sense — free public higher education, a more progressive tax system, and securing Social Security. Most important was the systemic change a Sanders election would have brought about: a radical transformation of democracy and participation, an end to the oligarchic power of a wealthy elite, and a new era of economic, racial, and climate justice.
Bernie Sanders went to the Democratic National Convention with 45% of the delegates elected on a campaign without big money donors. I served as a New York State representative for Bernie Sanders on the DNC Rules Committee, which established a commission that will make changes in the appointment of super delegates to reflect the votes in that state. The Sanders campaign succeeded in moving Hillary Clinton to adopt more progressive stances on issues. It’s unfortunate Bernie Sanders will not be our next president. This, of course, is all prologue to the choice we must make for president on November 8, either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. CWA members voted for Bernie did. We know we will need to work diligently to hold her accountable to her campaign’s promises. But we need to elect her first.
Clinton was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York in 2000 with Working Families Party (WFP) support; she will be on the Presidential ballot in New York on the WFP line and we must vote for her on that line.
She has said: “As President, I’ll stand with working families like I have my entire career. We’ll build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top, and finally make the minimum wage a living wage.”
At the DNC, some argued that Bernie supporters should focus on electing down-ballot progressives and remain ‘outside’ in order to continue pressuring her, without endorsing her. I strongly disagree as there is too much at stake. The Supreme Court appointments alone will have a great impact on our nation for generations to come. I agree with the agenda put together by the Working Families Party.
First. Defeat Trump and elect Clinton. This means working to mobilize every voter to come to the polls in sufficient numbers to elect Clinton.
Second. Elect the best down-ballot progressives. The republican stone-walling of Obama has shown us that no president alone can make the change we need! That’s why we are backing candidates for Congress who will be leaders in the fight for Bernie’s agenda. Like New York congressional candidate Zephyr Teachout.
Third. Hold Clinton accountable to the promises she made in 2017. Together with allies, we aim to build a powerful coalition that can keep the pressure high on our progressive priorities.
Fourth. We need to recruit, train and elect the next generation of progressive leaders and work with them to help build the political revolution.
As Dan Carter from the WFP said, “The truth is, if she becomes President Clinton, she will only be as good as we — social movements, unions, progressive activists and organizations — make her.”
But first we must elect Hillary Clinton and we may be tougher than polls suggest. In the famous documentary film producer Michael Moore pointed out, in a blue state like New York, we are living in a bubble where we and our friends are convinced the American people are not going to elect an idiot like Trump…or would they?
I am sure that if people could vote from their couch at home on their X-box or PlayStation, Hillary would win in a landslide. But people need to be encouraged to get out and vote. Right now Hillary’s supporters aren’t enthusiastic, and you know what I’m talking about.
Voters actually have to leave the house and get in line to vote. And if they live in poor, Black or Hispanic neighborhoods, they not only have a longer line to wait in, they have to deal with everything that is being done to stop them from casting a ballot. On the other hand, Trump has the most rabid supporters. His crazed fans are going to be up at 5:00 AM on Election Day, working all day until the last polling place has closed.
Remember the Brexit vote? Like many in Britain, Americans are convinced this election is their chance to kick to the those who wrecked their dreams. If Donald Trump, the outsider, has arrived to clean house. Many may not agree with him or even like him, but this is their chance to cast a protest vote at those who stole their dreams.
Many sophisticated Trump supporters and Hillary haters cannot be underestimated. Michael Moore has referred to how they might vote as “The Jesse Ventura Effect.”
He explains that we must not “discount the electorate’s ability to be mischievous or underestimate how any millions fancy themselves as closet anarchists once they draw the curtain and are all alone in the voting booth. Remember back in the ’90s when the people of Minnesota elected a professional wrestler as their governor? They didn’t do this because they’re stupid or thought that Jesse Ventura was some sort of statesman or political intellectual. They did so just because they could. Minnesota is one of the smartest states in the country. Voting for Ventura was their version of a body slam on a sick political system.”
We must come to terms with the fact that Hillary is unpopular.
Continued on page 15
MEMBERS IN ACTION
Puerto Rican Day Parade
A sunny Sunday in mid-June brought together an estimated 100,000 participants for this year’s 59th annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade that marched up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan as big crowds lined the parade route. Organizers say there were 1.5 million spectators who lined the route from 44th Street to 59th Street. Actress Rosario Dawson was the parade queen and New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony was the parade king. The parade is traditionally held on the second Sunday in June in honor of the nearly four million inhabitants of Puerto Rico and all people of Puerto Rican birth or heritage residing in the United States. It has grown to be one of the largest parades in the City. This was the first time that the Labor Council For Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) marched in the parade behind its own banner. Charles Garcia, LCLAA Third Vice President and CWA 1180 Executive Board Member, represented the Union. Edwin Rosario, LCLAA President, and Garcia’s son also marched with him.
Pink for a Cause
The Local 1180 Women’s Committee recently held its annual Pink & White Afternoon Brunch on August 13. The brunch was held to begin the kickoff for the American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides For Breast Cancer” walk on October 16, 2016, in Central Park. Committee members pictured in front: Lisa Lloyd and Precious Foster. Standing are Bernice Selman, Dorothy Wall, Lenora Smith, Lynda Hogan, Hilary Bloomfield, Denise Gilliam, Dian Duke, Sherry Johnson-O’Neal, Beverline Parks and Jacqueline Gadsden.
CWA Local 1180 members, their families, and friends turned out for the Union’s Annual Picnic on September 3 at the famous Holiday Hill in Cheshire, CT.
This year’s picnic brought more than a dozen bus loads of fun-seekers as well as hundreds who drove themselves. The all-day event was sponsored by the Local and coordinated by Member-At-Large Hazel O. Worley.
Worley said, “This year’s picnic was even more electrifying than in the past. There was a noticeable increase in the activities available to our guests. It was exciting to see our members and their families compete against one another in the family games, water games, and the dance floor. The excitement on the faces of the kids was priceless.”
There was definitely something for everyone, even retirees. “Every year the picnic is getting bigger and better,” Worley said. “I say this picnic can’t get any larger and every year it does.” Special thanks to faithful bus captains — our members and retirees — for another job well done in getting guests on the buses. Also thanks to 1180 dedicated staff members for their support in once again making this event a success.
Bus Captains, left side from left, Virginia Johnson-Conway, Debera Tyndall, Executive Board/Staff Representative Robin Blair-Batte, President Arthur Cheliotes, Nicole Tamika Paul, Executive Board Member Deborah Paylor, retired member Ida Gardenhive, Daresse Frierson, Debbie Walker, and 1180’s Member Benefit Representative staff Brenda Tate-White. Right side of photo from front to back: Quinella Williams, Helen S. Jarrett, Secretary-Treasurer Gloria Middleton, Linda Frazier, First Vice President Gina Strickland, Executive Board Member Hazel O. Worley, Retiree Benefit staff member Lynda Hogan, Bruce Smith, and Joann Richards.
Thanks also to the bus captains not pictured: Joyce Cruickshank, Tamika Paul, Marie Guery, staff member Sonja Fulcher, Regina Kelly, Nicole Sampson and Alicia Smith.
Retired member Irene Richards’ great granddaughter Raegan Jackson had so much fun, the only thing left to do was sleep.
1180 new mailroom Supervisor Victor Ramos said he and his family were amazed at the number of people at the park and by the togetherness he sensed from everyone.
Damien Arnold, Finance Controller for CWA 1180 Benefits Funds (pictured left center), and other members and their families prepare for the famous water balloon competition.
This picnic is a true testament to the camaraderie our members share being a part of this great Local.
MEMBERS IN ACTION
Retiree 20th Anniversary Picnic Celebration
On a clear summer’s day, CWA 1180 retirees gathered for their 20th Anniversary Picnic this summer. On August 24 at the Black Bear Lake Country Club in Millstone, NJ, eight bus loads of eager retirees joined the activities. Some brought their significant others, children, and grandchildren. The delicious food and desserts were served all afternoon. Retirees danced to the beat of Reggae, R&B, Salsa, and R&R — everyone was on a high. Other activities included games, bingo, arts and crafts, swimming, and basketball, all of which kept the crowd busy and energized.
CWA 1180 retirees are proud of reaching their 20th year milestone of participating in exciting activities, making new friends, and learning new skills. They are lucky to be able to ‘Do It All!’ Pictured from top left: Nellie Holmes and Edith Primavera, Connie and Vinnie Imbasi. At picnic table Arlene Drayton, Diane Smith, and guests.
— by Carole Silverman
Leadership Conference
CWA Local 1180 members attended a CWA District 1 Leadership Conference this summer. Pictured from left are Member-at-Large Lisa Lloyd, President Arthur Cheliotes, Member-at-Large Venus Colon-Williams, New York City Councilmember Richie Torres (Bronx), and Members-at-Large Hilary Bloomfield and Charles Garcia.
ABOUT OUR MEMBERS
• Condolences to Elaine Allman, former CWA 1180 Secretary-Treasurer, on the death of her sister Daisy Haynes on July 29, 2016. She was 91 years old.
• Congratulations to Retiree Juanita Darring (PA II, HPD — Division of Construction) on the birth of her great grandson Jayce Amir Burress to granddaughter Aleesa Brown.
• Congratulations to CWA Local 1180 Members-at-Large Hilary Bloomfield and Denise Gilliam on their swearing in this summer as new delegates to the New York City Central Labor Council, an umbrella organization that represents more than 200 unions throughout the City.
• Condolences to Lincoln Bonner (Retired, Agency for Children’s Services) on the loss of his sister Dorothy Walker.
• Congratulations to Leandro Monzon on receiving a Certificate of Appreciation from CWA Local 1180 for his diligent support, hard work and expertise that have contributed to making life easier for those he helps in his role as an invaluable activist, union member and member of the Hispanic Committee.
Constitutional Referendum A Concern for Unions
Every 20 years, the people of New York State have a mandated opportunity to amend the New York State Constitution. The question of whether to amend will be put before the voters on the November 7, 2017 General Election ballot in the form of a referendum.
While many New Yorkers can tell you they have seen a referendum or proposition on at least one Election Day ballot, the majority cannot tell you what a referendum is or why it is important to understand.
A referendum is a general vote by the electorate on a single political question that has been referred to them for a direct decision.
A ‘yes’ vote on the 2017 referendum to amend the State Constitution is extremely risky business for public employee labor unions in this state. Our main concern is the protection for public employee pensions — currently protected by the State Constitution — that would be at risk. A ‘yes’ vote for a Constitutional Convention would certainly put public employee pensions on the table for discussion and change as far as New York’s political leaders are concerned. After all, it’s our pensions that come under constant attack and scrutiny every time there is a budget deficit.
The devastation that could transpire for unions could be insurmountable. Workers with 30 years of pension credits with a few years to retirement could see their retirement change in the blink of an eye, without any input or part of a vote. New laws and formulas for calculating pensions could be imposed. The new laws and calculations would certainly have a negative impact on pension amounts received. The new laws also could affect individuals already retired.
Voting in the affirmative to allow the Constitutional Convention could negatively change the dollar amount we all receive upon retirement. The one sure way to avoid this is to vote no for the Constitution Convention when it appears on the ballot.
This is going to require team work, however — a strong push by an organized labor movement that flexes its muscles and gets out the word that every single member in the labor movement must vote, and must vote “no.” There can’t be any holds barred. We must mobilize the troops early and not stop until we have succeeded. There is no rerun here. If the naysayers are stronger than the guardians of the working class, then we have lost the war.
With the current climate of resentment toward public employee pensions, we are truly in for an uphill battle in defeating the referendum. The resentment, in this case, would be generated by the likes of the Koch Brothers and their allies. Millions of dollars will find its way into campaigns for an affirmation of the Convention.
The Koch Brothers and company will start the campaign by bringing out anger from working New Yorkers who currently are without pensions. They will encourage them to vote against public employee pension on the simple fact that they themselves are not enjoying the benefits of a pension.
To combat this crisis, public employee unions must educate. We must not only fight for our own pensions but to create pensions for all New Yorkers, even those who are not public employees. This will be a tough fight, but one we can win. Our approach has to be carefully thought out, however.
As I see it, there can be two courses of action. First, labor could refer back to the early days of the second Bush Presidency when there was a huge attempt to privatize social security. This was a time when all of labor, along with other groups, banded together for the defeat of the privatization. For a moment imagine if we had not defeated the measure. With the two major stock market crashes, where would the investments of social security recipients ended up? The privatization would have had a tremendous negative effect on the financial livelihood of so many for decades to come.
The second option would be to finally mobilize the 99%. Much is often said about the 1%; however, it is time for the tide to change. The conversation must change and focus on the 99% so they begin to feel empowered. We have to prove that the 99% should always be stronger than the 1% and not the other way around. When this measure is achieved, social policy change will come about in America and America would be strong again for the 99% — the true majority.
I believe America has not yet seen its best days. It would be truly amazing to set the tone for social policy change. The NYS AFL-CIO vowed at its Convention in August 2016 to make the issue of a NYS Constitutional Convention its top priority for 2017, and that the work for this goal will begin the day after the Presidential Election on November 8, 2016.
This will be a hot topic for the next year, and one that will sure to become a battle of wits. With a “no” vote, the process will end on November 8, 2017 — not to be addressed again for 20 years until 2037! However, if there is a “yes” vote, the process begins. In November 2018, three delegates to the Convention will be elected in each New York State Senate District and 15 delegates-at-large will be elected statewide. The first Tuesday of April 2019, delegates would have their first meeting in the State Capital in Albany. Any proposed Constitution or Constitutional amendments, which are adopted by the Convention, should be submitted to a vote of the entire state of New York. Amendments that are approved will go into effect the first of January in the year following the approval.
At Local 1180 we will partner with the New York State AFL-CIO, the New York State Public Employee Conference, the New York City Council, and any other reputable organization that has the shared interest of defeating the Constitutional Convention question.
Once again, let’s be absolutely clear — a “no” vote on the question of a Constitutional Convention on November 7, 2017, must happen. Labor unions and other organizations will conduct major education programs about the issues. Get on board and do all you can to help all of labor succeed in reaching our goal of defeating the referendum for a Constitutional Convention.
“Smaller groups do better at the bargaining table when they walk side by side with larger unions that already have a presence in the labor movement and a reputation for getting members what they need and deserve.”
Private Sector, Not-for-Profits Represented by Local 1180
ASPCA
Planned Parenthood
Democracy Now!
The Nation Institute
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights First
Books and Rattles
Amnesty International USA
ALIGN
Open Society Foundations
While the nature of labor unions has remained the same throughout time, the structure of them certainly has changed. Take for example the Communications Workers of America. CWA was founded in 1938 at meetings in Chicago and New Orleans. First known as the National Federation of Telephone Workers, the union became the Communications Workers of America in 1947. CWA got its start in the telephone industry, but today represents workers in all areas of communications, as well as in health care and public service, customer service and many other fields.
As with most large international labor organizations (CWA now represents 700,000 workers in both the private and public sectors), CWA’s base of membership has continued to expand. As an increasing number of smaller, independent locals and unaffiliated groups saw the strength of a powerhouse like CWA, they wanted to join forces and have the umbrella of the international over them.
A quick look back at history reveals how these transitions have come about, and how CWA Local 1180 today has come to represent nearly a dozen, small private sector groups — all of which sought out 1180 as a means of obtaining a stronger voice.
“Smaller groups do better at the bargaining table when they walk side by side with larger unions that already have a presence in the labor movement and a reputation for getting members what they need and deserve,” said Local 1180 President Arthur Cheliotes.
As Cheliotes explained in a previous issue of the Communiqué, Local 1180 started off as an independent union known as the Municipal Managers Society. After public sector workers won the right to organize in the 1960s, members of the Municipal Managers voted to join the national CWA, and Local 1180 was born in 1965.
Delving back even further in time, the origins of CWA have been around since 1938 when the National Federation of Telephone Workers was formed, which then regrouped as the Communications Workers of America in 1947. CWA joined the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), a national federation of industrial unions including the United Auto Workers, Steelworkers, and United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers. Although these unions initially organized in the 1930s and 40s along industrial lines, changes in the economy in the upcoming decades would change this, ultimately leading to Local 1180 joining CWA.
Whereas the American economy, especially in the Northeast and Midwest of the U.S., was predominantly based on the production and distribution of tangible goods in the first half of the 20th century, this began to change as production was moved to find cheaper sources of labor. Production was shifted first to the southern U.S. where union density, and therefore wages, was lower, and eventually was outsourced out of the country. Unions fought to keep good-paying jobs in their original locations for their members, but as more and more large companies moved, beginning the process of deindustrialization of what was formerly a country’s center of industrial production. Rather than admit defeat, however, unions began to strategize how to keep fighting for the rights of working Americans.
As the economy changed, so too did the composition of unions. As the membership of some industrial unions began to decline, new industries began to grow, and new types of workers began to organize. No matter what industry or workplace someone works in, the desire to have a voice and protection on the job is the same. Rather than having to start from scratch like the earlier industrial unions did in the 1930s, workers in these newer industries realized they could use the existing union infrastructure to organize their own workplaces. Looking today at the membership composition of these once exclusively-industrial unions demonstrates the diversity of industries that organized in the past few decades — the UAW represents museum curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Steelworkers represent physicians at hospitals in Minnesota, and the United Electrical Workers represents graduate students in Iowa. In fact, CWA, in addition to still representing workers in the telecommunications industry, also has members in the public sector, news media, the airline industry, education, and healthcare.
The Municipal Managers Society affiliated with CWA in the 1960s, but that didn’t stop changes in the economy and the labor movement. Whereas Local 1180 started out representing only workers from a specific industry, this too would change. Around the turn of the millennium, workers from Planned Parenthood reached out to Local 1180 expressing the desire to organize a union. Although they didn’t work for the City of New York and their jobs were relatively different from that of the titles already in the union, 1180 moved forward and secured their first contract. That was the start of a new era in Local 1180 whereby today Local 1180 represents 10 different nonprofits, the most recent of which to be organized was the Open Society Foundations (OSF).
The lives of 209 Manhattan workers at OSF changed on July 21 when the group committed to justice, freedom and the rights for all because the largest foundation to support within and lobby for cultural workplace change. The positive election outcome resulted from OSF members electing to maximize their strength for internal change. This historic vote for representation by Local 1180 means staff members can now collectively negotiate job security, educational opportunities, wages, promotions, healthcare and reap the benefits of having big brother’s should guide them through. “These individuals will now have a seat at the table to bargain with management and have a greater say in organizational decisions that affect their jobs and lives,” Cheliotes said in response to the victorious event. “We look forward to having a collaborative relationship with OSF.”
OSF staff chose CWA 1180 as their union because of the union’s reputation for being democratically run. In addition to offices in New York and Baltimore, the Open Society Foundations has a third office in the U.S. and extended services in locations throughout the world, in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Middle East and Latin America. OSF Program Officer Karina Bentacourt said, “We want to pave the way and uplift this effort in solidarity with other workers organizing across the US and the world.” They hope other foundations such as the Rockefeller and Ford foundations will be inspired and organize, too.
Organized labor combined with organized staff can further OSF’s mission statement to work to build vibrant and tolerant societies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people. Open Society Foundations joins other non-profits represented by Local 1180, including ASPCA, Books and Rattles, Democracy First, Amnesty International USA and others.
Union organizer Ryan Bruckenthal said that a majority of social media comments made by OSF employees expressed having limited opportunities on the job, which became one of the main reasons for seeking the protection Local 1180 offered. Their first union contract will be subjected to bargaining sessions, grievance procedures, job descriptions and expectations, titles, and levels.
The July issue of Inside Philanthropy quoted OSF President Christopher Stone as saying, “we believe in unions.” CWA Local 1180’s public agencies and non-profit organizations believe in unions, too.
“We are here as a voice for our members and as a protector of the little guy, to give them a voice where they otherwise might not have one,” Cheliotes said. “OSF knew that if we stood by them, their members would reap the benefits. That’s why we had success in organizing their members.”
May 11, 2016
Meeting called to order at 6:00 p.m.
Executive Board Members in Attendance
Officers
Arthur Cherekes; President; Gina Strickland; First Vice President; Gerald Brown; Second Vice President; Gloria Middleton, Secretary-Treasurer; Lourdes Acevedo, Recording Secretary.
Members-at-Large
Betsy Berman, David Bloomfield, Charles Garcia, Denise Gilliam, Lisa Lloyd, Debra Paylor, Lancea Phillips, and Michael Williams.
Minutes of the March 30, 2016 meeting were presented. Motion was duly made, seconded and carried to accept minutes with necessary corrections.
President’s Report
President Cherekes introduced NYS Senator, 31st District, Adrine Edgerton for the Committee on seat being vacated by Charles Kaplan of the 13th Congressional District of New York, in the 26th, August 2016, Congressional Primary.
President Cherekes meetings since the last Executive Board Meeting
March 31, 2016 – Held a meeting with New York City Employers’ Payment System (NYCEPS) representative regarding the Administrative Manager I kit. That evening, he met with the Block Institute regarding the EOC Case.
April 1, 2016 – Chaired a conference call with DCAS Commissioner’s Civil Service Committee (DCSC) regarding a variety of defense fund grants.
April 4, 2016 – Met with the Municipal Labor Steering Committee (MLC). That afternoon, he met with Larry Cuneo, President of the United Steel Workers in his west side office in the Bernie Sanders Campaign. Later that day, he held a meeting with NuPens regarding the development of the CUNY School of Labor.
April 5, 2016 – Held a meeting with City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor James B. Milliken regarding the establishment of the CUNY School of Labor.
April 6, 2016 – Attended the MLC general membership meeting at CUNY. He chaired a conference call with DCSC regarding defense fund grants. Later that morning, he met with CWA Local 1180 Labor Relations Director, Joel Spivak to continue discussions on the unionized and non-unionized Administrative Manager I hearing. That afternoon, held a meeting with Retiree Disability Association (RDA) regarding disability benefits for CWA Local 1180 members. Later that afternoon held a conference call regarding the development of the CUNY School. That evening held a meeting with CWA Local 1180 Retiree Representative of Homeless Services (OBS) and Retiree Representative, Commissioner Steve Banks regarding the HRA and DCSC hearing.
April 7, 2016 – Chaired a conference call with NuPens regarding the development of 6 Harrison Street. Later that afternoon, held a meeting with CWA Local 1180 Retiree Representative, Steve Fener, and Nicholas Harlan regarding expanding the HHC Assistant and Associate Directors Hearing. That evening, he attended the 11th Annual Awards Dinner at the Richmond County Democratic Club. President Cherekes received the Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. Labor Award.
April 8, 2016 – Chaired a conference call with DCSC regarding a variety of defense fund grants.
April 11, 2016 – Chaired the MLC Civil Service Committee meeting regarding legislation on another committee of the city waiver of Long Beach Hospital standards for the administration of exams, especially education and experience exams and rule 5.3.6 that allows DCAS to have crosswalks between exams. That afternoon, he held a meeting with DCAS Commissioner Lisa Semite-Leitman regarding establishing a citywide promotion exam and the development of the Administrative Manager I kit. That evening met with the Administrative Manager I bargaining committee regarding the upcoming arbitration.
April 12, 2016 – Held a meeting with the Office of Community Affairs and Cabinet Chief Administrative Judge. That afternoon had a final prep session with CWA Local 1180 arbitrator, Stephanie Spivak for the upcoming Administrative Manager I hearing. That evening attended the NYC CAC Awards Reception.
April 13, 2016 – Testified in front of the Committee on Labor and Welfare, East, at the Office of Labor and Welfare, regarding the Administrative Manager. The arbitrator heard both sides and will rule later this year probably in June.
April 14, 2016 – Met with the CWA Local 1183 President, John S. Smith regarding a salary merging a member into Local 1180. Later that day met with NuPens regarding the development of the CUNY School. That evening attended the 2016 presidential debate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
April 15, 2016 – Chaired a conference call with DCSC regarding a variety of defense fund grants.
April 17-April 21, 2016 – Traveled to Washington D.C. to attend the convention, committee meeting on various grant requests.
April 20, 2016 – Chaired a conference call with CWA Local 1180 Representatives, Milton & Gordon, PC, regarding a court action filed by Harrison Street.
April 26, 2016 – Attended the MLC Civil Service meeting at DC 37 headquarters. That afternoon chaired the weekly staff meeting.
April 27, 2016 – Held a meeting with Council Member, Fernando Cabrera, Director Ivan Azocar and Chief of Staff Daniel Coates to discuss the establishment of the CUNY School of Labor. That evening attended the 11th Annual Memorial in honor of Administrative Professional Day. Later that day met with the Fischer Center for the Study of the Administrative Manager I EOC Case. That evening attended the 11th Annual Awards Dinner at the Richmond County of Manhattan Community College IMCC. Additionally, he had a conference call with CWA Public Relations Director, Michael Krasner and Vice President Brooks Sankett regarding the struggles with Mayor Bill de Blasio over pay.
April 28, 2016 – Visited the Department of Finance Commissioner to order him to implement an immediate reappointment of CWA Local 1180 members for the Administrative Manager I kit. That afternoon met with the CLEC, CUNY School of Labor, and the Fischer Center regarding how we can organize better leave benefits. That evening attended Alan Greenblatt’s retirement party after 43 years of city service.
April 29, 2016 – Chaired a conference call with DCSC regarding a variety of defense fund grants.
May 3, 2016 – Met with the MLC. That afternoon had a weekly staff meeting. Also, met with the Director of the Josephine E. Murray Institute Greg Marmon regarding the progress of the development of the CUNY School of Labor.
May 4, 2016 – Conducted the CWA Local 1180 Board of Trustees Meeting discussing numerous issues.
May 5, 2016 – Attended an initial meeting of the MLC Committee at City Hall on the administration of exams, especially education and experience exams and rule 5.3.6 that allows DCAS to have crosswalks between exams. Also, began developing programs to put in place that will not allow provisional employees to grow over time. That evening attended the New York City Labor Council for Latin American Retirement 12th Annual Labor Celebration.
May 9, 2016 – Met with Council Members Vlasis Rodriguez, David G. Greenfield, and Antonio Reynoso regarding funding for the CUNY School of Labor. That afternoon had a staff meeting at the Office of Labor and Urban Studies. That will help ensure the City will be a better place for workers and working-class communities.
May 10, 2016 – Met with CWA Local 1180 attorney, Joel Spivak.
President Cherekes distributed and discussed the status report, dated April 1, 2016 from our Attorneys, Merkin & Gordon, P.C., listing legal matters they are working on for Local 1180. In addition, he reviewed the May 2016 bargaining report, prepared by Stephen M. Ferree Lastly, he presented and discussed the Policy Resolution Committee report on the pension expiration dates of Major NYC and NYS Public Employee Groups and the NYS Economy.
A motion was duly made, seconded and carried to accept the President’s Report.
First Vice President’s Report
First Vice-President Gina Strickland reported the following:
First Vice President Gina Strickland reported the following: Staff representative activity for the month of April.
| Activity | April |
|---------------------------|-------|
| Agency Walk-Through | 2 |
| Counseling/Warning Sessions| 2 |
| OSHA Investigations/Interviews | 5 |
| GO. NYPD | 5 |
| Hearing Preparations | 16 |
| Investigative Hearings | 6 |
| Labor Relations Meetings | 4 |
| Off-Site Member Meetings | 2 |
| Supervisory Conferences | 3 |
| Site Member Meetings | 2 |
| Walk-Ins | 8 |
| Appointments | 8 |
| Telephone calls received | 82 |
Site Meetings for April 2016
HRA
501 Clermont Avenue, Brooklyn
HRA-MEFA Hearing Sessions
111 Livingston Street, Brooklyn
New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
231 West 140th Avenue, U.E. Queens
HRA-MEFA
260 11th Avenue, Manhattan
HRC-North Central Bronx Hospital
3423 Kosciuszko Street, Bronx
NYC Fire Department (FDNY)
9 Adams Street, Brooklyn
HHC-Jacobi Hospital
100 Pelham Parkway South, Bronx
NYPD Department of Buildings
280 Broadway, Manhattan
NYPD Department of Finance
146-06 94th Avenue, Queens
NYPD Department of Finance
345 Adams Street, Brooklyn
NCRPS
345 Adams Street, Brooklyn
NYPD Department of Education
333 7th Avenue, Manhattan
Taxi and Limousine Commission
101-65th Avenue, U.E. Queens
Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH)
100 Church Street, Manhattan
HHA-SNAP
100 Church Street, Queens
HRA-Investigation
Revenue and Enforcement Agency
250 Livingston Street, Brooklyn
HHC-Lincoln Hospital
1600 St. Nicholas Avenue, Bronx
HHC-Cumberland Hospital
100 North Portland Avenue, Brooklyn
DOHMH-Vital Records
125 Worth Street, Manhattan
HHC-Bronxville #173
910 Westchester Drive, Brooklyn
HHA-SNAP #147
26 W 125th Street, Manhattan
DOHMH-Family and Child Health
13 Court Street, Brooklyn
DCAS
20 Granderson Street, Brooklyn
Motion was duly made, seconded and carried to accept the First Vice President’s Report.
Second Vice President’s Report
Second Vice President Gerald Brown reported the following:
Advised that today is day 28 of the Verizon Wireless Workers Strike and solidarity is needed more than ever to support our striking Brothers and Sisters.
CWA Local 1180 endorsed candidate for the April 19th Presidential Primary in NYS Bernie Sanders. He is the clear choice, and is a vocal leader in showing the state. In addition, there was a special election on April 19th where we endorsed the local field campaign with the NYS Senate seat in the 9th District. This seat was vacated by Congressman Anthony Weiner. This seat is in Nassau County and with the election of Sheldon Silver, the seat went from Republican to Democrat. This is a very big win for Democrats in New York State.
We are preparing for the June 28th Congressional Primary in NYS. Currently, there are only a few contested races in the state. The Open Local 1180 has endorsed Jon Kayman for the 3rd Congressional District in Long Island. This seat is being vacated by former Congressman Steve Israel. Local 1180 members are underway for the September 13th Democratic U.S. Senate race. This seat is being vacated by retiring Congressman Charles B. Rangel. The Executive Board has already endorsed Assemblyman Crystal Peoples-Stokes and NYS Senator Adriano Espaillat. There is scheduled interviews with Assemblyman Keith Wright. After the Wright interview, an endorsement decision will be made.
After the Congressional Primary on June 28th, we have two additional election days:
• September 13th, NYS Primary
• November 8th, General Election (“The Big One”).
On April 28th, the MLC’s Civil Service Committee met in the morning at Local 1180. The top two agenda items were:
• NYC’s compliance with the Long Beach Agreement in reference to Provisional Employees.
• The proposed granting of NYC Agencies provisional credentials for titles. These are titles that are only unique in a particular agency. It is felt that there are already enough titles in the city. However, there is no need for the creation of duplicate titles and in many cases, the titles are non-existent.
Later in the afternoon of April 11th, Second Vice President Cherekes, along with President Cherekes and First Vice President Strickland, attended a meeting with DCAS Commissioner Lisette Camacho and other members of her staff. At the meeting, Commissioner Camacho stated that the April 8th exam for Computer Associate Technical Support will be postponed. The postponement follows the recommendation from three other computer-based exams a month earlier in March 2016. It was decided that the notification should be sent out to all the major topics for the title. It shall be noted that Commissioner Camacho is newly appointed to the position and she expects to make changes to the prior DCAS Administration.
Commissioner Camacho addressed the issue of contracting around the June 13, 2015, exam for Administrative Manager. She stated that the 100% complaint surveys, which Vice President Brown forwarded to DCAS, were very well written. She also was delighted that
the complaints mentioned that should be taken. She further noted some times have been used up in time. She circulated the discussion by advising that CDSAS needs additional time to address the issues of the June 13th meeting.
On April 14, Second Vice President Brown attended a hiring panel at HRA for Administrative Manager Five positions were offered at the panel and none filled.
On May 9, Second Vice President Brown attended a reception in support of NYC Public Advocate Letitia “Tish” James. He took the opportunity to speak with her and they discussed Tish James on two important issues that President Chelstek will follow up on.
On May 10, Second Vice President Chelstek at HRA’s Employee Recognition Ceremony for staff with 25 and 10 years of service. Second Vice President Brown was well received by the audience of more than 100.
Seminars
Second Vice President Brown advised that on Saturday, May 7, 2016, there is a CWA Local 1180 Home Ownership Seminar. This is a must attend for those thinking about moving a home, credits or loans. There will be a panel in attendance to answer all legal questions and to give an overview of home ownership.
This year the Home Ownership Seminar will be repeated in September and December.
We are currently redrafting other seminars to make them of interest to the membership, mainly in the Retirement and Financial Management Seminars.
Exam Prep Courses
Second Vice President Brown awaits stats from Answers Inc., the company that administered the Exam Prep Courses for the scheduled Computer Adaptive Testing Support exam. Once he receives the stats, he will prepare a report for the minutes similar to that done by Linda Davis.
Work Place Literacy Courses (WPL)
WPL Courses scheduled for September 2016-June 2017 will be available on the website to register. The number of classes the last few years has dropped. When Second Vice President Brown receives attendance reports from Answers Inc., he will contact the WPL and institute solutions to improve attendance. There also will be an evaluation of course content. Our overall goal is to provide courses that are of interest to our membership and at the same cost effective to the Education Fund (CIO-CLC) 1180.
Murphy Institute
Courses are fully underway for CUMPT to make the Murphy Institute a reality for our members. Currently, the Murphy Institute is under CUNY’s School of Professional Studies (SPS) and is governed by faculty and management of SPS.
Vice President Brown continues to administer our program with the Murphy Institute at the SPS and at Queens College.
Civil Service List Update
Updated the Administrative Manager Promotional lists (#5029) Expiration Date: July 29, 2016.
Agencies with visible Manager Promotional Lists:
| Agency | Highest # Appointed | # of Eligibles on List |
|------------|---------------------|------------------------|
| ACS | 14 | 165 |
| DA-NY | 0 | 4 |
| DHP | 11 | 100 |
| DFTA | 0 | 11 |
| DHS | 12 | 33 |
| DOG | 29 | 80 |
| DOHMH | 49 | 129 |
| FINANCE | 108 | 10 |
| NYERS | 10 | 10 |
| NYCHA | 76 | 112 |
| NYPD | 22 | 141 |
| OMR | 6 | 9 |
| PROBATION | 0 | 13 |
The Murphy Institute Leadership Committee will be held July 18-20, 2016.
Human Rights and Equity Conference will be held Aug 11-13, 2016. August 24, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. Two members from the Civil Rights and Equity Committee, and two members from the Women’s Committee attended.
Motion was duly made, seconded, and carried to accept the Secretary-Treasurer’s Report.
Members-at-Large Lisa Lloyd and Lenea Smith attended the U.S. Senate to hear the Conference on March 16, 2016. They reported that they felt the Board made a decision. Additionally, they reported that Dr. Perry Farooq, a cardiologist at Bellevue Hospital, spoke to the conference and testified to the Labor Council for Latin Advancement (CCLA), and would like to invite Dr. Perry Farooq to come to a meeting of the Trust of the board.
Members-at-Large Charlene Garcia attended the board with the Labor Note. Jump-start your union check sheet for training, organizing educational program or material. Additionally, he attended the CWA New York State Legislative Organizer; by Alexandra Brabec, Mark Brenner & Jane Slaghter to CWA Local 1181. He advised that the CWA New York State Legislative Committee and Internship Fall Semester for students interested in legislative work and policy will take place from (Aug 22-Sept 2016). He requested to attend the CLLA 21st National Convention in Orlando, Florida. Motion was duly made, seconded, and carried to send two members to the Convention.
On April 5, Member-at-Large Debbie Taylor attended the CWA New York Chapter. On April 21, she was appointed as a delegate to the CUC by Chair Janet L. Hynes.
Member-at-Large Venus Charles-Williams requested the purchase of T-Shirts for our members to wear in the upcoming 59th Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. Motion was duly made, seconded, and carried to purchase the T-shirts.
Member-at-Large Denise Gilliam has been selected to serve on the Executive Board of the Coalition of Black Trade Unions (CBTU).
Member-at-Large Hazel Woytek advised that the Prim Dime dresses were donated to the Cinderella Project Organization and they were very grateful for the donation.
The next Executive Board Meeting is scheduled for June 22, 2016.
Motion was duly made, seconded, and carried to adjourn at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lourdes Arevalos
Recording Secretary
Secretary-Treasurer’s Report
Second Vice President Brown presented the Treasurer’s Report for April 2016, as well as the Check Register. She advised that the T.D. checking account has a balance of $1,000,000.00 as of April 18, 2016.
April 18, 2016 — President Chelstek, Secretary-Treasurer Gloria Middleton, Executive Board Members’ Hazel Woytek and Debbie Taylor, staff members Lisa Lloyd and Lenea Smith, and 1180 members marched in front of the Supreme Court in Washington DC. Arrests were made. We are thankful now our members were arrested.
May 31, 2016 — The CWA Local 1180 monthly meeting was held at the United States Department of Teachers (UFT).
June 1, 2016 — The Disability Committee held a retirement recognition honoring Alan Goldfarb’s retirement after 43 years of city service.
Executive Board Member’s Hilary Bloomfeld and Hazel Woytek have been selected to attend the 2016-2017 New York State CIO Cornell Union Leadership Institute.
June 22, 2016
Meeting called to order at 5:30 p.m. Board Members in Attendance
Officers
Marie Andrews, President; Gina Brickland, First Vice President; Gloria Middleton, Secretary-Treasurer; Peter Gilmore, Middlesex, Secretary-Treasurer; Linda Davis, Recording Secretary
Members-at-Large
Ron Blatt-Barre, Hilary Bloomfeld, Charles Garcia, Denise Gilliam, Lisa Lloyd, Debra Paylor, Lenea Smith, Hazel Woytek, and Debbie Taylor.
Minutes of the May 11, 2016, meeting were presented. Motion was duly made, seconded, and carried to accept minutes with necessary corrections.
President’s Report
President Chelstek introduced Assemblyman Keith L. Wright of the 70th Assembly District who spoke about the recent election and vacancies that occurred for Assemblyman Charles R. Johnson, the 135th Congressional District of New York. In the June 28, 2016, Congressional Primary. Motion was duly made, seconded, and carried to endorse Assemblyman Keith L. Wright. CWA Local 1180 will ask CWA District 1 to make a contribution to the campaign.
President Chelstek’s meetings since the last Executive Board Meeting
May 10, 2016 — Held a meeting with Vicky Alvarado, the New York City Central Labor Council regarding the formation of the CUNY School of Labor. Later that day attended the NYC Department of Finance Labor Relations Committee at 21st Floor of Headquarters. That afternoon, met with Salvatore Russo, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Human Resources issue. CWA Local 1180 members are experiencing at H.H. Latner that afternoon, met with Dave Richman, Secretary Member of the 6th District of Hennepin County, regarding the upcoming election. That was followed by a meeting with the New York City Labor Steering Committee (MCM). He concluded his day by attended a reception for the Honorable Gary M. Stern.
May 11, 2016 — Chaired a conference call with CWA Defense Fund Over-Site Committee (DFOC) regarding Human Rights Campaign.
May 16, 2016 — Met with Members of Council 1180 (7th District) and Office of Northern Manhattan; Danasek Miller (27th District) in preparation for the upcoming 59th Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. Motion was duly made, seconded, and carried to purchase the T-shirts.
May 17, 2016 — Met with Helen Rosenblat, Council Member of the 6th District of the Upper West Side and Brooks Sunkett, Vice-President of the 11th District of the United Food and Commercial Workers Section, regarding the Murphy Institute.
May 18, 2016 — Made follow-up calls on the Murphy Scholarship. Later that morning, met with Doug McCabe regarding the Drupal program. That afternoon, held a meeting with Nina Peterson regarding the development of a Harrison Street project.
May 19, 2016 — Attended the CWA Local 1180 Executive Board Meeting discussing various issues. That afternoon, held a conference call with CWA President Chris Shelton and Secretary-Treasurer Gloria Middleton regarding the CWA Verizon Strike. That evening he attended the memorial service for Margaret Spiedel, GUEW Local 1180.
May 20, 2016 — Attended the City Council Higher Education Committee meeting discussing various issues. That afternoon, held a conference call with CWA President Chris Shelton and Secretary-Treasurer Gloria Middleton regarding the CWA Verizon Strike. That evening he attended the memorial service for Margaret Spiedel, GUEW Local 1180.
May 23, 2016 — Made follow-up calls on the Murphy Scholarship. Later that morning, attended the Office of the Administrator Coordination meeting at 129 Barclay Street. That evening met with Council Member Danasek Miller regarding the Murphy Institute.
May 24, 2016 — Met with Stephen Levin, Council Member of the District 33 in Brooklyn Heights, regarding the Murphy Institute.
May 25, 2016 — Met with Assemblyman with Assistant Martin F. Schenman, Esq. in reference to the impact for the Murphy Institute and the Murphy Institute for the CWA Local 1180 Administrative Manager’s list. Later that morning, at the Mayor’s Meeting regarding the redevelopment of the 11th Avenue. That afternoon, held a conference call with Scott M. Stringer, NYC Comptroller, regarding the Murphy Institute. That evening, met with Assemblyman with Nileen Jarrett regarding her work in Brooklyn.
May 26, 2016 — Attended the return’s lunch meeting with the CWA Local 1180 members for the Murphy Awards Ceremony. That evening, President Chelstek attended the Murphy Institute’s 2016 Graduation and Awards Dinner.
May 27, 2016 — Chaired a conference call with DFOC regarding a variety of defense fund grants.
May 31, 2016 — Held a conference call with Ms. Maralee Sakurai, Chief of Staff to Council
## IN MEMORIAM
| NAME | AGENCY | DECEASED |
|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------|------------|
| Melvyn Arroyo | Law Department | 4/21/2016 |
| Linda Barbarino | Fire Department | 4/2/2016 |
| Mary Brady | Dept. of Education | 7/4/2016 |
| Esther Brown | Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene | 6/20/2016 |
| Francine Bruno | Dept. of Sanitation | 6/23/2016 |
| Barbara Cassar | Dept. of Education | 7/23/2016 |
| Laura Chestnut | Dept. of City Planning | 3/2/2016 |
| Richard Concessi | Dept. of Sanitation | 4/10/2016 |
| Mary Cozzocrea | Parks & Recreation | 8/5/2016 |
| Ernestine David | Dept. of Social Services | 5/25/2016 |
| Delois Eason | Dept. of Education | 5/12/2016 |
| Dolores Fiore | Dept. of Probation | 5/25/2016 |
| Robert Fiorillo | Dept. of Social Services | 6/8/2016 |
| Mona Flenszraich | Dept. of Environmental Protection | 4/8/2016 |
| Carlos Gonzalez | Brooklyn Borough President | 5/2/2016 |
| Gerard Harrigan | McKinney Nursing & Rehabilitation Ctr. | 6/7/2016 |
| Mae Henderson | Dept. of Social Services | 4/24/2016 |
| Kalavati Joshi | Metropolitan Hospital Center | 6/13/2016 |
| Steven Kirsch | Dept. of Sanitation | 7/8/2016 |
| Belle Lacher Miller | Dept. of Transportation | 3/18/2016 |
| Sarah Lewis | Department of Education | 5/5/2016 |
| Shawnya Little-Shamsdeen | Dept. of Social Services | 3/13/2016 |
| Sandra Marrow-Tyson | Jacobi Medical Center | 7/17/2016 |
| Floyd Martin | Dept. of Social Services | 6/30/2016 |
| Audrey Montgomery | Dept. of Probation | 4/26/2016 |
| Essie Nicholls | Dept. of Environmental Protection | 7/30/2016 |
| Burnetta Nimors | Dept. of Social Services | 5/2/2016 |
| Lillie Parker | Dept. of Homeless Services | 3/5/2016 |
| Jose Rivera | Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene | 4/14/2016 |
| Dorothy Robinson | Dept. of Environmental Protection | 8/17/2016 |
| Luz Santos | Design & Construction | 5/29/2016 |
| Elizabeth Sharpe | Dept. of Transportation | 4/21/2016 |
| Margaret Sosnowski | Dept. of Education | 4/28/2016 |
| Sarah Spataro | Dept. of Education | 4/15/2016 |
| Elsie Stoddard | Dept. of Social Services | 5/20/2016 |
| Elizabeth Taylor | Harlem Hospital Center | 3/30/2016 |
| Carol Tierney | Finance Administration | 4/15/2016 |
| Patricia Turner | Dept. of Social Services | 7/23/2016 |
| Emma Walker | Dept. of Social Services | 4/22/2016 |
| Annette Wallace | Housing Preservation & Development | 4/8/2016 |
| Esther Wallach | Police Department | 8/1/2016 |
| Shellyann Wheeler | Dept. of Buildings | 4/22/2016 |
| Elaine Wilersky | Dept. of Education | 3/24/2016 |
| Denise Williams | Police Department | 4/20/2016 |
| Leona Williams | Dept. of Social Services | 5/13/2016 |
| Vanessa Williams-Kellerman | Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene | 6/6/2016 |
| Edythe Zareisky | Dept. of General Services | 4/30/2016 |
A claimant can file a claim online through a form on the VCF website at [www.claims.vcf.gov](http://www.claims.vcf.gov) and follow the instructions in the document checklist, which can be found at [www.vcf.gov/pdf/VCFClaimFormDocumentChecklist.pdf](http://www.vcf.gov/pdf/VCFClaimFormDocumentChecklist.pdf).
Attorneys at Mirkin & Gordon, through the Union’s legal services program, are available to assist CWA 1180 members who feel they might have a valid claim.
For more detailed information, visit the CWA Local 1180 benefits section of the website at [www.cwala1180.org](http://www.cwala1180.org).
ELECTION DAY MISHAPS & WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VOTING
The late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that “a voteless people is a powerless people.” When we vote, we are telling elected officials and lawmakers how we feel about public safety, social security, health care, education and other important issues. Voting is a chance to make a difference in our own lives and the world.
But what happens when something goes wrong at the polls when you go to vote? It’s not like mishaps haven’t occurred before. Those of us old enough to remember the Gore vs. Bush Florida hanging chads debacle that forced the Supreme Court to resolve the dispute before a winner could officially be declared, can attest to this. And more recently, earlier this year the Brooklyn Board of Elections revealed that it had plunged more than 200,000 voters from the polls shortly before a major primary election. There were also reports of ballot shortages and polling places not open.
One of the reasons for so much chaos and confusion exists in this state is that by the end of this year, New Yorkers will have gone to the polls four times between the Presidential primary, and primaries for Congress, the State Legislature and local races, and the general election. “The very fact that our voting system is so disorganized as to have four separate elections within a seven-month period speaks loudly about the inefficiency and potential for fraud,” said one political observer.
What do voters do if they get to the polls and their names are missing from the registration books. It could just be as simple as signing in at the wrong table so check with the information clerk at your polling place who will look up your address and give you the correct PADD table number at. Other reasons your name may be missing from the books are that you haven’t voted in the last four years, you have a change of address or a name change, or you changed your party affiliation. Your name also could be missing from the sign-in books simply due to Board of Elections error.
If you are told you cannot vote on Election Day for any one of a number of different reasons, you need to request an affidavit ballot.
In 2002, Congress attempted to make voting simpler and more accessible through the Help America Vote Act. Part of this law requires affidavit ballots, also known as provisional ballots, when voters believe they are eligible to vote but cannot submit a regular ballot at the polls on Election Day.
Election officials will attempt to verify your eligibility. If they are able to do so, your affidavit vote will be counted like the regular ballots. On the ballots, voters swear they are who they say they are and explain where they live and what party they believe they should be a member of, and cast a vote, which commissioners are supposed to consider the validity of after the polls close. The law requires that states provide a way for voters to find out if their provisional vote was counted or if not, to learn the reason. This method must be free to the voters.
By law, an affidavit ballot must be provided for voters who are denied from voting but believe themselves to be eligible. Do not leave the polls without submitting a ballot, no matter what. It’s your one vote that could end up making a difference.
Not everyone is available to vote on Election Day, however. Some are stationed overseas in the military, some have medical emergencies, are ill or disabled, and some have planned vacations for example. In these and other cases, you can vote by absentee ballot, which is a printed ballot marked by an absent voter, sealed in a special envelope, and mailed to the Board of Elections. Absentee ballot applications can be obtained online at the Board of Elections website or in person. The time limit for requesting an absentee ballot is 30 days before the election and it must be returned to the BOE seven days before the election. Last day to postmark absentee ballots for the 2016 General Election is November 7.
Even if you have a criminal record you can vote as long as you are not currently in prison for a felony conviction. The Board of Elections does not remove your name from the rolls because if you are serving time in jail for a misdemeanor or are currently serving of jail on probation. However, if you have been convicted of a felony and currently serving time in prison, you cannot vote. If you are currently on parole for a felony conviction, you can apply for a certificate of good conduct that will specifically restore your voting rights.
The last day to register to vote in the upcoming November 8 General Election is Friday, October 14. Applications must be received at the Board of Elections not later than October 19.
Why Do We Always Vote on a Tuesday?
In 1865, the day of the horse and buggy, farmers needed a full day to travel to polling sites to vote. They also needed a full day to travel back home. With three days of weekly worship, that only left Tuesday and Wednesday. Since Wednesday was Market Day, Tuesday was the only day of the week to vote. Congress has kept Tuesdays as Election Day ever since. | <urn:uuid:f572bba1-ab0d-4e25-aa70-1b9650cfeb7d> | CC-MAIN-2019-09 | https://www.cwa1180.org/docs/default-source/communique-docs-library/communique-2016/c_july-september-2016.pdf?sfvrsn=218953c9_2 | 2019-02-18T08:24:09Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247484772.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20190218074121-20190218100121-00214.warc.gz | 813,031,504 | 16,384 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.981203 | eng_Latn | 0.998947 | [
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April 16, 1929--Abraham Sztern (Stern) is born in Łódź, Poland with twin Helena, the youngest of 6 children.
Winter, 1930--Twin Helena dies at 9 months of age from a tragic accident by the domestic help, who drops her on her head.
1940--Abe experiences acts of antisemitism from local Polish boys, and the Łódź ghetto is formed.
Computerized sketch of Ghetto Litzmannstadt (Łódź ghetto), Oststraße street, Bundesarchiv, Bild 137-051639A / CC-BY-SA 3.0. Image provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive.
European relief map showing the location of the city of Łódź, Poland. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Winter, 1941--Abe and his family are forced into the Łódź ghetto. Although the family is allowed to stay together, everyone is required to work for food. They are ultimately put in a shared space with many other families. The crowded conditions allow easy transmission of disease and sickness.
Łódź ghetto, 1940-1944. Map courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
August, 1944--After housing over 68,000 Jews, the Łódź ghetto is liquidated with most of the inmates sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and Chelmno extermination camps. The Stern family is loaded in a cattle car to Auschwitz-Birkenau where they are then separated. Abe’s mother is sent directly to the gas chambers, his father is sent to Dachau. His 3 older sisters are sent to a camp in Czechoslovakia. Abe and brother Lazar are taken to a rubber factory, Continental Gummi-Werke AG, which makes tires for automobiles in Stocken-Hannover, Germany, a subcamp of Neuengamme concentration camp.
U.S. Army 84th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve patch with an axe splitting a rail. Courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection.
January, 1945--Abe and Lazar are transferred to a rock (asphalt) quarry in Ahlem, Germany, another satellite camp of Neuengamme concentration camp.
April, 1945--As the Americans are closing in to the rock quarry, men are forced on a “death” march to Bergen-Belsen. Abe and several others, too weak and sick to march, hide in the asphalt quarry. Almost 90% of all the marching prisoners die on the march. Abe finds out that his brother was shot and killed for trying to share food with a fellow prisoner.
April 10, 1945--Forced by starvation to come out of the quarry, Abe and the remaining men slowly emerge from their hiding place. They are greeted by the Americans who have liberated the camp. There are only about 30 prisoners alive when the 84th Infantry Division liberates the camp. Abe is taken to a hospital for care, weighing only 75 pounds.
Summer, 1945--Abe stays in Germany, trying to get stronger and healthy after his ordeals in the camps. He begins working in a kitchen for the American Army Hospital in Marburg, Germany. He is able to locate his 3 sisters, all living in Poland, and brings them back with him to Germany. Abe is able to feed his remaining family by “borrowing” food from the kitchen, quietly approved by the army.
Marburg, Germany in 1946 where Abe worked with some of his fellow survivors at an American Army kitchen. Abe is in the white shirt with an arm around his shoulders. Jack Tramiel is in front, the smaller of the two boys. Mickey Milberger is fourth (shortest boy) in the back row. They would all become lifelong friends.
Abe and his three sisters are living in Marburg, Germany. Sitting are Rachel, Abe, Ruthie, with Sala standing behind Abe. Their clothes are partially made out of parachutes. | 35831e70-c709-42e1-8e7e-d3248ba3f1af | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://columbiaholocausteducation.org/pdf/EnduringThenSurvivingWWII.pdf | 2021-05-09T10:33:53+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243988966.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20210509092814-20210509122814-00482.warc.gz | 202,327,583 | 833 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.997804 | eng_Latn | 0.997804 | [
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The M-check is an easy way to make sure that your bike is safe to ride. It involves following an M shape to check five points of your bike.
What you need
If you are going to do your own basic repairs, tools you may need include:
- Allen keys
- Screwdrivers
- Spanners
- A pump
- Lubricant
- Puncture repair kit
(Visit www.sustransshop.org.uk to view a range of eco-friendly bike maintenance products).
Things to remember
If you haven’t got the right tools or are unsure if your bike is safe to ride, visit your local bike shop. They will be able to make any necessary adjustments or repairs and are usually very good value for money.
Activity instructions
The M-check should be done on a regular basis, and when you get used to it, it won’t take longer than a few minutes to do.
If you spot a problem while doing the M-check then tighten it, adjust it, lubricate it or pump it up… but if you are unsure how to fix it or don’t have the tools, visit your local bike shop who will fix it for you and ensure that your bike is safe to ride.
1. Is the front wheel secure? Is the quick release lever or wheel nut firmly tightened?
- Lift the front of your bike and spin the wheel to check that it is straight.
- Is the tyre inflated to the recommended pressure written on the tyre wall?
- Check that the tyre tread isn’t worn and inspect for damage and bulges.
- When squeezed, are the brake levers effective?
- Are the brake pads worn or the cables frayed?
- Make sure that the brake pads line up with the metal of the wheel rim and don’t scrape the rubber of tyre.
- If you’ve been using your bike for a long time, especially with lots of hills or in gritty conditions, the wheel rims can become worn out by the brake pads making your bike unsafe to ride.
- Is there any damage or wear to the rim or tyre?
- Are the spokes free of defects?
2. Hold the tyre between your knees and try to move the handlebars from side to side to check that everything is correctly tightened and nothing creaks.
- Is the handlebar stem correctly aligned with the front wheel?
- Are the stem and handlebars fully secured? Check that the handlebar stem isn’t raised above the height limit mark.
- Hold the front brake on and try to push the bike backwards and forwards. Any knocking or ticking indicates a loose headset which will need tightening (a bike shop will do this for you).
3. Inspect the frame to check for cracks or blistered paint that might indicate damage. Damaged frames need replacing. This is especially important if your bike has been in an accident. If you suspect there is a problem, take it to a bike shop.
- Are both pedals and the chain set moving freely and smoothly?
- Have a short test ride and run through your gears. Does each gear click in smoothly without the chain skipping or falling off?
4. Is your seat height correct? Your legs should be able to extend when pedalling but your hips shouldn’t be stretching to reach the pedals. Make sure the seat post isn’t raised above its height limit mark.
- Is the seat firmly secured (hold the front and back of the seat and wiggle it – if it moves, it needs tightening).
- Do your knees bend comfortably? If not, slide your seat backwards or forwards.
- Are your handlebars in the correct place? If not, adjust them so that you can reach them comfortably.
5. Now do the same to the back wheel as you did to the front. See step 1.
For more information, download our Basic bike maintenance activity sheet.
Take our survey and win free books
We want to know if this activity has helped you and your family or school to be more active. Your feedback will help us make these free resources as useful as possible in the future. The survey is super-quick to complete and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a copy of Make It Wild! and Cool Camping Kids, two books full of inspirational ideas for free range fun. Take the survey at https://survey.sustrans.org.uk/freerangekids
Sustrans is the charity that’s enabling people to travel by foot, bike or public transport for more of the journeys we make every day. It’s time we all began making smarter travel choices. Make your move and support Sustrans today. www.sustrans.org.uk
© Sustrans 2011. Registered Charity No. 326550 (England and Wales) SCO39263 (Scotland). While every effort has been made to ensure that the activities described on the activities sheets are safe, all activities are undertaken at your own risk and Sustrans cannot be held responsible for any accidents or injury resulting from taking part in these activities. All photos © Sustrans. | 8fb3006e-c516-4fe7-884b-e790b9ea9d79 | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/sh/public/digitalschoolhub/uploads/sites/3156/2020/04/20152003/M-check-info-sheet1.pdf | 2021-05-08T20:20:06+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243988923.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20210508181551-20210508211551-00589.warc.gz | 150,081,626 | 1,030 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.998703 | eng_Latn | 0.998769 | [
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Bring your neighborhood together with art! Create a temporary creative pop-up where neighbors of all ages can join in art activities, express themselves, and get to know one another.
**Budget**
$250 - $400
**Difficulty Level**
Easy
**Location Suggestions**
- Front yard
- Park
- Closed-street (Block Party Permit required)
**City Support**
Mini-Grant funding is available!
---
### Material List | Estimated Cost
- **Art supplies – will vary based on activity**
- Collage | $30
- Acrylic painting | $50
- Coloring pages | $30
- **Rented tables and chairs** | $60
- **Protective tarp for ground** | $15
- **Display boards, clothesline, or panel divider for showcasing artwork** | $25
- **Refreshments for participants** | $40
- **Optional**
- Hired local artist | $100-$150
- Block Party Permit
---
### Step by Step | How to Plan this Event
#### 1. Set a Time & Location
- Choose a time that aligns with neighborhood availability.
- Consider the best location based on accessibility, foot traffic, and space for setting up multiple art stations.
#### 2. Obtain Any Necessary Permits and Permissions
If you’re closing a residential street, you will need to apply for a [Block Party Permit](#) for an eligible street.
#### 3. Determine Art Activities
You can host any interactive art activity! Consider:
- Your neighborhood’s interests.
- Skill level. Make sure the activity has options for different skill levels, especially beginners!
- Any artists living in your neighborhood. Consider asking them to help facilitate!
---
### Activity Suggestion & Supplies
#### Collage | $30
- Paper
- Glue
- Old magazines or newspaper
- Personal photos
- Found objects like fabric scraps
1. Neighbors make their own collages based on prompts.
2. Create a large collaborative collage piece, representing the neighborhood.
#### Acrylic Painting | $50
- Paper
- Paint brushes
- Acrylic paint
- Water and cups
- Paper towels
- Items to paint
1. Paint portraits based on themed prompts.
2. Invite neighbors to bring items from their homes to paint!
#### Coloring Pages | $30
- Printed designs
- Your own designs
- Coloring tools:
- Colored pencils
- Markers
- Glitter pens
1. Make your own coloring pages to color at the event, and invite neighbors to make and bring their own designs too.
2. Print pre-made sheets offline or purchase coloring books.
4. Hire a Local Artist to Facilitate!
- Look around online for local artists and reach out.
- Neighborhood Services can give you recommendations!
- Fair compensation can range from $60-150 per hour. Ask the artist what their prices are.
5. Gather Supplies
- Buy or source art supplies and event materials.
- Get materials from your neighborhood! Ask around if your neighbors have leftover art supplies.
- Although some artists might want to bring their own supplies, it is good courtesy to purchase supplies for the artist. Coordinate with the artist about this.
6. Plan Site Layout
Make a simple site plan of how the different stations will be arranged. Sketch it out!
7. Promote the Event
Extend invitations to residents of all ages in the neighborhood, emphasizing that anyone can enjoy regardless of skill level.
- At Least 2-3 Weeks Before | Social Media and Email: Post on Nextdoor, Facebook, and/or Instagram. Email if you can.
- 1 Week Before | Flyers: Go door-to-door. Design colorful flyers, postcards, or personal invitations.
- 1 Day Before | Reminder: Send out a reminder message on social media or by email.
8. Set-Up
Prepare the event space by setting up any stations.
9. Greet Neighbors
Greet neighbors as they arrive, provide them with information about the art activities available, and encourage them to unleash their creativity!
10. Help and Facilitate
Offer assistance as needed, fostering a supportive and encouraging environment for artistic expression!
11. Showcase Artwork
As people finish their art, invite them to display and celebrate completed artwork. You can even encourage neighbors to share and swap designs!
12. Clean Up
Make sure not to dump any contaminated water or chemicals on the ground. Dispose properly in the trash or at a Hazardous Waste facility.
13. Display Your Work!
Encourage neighbors to place artwork in their windows or, if durable, outside in their front yards. | 569556f6-72b9-4729-ad8b-ddf44bc50ac2 | CC-MAIN-2024-30 | https://www.fcgov.com/neighborhoodservices/files/art-pop-up-night.pdf | 2024-07-21T10:32:42+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-30/segments/1720763517663.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20240721091006-20240721121006-00865.warc.gz | 635,333,676 | 964 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.996365 | eng_Latn | 0.99653 | [
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Bluenessless
Yuxin Long
Copyright © 2020 by Yuxin Long
All rights reserved. The author retains sole copyright to the contribution to this book. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without written permission from the author.
Photograph copyright © 2020 by Yuxin Long, Yong Long.
Cover Photography by Yong Long
by Yuxin Long
Bluenessless
A thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Fine Arts in the Jewelry + Metalsmithing in the Department of Jewelry + Metalsmithing at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island.
By Yuxin Long, 2020
Approved by the Master's Examination Committee:
Timothy Veske-McMahon
Department Head, Jewelry + Metalsmithing, Thesis Chair
[Signature]
Lauren Fensterstock
Lecturer, Jewelry + Metalsmithing, Thesis Advisor
[Signature]
Maya Krinsky
Assistant Director, Theory + History of Art + Design, Thesis Advisor
[Signature]
The Day for the Blue Bird
It was the summer of 2017 when I completed my four-year degree in metal art in college, and my father, a fan of photography, told me that he just got a new camera especially for bird photography. My first time waiting and observing wild birds, and taking photos of them, we were photographing the kingfisher. I had seen them in many books and Chinese paintings, but their feathers like blue light still impressed me. I already knew there was a kind of traditional Chinese jewelry that used kingfisher feathers as material, but it was from that day I started to pay attention to it.
I remember one day, my mother told us to go watch birds and take photographs. There was a park with a pond, and a couple of kingfishers lived there for several years. I was excited because I had always admired nature photographers. After all, they could stay in nature and use their cameras to document animals. It was a sunny day, and the place was a pond in a park. After setting up, we took out folding chairs and mosquito repellent and then waited for the kingfisher. Many kingfishers make their nests close to water, and they usually make caves in wet soil as their home. The place where we stayed was an artificial pond surrounded by trees and shrubs, it was a good environment for kingfishers’ activities. While fishing, a dead branch right above the water surface is also required because they need a place to observe fishes under the water. Before the kingfishers came out, I had plenty of time to observe the environment in that area.
I cannot remember how long we waited that day; I just felt more and more interested in these small birds. Because I didn’t know when, where and how the bird would come out, this mysterious time anticipating its appearance was the most exciting part for me.
Suddenly the birds came. I saw a blue body jump between tree branches and finally come down to the pond. He was on the other side of the pond, and it was so small that I could only see it clearly through the lens. However, the trace of the blue was bright and impressive in the leaves. The kingfisher is a kind of bird that I was familiar with but not familiar with. As they have the meaning of peace and happiness, we could find them in many Chinese paintings; however, it was not easy to see them by ourselves because they are small and alert.
I started to realize that many beautiful creatures were living together with us in the city. It was from that day that I started to pay attention to the kingfisher bird.
After going back home, we started to organize all the photos from this day. Although I am an art student now, I had almost no sense of photography at that time. Our techniques and the photos were tentative, but the experience was true, and our love of life was true.
A small bird with blue and white feathers is perched on a branch, facing away from the camera. The background is blurred, emphasizing the bird in the foreground.
A close-up image of a branch with small, round buds or knots along its length. The background is blurred, showing green foliage, which suggests that the photo was taken outdoors in a natural setting.
# Table of Contents
| Section | Page |
|----------------------------------------------|------|
| Lexicon | 1 |
| Abstract | 3 |
| **Chapter 1** | |
| Introduction | 5 |
| The Origin | 7 |
| The Image on the Body | 9 |
| **Chapter 2** | |
| Tian Tsui Jewelry in China | 15 |
| Mourning | 16 |
| *Silence* | 19 |
| Longevity Lock | 21 |
| **Chapter 3** | |
| The way we see other creatures | 31 |
| Jewelry and Desire | 35 |
| *The Witness* | 39 |
| Tying | 55 |
| Conclusion | |
| Souvenir for the Future | 69 |
| Acknowledgements | 74 |
| Endnotes | 75 |
| List of images | 76 |
| Bibliography | 77 |
翠，青羽雀也。——《說文解字》
Tsui, the small blue-feathered bird.
—— *Shuowen Jiezi* (Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters)
翠 Tsui: Chinese characters are logograms, which means that people would create those characters with the image of the origins. From the Han Dynasty (early-2nd-century) dictionary *Shuowen Jiezi*, “翠 (Tsui)” means a kind of small bird with blue feathers. There are two parts of this character, the upper part is 羽, meaning feather; the other part is 卒, take the meaning of fast from the character. The complete character 翠 was used specifically for one kind of bird, the kingfisher. Later, because of the blue color of the kingfisher birds, 翠 had also become the character that indicated the color blue or green.
Tian Tsui (Dianzi): A special kind of traditional craft that uses kingfisher feathers and metal to make adornment, mostly used in jewelry. “Tian” means attaching carefully, and “Tsui” means kingfishers.
The kingfisher lives up to its name. They are so fast while hunting that when I was watching for one, I could only see a blue flash passing, and then disappear—or maybe go back to the branch with a small fish. Their bodies are born for fishing. While looking at the bird, I was thinking about why they have that blue color, it is so conspicuous on water.
Jewelry has a long history of functioning as wearable objects with memories. A small piece of jewelry on our body can become the bridge between one person and another.
My work is a memorial for the avifauna. It serves as a place that allows me to find the balance between myself and nature. The ritualized actions from the making process help me mourn for the loss of the kingfishers, who are hunted for the bright blue feathers used in traditional jewelry. Sometimes, people put a photograph in their jewelry to keep the memory of the one they love. I use photographs from one day’s experience bird watching in my thesis work. Fragments of the photos become a glimpse of the kingfisher, record its life, its existence, and become jewelry that links me together with the bird.
This work is for the kingfisher, but also for all creatures on the Earth. Today, when traditional beauty conflicts with life and love, how should we rethink something we have been doing for centuries? My goal is to show my audience the realities of wildlife’s endangerment that we may not have noticed before and awaken tenderness toward other species by sharing my experience with the kingfisher.
Introduction
Humans have been using animal parts in jewelry for thousands of years. The kingfisher's feathers have been used as ornament in China for over 1,000 years, and mostly they are used in jewelry making. However, the demand for the feathers causes the kingfisher’s death.
I have been interested in nature since I was a child, and it was one of the most exciting experiences when I was sitting by the pond to wait for a kingfisher for my first bird observation. Those small observations provide a connection between me and the surrounding environment; I want to capture those experiences and the emotions that they elicit. I am always wondering how much impact humans can have on other species, the extinction rate today is much higher than the natural rate. How much attention should we pay to those creatures? How can we stop the loss that we caused?
The kingfisher feather jewelry uses blue feathers from kingfishers, but blue is no longer a rare material like in ancient times, therefore the value of “real kingfisher feathers” has already changed. Nothing lasts for eternity. None of the traditions, crafts, lives, or pieces of jewelry can stay forever. Moreover, feather adornments on metal can not make a beautiful life last longer.
We share this world with other species, and all lives are precious. They are so close to us, but we live in the spaces beside each other. So when I sat under the tree the day I watched for the kingfisher, the pond was like a bridge, linking me to the bird. Through the air, through the water, a blue flash broke into my vision. I press the shutter, freeze this moment, and take this eternal memory into a piece of jewelry.
The Origin
I have been living in a big city since I was born, but I was too shy to communicate with others, so I loved animals when I was a little child. I read books about animals almost all of the time. For people who live in the city, birds are some of the most familiar wild animals. For a long time, if I was not looking at insects, then I was looking at the birds. Birds are fantastic, they see much more than we can see, and they have been living on Earth much longer than us.
I wonder how humans justify the harm they commit to wildlife. The illegal animal trade still happens all over this world, and many wild lives are sacrificed for humans’ desire of beauty or luxury. Is there anything I can do to save those animals? I am looking for a way that I could contribute to the plight of wild animals as a jeweler.
I started to learn jewelry-making during the second year of my undergraduate degree, and then I fell in love with it. A small piece of jewelry can carry values, emotions, and stories for both the wearer and maker. They can be as quiet as me, and they can also talk for me. My thesis will become a moment when I put my prayers for the kingfisher birds together with my memory, in those small pieces of jewelry. If people ignorant of the harm caused to kingfisher birds can understand their importance after seeing my work, I will be satisfied.
The image on the Body
“From the beginning, photography was prized for the verisimilitude it affords. The notion of a photograph as a dispassionate representation of reality was soon brought into question, however, by artists and writers who recognized that photographs do not represent a singular reality but are inherently shaped by the subjectivity, intentional or not, of the photographer. Today it is accepted that photographs are not mere facsimiles of the original subject captured through the lens of the camera, but are also shaped through the lense of memory, experience, and consciousness.”
—Ursula Ilse-Neuman, *Multiple Exposures: Jewelry and Photography*
People have realized that photography is more than just a record of reality, the emotional value from the image becomes an important reason why photography plays a role in many fields, for instance, in the jewelry field.
For me, I am making jewelry to evoke the audience’s awareness and empathy about the kingfisher birds, and photos are sites of connection between me and the kingfisher. Although the kingfisher, especially the common kingfisher, is not rare in China, it is not as easily seen as the sparrow or the crow. This may occur because of its living habits and high speed.
I have heard many stories and seen many paintings of the kingfisher, but it is different to see it in person. In my experience of photographing the kingfisher, the bird itself is not the most exciting part — waiting for it is. I did not know when it would come, how it would appear. I just waited for the beautiful bird with my parents. The couple of kingfishers we saw had been living in the park for several years. Of course, it was exciting to see them the first time, but later, it was exciting because it felt like I met an old friend again. From that moment I have made gifts, using the camera.
By using photos in my jewelry, I am replacing “the kingfisher” with something else, so that I can use the kingfishers’ “body” without hurting them. Today, more and more people believe that it is important to replace kingfishers’ feathers in the crafts instead of killing the real birds. We all need to pay attention to the problem that kingfishers are facing, but it also reminds me that there are kingfisher birds I have known, I have memories with them, and the photos are the evidence of our connection. All the kingfisher photos I use are from the first day I went to the park with my parents. Whenever I am working with those photos, it reminds me of that day, the smell of the pond, the voice of the cicadae, the heat of the sunlight, and how I was talking with my parents. They are all directly related to me.
Although I cannot use this experience to transmit my memories to others through my jewelry works, I want the audience to understand the life and beauty of the bird from those photos.
Today, many contemporary jewelers use photographs in unconventional ways. One example is *Tree* (see Fig.3), a brooch from jewelry artist Ruudt Peters’s series, *Corpus*, which is made of aluminum and photocopy. Peters uses a black and white image of Jesus that he found on the internet and prints out on aluminum, but with 10 arms. In this brooch, Peters uses the picture of Jesus as a material, also as a symbol of Christianity to talk about love, tenderness and humanity.
Most of the works from the *Corpus* series are three dimensional, and do not use images to represent Jesus’s body, but this brooch is different. It is an interesting example of making a photo or image become the “physical body” without an outline or frame, but still keeping the flatness of the material.
Tian Tsui Jewelry in China
Tian Tsui jewelry is a special kind of jewelry that uses Tian Tsui crafts. The process of making Tian Tsui requires time and a special material—kingfisher feather. The beginning steps are similar to enameling in that the maker needs to make a metal base, then cut the blue feathers into small pieces, and use glue to attach those feathers on the metal carefully. The main points of the finished work are surface quality and the color of the feathers, but no longer the impression of birds.
Mourning
People may feel the same kind of sadness when an important one departs, but there are different ways to mourn for them in different cultures. In China, besides wearing jewelry for the dead, people would also bury beautiful objects together with them. Those objects are usually what the departed used to be familiar with in their daily life; wealthy people usually prepare as much as they can, sometimes making small sculptures that represent buildings or environments they once lived in. And every year, the family members would go to mourn on essential days, which feels like that person’s soul is still living in another world.
Ever since jewelry has existed in human history, it has been a tradition to put precious objects into it. It does not have to be expensive materials; it can also be important to the wearer. Moreover, when people are wearing mourning jewelry with another one’s parts or portrait, the jewelry becomes magical in that it creates a place, across the time and space in between them.
In Western culture, there is a unique way for mourning with deep connection with jewelry, which is mourning jewelry. As a form of saving memories, the use of photographs in jewelry became popular soon after photography was invented. “By the 1840s, photo jewelry was an enormously popular means of documenting and preserving memories of people and places and of authenticating historical events.” The most popular method was to insert in the jewelry an image of a loved one who had already passed away. Sometimes the photographs also came with hair ornament—in the Victorian Era, people used someone’s hair to make flowers or braids as an ornament, as a part of jewelry.
Both the photograph and the hair show the intention of “keeping someone close forever,” and, in my opinion, this is also one of the most special powers of jewelry. Jewelry creates an intimate space between itself and our body. It invites us to look at, smell, touch, and use all the sensory organs to feel it. From this perspective, the photograph that is used in the jewelry is no longer a document, it has become something more than a reflection of the person in the photo.
Inspired by different forms of mourning jewelry, in this series *Silence*, I used Photoshop to reconstruct those kingfisher images from that day I photographed them.
In traditional Chinese jewelry, elements from nature are trendy; therefore, we can also see a lot of animals and plants in Tian Tsui jewelry. However, many people did not realize that those beautiful nature images hurt real life. I cut different photos into pieces and reconstructed them by connecting one body part on another one; then, I made a “new bird” out of the photos—from the same one kingfisher. The whole-fragment-whole transformation process indicates the harm to the birds even if their feather parts create beautiful images. I draw attention to this harm through fragmented photographs.
It is ironic when people are making something that “looks real” by killing other animals; thus, I want to mimic the process of changing life into a different status—but using photos instead of real birds. Rather than let my viewers see beautiful images, I make “dead birds” intentionally so they can feel the loss and sadness that is caused by humans. Also, jewelry has unique intimacy with the wearer, and brooches are even closer than the others. When people are wearing brooches, the pin passes through the cloth—the surface of our body. When wearing these brooches, it is also like wearing a portrait or a sign on the body. I hope people can feel the responsibility to show this issue to others while wearing them.
Longevity Lock
The longevity lock is a form of traditional jewelry in China. Young children usually receive a longevity lock from the elders, and will wear it until they become adults. The shape of longevity locks come from traditional Chinese locks, but with more auspicious patterns and words on it, meaning of locking the happiness and good fortune with this child.
Today, one of the biggest reasons for some people who are still killing birds to make Tian Tsui jewelry is carrying forward traditional culture. So, I want to use something else that is also from Chinese culture—something with a positive power for us, against the destructive dark part of Tian Tsui jewelry. And then, I turned to find the longevity lock. There is no fault with the craft or the culture, but we need to understand what traditional culture is right for this contemporary society.
I found an old Brass Chinese longevity lock online by accident, this lock comes from the 1930s, it is a half brass longevity lock, with flowers and a bird carved image on the surface. I cut out six small lock-shape pieces from it—this lock is originally for human size, and made them become the right size for my fake bird. In this way, I want to show the possibility of using the positive power from our traditional culture, and protect the kingfishers.
Silence
2019
UV printed acrylic, sterling silver, brass, steel
Brooch
27
28
Chapter 3
The way we see other creatures
For me, it was really helpful to read *The Spell of the Sensuous* by David Abram. It provided me with knowledge of how we can understand the external world through our senses. One paragraph that impressed me a lot talks about why people exploit other species or even other people:
*Curiously, such arguments for human specialness have regularly been utilized by human groups to justify the exploitation not just of other organisms, but of other humans as well (other nations, other races, or simply the other sex); armed with such arguments, one had only to demonstrate that these others were not fully human, or were ‘closer to the animals,’ to establish one’s right of dominion. According to Aristotle, for example, women are deficient in the rational soul, and hence ‘the relation of male to female is naturally that of the superior to the inferior ---- of the ruling to the ruled.’ Such justifications for social exploitation draw their force from the prior hierarchicalization of the natural landscape, from that hierarchical ordering that locates ‘humans,’ by virtue of our incorporeal intellect, above and apart from all other, ‘merely corporeal,’ entities.*
In this paragraph, Abram talks about the fact that humans create a hierarchy to differentiate us from the others that we think are less intelligent. He explains, “Since humans alone are a mixture of extended matter and thinking mind, we alone can feel and experience our body's mechanical sensations. Meanwhile, all other organisms, consisting solely of extended matter, are in truth nothing more than automatons, incapable of actual experience, unable to feel pleasure or suffer pain.” Due to this thinking, I understand why exploitation occurs between humans and other animals or even between us humans.
My thesis work focuses on the bird, the kingfisher, as it relates to how people utilize other animals as material. I am opposed to killing animals for unnecessary use, and I am interested in why people are doing this today. The reason I am looking for is not for obvious facts like preciousness or luxury but also something behind our culture and ideologies. According to Abram, it is when people see the world only with their “knowledge”, but no mercy and sensory awareness, these hierarchies appear.
Jewelry and desire
The value of material has been a big part of the value of jewelry for a long time. In ancient times, it was very challenging to make something blue by humans. Humans made pigments from red and yellow ochre and charcoal at least 100,000 years ago, but they did not have blue. Ancient Egyptians mixed sand, plant ash, and copper to create Egyptian blue, the first synthetic pigment, about 5000 years ago. In the 19th century, chemists raced to create a synthetic ultramarine, and BASF spent an unprecedented 18 million gold marks, more than the company was worth at the time, to synthesize indigo, a deep blue dye from plants. The reason why blue pigments are so rare results from the fact that most blues in nature don’t come from pigments that humans can co-opt.
The blue color of feathers and some insects are the effect of the microstructure instead of pigment. Therefore, the kingfisher feathers with shiny blue can be an excellent material to make blue ornament. Also, the feather’s blue is considered to be long-lasting and enduring on jewelry. From this perspective, in my opinion, there are no “real blue birds”. Those who use the kingfisher feather as a blue material are actually just catching an illusion made by our eyes. The “blue color” they are seeking is merely an optical fantasy. Now, with the development of technology, there are so many artificial blue materials that we can use as replacements, the meaning and the value of kingfishers’ feather has already changed. So, what are people looking for? Are they just seeking nothingness?
Additionally, because of the fragility of feathers and the aging of glue, these objects are impermanent. Most of the high-quality Tian Tsui we can see in museums come from Ming and Tsing Dynasty, while the use of kingfisher feathers in adornment has existed for more than one thousand years. Although archaeologists find there are documents and portraits which can prove the use of kingfisher feathers on jewelry in the Song Dynasty, we have not found any real Tian Tsui objects from that era.
Today, when the makers start to talk about Tian Tsui jewelry again, the value of real feathers has already changed. People's desire shifted from the blue material and the characteristic of the material itself, to the history that they are carrying, and the value of wild animals.
The Witness
One reason people claim the kingfisher population is not impacted by the jewelry industry, is that many kingfishers are not endangered species. Tian Tsui craft has been created in China for almost 2,000 years, and kingfishers still live in our world, so why do we have to protect them from being used for kingfisher feather jewelry?
Also, in other places of the world, bird feathers are the most popular material we can see when humans are using birds as adornment. War bonnets made by indigenous peoples of America are made of eagle feathers, because they consider the eagles as the most powerful birds in the world, and only people with high social position are able to wear those bonnets.
Traditional Hawaiian culture used feathers from five kinds of birds to make cloaks. In New Guinea, feathers from birds of paradise are still used for body adornment. The light, colorful and natural materials sourced from birds attract humans from all around the world. From the North Song Dynasty book *Taiping Yulan* there was a metaphor “the Tsui (kingfisher) meets with calamity for their feathers; The shells break for their pearls”. It clearly shows us the fact that from very ancient times the “value” of a kingfisher was the feather. However, just from the feathers, it is difficult to comprehend how many birds are affected or even killed for ornament.
It is our nature to seek something precious and beautiful, but when there are lives lost, should we show our respect for them? Humans take beautiful parts of birds, and the remaining parts will be considered to have no value. In my opinion, all lives should be respected, there is no part of the whole that is not valuable. So, in my second series, I chose to use birds’ feet as my reference material.
Compared with feathers or heads, birds’ feet can be an inconspicuous part of the body, but actually, feet are one of the most important organs for animals. For humans, feet help to carry our bodies to a different place, they help us to stand on the earth. However, bird feet are a little different. Besides being used for standing on the ground, birds’ feet sometimes can also help them to hold things like branches, rocks or even food, functioning like our hands. Feet are such important organs for birds, however, people ignore them, and even abandon them after taking away the beautiful feathers. Noticing those inconspicuous parts ---- this is the reason why I chose to use birds’ feet. There will be organs that we may think don’t look pretty, but they are still an indispensable part of the body. It is unfair to consider birds just as “the source of beautiful feathers”, we, humans, need to see them as a complete life, and then understand that they are an equal creature with us, sharing this earth.
Wreaths are considered to originate from ancient Europe. At first, they are used as head adornment in ceremonial occasions, and they are usually made with flowers, leaves or Laurus Nobilis branches. Today, in many countries, wreaths made by fresh flowers are used in funerals. And I made them become pendant so that the wearer can hold the piece carefully in their hands and feel it.
The Witness
2019
Aluminum, ribbon
Pendant
The image shows two decorative items, one on the left and one on the right. Both items appear to be made from ribbons or similar materials and are designed with a floral or wreath-like structure.
- **Left Item**: This item is predominantly silver in color and features a circular base with multiple layers of ribbon or fabric extending outward, resembling petals or leaves. The ribbons are arranged in a way that gives the appearance of a flower or a wreath.
- **Right Item**: This item is black in color and has a similar circular base with multiple layers of ribbon or fabric extending outward. The ribbons are arranged in a way that also resembles petals or leaves, giving the appearance of a flower or a wreath. There is a bow at the center of this item, adding to its decorative appeal.
Both items are set against a plain white background, which helps to highlight their intricate designs and colors.
49
50
51
53
Tying
It is necessary to refer back to the original resources. However, I don’t consider it as a formal foothold; it is a way to dissect the subject—a careful, sensory working process with the truth of violence and hunting, and then creating my pieces with a different emotion with it. Then, tying becomes the primary method to make my jewelry, which I use soft cords to connect small pieces together. In Tian Tsui’s making process, those fragments of feathers are attached on the base carefully, little by little. I feel this action attracts me to think more about the emotion of working with animal parts, creation, and killing. Therefore, I decided to add this soft moment into my working process after those violent actions, like cutting and bending.
I create my kingfisher’s body fragments and carefully tie them together. I put the sadness of loss and mourning into this long term, and repeated process. The corpse fragments set in the bundle, I make them become wreaths and bouquets.
In this group of pieces, I want to provide the wearer more direct experience with the subject by wearing this jewelry. Their structure is transformed from a hair pin. When a hairpin is worn on the head, the hair and hairpin are physically holding each other. Instead of using the hair to wrap the pin, I relocate it on the neck—one of the most important places for the human body, then use this piece to wrap on the neck. Also, the pin no longer goes through the hair, but goes through the bundle of “bird body”. By the action of wearing these pieces, we experience the violence by our hands, and finally hold the small bodies in our palm.
A Kingfisher Hairpin
2020
Aluminum, printed plastic, silk thread
Hair piece
A Kingfisher Hairpin - 02
2020
Printed felt, silk thread, brass
Neck piece
63
64
A Kingfisher Hairpin - 03
2020
Printed plastic disc, silk thread, brass
Neck piece
Conclusion
Souvenir for the Future
My work originates from some images. After I came to a new place, I started to feel the slight sentiments that I had not realized before. During my work process, I traced back to the same day, the same bird, the same group of images again and again. I feel like emotionally I become closer and closer to that common kingfisher, while some memories gradually become blurred. Even when some of my works do not use it obviously, all my works from this series took something from that day’s photographs. I am making a link—a link about sensory experience between that creature and me, and here the lines become more and more, longer and longer. With this connection, what I am making is not only my wishes to another species, but also a souvenir for an old friend that I know.
Individuals’ life and culture, neither of them can ever last permanently, but the speed of lives’ loss is too fast today. There are still animals and plants disappeared in silence somewhere in the world. Sometimes, the lost about other species’ pain comes from the lack of experience—the experience of being in that environment and sense, and I am sharing my experience by making them jewelry to the audience. Including cutting, wrapping, tying, these actions between the body and my jewelry convey my experience to the others, they can feel the broken life in their hands. With these experiences, I want to see us with more tenderness to the lives around us, and escape from hierarchies between species.
Their feathers do not protect them well from the cold, rain or snow. I am afraid that they’ll get sick, I take a lot of precautions.
—Annette Messager, *Annette Messager: Word for Word*
Acknowledgements
Special Thanks to
My supportive thesis committee,
Timothy Veske-McMahon, Lauren Fensterstock and Maya Krinsky
My dearest mom and dad
Tracy Steepy, Seth Papac, Lori Talcott, Noam Elyashiv, Brian Bergeron,
Barbara Seidenath, Johan van Aswegen, Anne West, Nancy Friese
Xiaoran Liu, Yulin Long, Jianan Gu,
Hannah Oatman, Steven Kaplan-Pistiner
Valerie James, Zhiqing Guo, Jiayi Lao, Cathryn Jasterzbski
Danni Xu, Diya Wang, Haotian Yang, Qin Xu, Talya Kantro, Yue Jiang
Endnotes
1 Xu, Shen. *Shuowen Jiezi (Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters, With Illustrations, 4 Volumes) (Chinese Edition).* Wikisource, Chapter 4, 11. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E8%AA%AA%E6%96%B7%E8%A7%A3%E5%AD%97/04/#%E7%BE%BDD%E9%83%A8
2 Ursula Ilse-Neuman, *Multiple Exposures: Jewelry and Photography.* Officina Libraria (Acc), 2014, 14.
3 Abram, David. *The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World.* Vintage, 1997, 48.
4 Abram, David. *The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World.* Vintage, 1997, 48.
5 BASF, "1865-1901," https://www.bASF.com/ca/en/who-we-are/history/1865-1901.html. BASF is a company whose broad portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. In 1876, their first head of research, chemist Heinrich Caro, succeeds in synthesizing a pure blue dye for cotton – methylene blue.
6 Kai Kupferschmidt. “Meet the Blue Crew, Scientists Trying to Give Food, Flowers, and More a Color Rarely Found in Nature.” *SCIENCE*, May 2, 2019. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/05/meet-blue-crew-scientists-trying-give-food-flowers-and-more-color-rarely-found-nature#.
List of images
Fig. 1. *P2.*
Artist Unknown. *Chinese Kingfisher Wedding Headdress.* Mid-to late 1800s. feather, silk, cloisonné, metal, 15.9 x 26.7 cm., RISD Museum. https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/collection/kingfisher-wedding-headdress-dianzi-440481?recura=%2Fart-design%2Fcollection%3Fsearch_api_fulltext%3Dkingfisher.
Fig. 2. *P10.*
Yu, Sheng, and Weibang Zhang. *Southern Kingfisher from Album of Bird categories.* Tsing Dynasty. Chinese painting pigment on silk. Forbidden City Magazine, May 2018, 57.
Fig. 3. *P13.*
Peters, Ruudt, *Tree,* 2011. Internet image, aluminum, polyester, 27.3 x 14 x 1.6 cm., in Decker, Aaron, and Marina Elenskaya, Ruudt Peters: Source / Bron. Arnoldsche Verlagsanstalt, 2017.
Fig. 4. *P15.*
Artist Unknown. *Tian Tsui hair pin with Flowers and Bird,* Tsing Dynasty. Kingfisher feather, metal. Kingfisher feather, The Palace Museum.
Fig. 5. *P16.*
Artist Unknown. *Brooch with Eye Miniature,* ca. 1845. Watercolor on ivory, gold, pearls, rock crystal. 2.2 x 2.5 cm., Collection of Cathy Gordon.
Fig. 6. *P18.*
B. Brady, Mathew. *Miniature Wedding Album of General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren (pendant),* ca. 1863. Albumen silver prints, brass, 2.7 x 2.0 x 1.0 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/282753
Fig. 7. *P22.*
Descouens, Didier. *Morpho didius Male Dos MHNT,* June 6, 2011. Wikimedia Common accessed May 15, 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Morpho_didius_Male_Dos_MHNT.jpg
Fig. 8. *P35.*
Artist Unknown. *Chinese silver longevity lock,* Tsing Dynasty. Silver, Accessed October 19, 2010. http://news.99ys.com/news/2010/1019/26_48902_2.shtml
Fig. 9. *P40.*
Artist Unknown. *News of illegal kingfisher trade that 222 White breast kingfisher corpses were found by Shenzhen, Luohu customs.* Accessed on June 18, 2019. http://shenzhen.news.163.com/19/0618/16/EHVH3JQT04178D6R.html#
Fig. 10. *P42.*
Collins Tudor Washington. *View of a Funeral Wreath.* Circa 1940s. Photograph. Wikimedia Common accessed January 14, 2018. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_a_funeral_wreath_(AM_79301-1).jpg
Bibliography
1. Ilse-Neuman, Ursula. *Multiple Exposures: Jewelry and Photography*. Officina Libraria (Acc), 2014.
2. Abram, David. *The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World*. Vintage, 1997.
3. Abram, David. *Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology*. Vintage, 2011.
4. Kupferschmidt, Kai. “Meet the Blue Crew, Scientists Trying to Give Food, Flowers, and More a Color Rarely Found in Nature.” *SCIENCE*, May 2, 2019.
5. Green, David and Joanna Lowry. *Stillness and Time: Photography and the Moving Imag*. Photoworks, 2005.
6. Jackson, Beverley. *Kingfisher Blue: Treasures of an Ancient Chinese Art*. Ten Speed Press, 2001.
7. Messager, Annette, and Marie-Laure Bernadac. *Annette Messager: Word for Word*. Distributed Art Publishers, 2006.
8. Frank, Robin Jaffee and New Haven Yale University. “Love and Loss: American Portrait and Mourning Miniatures.” *Love and Loss: American Portrait and Mourning Miniatures*. Yale University Press, 2000.
9. Wu, Jiang-Ping, Ying Peng, Hui Zhi, Si-Kang Wu, Xiao-Yun Chen, Yan-Hong Zeng, Xiao-Jun Luo, and Bi-Xian Mai. “Contaminant-Related Oxidative Distress in Common Kingfisher (*Alcedo Atthis*) Breeding at an e-Waste Site in South China.” *ScienceDirect*, 2019.
10. Decker, Aaron, and Marina Elenskaya. *Ruudt Peters: Source / Bron*. Arnoldsche Verlagsanstalt, 2017. | eb6b560b-7e4b-4b58-8c47-b03e395080bb | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1558&context=masterstheses | 2021-08-05T01:51:03+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046155268.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20210805000836-20210805030836-00074.warc.gz | 215,211,841 | 8,598 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.926846 | eng_Latn | 0.997277 | [
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Welcome to ...
Online Safety for Parents
Education Child Protection Ltd.
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What children are taught about Online Safety
CEOP
A National Crime Agency command
www.ceop.police.uk
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command
REPORT ABUSE
Reporting mechanism for CHILDREN...
Welcome to Thinkuknow
Thinkuknow is the education programme from NCA-CEOP, a UK organisation which protects children from abuse online and offline. Explore one of the six Thinkuknow websites for advice about staying safe when you’re on a mobile phone or computer.
Soon to say 4-7
5-7?
8-10?
11-13?
14+?
Parent/Carer?
Children’s workforce?
When should I report to CEOP?
Someone... online is putting pressure on me to do things I don’t want to do
Someone... online keeps asking me to meet them face-to-face & I feel pressured by them
Someone... I don’t know is asking me to live-stream & do things I don’t want to do
Someone... I met in an online game keeps trying to talk to me privately
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Tell Someone
Laughing Cat
What Does Your Selfie Say?
Jigsaw
Keeping ourselves safe...
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Keep your personal information private
Never give out your Top Secrets
Name
Age
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Keeping ourselves safe...
BE KIND
Be kind to your online friends, like you would in the playground at school
If you get stuck, or if you see or something makes you feel sad or scared, always tell a trusted adult
Keeping ourselves safe...
TRUSTED ADULTS
Who could you talk to?
Keeping ourselves safe...
ASK FIRST
Check with an adult at home before you visit a new site, game or app.
Digital Resilience
Digital resilience refers to the emotional resources needed to:
1. Understand when you are at risk online
2. Know what to do to seek help
3. Learn from experience
4. Recover when things go wrong
Latest trends of what children are doing online
Online Games...
Advice for parents on Roblox...
Check the privacy settings on your child’s account....
Set up time limits on how long they spend playing
How old is the person playing Roblox?
They could be anyone...
Online Games...
Some games are more complicated & STRATEGIC...
70% of British parents ignore age-ratings on games
(Pegi rating system)
PEGI (Pan European Game Information) is a system of age-rating and labelling games, which includes descriptions to indicate the main reasons why a game has received a particular age rating:
- **Gore**
- Game may be frightening or scary for young children
- **Gambling**
- Game contains elements of chance or speech gambling
- **Sex**
- Game depicts nudity and/or sexual content in words or visual references
- **Violence**
- Game contains depictions of violence
- **Online gameplay**
- Games can be played online
Very strong violence
Frequent strong/very strong language
Strong portrayal of sexual activity
Scenes of strong sexual violence
Strong horror
Strong blood and gore
Real sex
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Discriminatory language or behaviour
Biggest computer game in the world right now is...
FORTNITE
200 million+ downloads
So what is it...?
Fortnite is an online shooter that starts with 100 players and leaves one winner standing. Battle Royale sees 100 players parachute onto an island, and the last player alive wins. Each game lasts about 20 minutes.
It has a PEGI rating of 12, for ‘frequent scenes of mild violence’
The game is violent – it is a battle to the death, after all – but the violence is rather cartoon-like - it isn’t bloody or particularly gory
National Crime Agency...
...has warned Fortnite is putting children at risk from online paedophiles due to the chat facility.
Although the game itself seems pretty harmless, players can talk and type whatever they want to each other, and bad language is rampant.
March 2018, a mother from Merseyside told how she intervened when her 12-year-old son was offered £50 to perform “sex acts” while playing the game by a man grooming him online.
Advice for parents on Fortnite...
Be aware that there is mild violence - PEGI rating of 12
Monitor who your child is talking to - check the communication settings
Set up passwords on bank cards - lots of game purchase options
Set up time limits on how long they spend playing...
Children hooked on addictive video games like Fortnite will be able to seek treatment on the NHS, after video gaming is classified as a medical disorder by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The move comes amid increasing evidence of young players suffering psychological distress and family breakdown as a result of their addiction.
The next one in-line, thought that it could maybe overtake Fortnite...
APEX LEGENDS
For PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and Origin™ on PC.
PEGI RATING OF 16
Gaming Buzzwords …
1337
Represents letters LEET Which means ‘Elite’ level
Respawn
When a character reappears after being killed
Noob
Newbie to the game (insult) n00b / Noobie / Newb
PWN
To ‘own’ someone in a game, or render them helpless
Above are some of the most commonly used phrases by avid gamers
SOCIAL MEDIA
Generation Internet….
21% 3-4s have their own tablet
24% 8-11 have a social media account
87% 12-15 have a social media account
Average number of ‘likes’ to make a child feel happy - 52
Did you know…
Top Trending…
TikTok
TikTok is a global video community powered by music. Whether it’s dance, freestyle performance, creators are encouraged to let their imagination run wild.
Snapchat
Snapchat lets you send a photo or short video to your friends. The ‘snaps’ appear on screen for a matter of seconds before disappearing.
Instagram
Instagram is a picture and video sharing app where you can post content and use hashtags to share experiences or memories with an online community.
Top Trending…
WhatsApp
WhatsApp is an instant messaging app which lets you send instant messages, images and videos to friends.
Houseparty
A group video chat app. When you open your friends are in the app at the same time. You’ll see each other instantly. One tap and you’re in.
Twitch
Twitch is a live video game streaming site. You can watch gameplay of games being played by other people. You can also live stream your own games.
Discord
Discord is the only cross-platform voice and text chat app created specifically for gamers. It’s perfect for chatting with team members and seeing who is playing online.
Live Streaming Apps...
Police say abusers thrive on the immediacy these live platforms offer -
Targeting children with
- tricks
- dares
- Threats
to manipulate them into nudity or sexual acts
http://parents-guide.yubo.live/
Your one-minute guide to staying safer on Yubo
Did you know?
Our five-step approach to user safety
Three things to do right now
Talk
Encourage
Reassure
More than 30 cases of child rape have been investigated by police, plus a further 60 instances of child sex offences - including grooming, kidnapping and violent assault - through online dating apps
The youngest victim was eight years old
Most Concerning...
Kik is an instant messaging app which lets you share messages, photos, games and news, or organise events.
Yubo allows you to meet new people around the world. Make new friends, meet new people next to you, left to right. Just like Tinder, but two people like each others pictures they can chat privately!
Send Safe Message - Self Destructing
Send Safe is a free service which allows you to send a message or photo via popular apps...that Disappears after seen once.
Monkey Talk to Strangers Facetime strangers from anywhere. Monkey profiles can be created and viewed by anyone in your tree. *Send a friend request if you're feeling their vibes.*
Secret Calculator
Calculator hides photos, contacts and address behind a calculator. If you find a passcode it will open up a private area. Able to browse photos without the history being saved.
Advice for parents on Apps...
1. Use a strong password
2. Use an alias and avoid personal pictures
3. Don't use your date of birth and other personal information
4. Show your child how to block and report
5. Change settings to private
6. Consider the minimum age
7. Don't accept friend requests from strangers
8. Switch off location services
9. Tell them to think where they post
Using social networking sites, it is so important that we use privacy settings to keep ourselves, and our information, safe!
So how do we do it...?
Are you living an ‘Insta Lie’?
The issues and dangers children face online
GROOMING
How do offenders engage youngsters?
- by using the sites that they use
Often posing as a child of the same age / gender.
They will often purposefully present a very similar profile as the child.
They are skilled at manipulating them into criminal sexual relationships.
Online grooming: The five stages
Friendship
Flattering a child into talking in a private chatroom/game where they will be isolated.
The child will often be asked for a non-sexual picture of themselves.
Forming a relationship
Gaining information
asking the child what problems /needs they have to create the illusion of being their best friend and that they can help.
They begin to fill the needs of the child.
Risk assessment
Asking the child about the location of their computer/tablet and who else has access to it
in order to assess the risk of being detected. The desire is to create situations where they are alone together to help reinforce a special connection.
Exclusivity
Building up a sense of mutual love and trust with the child suggesting that they can discuss "anything".
Sex talk / Meet
Engaging the child in explicit conversations & requesting sexually explicit pictures from them.
At this stage the predator will usually try to arrange a meeting with the child.
31st October 2015
Luke Harlow ‘adds’ Kayleigh Haywood on Facebook.
November 13th
she meets Luke Harlow at his home.
November 15th
Kayleigh is declared missing by her family
Breck Bednar murder: Lewis Daynes sentenced to life in prison
A teenager has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a 14-year-old boy he met through online gaming.
What is cyberbullying?
...any form of bullying that is carried out through the use of...
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying......
Catfishing
Cyberstalking
Dissing
Exclusion
Flaming
Griefing
Harassment
Swatting
Outing
Roasting
Trolling
Doxing
Cyberstalking
Using the Internet to stalk or harass
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying……
Catfishing
Pretending to be someone you’re not online.
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying……
All these terms refer to …
Harassment
Flaming
Trolling
Roasting
…making nasty comments online
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying……
Dissing
speak disrespectfully to somebody
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying……
Flaming
making pointless or hurtful messages
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying……
Harassment
The act of bullying somebody based on their sexuality, race, religion, size etc.
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying……
Trolling
Deliberate act of making controversial comments on an internet forum with the intent to provoke a reaction
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying……
**Roasting**
Being ‘tactfully mean’ or poking fun at someone
---
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying……
**Exclusion**
Individuals are systematically blocked from games or gaming teams
---
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying……
**Griefing**
Purposefully ‘killing’ your teammates in an online game
---
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying……
**Outing**
Disclosing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity
---
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying……
**Doxing**
Maliciously revealing someone else’s personal information
Cyberbullying terms
You’ll hear various different words used in the context of cyberbullying….
Swatting
Is where someone finds your home address through your IP address and then calls the police
Tips for dealing with Cyberbullying!
S-Start
T-Telling
O-Other
P-People
Report
Save the evidence
Don’t respond
Block the bully
Be aware of what you share
Spotting the signs…
Being upset after using their phone or laptop
Difficulty sleeping
Lacking confidence or self-esteem
Being secretive about their online activities spending more or less time than usual online
Avoiding social situations
Becoming increasingly withdrawn, upset or angry
Not wanting to go to school
What should I do if my child is being bullied online?
Stay calm
Listen without judging
Praise them for talking to you
Tell them you can help
Ask them not to reply
Block the bullies
Keep the evidence
Report information to your child’s school.
When people talk about sexting, they usually mean sending & receiving…
Naked pictures or ‘nudes’…
…‘underwear shots’…
…sexual or ‘dirty pics’…
…rude text messages or videos.
Why do children send inappropriate images / videos?
There are many reasons why a young person may want to send a naked/semi-naked picture, video or message to someone else...
A joining in because they think that ‘everyone is doing it’
B boosting their self-esteem
C flirting with others and testing their sexual identity exploring their sexual feelings
D to get attention and connect with new people on social media
E they may find it difficult to say ‘no’ if somebody asks them for an explicit image, especially if the person asking is persistent
Blackmail, bullying and harm
Blackmail
The different types of blackmail include threats to share private images, or to share images that have been stolen.
Bullying
Groups are aware of the image and use it to bully and harass the victim.
Sexting
can leave young people vulnerable to...
Emotional distress
If a young person is bullied by someone they know, it can lead to emotional distress.
Desired attention
If a young person is bullied by someone they don’t know, it can lead to a desire for attention.
THE LAW...
Protection of Children Act 1978
Makes it an offence to take, make, show, distribute, possess (with a view to distribute) or publish an advertisement with an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child under the age of 18.
Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 section 33
Makes it an offence to share private sexual photographs or films with the intent to cause distress.
Criminal Justice Act 1988 part XI
Makes it an offence to possess indecent images of children.
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Lists sexual offences and their definitions. If an image being shared is of a sexual act, police must find out whether a sexual offence has been committed and act accordingly.
Advice to children
Once you send a message you can’t control what happens to it. Don’t let someone guilt or pressure you into sending it.
If you’ve sent a nude pic, have an honest conversation with the person you sent it to. Ask them to delete it.
If an indecent or nude pic of you is posted online, you can contact the website directly or make a report online to try and get it removed.
“ZIPIT”
• Find out how to deal with a sexting crisis
• Support and advice of what to do next
• Use ChildLine and IWF to remove images online
• Call ChildLine or save the number to your phone
Police have only recently started filing crime reports about sexting...
If school choose to take an incident to the police, then officers must record the crime.
How we can make children safer online
Initial advice...
Use tools to help you reinforce time spent online
Set the tone for your child’s internet use ASAP
Have a family agreement / contract
Making things safer...
Examples
We agree to...
- I will not let my child use the internet more than 1 hour a day
- I will make sure the children’s electronic games are bookmarked for their age group
- I will not allow my child to have a mobile phone
Suggested ideas for an agreement with pre-school children.
We agree to...
- I will not allow my child to be researching any adult websites and that I will delete anything that is inappropriate from people I know
- I won’t post photos of our children without their permission
Who is responsible for this?
- Anna and Paul
Who is responsible for this?
- Tom and Ella
Who is responsible for this?
- Anna and Paul
Our Family Mobile Contract
The Parent/ Guardian agrees to the following Family Mobile Agreement
The Child agrees to the following Family Mobile Agreement
Responsible Usage
- I will not allow my child to use the internet for more than 1 hour a day
- I will not allow my child to use the internet for more than 1 hour a day
- I will not allow my child to use the internet for more than 1 hour a day
Safety
- I will not allow my child to use the internet for more than 1 hour a day
- I will not allow my child to use the internet for more than 1 hour a day
- I will not allow my child to use the internet for more than 1 hour a day
Communication
- I will not allow my child to use the internet for more than 1 hour a day
- I will not allow my child to use the internet for more than 1 hour a day
- I will not allow my child to use the internet for more than 1 hour a day
Making things safer...
UK Chief Medical Officers’ advice for parents and carers on Children and Young People’s screen and social media use
Technology can be a wonderful thing but too much time sitting down or using mobile devices can get in the way of important things like sleep, exercise and socialising. Here are some tips to help keep your children safe:
Sleep matters
- Making enough good quality sleep is important for children’s health and wellbeing. It’s also important to both the parent and the child.
Education matters
- Make sure you and your children are aware of the internet safety policy at school.
Safety when out and about!
- Always children out and about so they know what to do if they see something that worries them.
Family time together
- Spend time together as a family. This can be done by playing games, watching TV or doing activities together.
Sharing sensibly
- Be careful about sharing personal information online and how photos go around on social media. Be aware of who you are sharing photos with and photos to be shared. For everyone to be safe, be careful about what you share.
Keep moving!
- Encourage children to be active either in sports or through playing games. This can be done indoors or outdoors. Keep up with your own physical activity!
Talking helps
- Talk to your children about cyberbullying and what they are seeing. It is important to talk to your children about what they are seeing and what they are doing. It is important to talk to your children about what they are seeing and what they are doing.
Use helpful phone features
- Use the settings on your phone to block unwanted content. You can also use the settings to block apps that are not suitable for children.
Videos on YouTube that seem to be the favourite cartoons of children – but are not.
“Peppa does a lot of screaming and crying and the dentist is just a bit sadistic and it’s just way, way off what a three-year-old should watch” said one Mother.
Safer watching
www.kids.youtube.com
Dive into a world of discovery, learning and fun
YouTube Kids gives your family an easy way to watch their favourite programmes or explore anything that interests them. It’s completely free, simple to use and full of family-friendly videos.
Safer searching
www.kids-search.com
The Kids Search, search engine is highly sensitive
We always recommend a child should have their own user login. Filters should be set to the highest the provider can offer.
Making things safer on Apple ‘Family Sharing’
Before your children can make a purchase, they must ask your permission.
Screen Time
Turn on Screen Time
1. On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings > Screen Time.
2. Tap Turn On Screen Time.
3. Tap Continue.
4. Select a date (e.g. January 10) for 9:00 AM (09:00 AM).
You can now get a report about how you use your device, apps, and websites, any time you want.
If it’s your child’s device, you can set up Screen Time and create settings right on their device or you can use Family Sharing to configure your child’s device from your own device. After you set up your child’s device, you can also use Family Sharing to view reports and adjust settings any time, right from your own device.
Making things safer on Google ‘Family Link’...
Keep an eye on screen time
Set limits
Look their device
Whether it’s time to go play outside, have dinner, or just spend time together, you can remotely lock a device whenever it’s time to take a break.
Designed to solve parents’ concerns
Qustodio gives parents visibility, and creates daily opportunities to talk with kids about their online experiences.
Block Inappropriate Content
Our smart filters block inappropriate content even in private browsing mode.
Balance Screen Time
Easily limit your child's screen time across all their devices.
Monitor Calls & Texts
See who calls and texts, read SMS messages, and set a list of blocked contacts.
Control Games and Apps
Set time limits for games & apps or block apps you don’t want your child to use altogether.
Monitor Social Networks
Monitor time spent on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and more.
View Activity Tracking and Panic Alerts
Track your child’s location, or in an emergency your child can send you Panic Alerts.
Helpful sites for Parents & Carers
NSPCC Net Aware
www.net-aware.org.uk
Your guide to the social networks your kids use
Stay up to date and keep your child safe in today’s digital world
Allows parents and carers to search for apps, games and sites if they have a concern or need more information
Parent Zone have very useful magazines for parents - Digital Parenting - can read whole catalogue on their website
Parent Zone and CEOP have joined forces to create Parent Info
How to set parental controls
4 Select your protection level in each category to suit your family needs.
Privacy & online safety
The gamepads below show the people in your Xbox family. To change someone’s privacy and online safety settings, click on their picture. You can choose to allow or block all of the children in the family, or change the settings for all of the children in the family, but children can only see and not edit their own settings. Parents (or anyone who edits settings) first will need to log in and change the user name to make edits.
5 See other people's Xbox Live profiles (Xbox 360 Profile Viewing)
Choose to allow or block seeing other users’ Xbox Live profiles and achievements from an Xbox One. If allowed, you can view other users’ Xbox Live profile history and achievements. It can also mention any friends you have in common with them, when you may find yourself in the same situation.
10 You can now place restrictions on your child’s use of the PlayStation Network (There is a separate guide addressing parental controls for the PlayStation Network). Select the restrictions you would like to apply and then select “Confirm”, “OK” and then on the next screen “Accept”.
Parental Controls
11 You have now created your child’s sub-account and they will be linked to your account as a family member. You can alter the restrictions placed on your child’s account at any time via your account.
Making things safer….
FREE Help with setting up parental controls, adjust privacy settings or advice on social networks
Talk to experts from O2 & NSPCC 0808 800 5002
Remember:
• A digital footprint isn’t just what your child shares, it’s also what is shared and said about them - remember this when posting about them
• For some children, an online presence may put them at risk. In these cases, privacy is important
Simple checklist for parents & carers:
I have visited www.thinkuknow.co.uk with my child (I have bookmarked the CEOP website and told my child what is there)
Open and honest dialogue - show an interest and learn about what your child does online
Stay in control as much as you can through parental filters, Family Sharing, and apps like Qustodio
Advertise yourself as one of the people your child can turn to - without being chastised...
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Ms. Manger’s Classroom
Language Arts
Students are working hard to fine tune their reading, writing, and word study skills. The students have been developing an understanding of characters, setting, plot, and theme. We have used our mentor text, *The Lemonade War*, in class. The students have then applied these skills to their independent book. In writing, the students are finishing up their Narrative Writing pieces, narrowing down that small moment story. The students are revising and editing their narratives by crafting powerful leads and endings. In word study, the students are working on patterns and features to meet their needs as spelling investigators. Students are given class time to begin their spelling work/homework. They are encouraged to review their words and sorts each night.
Social Studies
In Social Studies class, the students have been discovering who the first Americans were, the journey they took from Asia (migration), and how the environment affected and impacted the Native American culture groups and the regions they lived in.
Throughout our unit of study, the students have used the Nystrom Map program, where they fine-tuned their geography and map skills. This past week, the students presented their Native American Culture Group projects to their peers. The students researched the history, geography, technology, culture, and government. Ask your child to show you their amazing work!
With our science curriculum, the students research, investigate, and observe everything around them. In class, the students formulate questions to research. Our first unit of study in 5th grade is called Earth Systems and Human Activity. The students are studying how gravity affects us and everything around us. Students devised and completed experiments to further their knowledge of gravity.
In Language Arts, we have started our first book clubs to help us work on our comprehension skills. We are continuing to work on our unit on stretching sentences to make complex sentences. We have been having fun on our Fun Food Fridays learning how to read recipes, sequence recipes and make the recipe. Finally, we are working on mastering spelling sight words and using them in sentences.
In Social Studies, we have been working hard to learn about the various regions of the United States of America. We are also working on locating and naming the 50 states.
In Science, our class is working on learning how to measure height, weight, capacity and length. We are learning how to measure various items using various methods.
It is so hard to believe that we are already in the middle of our first trimester! This school year is just flying by before our eyes! Our 4th, 5th & 6th graders have been working very hard to complete all of the school work and stay focused as Halloween approaches! From Science to Math, Language Arts to Social Studies, our 4th, 5th & 6th graders have been learning and exploring all day.
Please keep an eye out for some of our upcoming events in the district. November 5th & 6th are single session days. There is no school November 7th, 8th & 9th. Parent/Teacher conferences will be on November 5th (1 pm to 3:30 pm) & 7th (1 pm- 8 pm). Please reach out to your homeroom parent and/or homeroom teacher to see when our Holiday Parties will be!
Math
We are continuing to learn about operations & algebraic thinking. We are learning how to read a menu, add values of money, and subtract values of money. We are also working on:
• Multiplying multi-digit numbers (and checking our work using a calculator)
• Subtraction using regrouping
• Solving one-step and two-step word problems using subtraction or addition.
We have been working hard to master these skills using practice and manipulative.
We have been using various technology programs to help us with our learning as well! In particular, we love to practice our skills on Front Row, Sumdog, and Math Playground.
If you would like more websites to practice various skills on differentiated levels, feel free to look on my website https://sites.google.com/a/branchburg.k12.nj.us/johnston/.
September has flown by and I’m still getting to know our new 4th graders. I can’t believe how our 5th graders have grown!
The art room is full of activity! The 4th graders are in the process of creating geometric and organic shapes. The shapes will be pasted onto a colored ground to construct a collage. Henri Matisse is our inspiration for this assignment.
The 5th graders are finishing their color wheels, and color theory exercises. We will be using this knowledge, and these skills for various assignments throughout the year.
The open art period during both lunch and recess periods are hustling and bustling with activity! The children are weaving, working in clay, doing origami and drawing!
I would also like to extend special, “Thank You and Congratulations,” to the following students for allowing me to hold on to their art work. The art was displayed at the District Office throughout the year. Thank you: Katharine, Madison, Delaney, Anna, Ceanan, Gabriela, and Kiera.
That’s it for now. I hope all of you have a Healthy and Happy Halloween!
Lifelong Teachers
By: Mr. Gottshalk
Several years ago, a veteran P.E. teacher retired from our district. He was a man of few words, a no-nonsense type, and his classes were always highly structured and organized. While this may not be the prototype for a 21st century educator, kids knew what the expectations were for Phys Ed, and many (but not all) of the kids ended up just a little bit more athletic and knowledgeable about health, fitness and sports because of him.
While on vacation in Florida, his family (and grandchild) visited an aquarium. Classes of elementary school students entered the aquarium, and it quickly became a noisier, busier place. His wife was terrified. Loud students! Everywhere! We don’t need any of this! Panic!
The retired P.E. teacher took it all in stride. After all, these were the ages of the students he used to teach. An inquisitive student asked a question about an animal in a tank, and our retired P.E. teacher explained the nuances of the creature’s habitat, and what made it best suited for survival.
His wife took a picture of the interaction and posted it on Facebook. “While XXXX was in his element, I was absolutely traumatized when all those kids came in the aquarium for their field trip. I guess once a teacher, always a teacher,” she wrote.
How true! I can’t re-post the photo here for several reasons, but if you could see how in the moment both teacher and students are, it speaks volumes about a lifelong commitment to teach others. It’s natural, it’s inherent, and it lasts in the best of us for as long as we are called to teach.
Although our retired teacher is over 70 years old now, the fact remains: we do what’s right for our kids in and out of the classroom, because teaching and learning doesn’t stop!
There’s a lot more that could be said about how teaching has changed so much over the years. The only constant in education (and life) is change. If nothing else, at its very core, extending yourself to help a child learn in a teachable moment is what it’s all about.
Fifth graders in Ms. Figel’s class are busy immersing themselves in the Next Generation Science Standards. Their first unit is on Earth’s Systems and Human Activity. Students developed questions to investigate the reason objects fall to the ground when we let go of them in their first lesson. Students then did research in order to answer their questions and to draw a model to begin to explain gravity. For one piece of their assessment, students worked in groups and used different objects to show an understanding of what goes up, must come down. Below are some of the students testing their ideas and collecting data.
In Math, students are working hard on using formulas to find area and volume. We are using the Powers of 10 to help us multiply larger numbers as well as beginning to use traditional multiplication. Students are using the area model and partial products model to check their answers.
In Social Studies, students learned about who The First Americans were. Students were placed into groups and did research on one of six Native American Culture groups. They immersed themselves into atlases, raised relief maps and textbooks to put together a presentation to teach the rest of the class about all the important information about their group. This was their first presentation in front of the entire class for fifth grade and they did a wonderful job!
“Mistakes Are Proof That We Are Trying!”
Dianne Litts 4th grade
This is a saying that is very commonly heard in Room C4 where students are getting the idea that making a mistake can be a good thing and can actually be a learning opportunity. Students are urged to make a “fabulous mistake” or an “awesome mistake” while they are working out their learning.
In fourth grade language arts, we are writing narrative stories, reading realistic fiction, keeping track of our reading with a log, posting ideas about our books, decoding unknown words, spelling tricky words correctly, and listening to and analyzing an amazing book called *The Tiger Rising* with themes of loss and unlikely friendships.
In math, we have reviewed and solidified a lot of basic concepts and are moving on to multiplication, geometry, and word problems. Our students are filling their brains with a mindset of growth! Learning to take a risk and make a mistake is actually how we learn the best sometimes.
If you stop by, you will also see our bulletin board with messages from the students reminding us of what is important in school and out: Be vigorous. Just be yourself. Don’t give up. Embrace challenges. Fail forward. Try something new. Be brave. Explore. Such good things to remember for all of us!
Fall News from the Music Room!
Students involved in band, orchestra and chorus are getting ready for the Winter Concert to be held on Tuesday, January 15, 2019 (snow date January 24th). Save the date for this event! The evening performance, for family and friends, will begin at 7:00 pm in the large gymnasium at BCMS. More information will be sent home with your musician and can also be found on our teacher websites. After school rehearsals will be in January and are very important to the success of our groups. The after school rehearsal is necessary for musicians to learn seating arrangements, chorus spacing and of course finalizing the music for the concert for all the ensemble groups.
Fifth grade instrumental music students are practicing each evening to develop stamina for correct posture, instrument positioning, fingers placement, embouchure formation, reading the notes & rhythms and creating musical sounds. Band and string musicians in the 5th grade have practiced over 5,140 minutes at home over the past six day cycle! Learning our instruments sometimes is not easy, and it takes perseverance to work through difficulties, but not giving up at the first sign of a struggle will be rewarding in the end. Perseverance, hard work and time management are lifelong skills we all need. We develop these skills in instrumental music.
Musicians working on music theory in band:
Completing music notation.
String Rehearsing
Violins Rehearsal
Learning from Mrs. Bontomase’s example.
The entire band rehearses twice per cycle on consecutive days (day 6 and then day 1). Students not only practice band music, but begin to understand how their individual part is important in the large ensemble.
Mrs. Maroon returning a student’s violin after demonstrating the proper technique for posture.
SBS Band Audio Clip
SBS Strings Audio Clip
Throughout this month, Mrs. Gallo and Mrs. McLaughlin are visiting 4th grade classrooms working on coping strategies for stress management. Students participated in a lesson defining what stress is and how it feels to be stressed. Students rotated through 9 stations each describing one effective coping skill. Students carried a paper IPAD while visiting each station and were encouraged to try each strategy. If students believed the strategy would work for them, they glued an “app” on their IPAD. Stations included practicing breathing, journal writing, connecting with others and many more! Students were enthusiastic about learning new strategies! It was a fun and interactive way to learn this important life skill! Each class will receive a follow up lesson to encourage the use of the strategies.
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Understanding brain development online course
Brains aren’t just born; they’re built over time. Nurturing and responsive relationships and safe environments are key to developing thriving brains.
About this course
This course was developed by Emerging Minds in partnership with the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) and the Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership (TQKP), and in collaboration with The University of Queensland’s Queensland Brain Institute (QBI). TQKP received philanthropic funding from the Paul Ramsay Foundation, the John Villiers Trust, Hand Heart Pocket, the Bryan Foundation, and the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation.
The experiences we have and the environments we live in directly shape our brains. Understanding how brains are built can help you to make a positive difference in the lives of children and families.
Just as a house needs a sturdy foundation, a brain needs a good base to support all future development. This course will introduce you to the interactions, relationships and environments that lay the foundation for healthy brain development. It will provide you with an increased awareness, knowledge and understanding of foundational concepts of neuroscience, including how positive development in the early years sets us up for a lifetime of learning, health and wellbeing.
This course explores neuroplasticity, the impacts of stress and trauma on brain development, and the important role of ‘serve and return’ interactions and executive functioning in supporting a child’s wellbeing. It also includes information on strategic framing, best practice and ‘what works examples’ to improve children’s mental health, development and wellbeing in your work context.
Why was this course developed?
Children’s brains are built through interactions with people, communities, systems and environments. And if thriving and healthy brains are built through relationships, then we all have a significant role to play in children’s development.
Put simply, we are all brain builders, and we have a responsibility to ensure that children are provided with opportunities that allow their brains to develop and thrive.
No matter the kind of service you work in, the learnings in this course will help you to support infants, children, adolescents and families to build resources for lifelong wellbeing.
How was this course developed?
This course draws on the latest research, clinical insights from academics and health and social service professionals, and the lived experience of child and family partners (parents).
Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone who interacts with children and families during their day-to-day service delivery. It will benefit practitioners across multiple sectors and systems including health, social and community services, justice, housing, and education. It will also be useful for professionals involved in management and leadership, policy making, strategic planning, quality improvement, and systems change.
The course is suitable for people with no prior understanding of neuroscience, along with those looking to increase their knowledge of the research and best practice.
What is included in the course?
This course features reading materials, reflective activities, and video interviews with researchers, practitioners and parents.
Visit our web hub today!
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15 Ways To Make Learning More Student-Centered
A Crowdsourced Anthology of Strategies from Real Education Professionals
A Word From the Editors
Student-centered learning repositions students from passive participants in their education, to owners of knowledge who are active participants in their own discovery process. What students learn, how they learn it, and how they’re assessed on what they’ve learned are all directly linked to students’ needs, abilities, and preferences.
When students take responsibility for their own learning, their confidence and independence increase and they develop a love of lifelong learning. It’s a truly empowering experience. Fortunately, teachers all over the world are making the shift to student-centered learning. This transition requires implementing curriculum planning processes, assessment methods, strategic technology usage, and general pedagogy that support the student-centered approach.
We asked our community to share their best student-centered activities, strategies, and ideas.
This eBook is a compilation of crowdsourced responses from real education professionals around the country sharing their best tips to improve your students’ education experience and encourage them to own their learning.
As you read through this book, commit to exploring at least one these strategies further. Who knows, you may become the student-centered learning expert on your campus.
Self Paced Learning
With Schoology, I am able to make my lessons student-centered by developing self-paced units. When my students are learning how to use Google Docs, it is important for them to learn how to format text, insert pictures, comment and review their work, and more!
Students work at different paces, so to allow students to work at their own speed, I create video tutorials that walk students through the content they need to complete the challenge.
Using completion rules, students unlock the next challenge once they submit. Some students are working on challenge five while others are still on challenge two. That is okay!
I use this opportunity to review and help students who need extra help. If a student is breezing through, they will unlock bonus challenges or receive a badge specifically for guiding their peers and being the peer teacher! By creating my units in this fashion, I am allowing the students to work at their pace and unlock the opportunity to be a leader with their peers.
Curiosity Spaces
Just because final assessments must be standard in their measurements, doesn’t mean they have to be standard in their delivery.
When planning assessments consider designing your brief around a structure that allows the flow of curiosity and creativity. As long as a learner is encouraged to communicate the key criteria of an assessment to assure rigour, then by giving your learners the fresh air to consider how they want to deliver the outcome creatively you often find they go above and beyond to create a personalized understanding of the topic.
In previous years I have run a story development assignment, with the main aim of students demonstrating their understanding of specific narrative devices. By leaving a creative space and yet indicating the key criteria the students went wild. I had students complete the assignment by creating: interactive fiction books (choose your own adventure); simulated dialogue conversations, narrative topic card games, infographics, augmented reality posters. Some students played safe and wrote a report, however after seeing the project ideas and creativity other students put in the next assignment, many branched out and personalized their assessment delivery to allow for creativity.
Teach Me Project
I allow students to select their own topics during high-interest historical units. Then, they have time daily to research the topic and decide what’s most important to know, outline the information, create any type of presentation they would like (prezi, Google slides, PPT, Popplet, Infographic, Pictocharts, etc.) and present it to the class.
Some students “teach” the class for a time, ask students questions, and get them out of their seats to act an event out. They may do a simulation, or wrap it up with a quick check for understanding (Kahoot, Quizziz, Quizlet, etc.) and some even add a short video clip as well.
They have fun with it, learning and teaching at the same time.
These became a favorite activity for my students. I wasn’t dictating what they had to learn...they were making that determination. I would conference with them and make sure they were progressing and completing their goals. It was incredibly rewarding for both the teacher and student.
Increasing Engagement Through a Student’s Voice and Choice
In my role as the district Instructional Tech Coach, it is my job to model to teachers what we would like to see in their classrooms.
The most successful thing to date has been gamifying our PD course. By having teachers participate, they can see, from a student’s point of view, the impact of what having choices and a voice in this process feels like.
We had more participation in online PD than ever before. I believe there were several key factors.
1. Teachers had a choice in what kind of challenges they did, there were a lot of options.
2. Teachers were given small rewards along the way - even if it was just a note card with a message.
3. We made it fun! Teachers were completing activities that we had zero participation in before this challenge. Something about making it a “challenge” and part of the fun, changed everything. The best part of all is that several teachers are already planning to try it out in their class next year.
Structured Self-Paced Learning
In two of my classes (Office Applications for High School, and Effective Technology for Middle School), students are able and encouraged to work as quickly as they want. They have weekly deadlines, so they must complete a certain amount of work each week. But they may work ahead of that pace, and are rewarded with extra points if they do so. And if they complete the course early, they then have that class period to do whatever they would like to do (within reason).
This enables the students to decide how much time they want to spend on my class vs. spending time working on other classes or doing other activities. For example, if they are in athletics, I encourage them to work ahead before their season begins so they can use my class time later when they might need it for other class work. The point here is that the students can choose their pace, but still within the parameters of the course.
Student Choice is Key!
Sometimes when I assign a big project, summative assignment, or something really important, I will let kids have choices in how they turn in their final project. This allows my assignments and work to be more student-centered. For example, I can let my students play “project bingo” where students can look at a bingo sheet made by me, and must choose a “bingo line” of requirements to meet all the requirements of fulfilling that project.
For example, students can choose to write a one page report, include a multimedia component, and complete a short quiz to get credit for the bingo.
However, if other students are not fans of writing, maybe they could replace the report with a short digital video, or a poster. Letting students have choice in the classroom is a great way to ensure that you are getting better work turned in, and more enthusiastic work from the students.
Offering Various Levels of Mastery
In an instructional lesson on Google Docs, I have various levels of tasks that students can choose to complete based on their competency.
In this assignment, called the Google Doc Skills Challenge, students demonstrate that they can use Docs by creating a Google Doc in your BOWOW Google Drive folder, then completing objectives.
Students that are new to Docs could start with the “Basic” level, which would be simpler and more straightforward. Those who are more skilled would complete “Basic” plus “Intermediate” level work, and those who go above and beyond can do “Basic”, “Intermediate”, and “Advanced” level tasks.
Performance Reflection
I have students complete reflections on their own performance using the Google Drive Assignments feature, which makes learning much more student-centered.
First, I create a Google Doc template with specific directions and writing prompts and have the students complete it after a concert or an individual performance assessment. They reflect on their performance contemplating positive and negative aspects of our performance, areas where they have seen growth in their performance, and areas where improvement can still be made.
My goal is for the students to develop a metacognitive process which generates ideas for self improvement, ensemble improvement, and instructor improvement, while simultaneously developing the student’s ability to communicate fluently about music. As a music teacher, I have created a rubric which allows me to primarily focus their grade on the content of their thoughts, not the context of their writing. I utilize the thoughts the students share to influence my instructional priorities as we move through the course of the year.
Sharpening Communication Skills Through Socratic Seminars
I utilize Socratic Seminars in my courses as a way to discuss big issues and the culmination of each unit. Students are given anywhere from 5 to 10 open-ended discussion questions to prepare for prior to the seminar. This is a pre-seminar assignment available to them within Schoology.
Prior to the seminar, students must prepare their personal thoughts as well as evidence from various resources. During the seminar, I am solely an observer. Students sit in a circle or at a table and discuss each topic they were provided. They practice the art of listening as well as asking questions and responding to one another. Students are not allowed to speak over each other and must respect everyone in the group. The activity is completely student-centered and student-led. Students generally enjoy the experience and often ask to do more Socratic Seminars throughout the school year.
Pacing Guide and URQs
There are two things I do for each of my flipped History of Western Civilization classes to help make them more student-centered. First, I make all of the unit’s assignments available as soon as the unit starts—all of the readings, question sets, even the unit study guide. While due dates keep the students on pace with their classmates, completion rules keep them on track, but to allow them work as far ahead as they wish.
Second, I employ a set of open-ended questions for reading and video assignments. I call these my Universal Response Questions or URQs. 1) List two things they found that were interesting or important along with why they think so; 2) List two things they either did not understand or that they want to know more about; and 3) Make one connection from the material to past materials, modern society, their lives, or pop culture. These provide insights into what students’ feel is important, ideas of their background knowledge, and help them learn to apply the material to their lives.
Library Resources at Your Fingertips
I created a course for my library. I do not have classes with our 7-12 grade students. When I found students didn’t know what was available to them, I created a course in Schoology.
Schoology provides students a one stop place to find everything they need whenever they need it. Students can easily access databases that our school subscribes to, resources to help students during the research process, video updates of new books available for checkout, and video tutorials for apps. Students can also message me if they need additional assistance.
Nearpod Meets the Station Rotation Model
I love to use the station rotation model in my workshops and trainings. I set up 3-4 stations, with one being teacher-led. With all the materials for each station in Schoology, they are easy to locate.
In the teacher led station, I love to use Classkick or Nearpod so students are learning new content and get immediate feedback from me or peers. Using this feedback, it is easy to adjust and personalize the learning to meet all the unique needs. Another station pairs the in-class flip with an assessment. Students access the video from Schoology and work on an activity using the power of on-demand video to pause, rewind, and play again. After completing the activity, they take a short assessment in Schoology with multiple attempts available. They must achieve at least an 80% to move on.
Another station is reflection. Students create reflection videos where they can teach someone what they learned and share their reflection via a Schoology discussion so their peers can learn from them. The station rotation model is a powerful way to teach using technology as an integral part of students’ independent work in stations. Students shift from being passive learners to active learners. Schoology is integral to make this model of teaching a success!
Leveraging Self-Paced Learning to Harness Student Engagement
For things to become more student-centered, we have to be able to manipulate time. Time is the biggest differentiator when it comes to creating true student-centered, personalized learning. To do this, I leverage Schoology to create various units that put the onus on the student to be able to work at their own pace while mastering the necessary skills.
Everything is built on choice and need. Units open and close on respective days and students have as much time as needed in between to complete the chosen tasks that show mastery of the concept/skill.
To increase engagement, I have also gamified the course to include badges, leaderboards, awards, etc. I have now been doing the same thing for the past 3 years with my teacher professional development and have awarded over 800 badges this year alone! Teachers love it!
TEC’em
Since I work with teachers, I try to make my PD more teacher-centered. Professional Development needs to be designed around that specific teacher. I developed my TEC’em program to help deliver personalized tech training to our staff.
I meet with each Building once a month for an hour. During this “Tech PLC” teachers will be asked to investigate current TECHNOLOGY teaching practices, Learn basic ESSENTIAL technology skills and knowledge, and then CELEBRATE and share their successes.
Conclusion
If student engagement and mastery are the ultimate destinations, and technology is the vehicle, then students must be the drivers. So, teachers, it’s time to hand over the keys. By focusing on student-centered learning, you’re offering your students an opportunity to own their learning and growth, which is fulfilling for everyone involved.
Hopefully, you’re able to implement a few of these strategies and ideas in your own classroom this school year. Your students are sure to thank you.
See why 20 million students and educators use Schoology’s Learning Management System (LMS) as their hub for education.
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Scotland’s Adult Literacies Curriculum Framework Guidelines: learning, teaching and assessment
Transforming lives through learning
The group is made up of people who have been affected by someone else’s alcohol or drug misuse, and who want to support each other in their recovery journey.
We meet on a weekly basis at our office in Inverness. We also run groups in other areas of Scotland, including Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverclyde, Perth and Stirling.
| Section | Page |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Foreword | 4 |
| Introduction and background | 5 |
| Section A: Learning, teaching and assessment | 7 |
| Principles underpinning adult literacies practice | 7 |
| The curriculum wheel | 9 |
| What we know about the learning, teaching and assessment of adult literacies | 10 |
| Key principles of learning and teaching | 13 |
| Engaging learners | 14 |
| The adult literacies learning cycle | 15 |
| a) Initial assessment | 16 |
| b) Planning individual or group learning goals | 17 |
| c) Learning, teaching and formative assessment | 19 |
| Reflecting on learning, and summative assessment | 21 |
| d) Reviewing learning goals and evaluation | 22 |
| Accreditation | 22 |
| Modes of learning | 24 |
| Section B: Settings and themes | 27 |
| Literacies, employability and work | 27 |
| Literacies and financial capability | 28 |
| Literacies and family learning | 28 |
| Literacies and health | 29 |
| Offenders and ex-offenders | 29 |
| Specific learning difficulties | 29 |
| English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) | 29 |
| Young people | 30 |
| Scots and Gaelic | 30 |
| Section C: Developing your professional practice | 31 |
| Annex A: Policy context | 32 |
| Annex B: Educational theory relating to adult literacies curricula | 36 |
| Annex C: Glossary of terms | 40 |
| Acknowledgements | 42 |
We want every citizen in Scotland to have the literacies capabilities necessary to bridge the poverty gap, to understand and shape the world they live in, and to enjoy the rich knowledge and benefits that being able to read, write and use numbers can bring.
Strategic Guidance for Adult Literacies in Scotland 2020.
This review of the Adult Literacies Curriculum Framework confirms the importance of literacies to the life of the nation, the community, and the individual. Adult literacy enables and encourages adults in Scotland to acquire the knowledge, skills, and confidence necessary to be active and productive individuals and to contribute to society. In this publication, the term adult includes young people who are transitioning to adulthood whether leaving school, leaving care, starting work, or entering further learning. It is important to see adult literacies within the overall context of lifelong learning regardless of where, when and how the learning is delivered. There is a strong correlation between this government’s commitment to the education of children and young people and supporting adults to develop and fulfil their potential.
We want adult learning in Scotland to be a model of excellence that is recognised across the world in terms of inclusion, learner focus and its role in empowering individuals, families and communities to develop, grow and prosper both socially and economically.
Adult Learning in Scotland Statement of Ambition 2014
Improved literacies make a substantial difference to adults progression into further learning, better employment opportunities and enable them to make more effective contributions to society.
I hope you will make good use of these refreshed guidelines to continue to improve the quality of learning and experiences for adults across our country.
Shirley-Anne Somerville,
Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science
Introduction and background
These curriculum guidelines build on the original document *An Adult Literacy and Numeracy Curriculum Framework for Scotland* (ALN Curriculum Framework), which was published in 2004, three years after the launch of Scotland’s first adult literacies strategy, *Adult Literacy and Numeracy in Scotland* (ALNIS).
The ALN Curriculum Framework was designed to have a major role in implementing that strategy, at the levels of learning, teaching, assessment and the learning experience. Its underpinning principles sought to embed in Scottish adult literacies practice:
- an understanding of literacy and numeracy as critical social practices and complex capabilities;
- the positioning of the learner as central to their learning; and
- the importance of individually negotiated and planned learning that focused on the application of learned skills, knowledge and understanding.
Policy and practice relating to learning change over time: approaches that were once new become embedded and ‘second nature’ in practice. At the same time, policies, and the governments that make them, change – economic, social and political imperatives require particularly focused interventions, for example, on youth unemployment, poverty, or health and wellbeing.
In 2010 the Scottish Government launched a refreshed strategy for adult literacies: *Adult Literacies in Scotland 2020: strategic guidance* (ALIS 2020). This policy, which was developed with national key stakeholders, sought to build on ALNIS. It set out ‘shared priorities’ for Scotland to achieve its vision for improving adults’ literacies capabilities — and it asked stakeholders, whether national agencies, local authorities or other organisations, to create action plans for what they would do to implement the policy’s actions and achieve its outcomes.
ALIS 2020 identifies four key themes that stakeholders agreed should have priority. Those themes are:
- literacies for employability and work;
- literacies and financial capability;
- literacies and families; and
- literacies and health and wellbeing.
ALIS 2020 outlines the important role of adult literacies in taking forward other Scottish Government policies. Of particular relevance is the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence which aims to provide ‘a coherent, more flexible and enriched curriculum’ from ages 3 to 18. This Curriculum for Excellence encourages a learner centred approach based on collaborative working and is informed by concepts such as ‘every day is a learning day’ and ‘anytime, anywhere learning’. This approach is echoed in *Adult Learning in Scotland*, a Statement of Ambition (2014) which reflects a continuing commitment to ‘learner-centred, life-wide, lifelong learning’. Life wide learning includes that undertaken though community learning and development (CLD). CLD supports people to make positive changes in their lives and in their communities through learning. Local authorities are now required by legislation to develop three-year plans as to how they will deliver this learning to meet community needs.
Relevant policy developments are explained in more detail in Annex A.
---
1 [https://ec.europa.eu/epale/en/resource-centre/content/adult-literacy-and-numeracy-curriculum-framework-scotland](https://ec.europa.eu/epale/en/resource-centre/content/adult-literacy-and-numeracy-curriculum-framework-scotland)
2 [www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/158952/0043191.pdf](http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/158952/0043191.pdf)
3 [www.gov.scot/Publications/2011/01/25121451/1](http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2011/01/25121451/1)
4 [www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningandteaching/thecurriculum/whatscurriculumforexcellence/](http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningandteaching/thecurriculum/whatscurriculumforexcellence/)
5 [www.educationscotland.gov.uk/communitylearninganddevelopment/about/policystatementofambition.asp](http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/communitylearninganddevelopment/about/policystatementofambition.asp)
6 [www.educationscotland.gov.uk/communitylearninganddevelopment/about/policy/cldregulations/index.asp](http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/communitylearninganddevelopment/about/policy/cldregulations/index.asp)
The reason for the refreshed document
Adult literacies practice has developed since the publication of the ALN Curriculum Framework. This review and update reflects:
- priorities for adult literacies and related work
- developments and improvements in practice
- guidance on learning, teaching and assessment
- developments in adult literacies policy
- developments in adult learning policy.
What is the purpose of the guidelines?
These guidelines will be of interest to policy makers, learning providers, and those who tutor literacies in a wide range of contexts. They aim to:
- improve, by encouraging an alignment of practice among providers, the quality of Scottish adult literacies provision for learners
- reaffirm the Scottish philosophy and approach to adult literacies, in whatever context the learning takes place
- provide initial guidance on planning, delivering, assessing and evaluating adult literacies learning in Scotland
- describe the policy context for adult literacies work so that the achievement of adult literacies outcomes can be seen in broader terms
- stimulate reflection and ideas
- introduce ideas for organising and targeting provision
- promote discussion about the learning and teaching of literacies to adults and young people, and about what is learned and taught.
Terms used in these guidelines
An explanation of the terms used in these guidelines is included in Annex C.
Section A: Learning, teaching and assessment
This section presents the principles that underpin adult literacies practice and includes a revised version of the wheel\(^1\) It outlines research evidence that shows what makes for effective adult literacies practice, and describes the five stages of the adult literacies learning cycle. It ends with a description of different modes of adult literacies practice.
**Principles underpinning adult literacies practice**
Adult literacies practice involves:
- the design of provision;
- planning and reviewing individual and group learning;
- learning and teaching activities;
- assessment and evaluation; and
- support and guidance.
The Scottish approach to adult literacies practice is underpinned by a number of principles. These five principles are set out below, and they should underpin all aspects of adult literacies practice:
1. **The learner is at the centre of their learning, and progress in learning is planned and paced appropriately to their needs and wants.**
Individual learners’ immediate and longer term needs and aspirations should lead the learning. At times, the requirements of a qualification or course might need to be balanced with the learner’s interests and priorities, but in most circumstances the learner should be involved in setting the priorities and the pace of learning.
2. **The social practice approach is the most effective way to build the literacies capabilities of individuals and communities.**
The social practice approach, with its emphasis on the critical application of capabilities in everyday interactions and tasks, ensures that learners do not merely *acquire skills*, as set out in a syllabus. Relevant social practices will differ between individuals: for one learner their social practice might be daily use of money in shops, involving reading labels, estimating prices in their head and checking change; for another it might involve helping their children with homework, whether that homework involves reading, writing, or numbers; and for another, the social practice might be passing an entrance exam to get onto a college course or to gain a job.
---
\(^1\) [https://ec.europa.eu/epale/en/resource-centre/content/adult-literacy-and-numeracy-curriculum-framework-scotland](https://ec.europa.eu/epale/en/resource-centre/content/adult-literacy-and-numeracy-curriculum-framework-scotland)
3. Literacies are not a set of prescribed skills to be acquired, but should be seen as complex, critical capabilities that are fit to meet the needs of the modern, changing world.
A more traditional view of literacies capabilities might see them as the three Rs of reading, writing and (a)rithmetic: lists of skills to be learned, practised, and applied without depth of thought or understanding. Similarly, in this conception, the way people learn times tables, or algorithms for subtraction, are only memorised, with understanding coming second, if at all.
Understanding literacies as ‘complex, critical capabilities’ acknowledges the interdependence of knowledge, understanding and skills, and the subtle use and appropriate application of these according to different situations.
The word ‘critical’ refers to the fact that knowledge, skills and understanding are weighed according to situations, selected with care, used appropriately, and reflected upon afterwards. Learners who are critical in their application of learning ask questions of themselves and of problems they need to solve.
4. Numeracy learning opportunities are as important as literacy learning opportunities and should be available to all learners in all learning provision.
Research suggests that in some circumstances numeracy can be more important than literacy, not only as a marker of social and economic wellbeing (Bynner and Parsons 2008), but in terms of capabilities that are necessary for the workplace and the use of modern technologies. Numeracy difficulties often have less ‘stigma’ than literacy difficulties; but with numeracy difficulties often comes ‘maths anxiety’, which can damage a learner’s confidence and present a real barrier to their achievement.
For others, literacies learning will have a concrete, short-term goal, such as passing a test to join the police or to get into a nursing course. Or it might be limited to a topic: for example, understanding percentages in order to help a child with their homework. In themselves, these well-defined goals are important social practices.
In both situations, the learning provider should ensure learners feel included in planning their learning, and in deciding the mode of learning that suits them best. Learning should be celebrated, and given appropriate recognition (including through accreditation), and the learner should be offered the chance to extend their learning according to their needs and wants.
5. Literacies learning should be inclusive and empowering.
Many learners will want to develop their numeracy, oral, reading and writing capabilities in broad ways, in order to learn new skills or strengthen existing ones. They will welcome the chance to negotiate what else they might learn, and how they might progress to new levels of learning.
The ALN Curriculum Framework included a visual demonstration of the way the learner sits at the centre of the learning experience.
These guidelines include a refreshed version of the wheel, in response to developments in policy and practice.
a) The learner remains at the centre of the wheel (reflecting Principle 1).
b) These are the complex capabilities relating to the application of learned skills, knowledge and understanding.
c) Numeracy capabilities have equal weight with literacy capabilities (relating to Principle 4).
d) These are the five Core Skills.
e) These are the linked activities of learning, teaching and assessment, and recognition of achievement, which might take the form of accreditation.
f) These reflect the principles identified in these guidelines.
What we know about the learning, teaching and assessment of adult literacies
The following information is taken from research and evaluations of adult literacies practice internationally and in Scotland. The perspective is holistic, looking at what features are found to contribute to ensuring effective adult literacies practice.
**What components do we find in effective adult literacies learning journeys?**
OECD research (Looney, 2008)\(^6\) identifies five ‘steps’ that need to be in place to ensure effective ‘foundation skills’ in language, literacy and numeracy (adapted from the original):
1. **Diagnosing learning needs and setting goals** — these first steps in the learning journey set the tone and direction for learning.
2. **Relationships that enrich the learning** — these involve five elements:
a) building rapport and creating a ‘safe’ environment
b) using dialogue to promote participatory and democratic learning
c) negotiating learning goals and methods
d) structuring dialogue to meet specific learning goals
e) using dialogue to establish what learners do and do not know, and to adjust teaching to meet identified learning needs.
3. **Techniques: feedback, questioning, and scaffolding** — this underlines the importance of formative assessment, including techniques of feedback, questioning and scaffolding, in order to uncover learners’ understanding, to help tutors pitch learning at the right level, and to help learners progressively improve their skills.
4. **Developing learner autonomy** — autonomy begins with learners’ involvements as partners in the learning and assessment process. Learners should develop the confidence to use their own judgment regarding their development and the development of their capabilities, and for identifying gaps in their learning. This is fundamentally about individuals learning how to learn, understanding their own learning, and being able to reflect constructively on their progress.
5. **Recognition of learner progress** — this relates to formative and summative assessment of learning progress, often involving externally-set assessment criteria (for a qualification or portfolio), but not always.
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\(^6\) Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills
www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/teachinglearningandassessmentforadults/improvingfoundationskills.htm#1
A 2010 Aspect Report by HMIE (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education) identified the following features of good practice in the delivery of adult literacy provision in colleges, communities and prisons:
- Providers take good account of individual and group needs and plan and contextualise learning activities to meet these needs.
- Providers offer good opportunities for learners to experience and discuss different types of learning and teaching approaches.
- Providers make good use of resources, including ICT to enhance and extend learning.
- Providers deliver learning activities which develop learner confidence and independence in learning and prepare them for progression.
- Providers have effective arrangements in place for identifying and addressing the continuing professional development needs of staff.
Improving Adult Literacy HMIE Aspect Report (2010)
What contributes to learners’ persistence and success?
Research into learner persistence (Lopez, 2007; Maclachlan et al, 2008), suggests that learners are more likely to persist with their learning and to achieve their goals when:
- the ethos of the organisation is welcoming, supportive and confidence building, where learners can feel at ease and secure in returning after absences from learning;
- provision recognises the life goals that learners are passionate about;
- there is a responsive, but challenging pace of learning; and
- learner progress is monitored and recognised, with learner goals in place that are revisited regularly.
Progress towards outcomes such as improved self-confidence, should be recognised within a ‘broad framework’ of achievement, with formative assessment recognising small steps as well as significant gains.
The research also suggests that distance and blended learning opportunities can help learners to sustain their learning during unavoidable gaps in, for example, attendance on a course. This way learners are not penalised. Digital technologies can support distance learning.
Using digital technologies to support adult literacies learning
Our use of digital and online media in everyday life and at work is increasing. Many transactions we would formerly have carried out in person, face-to-face or by speaking on the phone, can now be done online. We can order shopping, send greetings cards and manage banking online on our computers, tablets, smartphones, and even watches. In order to receive discounts on bills some businesses require customers to switch to online-only accounts. Further, some public services are moving to online-only, for example, Universal Credit.
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9 www.educationscotland.gov.uk/images/lalis_tcm4-712918.pdf
10 The report did not consider numeracy
11 http://hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/119568
12 www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/universal-credit-an-introduction
It is therefore important that literacies learning takes account of online and digital social practices. Where once learners might have practised writing postcards and letters, now they might be better practising writing text messages, emails, and social media posts, or using online ‘chat’ facilities, for example to talk to their phone, broadband or energy provider. Additionally, it is important that literacies learning supports learners to be safe online.
Digital technologies can be used as a teaching and learning resource, for example, through the use of an interactive whiteboard, online quizzes, apps on smartphones and tablets, or digital photography and video.
Digital technology can also be used to provide blended and distance learning, for example, with tutors and learners communicating through email, Skype or through virtual learning environments such as a Moodle.\(^{13}\)
Research shows that digital technologies can enhance and improve literacies learning because they can:
- be adapted to the profiles of individual learners;
- give the learner control over the learning experience;
- better engage the learner through, for example, quizzes, games, and visual learning, that encourage the learner to spend more on a task and enhance motivation; and
- support adults in practising their literacies skills outside learning sessions through, for example, collaborative technologies such as text messaging, Facebook, wikis, blogs or even simple word-processing packages.\(^{14}\)
While digital technologies can increase learner engagement, particularly through the use of social media that can provide instant responses and feedback, some groups of learners, especially older learners and those with low incomes, may be unable to access learning using interactive technologies.\(^{15}\) Care should be taken to ensure that learners have easy access both as part of their programmes and outside the literacies session, for example in a local library or drop-in learning centre. It is vital that people are not further disadvantaged by having insufficient support for their learning in our digital world.
Adult literacies practitioners can take advantage of guidance and training that has been produced by the Digitally Agile Community Learning and Development project. See the Digitally Agile CLD website\(^{16}\) for more information.
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\(^{13}\) http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/moodle
\(^{14}\) Lesgold, A. and Welch-Ross, M. (2012) (Eds.) *Improving adult literacy instruction: options for practice and research*, Washington D.C.: National Academies Press
\(^{15}\) Vorhaus, J. Littler, J. Frearson, M. and Johnson, S. (2011) *Review of research and evaluation on improving adult literacy and numeracy skills*, BIS, Research Paper 61, December, 2011
\(^{16}\) www.digitallyagilecld.org
Research that preceded the development of the ALN Curriculum Framework identified some key principles of adult literacies learning and teaching. These principles are still relevant.
Adult literacies learning is most effective when:
1. Learning is a purposeful, goal-directed activity. Ongoing goal setting and self-assessment are central to effective learning.
2. Purposeful learning builds on learners’ prior knowledge and experience to shape and construct new knowledge. It should always be remembered that those who have faced prejudice and discrimination based on gender, race, age, sexuality, disability or experience of care, may have internalised some of these negative ideas about their capacity to learn.
3. Learning is a social activity embedded in a particular culture and context. Learning occurs through engaged participation in the activities of knowledge communities such as workplace colleagues, friends with common interests, or family members.
4. Effective transfer of learning from one context to another requires that the learner understands not only the facts but also the ‘big picture’ – underlying principles, patterns and relationships – that is acquired through the application of knowledge.
5. Knowing when and how to apply what has been learned (procedural knowledge) is central to expertise, and can be acquired only through practice.
6. Teaching involves informed interpretations of, and responses to, learners’ approaches to learning. Tutors should always be aware of the effect of prejudice and discrimination on learners.
7. Metacognitive strategies (knowledge about one’s own thinking processes) can be taught. Through monitoring and assessing their own progress, learners can develop metacognitive awareness and strategies to enable deep learning and adaptability, as well as higher order thinking.
8. Scaffolding instruction helps learners to develop their fluency, independence and range as they move from being a new learner to becoming an expert learner.
Adapted from *An Adult Literacy and Numeracy Curriculum Framework for Scotland* (2004)
Engaging learners
It is important to recognise the work involved in engaging learners – potential learners are often termed ‘hard to reach’, services could instead be described as ‘difficult to access’. Potential learners may face multiple barriers to engaging or re-engaging in learning.
Literacies providers often rely on the support of partner organisations to help people to engage in learning. Building successful relationships with partners is a key activity for providers and may involve running training and awareness sessions for staff (for example, in the local Jobcentre Plus, housing association, or money advice centre). Key literacies workers often attend initial meetings to support a new learner with the confidence needed to ‘get them through the door’.
In other settings, such as workplaces, support systems may already be in place – for example, learners might attend their first meeting with a provider accompanied by a union learning representative.
Other support measures might also need to be put in place to reduce practical barriers for learners – these might include providing childcare and paying travel costs.
Courtesy Jenny Reekie, West Lothian Council.
The adult literacies learning cycle
The learning cycle
The ‘learning cycle’ is a well-known way of understanding the cyclical processes involved in learning. In its simplest form it involves: planning, learning, reflecting and reviewing.
The adult literacies learning cycle follows a number of stages:
a) initial assessment
b) planning of individual or group learning goals
c) learning, teaching and formative assessment
d) reflecting on learning, and summative assessment
e) reviewing learning goals and evaluating the programme.
What is assessment?
Assessment is an integral part of learning and teaching. It helps to provide a picture of a learner’s progress and achievements, and to identify next steps in learning. Assessment approaches should promote learner engagement and ensure appropriate support so that all learners can achieve their goals and maximise their potential.
Assessment practices should be seen from the perspective of the learner. Learners should be engaged in all aspects of assessment processes, whether initial, formative or summative, and be allowed choice and personalisation where possible in showing that they have achieved the intended outcomes of their learning.
a) Initial assessment
The first stage in developing a learning plan is the initial discussion and assessment process.
This initial discussion provides an opportunity for the learner and literacies worker to discuss available learning opportunities, options, approaches and practical details. It can also be used to reassure the learner, to gather information about their current literacies practices, and to identify longer-term goals. The literacies worker can use this information to guide the learner to the most appropriate provision.
It might be useful to ask some initial informal questions of learners at this stage to explore the possibility of specific learning difficulties. Information about specific learning difficulties is available in Section B below.
Carrying out the initial assessment
The process of discussion and negotiation may be assisted by the use of ‘alerting’, ‘placing’ or ‘diagnostic’ tools.
Alerting tools
Some organisations (for example, colleges, prisons and workplaces) want to offer literacies tuition to their clients or staff, but need to target their offer appropriately. In these situations, an alerting tool designed for use with individuals who have no formal qualifications can be helpful.
The alerting tool is used to open the discussion with the learner about their uses of literacies, to give them an opportunity to demonstrate what they can do, and to speak about what they find more difficult. It should be emphasised that the alerting tool is not a ‘test’ – there is no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’. The tool is designed to do just that – to alert the learner and the ‘interviewer’ to whether a fuller diagnostic assessment might be useful in identifying more specific learning needs.
Placing tools
Placing tools help to identify the level of literacies learning that is appropriate for an individual learner. Such tools can be useful in contexts such as colleges where there may be a need to identify the most appropriate class for a learner to join. A more detailed assessment of learning needs (a diagnostic assessment) may then be facilitated by the tutor.
Diagnostic assessment
This term refers to a more thorough and specific assessment of a learner’s skills, knowledge and understanding, to identify their specific learning needs. It often takes the form of a short task that will reveal strengths and areas that the learner finds tricky.
Often an informal discussion, using an individual learning plan format (see below), can be a more effective way of gathering information at a first meeting, and will help to put an anxious learner at ease. This can be added to by the tutor and learner over the first few learning sessions.
Tutors and co-ordinators should use their discretion about the appropriateness of using diagnostic tools with individual learners, and when to use them in the learning journey.
Initial assessment – getting it right
These questions will help you to think through your approaches to initial assessment:
- Are learners encouraged to identify their hopes or goals for learning?
- Are learners encouraged to talk about their interests and ways they will use their learning?
- Are you using tools that are appropriate for the context and setting, and for the learner’s purposes in learning?
b) Planning individual or group learning goals
Negotiation
Negotiating learning goals with a learner is a process which begins at the first meeting, and which continues during the whole time of contact with the individual. The outcomes of the negotiation will be recorded in an individual learning plan. In some settings, for example, in a college communication drop-in, negotiation could take place at every meeting; while in others, for example an issue-based group, it might occur every two or three weeks.
Negotiation involves the learner and tutor discussing what is available for learning and working towards agreement on how the learning will take place.
The elements of the curriculum that can be negotiated include:
- the literacies skills, knowledge and understanding which will be developed;
- the context in which they will be developed;
- the goal(s) the individual or group have set; and
- the resources which the learner might use.
Learners might want to negotiate any or all of these elements. For example, one learner may want to keep track of a budget for her bowling club, thinking about its layout, and producing it on a computer. Similarly, a college learner might want to structure a report and phrase it appropriately for his social care course.
One of the difficulties with negotiating the curriculum can be that the learner is not aware of what is available to be learned and talks in broad terms of ‘improving my maths’ or ‘tidying up my handwriting’.
A list of prompt questions can be useful:
- What sort of maths do you do every day?
- How do you feel about your writing just now?
Some questions can lead towards a discussion of a desired outcome:
- What would you write if you felt okay about your spelling?
- What part(s) of your life would you like to see benefit most from working on your numbers – work, family, going on to other courses, joining local groups?
Often, taking part in group work can broaden an individual’s horizons. Watching what others are working on can often stimulate new ideas for learning and provide motivation for further learning and collaboration.
Setting measurable goals
Learners often find it difficult to articulate their learning goals. Asking questions such as ‘What brought you here?’ and ‘What sort of things would you be interested in finding out about?’ can help to open up discussions with the learner about their learning goals. The tutor will help the learner to set realistic and measurable goals through the process of breaking them into achievable learning tasks and steps.
The tutor and learner can break each task into three aspects:
- Developing certain skills and technical abilities (for example, numeracy problem solving, spelling, handwriting).
- Acquiring knowledge about the appropriate conventions to use (for example, how to lay out an addition sum, and when to use appropriate vocabulary).
- Developing critical understanding of how and why the literacies are being used, and to what purpose (for example, for recording, persuading, entertaining, influencing).
Individual learning plans (ILP)
Literacies learners who are working towards individual goals should have an ILP.
ILPs will vary depending on how specific or wide-ranging the learning goals are, the distance between current capabilities and desired outcomes, and the limitations of the learner’s own capacity and timescales.
It is important that the learner understands the purpose of the ILP, and that it is used throughout the cycle of planning, learning, reflecting, reviewing progress against goals, and setting new goals or adapting existing ones. It is also important that the learner understands the language used in the ILP.
An ILP will:
- record the learner’s contexts and goals, what they want to learn and how they want to learn it;
- include a record of initial discussions about learning and of any assessments carried out;
- identify issues which may affect a learner’s ability to access provision and strategies for dealing with them, for example work or care commitments;
- set measurable goals so that the learner’s progress can be assessed;
- provide a reminder for the learner of what the learning will involve (and details of the time and place of provision);
- encourage reflection on the effectiveness of learning;
- be developed over several sessions with a learner;
- help a tutor to focus on the individual’s learning goals; and
- often be accompanied by various information leaflets for the learner, for example, the rights and responsibilities of tutors and learners.
The group could negotiate the areas that they would like to do some work on and agree strategies for how they will do this.
Over time individual literacies goals may be identified and worked on.
By the end of the learning programme, individuals may have arrived at the point of developing their own literacies goals and be willing and able to express them in an ILP.
Planning of individual or group learning goals – getting it right
These questions will help you to think through your approaches to planning goals:
- Do learning plans include measureable goals?
- Do learning plans include notes about the learner’s purpose for learning?
- Do learning plans suggest some appropriate learning and teaching methods?
- Do learning plans include milestones or indicators to show learning has taken place?
Group learning plans
A group learning plan (GLP) may be useful in an integrated literacies group where the learners’ first priority is not explicitly literacies learning (for example, a family learning group or a workplace training course).
Negotiating a GLP will be part of a process:
- The aims, curriculum and activities of the group might first be negotiated.
- The literacies associated with the proposed group activities could be identified and agreed by the learners and the tutor.
c) Learning, teaching and formative assessment
The aims of effective learning and teaching
Tutors should always encourage learners to think about how they learn. This can start in a small way, with learners thinking about what works when they are trying to remember a spelling, or how they go about doing a particular calculation.
Learners may find that simply discussing with others what their strategies are can encourage them to try out new ways of learning. Tutors should work with learners to find out what their existing capabilities are and then build on these.
It is important to encourage learners to think about what they need to know, and what they need to be able to do. For example, if the task a learner wants to undertake is to write texts and emails, then the first step is to examine why, to whom, and in what contexts they need to send texts and emails. Once this is clear then the tutor can move on to decide on a learning activity that will allow the learner to practise the skills associated with writing texts and emails.
Effective learning involves not only acquiring knowledge, skills and understanding, but also their active application.
Learners should be encouraged to think about how the knowledge learned in one context can be transferred to a new context. For example, they might consider together how what they have learned about budgeting at home could be applied to budgeting for their local community organisation.
Learners should be encouraged to see themselves as people who construct knowledge themselves rather than relying on ‘expert’ teachers. Designing a learning environment that is knowledge-centred involves creating learning opportunities that focus on the development and practice of skills that learners want, so they can carry out activities and achieve their goals. It also involves learners working collaboratively to identify and solve problems together, since this takes the focus from individual expertise to something that is shared. Communication and shared problem solving bridge the gap between old and new knowledge, and between the different understandings of partners (tutor, learner, peers) as individuals search for the common ground of shared understanding.
Tutor assistants and group tutors can gain more insight and experience of learning and teaching approaches in relation to adult literacies through the SQA qualifications PDA: Supporting Adult Literacies Learning at SCQF level 6\(^{17}\) and PDA: Tutoring Adult Literacies at SCQF level 8\(^{18}\).
For more on professional development for adult literacies workers, see Section C below.
Learning resources
What can be used as a resource?
There are no limits to what can be used as a resource for learning and it is important to think imaginatively about what is available. All resources need to be approached critically and considered in their context.
Resources should include visual (using photographs, colours, mind mapping, videos), kinaesthetic (drawing/modelling, concrete resources, role playing), and auditory (video, speakers, discussion, CDs), so that a range of learning preferences can be catered for — and this applies for concrete resources as well as those online.
Where necessary, resources should be adapted to accommodate learners who have visual or auditory impairment, and/or physical or learning disabilities, for example by installing a hearing loop, using voice software, text enlargement, speaking scales or offering sign language support.
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\(^{17}\) www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/65433.html
\(^{18}\) www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/64695.html
Resources for learning and teaching should also include accommodation which should be fully accessible, suitable for adults and young people, and be of a standard which will contribute to the learner’s feelings of self-worth.
The National Improvement Hub launched in March 2016 is intended to become a key gateway to educational improvement resources and support. It provides easy access to practice examples and other digital resources\textsuperscript{19}.
**Choosing resources**
Developing the learning programme is a joint activity between learner and tutor; so too is the selection of resources.
Tutors should always encourage learners to bring along the texts, forms, calculations and tasks that they want to tackle for themselves. Sometimes the tutor can provide or organise resources like voice recorders, computers, and flipcharts. Often the most useful resources will be a person or a facility outside the usual learning environment.
Between them the tutor and learner can collect resources which:
- reflect the learner’s own uses of literacies;
- are relevant to the learner’s interests;
- are appropriate to age and skill level;
- promote respect for diversity and difference;
- promote self-determination;
- use a variety of learning media; and
- are well-produced.
Once the resources have been selected, the tutor can encourage the learner to reflect on each item chosen and used, to express an opinion about the resource, and to use this knowledge when choosing new resources to work with. Together, learners and tutors can build up a bank of questions to consider when discussing resources. Some starting points might be:
- How does this resource relate to my learning goal?
- Did I come away from it understanding more?
- What did I like/not like about it?
- Why is it like this?
- Did it reflect my experience?
- What would make it a better resource?
- Would I recommend it to others?
The internet provides an ever-growing wealth of resources. Tutors should be ready to adapt resources and to make the level appropriate for individual learners.
**Formative assessment**
*Formative assessment* is an integral part of effective learning and teaching. It involves asking questions and checking learning on an ongoing basis to help learners and tutors to monitor learning progress. All learners and tutors should be involved in this kind of assessment. Results are needed quickly in order to be useful, and they must be detailed enough to help tutors and learners plan teaching to meet individual learner needs. Formative assessment must be based closely on the learner’s identified goals or outcomes.
The concept of *Assessment for Learning* emphasises the relationship between learning, teaching and assessment. Assessment continually shapes the teaching and learning, and both teacher and learner are involved in the process throughout. The concept has been developed in schools, and has direct relevance to adult literacies and adult learning.
\textsuperscript{19} https://education.gov.scot/improvement
Education Scotland has collated and presented guidance based on research findings into assessment. You can read more on the Journey to Excellence website\(^{20}\).
**Learning, teaching and formative assessment – getting it right**
These questions will help you to think through your approaches to learning, teaching and formative assessment:
- Have you chosen teaching methods that suit the learning outcomes?
- Are you using a range of learning activities?
- Are you selecting and using high-quality, adult-appropriate learning resources that frame literacies as social practices?
- Are you using technologies to deliver, reinforce, complement or extend learning?
- Are you assessing learning on an ongoing basis and checking that learners can apply their learning in a range of contexts/situations?
- Are you encouraging learners to think critically about how they learn and to reflect on this?
**Reflecting on learning, and summative assessment**
At key points, possibly at the end of a learning topic or project, or at regular intervals in the calendar, learners and tutors should recognise learning that has been achieved to date. This assessment can be formal and involve certification or accreditation.
**Assessment for summative purposes** is intended to show that learners have met their learning goals, or completed a course of study and reached a certain standard of performance. Where the learner and tutor have been regularly reviewing progress against the learning goals, summative assessment will normally be a natural conclusion of the learning process, rather than a separate ‘event’. The learner and tutor will agree – based on work produced by the learner – that the learning goals have been met.
Accreditation is an external way of recognising learning and brings some benefits:
- It is official recognition of learning.
- It can be used to demonstrate achievement to others, including employers.
- It is understood and respected by others such as other learning providers and employers.
- It is related to a standard that might be required for legal purposes.
Accreditation might not be a learner’s main goal, but opportunities for accreditation should be offered to all learners, where possible and appropriate. This requires tutors to be aware of what accreditation is available for learners and to share this information with them so that they can make decisions about what is appropriate for them.
Even where the learner is aiming for accreditation, summative assessment may simply be a process in which the tutor reviews a portfolio of work produced by the learner to confirm that it meets the required standard. This would be the case for Core Skills Communication assessment, for example.
**Reflecting on learning, and summative assessment – getting it right**
These questions will help you to think through your approaches to reflection and summative assessment:
- Are you holding regular reviews of learning progress?
- Are you recognising learning in an appropriate way (for example, through accreditation or certification)?
- Are you involving the learner in reflection and assessment activities?
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\(^{20}\) www.journeytoexcellence.org.uk/resourcesandcpd/research/summaries/rsassessment.asp
d) Reviewing learning goals and evaluation
Following summative assessment, or at any appropriate point in a course of learning, the learner and tutor should review learning goals and decide:
- What does the learner want to look at again?
- What does the learner want to learn more of?
- What else does the learner want to learn?
- In what ways might the learning change (for example, in mode, pace, level)?
As well as reviewing learning goals, learners and tutors should also assess the quality or value of the learning programme.
Evaluation is the process of assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the learning process or programme. All who are involved in the process or programme – learners, tutors, managers, workplace stakeholders (as appropriate) – should play a part in the evaluation. It may be a relatively informal process that has the aim of helping tutors and learners to identify how they might improve the process or programme next time. In this case, there should always be an opportunity for learners to comment on how they felt about the programme and how it helped them to achieve their goals.
It can also be more formal, for example, when information on learners, their learning hours and the learning outcomes need to be submitted, for example to a funding body or employer. Where evaluation is to meet the requirements of public accountability, an impartial (possibly external) evaluation of the programme as a whole might be required. Judgements must follow agreed and consistent criteria, and must allow aggregation of results for reporting purposes. This form of assessment does not need to be done frequently, and there is no need for quick results. Nor do all learners need to take part – a properly drawn representative sample will suffice.
**Reviewing learning goals and evaluation – getting it right**
These questions will help you to think through your approaches to reviewing learning goals and evaluation:
- Are learners supported to identify further learning goals?
- Are learners able to provide feedback about the learning provision?
**Accreditation**
There are a number of learning and skills frameworks that have relevance for adult literacies learners and learning, particularly with regard to shaping learning programmes and for summative assessment (see section (d) of the Learning Cycle above).
**Core Skills**
Core Skills\(^{21}\) are SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) National Units that can be undertaken by learners as individual qualifications, or that can be embedded within other qualifications. There are five Core Skills, at SCQF\(^{22}\) (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework) levels 2 to 6:
- Numeracy
- Communication
- ICT
- Working With Others
- Problem Solving.
Core Skills are context free and are therefore flexible and responsive to individual and group needs and interests. There are smaller units at SCQF levels 2 and 3 in Core Skills Communication and Numeracy that enable learners to achieve and gain certificates for
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\(^{21}\) www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/37801.html
\(^{22}\) www.scqf.org.uk/the-framework/
smaller steps in learning. There is no external test involved in gaining Core Skills and they are internally assessed by the awarding centre.
In addition, Workplace Core Skill Units are available at SCQF levels 3, 4, 5 and 6 for learners in workplaces, for example on Modern Apprenticeships or union learning programmes.
**National Units and National Qualifications (NQs)**
National Qualifications are the SQA qualifications linked to Curriculum for Excellence, specifically to the Skills for Learning Life and Work (SfLLW) framework\(^{23}\). SfLLW consists of five broad areas:
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- Health and wellbeing
- Employability, enterprise and citizenship
- Thinking skills.
Nationals Units in literacy and numeracy are derived from this framework and are available at SCQF levels 3, 4 and 5\(^{24}\). These units embed and automatically certificate Core Skills in communication and numeracy (respectively) at those levels. This means that if, for example, a learner achieves National Literacy Unit at SCQF level 4, their Core Skills Profile will show that they have achieved Core Skills Communication at SCQF level 4.
**Essential Skills**
Essential Skills, which were identified in the Scottish Government’s 2007 Skills Strategy, consist of a broad range of skills (including Core Skills and skills that form SfLLW) that are relevant to employability and work. Essential skills include:
- Personal and learning skills that enable individuals to become effective lifelong learners.
- Literacy and numeracy.
- The five Core Skills of communication, numeracy, problem solving, information technology, and working with others.
- Employability skills that prepare individuals for employment rather than for a specific occupation.
- Vocational skills that are specific to a particular occupation or sector.
SQA have identified on their website\(^{25}\) ways in which the qualifications they offer learners can help to develop these Essential Skills. In addition there are Essential Skills Units available for learners.
**Other relevant awards**
Adult Achievement Awards\(^{26}\) enable adult learners to achieve a recognised qualification at SCQF levels 3, 4 and 6. The awards were developed by Newbattle Abbey College in partnership with Education Scotland and the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership (SCQFP). Adults receive accreditation for the learning they have undertaken in a range of places – the community, colleges, voluntary organisations, employment, and volunteering. Learners produce portfolios which demonstrate their learning and achievement, and these are assessed by Newbattle Abbey College, which owns the awards.
SQA Personal Achievement Awards\(^{27}\) enable learners to develop their confidence and independence, and their ability to communicate and respond to others in their own way. The qualifications are available at SCQF levels 1 and 2.
SQA Personal Development Awards\(^{28}\) aim to help learners become more independent and to develop their potential as contributing members of their societies. Learners will develop self-reliance, self-esteem and confidence through supported and independent learning. Personal Development Awards are available at SCQF levels 2 to 6, and will replace the existing National Courses in Personal Development.
Youth Awards\(^{29}\) provide an opportunity for young adult learners to achieve. Some awards are not limited by age so are suitable for all adult learners.
---
\(^{23}\) www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/63090.3674.html
\(^{24}\) www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/58991.3651.html
\(^{25}\) www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/75022.6429.html
\(^{26}\) www.newbattleabbeycollege.ac.uk/adult-achievement-awards/
\(^{27}\) www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/57037.html
\(^{28}\) www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/57039.html
\(^{29}\) www.awardsnetwork.org/index.php
Modes of learning
Adult literacies learning is provided through different ‘modes’ or delivery approaches. Often the mode depends on the settings and the needs of the learners.
Dedicated and integrated literacies learning
**Dedicated** literacies provision focuses explicitly on literacies learning goals. Taking learners’ own uses and contexts for literacies as a starting point, learners and tutors negotiate the learning programme. Learners have ILPs (and/or GLPs), and record and evaluate their work regularly.
Examples of dedicated provision include:
- Community-based roll-on-roll-off groups or study groups where the learners discuss and agree individual and group learning goals with the tutor to enable them to gain skills, knowledge and understanding numeracy, in reading, writing, listening, and talking.
- Short courses for learners such as *Looking at everyday numbers*, *Improve your reading*, or *Writing emails*.
- A group of learners taking an SQA Core Skills Unit.
- One-to-one support in a college.
**Drop-in** provision for learners who may not be able to access regular groups or who may wish to make use of additional learning opportunities.
- Workplace groups focusing on particular work-related literacies tasks.
**Integrated** literacies learning has outcomes relating to literacies that are combined with another subject or focus which is the learner’s primary concern; for example, in a youth group setting, or a group learning about healthy eating, computing, local history or parenting. There should be a clear indication of the literacies tasks to be tackled. These might include writing and laying out a local history webpage, or working out measures for menus.
Integrated literacies programmes are a useful way of attracting new learners into literacies learning, and of providing a way forward for those who need to move on from dedicated literacies.
Tutors offering integrated literacies learning need to be confident both in the subject matter of the course and in ways of introducing the skills, knowledge and understanding of literacies into it. They could also seek to co-tutor with a ‘subject’ specialist.
The role of tutor assistants
Many adult literacies providers employ tutor assistants, usually in volunteer roles. Tutor assistants can work with an individual learner or small groups of learners within a group setting. They are supported by group tutors and can make a positive impact, especially with learners who are new, or who need more support with tasks than other learners.\(^{30}\)
\(^{30}\) For more information about typical roles in adult literacies learning provision, see Section C below.
Co-tutoring
Here a literacies tutor works with a subject tutor (say for social care, construction, or catering), tutoring in the group together. This allows for individual coaching and support within the group. Tutors involved in this approach need to:
- appreciate each other’s ethos and approaches;
- have agreed the aims of the group and how they will work together;
- be offered joint preparation and liaison time; and
- have discussed the ownership of the group and the paperwork involved.
This model works well in integrated literacies and can be used in all settings, including colleges. However, there is a risk that learners perceive literacies as something set apart and the province of the ‘numeracy or spelling expert’.
Drop-ins
Where larger learning centres want to offer integrated literacies but do not have staff skilled in both the subject and in literacies support, this can be addressed by establishing drop-ins alongside the main subject provision. Either the learner or the tutor can ‘drop in’.
Many colleges operate literacies support from well-resourced learning centres. Learners may refer themselves, or be referred for one session or many. Expert tuition will be available but it relies on strong learner motivation to seek out the support.
Group learning
Effective adult literacies learning should relate to individual goals, but we also know that adults learn from others when working in groups. Drawing up ground rules with a group of learners can promote mutual respect and support.
There are advantages of learning in a group:
a) Groups provide a supportive environment for learning
When people work together on a shared task it provides encouragement to everyone, and the atmosphere can enhance the learners’ self-image and encourage them to greater effort. The sense of solidarity created can provide the security necessary to take risks and experiment in a safe environment, helping to overcome individual anxieties and generate confidence.
b) Groups provide a challenge for learners
The group can bring out views, prejudices and experiences to be discussed and challenged. It can provide opportunities for change, for increased awareness and critical reflection, which can help learners to become more conscious of, and more effective in, their learning.
c) A group can provide resources to build richer and more complex structures for learning
The group can draw upon the variety of experiences and resources of its members, and so present a wider range of possible solutions to problems. Methods available in the teaching-learning process are greatly multiplied by the range of participants. The resources that the learner and the tutor can call upon are greatly increased by the existence of the group.
d) The group dynamic
The group has a life and momentum of its own. It creates and maintains motivation, helps retention, and sets a pace of learning that is satisfying to most of its members. Loyalty to the group will often bring about greater effort at particular times than any demand the tutor can make.
In literacies groups, the tutor may wish to organise the work differently according to whether the group’s or the individual’s plan dominates. Quite often groups will be structured to meet the needs of groups and individuals, with sub-groups of, for example, two or three learners working on a task together, while other learners work on individual priorities — nevertheless, there is a coherence in the group and all learners feel part of it. Where the group activity is the priority, this could come first, with individuals and pairs working on their own goals in the second half of a session.
If the group activity generates the individuals’ learning tasks, the tutor needs a good collection of resources and the ability to select from them quickly and confidently.
Individual learning within a group setting
Where learners have not yet bonded round an issue, or where new group members need to be integrated, the tutor may choose to work with individuals for the first half of the session and then bring the group together for a group activity at the end. With this model the tutor will have to prepare individual work as negotiated at the previous session.
In both models, a refreshment break is useful not only for social interaction and resource-browsing, but also for a concentration break. Where refreshments are not free, collecting and recording payment can be used as a learning activity.
Section B: Settings and themes
Settings
Throughout Scotland literacies learning is delivered by organisations in the public, voluntary and private sectors. These organisations often work in partnership to develop and deliver opportunities in their specific contexts and settings. Literacies learning is delivered by local authority community learning services, voluntary organisations, youth organisations, prisons, colleges, unions, employers, and independent training providers. It takes place in a range of settings, including community centres, libraries, colleges, prison learning centres, and workplaces.
Literacies provision is diverse, with providers in rural and remote settings often having different approaches to working with learners. For example, in rural settings, one-to-one tuition is often widespread.
In addition, learners themselves are diverse, with unique interests, aspirations and needs, and provision should be adaptable and responsive to any learner who comes through the door.
Learners in one setting will have similar and different learning needs to those in other settings. It is therefore particularly important to carry out thorough, personalised initial assessments with learners, which lead to the planning of measurable goals.
Themes
ALIS 2020 focuses on the themes of literacies for employability and work, literacies and financial capability, literacies and families, and literacies and health. It also draws particular attention to literacies learning for particular groups: for example, for offenders and ex-offenders, for people with specific learning difficulties, and for learners whose first language is not English.
Literacies, employability and work
Literacies capabilities are fundamental to working life and for supporting people to work towards, to move into, or back into, the labour market. Individuals who undertake literacies learning in the workplace gain confidence in their abilities, which may help them to sustain existing employment, apply for promotion, take up further learning opportunities, and to participate in workplace activities.
An ALIS 2020 Working Group\(^{31}\) defined literacies for employability and the workplace as:
‘… the reading, writing, speaking, listening and numeracy capabilities needed to handle information, express ideas and opinions, make decisions and solve problems, in order to work towards, gain, keep or progress in paid or unpaid work.’
Providing literacies learning in the workplace involves working with employers and other stakeholders, including employees, learning and development staff, and union representatives. The learning programme should be flexible, take into account the needs of all stakeholders, be responsive to their feedback and be continuously reviewed.
Activities include promoting the benefits of literacies learning, gaining commitment from all stakeholders, and ensuring that the learning is contextualised for the specific workplace setting. Literacies learning can be integrated into other workplace training, for example, filling in timesheets, health and safety, employee induction, computer skills, and Care Sector SVQs (Scottish Vocational Qualifications).
---
\(^{31}\) www.employabilityinscotland.com/barriers/skills/adult-literacies
In addition, literacies work can have an important role in preparing people for the workplace, helping them to become ‘work ready’, or in pre-employment activity such as Activity Agreements\textsuperscript{32}.
**Literacies and financial capability**
Literacies skills, knowledge and understanding underpin financial capability.
Financial capability work embedded in, or partnering, literacies support can help adults develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to manage their money effectively through everyday financial activities, such as reading and understanding written and numerical information and filling in forms. It can also help them to understand how products and services work, and what their consumer rights are. In addition, strong literacies capabilities are needed to identify and challenge errors in bills, compare prices and to seek advice when a person finds themselves in debt. Many of the individuals and groups for whom financial capability can have a significant impact may also be those in need of a range of other literacies support.
At the same time, the use of money is an important social practice that most adults engage in; therefore, literacies learning that uses the context of money can make learners’ learning meaningful and ensure it is rooted in real, everyday life.
Literacies work can effectively meet learners’ financial capability needs where:
- The use of money is available as a context that tutors employ so that learners can understand and apply new skills (for example, understanding decimals in the context of pounds and pence).
- Learning materials reflect the real world of money, with bank and credit union forms available in the learning centre and websites (such as price comparison websites, or \url{www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk}) integrated into learning sessions.
- The learning centre has a relationship with the local credit union, Citizens Advice Bureau, or money advice centre so that: sessions can be delivered by experts tailored to learners’ needs and interests, and learners can be referred for advice and guidance from money professionals.
Tutors and learners recognise the boundaries between learning and financial advice. Many tutors have found that using case studies about fictional individuals or families, for example the Skint!\textsuperscript{33} resource, can help to de-personalise learning about money.
Education Scotland’s website provides guidance on teaching about money within its National Numeracy Progression Framework\textsuperscript{34}. This guidance is aimed at teachers delivering Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes.
**Literacies and family learning**
We know that a child’s parent or carer has a central role to play in their learning and development. Family learning contributes to equality of opportunity by changing learning patterns within families. Working with the family together, rather than with the child or the adult separately, can often make a greater impact on the literacies development of both child and parent or carer. This can be achieved by combining early childhood interventions and early parenting strategies with adult literacies work. An example of one such successful project is Learn with Fred\textsuperscript{35}, which took place in Dundee.
---
\textsuperscript{32} Activity Agreements are for those young people who may not, without additional support, make a successful transition to work, further education or training.
\textsuperscript{33} \url{www.scottishbooktrust.com/learning/adult-learners/skint}
\textsuperscript{34} \url{www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/n/nationalnumeracyprogressionframework/index.asp}
\textsuperscript{35} \url{www.educationscotland.gov.uk/parentzone/gettinginvolved/sharingideas/learnwithfred.asp}
Additionally, parents and carers who develop their own literacies often gain the confidence and skills to help their children with numeracy, reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
**Literacies and health**
We know from ALIS 2020 that adults with lower literacies capabilities are also more likely to have health problems, including mental health issues, problems with sight, speech, hearing and learning, as well as other disabilities or health problems lasting more than six months.
Literacies improvement and health goals have a better chance of success when pursued together. Partnerships between adult literacies providers and health care providers can make a difference to the lives of adults and young people who have physical and mental health issues.
**Offenders and ex-offenders**
ALIS 2020 points out that the literacies needs of offenders and ex-offenders are disproportionately higher than the rest of the adult population. Supporting and encouraging individuals to improve their literacies capabilities can have a profound impact on their ability to re-integrate into society and their families, and can improve the likelihood of their becoming economically active. See Education Scotland’s website\(^{36}\) to find out more about offender learning.
**Specific learning difficulties**
Specific learning difficulties are a range of neuro-developmental conditions that affect the individual’s abilities to learn in everyday contexts by traditional methods. These conditions are distinct from global learning difficulties in that difficulties arise not from intellectual impairment but rather from particular processing differences and, typically, there will be a discrepancy between the individual’s general cognitive abilities and their abilities in certain areas of learning (such as written language or number skills) or under certain circumstances.
Many people have difficulties in fully grasping the skills of efficient reading, writing and using numbers because of a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia, or a number of linked conditions.
However, their difficulties (with literacy and numeracy) may go unrecognised in day-to-day life because they are otherwise very capable, intellectually able and articulate. Very often, people with specific learning difficulties can cope reasonably well with literacy and numeracy tasks in ideal situations, but in other circumstances, time pressure, stress, fatigue or even environmental factors, such as lighting, noise or unfamiliar settings, can seriously impair their abilities.
To learn more about specific learning difficulties and their impact on learning, including literacies learning, see resources on the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE) website\(^{37}\).
Also, see information provided by Education Scotland about additional support for learning\(^{38}\).
**English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL)**
It is important to recognise that literacies learning is not solely concerned with meeting the needs of monolingual speakers of English. Some adults whose first language is not English may have reading, writing and number difficulties very similar to those encountered by ‘traditional’ literacies learners, due to limited schooling in their first language or because they
---
\(^{36}\) www.educationscotland.gov.uk/communitylearninganddevelopment/about/practice/offenderlearning/introduction.asp
\(^{37}\) https://ec.europa.eu/epale/en/resource-centre/content/spld-adults-inclusion-and-intervention
\(^{38}\) http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/inclusionandequalities/additionalsupportforlearning/index.asp
come from a mainly oral culture, or because they have a specific learning difficulty.
It is important to support people whose first language is not English to become active citizens. These adults can make an important contribution to the economic success of Scotland, but to do so they must be able to read, write, speak, understand English, and use numbers in English in a different cultural context.
The refreshed strategy for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) sets out the importance and context of ESOL learning in Scotland, and provides case studies of different types of provision.
**Young people**
Work with young people can have a number of aims, including improving young people’s life chances through learning that they missed out on earlier in their lives. Dedicated youth literacies learning provision exists in Scotland, as do opportunities for young people to improve their capabilities through a range of activities where literacies learning is not the main focus, for example in youth groups. Youth workers might not be specialists in literacies learning and teaching (for children and young people in school, or for adult learners), but they can take advantage of training that will enable them to effectively support the literacies development of the young people they work with. A resource used in such training is the Big Book of Literacies Training\(^{39}\), developed by Education Scotland.
**Scots and Gaelic**
In recent years there has been a renewed interest in Gaelic and Scots language learning. Language learning is distinct from literacy in its purposes and approaches to learning. However, many individuals who have grown up speaking Scots or Gaelic in the family home do not consider themselves literate in those languages: they feel excluded from Gaelic and Scots-speaking communities because they struggle to read the languages and to write them with confidence. This is often because, in spite of oral fluency, they have never had the opportunity to learn spelling and grammar rules.
Many of these people would welcome the chance to improve their literacy, rather than their linguistic skills, in Gaelic or Scots.
---
\(^{39}\) https://ec.europa.eu/epale/en/resource-centre/content/big-book-literacies-training-bbit
OECD (2008) research on teaching, learning and assessment for adults highlighted the complex skills and qualities required of adult literacies practitioners:
‘Instructors need strong subject-matter and pedagogical expertise and skills in assessment, as well as softer skills, such as humour, patience, flexibility, and empathy.’
Scotland’s adult literacies workforce is characterised by mostly sessional, part-time and temporary contracts, although permanent posts exist. Workers often have complex roles, co-ordinating learning provision as well as tutoring.
Practitioners support learning in contexts of varying formality: from a community setting where learning can focus on the need to improve literacies for a specific purpose in the learner’s life such as helping a child with their homework, to a more formal setting, such as a college or independent training environment, where learners are undertaking a vocational qualification and need additional support.
Some practitioners work with individuals who face barriers such as poor physical and mental health, or work and caring commitments.
This can often mean that learners move in and out of programmes intermittently as their circumstances change.
In other cases, practitioners may be supporting learners who are difficult to engage or challenging to motivate: such as those learners who are required to undertake literacies learning as part of a back-to-work programme or community payback order.
In order to meet the professional development needs of this diverse workforce (and thereby meet the needs and aspirations of literacies learners), we recognise the complex nature of the work and the specific challenges involved in providing opportunities for practitioners to develop their own skills.
A professional development framework for Scotland’s adult literacies workforce\(^{40}\) (the ALPDF) sets out three ‘typical’ roles that practitioners occupy (recognising that they will often occupy more than one of these roles at any given time). The three roles are:
- tutor assistant;
- group tutor; and
- co-ordinator.
The ALPDF suggests relevant professional development opportunities (formal and informal) for each of the three roles, so that practitioners and their employers can identify and prioritise professional development opportunities.
The ALPDF aims to enable practitioners to progress within and beyond adult literacies work.
In addition, the Community Learning and Development Standards Council’s Code of Ethics\(^{41}\) provides guidance that is applicable to adult literacies work, in order to ensure the work with individuals and communities is ethical and inclusive.
Education Scotland provides guidance on equality and inclusion in education\(^{42}\), with an emphasis on a ‘holistic approach’.
---
\(^{40}\) www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/AdultLiteraciesCPDFramework_tcm4-744576.pdf
\(^{41}\) http://cldstandardscouncil.org.uk/?page_id=320
\(^{42}\) www.educationscotland.gov.uk/inclusionandequalities/equalities/index.asp
Principal policies relating to adult literacies outcomes in Scotland
**Adult Learning in Scotland: a Statement of Ambition**
In 2014 Education Scotland launched Adult Learning in Scotland, a Statement of Ambition (the Statement of Ambition)\(^{43}\).
The Statement of Ambition has three core principles — that adult learning should be: lifelong, life-wide, and learner-centred. It recognises the key and distinctive role that adult learning plays in helping to develop the person, the family, communities and society. It aims for:
- Scotland to become recognised globally as the most creative and engaged learning society.
- Every adult in Scotland to have the right to access learning to meet their educational needs and their aspirations.
- Adult learning in Scotland, and the outcomes that learners achieve, to be world-leading.
The strategic forum that developed the Statement of Ambition is now tasked with overseeing the realisation of these aims. Four working groups, chaired by members of the forum, will bring the aims to fruition. They focus on:
- professional learning;
- family learning;
- access and participation; and
- the learner voice.
The Statement of Ambition aligns with principles that underpin adult literacies work in Scotland, in placing the learner at the centre, in promoting self-determination throughout life, and in taking account of learning contexts that are ‘life-wide’.
**ALIS 2020 and the Literacy Action Plan**
Scotland’s adult literacies policy, ALIS 2020, was launched in December 2010. It offers a vision that:
By 2020 Scotland’s society and economy will be stronger because more of its adults are able to read, write and use numbers effectively in order to handle information, communicate with others, express ideas and opinions, make decisions and solve problems, as family members, workers, citizens and lifelong learners.
The guidance sets out four outcomes for achieving this vision, on the themes of:
a) increasing engagement and access
b) ensuring a high quality learning experience
c) supporting coherent national and local infrastructures, and
d) measuring impact.
---
\(^{43}\) www.educationscotland.gov.uk/communitylearninganddevelopment/about/policy/statementofambition.asp
The second of these outcomes, that adult literacies learners receive high quality learning and teaching so they can achieve their goals, places a requirement on practitioners and their employers to be skilled and confident at delivering literacies learning, and at developing literacies learning programmes that meet the needs of the communities they serve.
ALIS 2020 builds on both ALNIS (2001) and the Literacy Action Plan (2010).
The themes within ALIS 2020 can support the design of individualised curricula by reminding tutors and learners about the relevance of literacies capabilities for employability and work, for their children’s achievements, for their handling of money, and for their health and wellbeing.
**Policies that relate to the delivery of adult literacies outcomes in Scotland**
The following policies relate either to the broader field of adult learning or to aspects of adult learning in Scotland. The European policy provides an international context for adult literacies. This is important in that adult literacies outcomes are often used as benchmarks for success at national level, in studies such as PISA and PIAAC.
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44 www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/158952/0043191.pdf
45 www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/10/27084039/0
46 https://www.oecd.org/pisa/
47 www.oecd.org/site/piaac/
48 www.gov.scot/Publications/2012/06/2208
49 http://oldstandardscouncil.org.uk/
50 www.educationscotland.gov.uk/communitylearninganddevelopment/about/policy/cldregulations/index.asp
Scotland’s Adult ESOL Strategy 2015-2020
The Adult ESOL Strategy for Scotland\(^{51}\) aims to support Scotland’s ambitions for growing the economy and to encourage active citizenship in a diverse and pluralistic society. The strategy has been refreshed to take account of new and developing policy. It maintains the vision and principles of the 2007 strategy\(^{52}\) and recognises the achievements that have been made since then. It seeks to build on the achievements to date and to provide renewed strategic direction framed within the Adult Learning in Scotland: a Statement of Ambition\(^{53}\).
Curriculum for Excellence
Curriculum for Excellence\(^{54}\) (CfE) aims to transform education in Scotland by providing a coherent, more flexible and enriched curriculum for learners from 3-18 years old. CfE is organised around four capacities – to enable each child or young person to be a successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible citizen, and an effective contributor. It draws schooling, learning in the community and out of school life in general more closely together.
One of CfE’s reforms is that supporting the learning of literacy and numeracy, along with health and wellbeing, becomes the responsibility of all teachers of all subjects. The shared responsibility for supporting literacy and numeracy learning across education (including those who support learning outside schools, in youth clubs, volunteering programmes, colleges and universities) should not only improve learners’ literacies capabilities, but also help to reduce the stigma some individuals feel from having difficulties with numeracy, reading, and/or writing.
CfE’s ‘Seven Principles of Curriculum Design’ could be applied to the design of curricula for adult learners, in that learning should provide:
- Challenge and enjoyment
- Breadth
- Progression
- Depth
- Personalisation and choice
- Coherence
- Relevance.
Skills for Scotland
Scotland’s skills strategy is Skills for Scotland: Accelerating the Recovery and Increasing Sustainable Economic Growth\(^{55}\) (2010). It sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment to skills and training to help address Scotland’s skills needs and to improve the nation’s economic performance. It identifies overlapping clusters of skills including literacy and numeracy.
Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce
In December 2014 the Scottish Government published Developing the Young Workforce - Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy\(^{56}\). The strategy aims to reduce youth unemployment by 40% by 2021. It is likely that adult literacies work with young people will contribute, through the ALIS 2020 theme of employability and work, to a reduction in youth unemployment.
---
\(^{51}\) www.educationscotland.gov.uk/communitylearninganddevelopment/about/policy/esolstrategy.asp
\(^{52}\) www.gov.scot/Publications/2007/05/09155324/0
\(^{53}\) www.educationscotland.gov.uk/communitylearninganddevelopment/about/policy/statementofambition.asp
\(^{54}\) www.oecd.org/education/school/Improving-Schools-in-Scotland-An-OECD-Perspective.pdf
\(^{55}\) http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/12/7750
\(^{56}\) http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/12/7750
Getting it Right for Every Child
Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC)\(^{57}\) is the national approach in Scotland to improving outcomes and supporting the wellbeing of children and young people by offering the right help at the right time from the right people. It supports them and their parent(s) to work in partnership with the services that can help them.
GIRFEC ensures children and young people get consistent and effective support for their wellbeing wherever they live or learn; making good practice the national standard in Scotland.
Services and community organisations across Scotland use the GIRFEC approach to ensure the way they support children, young people and their parents is consistent and effective.
\(^{57}\) www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Young-People/gettingitright/what-is-girfec
It is important to consider the theories of knowledge that underpin our understanding of how people learn so that we can teach and assess appropriately.\textsuperscript{58}
**Behaviourism**
Behaviourism is a theory that conceives of learning as a set of skills such as recognising and reproducing letters, signs and symbols that are acquired through the tutor or others in society reinforcing the approved responses. These theories tend to see the learner as relatively passive and there is an assumption that the repetition of skills will aid learning.
This approach is particularly common in the teaching of numeracy where it is assumed that learners will understand the four operations (+, -, x, ÷) by doing many examples of similar calculations.
This theory makes a strong distinction between right and wrong answers and assumes that knowledge exists independently of the tutor and learner.
Few tutors nowadays consciously use behaviourist theories. However, aspects of behaviourism still have an influence on teaching practices (Bruner, 1986), for example, reinforcing a skill by lots of repetitive practice through worksheets.
**Constructivism**
Constructivism, on the other hand, is a theory that sees learning as an active process of gaining understanding in which learners use their prior knowledge and experience to shape meaning and acquire new knowledge (Glaser, 1992). It is based on research related to the development of expertise in thinking.
This approach emphasises that human beings are active problem solvers who learn in order to make sense of the world around them. People explore, solve problems and remember. Learning activities are undertaken not just as ends in themselves but as a means of achieving larger objectives and goals that have meaning in the wider communities that the learner is part of. This means that knowledge emerges out of the problem solving activities that the learner engages in.
The learner has a central role in interpreting what is being taught in ways that are meaningful in his or her own context, rather than depending on the ‘expert’ tutor as the sole source of knowledge. For example, learners have tacit knowledge of how they learn to do new things gained from experience of doing a particular task such as taking money out of a cash machine or finding their way around a new area.
Tutors need to help learners think about what strategies they use in this kind of learning and how they can transfer these strategies to other kinds of numeracy or literacy tasks.
Active learning also emphasises the importance of transferring the learning that takes place in the learning programme to the learner’s everyday life. If this doesn’t happen, literacy and numeracy learning becomes divorced from these broader purposes and does not have real meaning for learners (Daniels, 2001).
\textsuperscript{58} https://ec.europa.eu/epa/en/resource-centre/content/adult-literacy-and-numeracy-curriculum-framework-scotland
This theory also shows how important it is for tutors to build on the prior knowledge of learners by helping them to identify what they already know about a particular topic (Gillespie, 2002a).
Tutors should understand fully the range of prior knowledge and experience that some learners might bring, including those from minority backgrounds who have faced prejudice and discrimination based on gender, race, age or disability or their capacity to learn. This existing knowledge can then be built on in order to help learners to achieve a more expert understanding. For example, in a family learning programme tutors can ask what parents already know about their children’s education, directly build on this to identify gaps, and then address any misunderstandings.
Research shows that if tutors do not involve learners in naming and analysing their existing understandings, learners may not grasp new concepts, such as new ways of understanding maths, and revert to what they already know. This research also highlights the importance of developing learners’ critical thinking and encouraging them to question their assumptions. If assumptions go unchallenged then misconceptions persist and learners get stuck and find it difficult to move on to new knowledge and understanding (Gillespie, 2002b).
**Cognitive and metacognitive strategies**
The research literature also highlights the importance of a focus on cognitive and metacognitive strategies (Greeno et al, 1997). Learning strategies can be divided into two basic types. **Cognitive** strategies help us to remember and organise content information. For example, when we read we might apply a cognitive strategy to skim the title, pictures, and headings of a text to get the gist of what we will read. We might take notes to help us remember the main points. An expert reader will also know when it is possible to skip over sections of a text and when it is important to read every word carefully. When learning a large number of facts, a good strategic learner will ‘study smarter’ by working to understand the ‘big picture’ and then dividing the facts into categories through a classification scheme, diagram or outline, for example mind maps (Gillespie and Nash, 2002).
**Metacognitive** strategies consist of knowledge about one’s own thinking processes. They are the ‘executive managers’ of knowledge and involve planning, monitoring, evaluating and revising one’s own thinking processes. Good metacognitive strategy users engage in an ongoing process of identifying what their prior knowledge of a topic is, what they don’t know, and what they need to learn. Metacognitive strategies enable learners to plan and self-regulate their work and to judge under what conditions to apply which cognitive strategies.
Tutors can help learners to learn these skills by enabling them, firstly, to examine their prior knowledge and to construct new knowledge in the light of their past experiences through reflecting on the knowledge, skills and learning strategies that they use to complete a particular task. Secondly, tutors can ask learners to think about how this specific learning might transfer to other parts of their lives and to use this information and their thinking processes to monitor, develop and alter their understanding. Finally, tutors can help learners to identify what barriers they feel interfere with their learning and revise their assumptions about these in the light of their own growing independence.
There are three kinds of **metacognitive knowledge**: which strategies are relevant, how to apply the right strategy and why these strategies are useful. This means that when someone is acquiring a new skill the tutor needs to break the complex task down into smaller steps, help the learner to see how to do each one, and then show how to put the individual pieces back together again. Tutors should be aware of how to explain the individual parts of any activity, should understand how to stimulate the learner’s thinking about the problem, and know how to explain the processes of thinking at the level the learner can understand and employ.
**Scaffolding**
Another key concept is that of ‘**scaffolding**’ (Vygotsky, 1986):
The role of the tutor is, through guided participation, to build bridges from the learner’s present understanding and skills to reach a new level of knowledge. This collaborative process moves the learner along the developmental continuum from novice towards expert. Scaffolding helps to do this by providing tasks that are slightly above the learner’s level of independent functioning yet can be accomplished with sensitive guidance. In the process of jointly performing a task, a tutor or more skilled peer can point out links between the task and the ones the learner already knows, helping the learner to stretch his or her understanding to the next development level. The tutor’s role is to first structure the task and the learning environment so that the demands on the learner are at an appropriately challenging level. Then the role is to continually adjust the amount of intervention and the range of tasks to the learner’s level of independence and fluency.
The idea of scaffolding is a key one and to be effective it should be based on practices that:
- give ownership of the activity to be learned to the learner;
- are appropriate to the learner’s current knowledge;
- provide a structure that embodies a ‘natural’ sequence of thought and action;
- result in collaboration between tutor and learner; and
- result in internalisation via the gradual withdrawal of the scaffolding and the transfer of control.
The tutor is always a member of the learning community and so should make it clear that he or she is also a learner and that learning is a shared responsibility.
Learning is not just about cognitive development; it is also about values and feelings and so the **emotional and social dimensions** are equally important (Illeris, 2004). Because literacy and numeracy skills have assumed enormous significance in contemporary Western society the discourse surrounding adult literacies tends to focus on what people lack rather than what they have, and emphasises their deficits not their strengths. Learners internalise this emphasis on individual failure rather than thinking about the circumstances and structures that might make learning difficult.
This means that many learners have low self-esteem and may be unwilling to take the risk of learning in new ways (Crowther et al, 2001). At school they may have used the strategy of not trying new ways of learning because they were afraid of failing. Sticking to what they knew may have seemed safer even if their old ways were of little help. People learn early on at school that failure is to be avoided and so may simply withdraw rather than show that they do not understand something.
This is why it is important that tutors work with learners to draw on their existing knowledge, skills and understanding as this emphasises strengths rather than weaknesses. This in turn leads to learners becoming more confident about what they know and can do and so better able to learn and grow in self-esteem (Beder, 1999). It is also important to recognise that barriers to learning may be erected not only by learners but also by tutors, barriers based often on unconscious stereotypes and assumptions about the contexts and capabilities of learners.
Annex C: Glossary of terms
Literacies
The term ‘literacies’ is used to encompass not only the skills, but also the knowledge and critical understanding involved in using numbers, reading, writing, listening and talking. The plural term reflects the multiple and diverse ways in which we use literacy and numeracy in our everyday lives; in other words, the complex literacy and numeracy capabilities (‘literacies’) one person uses will differ from another’s.
‘Adult’ literacies
The term ‘adult’ makes a distinction between the literacies learning that children and young people experience in school (in other words, in a more formal learning setting), and the less formal, and non-formal, style of learning that adults and young people can expect to experience if they return to learn to improve their capabilities. In this document, the term adult includes young people who are transitioning to adulthood (for example, leaving school, leaving care, starting work, or entering further learning). Often, non-formal learning provision that is tailored for young people is called youth literacies, and this might be delivered by adult literacies workers and/or by youth workers.
Curriculum
There are different understandings of the term ‘curriculum’, which can be understood as spanning a spectrum.
At one end of the spectrum, curriculum involves a detailed specification of content to be covered (or outcomes to be achieved) — similar to a syllabus or unit specification in a qualification. This is known as ‘product’ curriculum.
At the other end, a ‘process’ curriculum makes recommendations for the processes to be undertaken by learners and tutors to identify, plan, learn, assess and review individualised or group learning programmes.
These guidelines are strongly orientated towards a process-based concept of curriculum. The emphasis is on the way that the curriculum is negotiated with learners and builds creatively on their existing knowledge and skills and the contexts they experience in their private, family, community and working lives. The more open the curriculum, the easier it is to adapt it to learners’ needs and learning goals. This approach has risks, too, in that flexibility can potentially make tutors and learners feel less secure about planning and progress — which is why regular review of learning and revision of plans is crucial.
This document in itself is not a curriculum. It offers guidelines on processes and approaches that should be used by tutors and their learners to develop tailored curricula that suit the learning needs of individual learners or groups of learners.
Lifelong learning
Skills for Scotland\(^{59}\) (2010), the Scottish Government’s Skills Strategy, called on Scotland’s learning providers to see themselves as part of a single lifelong learning system, in which the diverse needs of individuals, employers and communities are met by learning providers working together, recognising each other’s contributions, and enabling learners to achieve and progress.
For the purposes of these guidelines, ‘lifelong learning’ is taken to mean the learning that takes place outside and/or beyond school. It includes learning that is delivered to varying degrees of formality and in a range of settings.
\(^{59}\) www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/10/04125111/0
The social practice approach
Adult literacies learning and teaching in Scotland uses a ‘social practice’ approach, which recognises that the development of literacies depends on the contexts and activities in which learning occurs, the purposes of the learning, and the cultural patterns that are valued in communities and broader society. Adults will learn most effectively what they want or need to learn, and so the emphasis for the learning should be on the uses and application of literacies learning.
The social practice approach has at its heart the principle that literacies learning has complex relationships to social, emotional and personal values and practices. Learning programmes should focus on the skills, knowledge, and understanding that enable learners to deal more effectively and critically with their real life concerns – in the family, with friends, at work, and in the local community and wider society. Learning programmes value and build on the knowledge and experience adults bring to their learning. Individual and group learning plans promote learner control and ownership of learning, and enable recognition of progress through the distance learners travel towards their own goals.
Borge Consulting and Daniel Sellers led the revision of the ALN Curriculum Framework during the winter of 2015/2016, with the support of Learning Link Scotland.
They consulted electronically with adult literacies providers across Scotland and wish to thank all those organisations and individuals who contributed to the review. Special thanks to Lyn Tett, Professor of Community Education, University of Huddersfield.
Courtesy Brian Marden, Argyll and Bute.
Education Scotland
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One of the ways we protect the public from infectious diseases like novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is contact tracing.
undertake contact tracing to prevent the infection spreading further. Contact tracing is a fundamental part of outbreak control that’s used by public health professionals around the world.
If a person tests positive for novel coronavirus, we speak to the patient to identify anyone who has had close contact with them during the time they are considered to be infectious and go all out to find these people as soon as possible. Once we have made contact with them we can then give them the advice they need. If they are in groups considered to be a higher risk, we make sure that we follow up with them on a daily basis to see how they are. If they become unwell we are then able to assess them quickly and take appropriate action.
Contents
Covid Overview
Reproductive Number
Symptoms
The difference between tests for COVID-19
NHS Test & Trace
What is Contact Tracing
Isolation timeframes – Positive cases & contacts
Support Hub
Road Map Step 4
The virus and disease
The name for the virus is Covid-19. This is made from the following:
COV stands for Coronavirus
D stands for disease
19 for the year it was detected, 2019
SARS-CoV-2 Is the actual virus.
SARS stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
CoV for Coronavirus
2 is because it is similar to another Coronavirus outbreak in China, SARS-CoV in 2003, so the 2 references being a 'relative' or the second to that outbreak
Transmission is mostly through close person-to-person contact through respiratory droplets and enters through the nose, mouth and eyes:
- By coughing, sneezing, talking, laughing, singing
- through touching surfaces containing the virus
- Groups create a perfect environment for transmission due to close proximity
Can also spread through airborne transmission, when droplets remain in the air after the person with the virus leaves the area.
The reproductive number (the R naught), which represents how quickly a disease can spread, for SARS-CoV-2 is 2 -3, meaning that for every one person that has the virus they can potentially infect 2 to 3 other people. The higher the reproductive number, the more people will be infected over the course of any outbreak.
2 – 3 may sound small but if everyone who a positive Covid-19 person comes into contact with becomes infected it means everyone they meet they carry a risk of infecting 2 more, and so on, which means the virus quickly spreads and a number that seemed so small is now huge and creating outbreaks. As you can see in the picture one person could effectively create a cascade of infection of 30 people which continues.
The number is important because specialists are using R - naught for determining whether their respective COVID-19 outbreaks are growing, shrinking and or holding steady. R - naught is not a fixed number. It’s a starting point that's influenced by many factors, including human behaviour.
This is where social distancing and self-isolation comes into play, because if you could reduce the number of people you come into contact with, even by one, you are reducing the spread from 30 potential infected to 4, as the second picture shows and this means the outbreak becomes more manageable.
Background: Symptoms
- May also include: shortness of breath, joint/muscle pain, headaches, chills, nasal congestion, diarrhoea and vomiting.
If infected the symptoms someone is likely to experience are:
- High temperature – this means feeling hot to touch on the chest or back (Temperature does not need to be taken)
- A new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
- A loss or change to sense of smell or taste – noticing cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
Most people with coronavirus have at least 1 of these symptoms, whereas some may have a few or all.
Some though can be asymptomatic and the severity of symptoms can vary from very mild to severe that can be life threatening or leading to death.
Most of these symptoms are similar or common to other diseases symptoms so it can be difficult to establish if it is Covid-19 without a test, apart from the loss of sense of taste and smell, as this is rare in other conditions, and is a useful measure as an indicator of Covid-19.
Advice regarding symptoms
If someone has any of the main symptoms of coronavirus they need to:
Get a test to check if have coronavirus as soon as possible. A test can be organised via:
Get a free NHS test to check if you have coronavirus - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
or can apply Online on GOV.UK. Or call 119 if have problems using the Internet.
They must stay at home and not have visitors until they get the test result and only leave home to have the test. Anyone they live with, and anyone in *support their bubble, must also stay at home until they get the result.
They can use the NHS 111 Online coronavirus service or can call 111 if cannot get help Online. Use these service if:
- worried about symptoms
- not sure what to do
They must not go to places like a GP surgery, hospital or pharmacy as risk spreading the virus.
*What are support bubbles? A support bubble is where someone who lives alone (or just with their children) can meet people from 1 other household.
Symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) - NHS (www.nhs.uk) Last accessed 26/7/21
There are 2 main types of test currently being used to detect if someone has COVID-19:
• polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests
• lateral flow device antigen (LFD) tests also known as rapid lateral flow tests
PCR tests detect the RNA (ribonucleic acid, the genetic material) of a virus. PCR tests are the most reliable COVID-19 tests. It takes some time to get the results because they are usually processed in a laboratory. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should arrange to have a PCR test.
People who live in the same household as someone with COVID-19 can also take a PCR test, as they are at higher risk of being infected even if they do not have symptoms.
LFD tests detect proteins in the coronavirus and work in a similar way to a pregnancy test. They are simple and quick to use. LFD tests are not as accurate as PCR tests in all circumstances, but can detect a similar number of people with high levels of coronavirus as PCR tests. They are mainly used in people who do not have symptoms of COVID-19.
People in England who do not have symptoms of COVID-19 can take part in regular testing using LFD tests. Many people already do this as part of school or workplace LFD testing programmes. All of these programmes are known as ‘asymptomatic testing programmes’ and can help reduce the spread of infection to others.
If someone tests positive for COVID-19 by LFD test, they should self-isolate and follow self-isolation guidance. They should also request a follow-up PCR test as soon as possible and within 2 days of the positive LFD test at the latest.
While waiting for the follow-up PCR test result they and their household members should follow self-isolation guidance, it is no longer a requirement if double vaccinated and a contact of a positive case to have to isolate, please refer to Government guidelines regarding this. If the positive case receives a negative follow-up PCR test result, and this PCR test was taken within 2 days of the positive LFD test, they can stop self-isolation.
However, they must self-isolate if:
- the PCR test result is positive
- they choose not to take a follow-up PCR test
- the follow-up PCR test was taken more than 2 days after the positive LFD test result
LFD tests can be taken in 2 ways:
An assisted test is where the person takes the test themselves under the supervision of a trained operator, and this operator processes the test, reads and reports the result.
A home (self-reported) test is where a person takes the test themselves and reads and reports their own result.
If you have any of the symptoms of COVID-19, you should request a PCR test.
Sources:
Link for isolation advice [Stay at home: guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)](https://www.gov.uk)
Link for testing if no symptoms [Understanding lateral flow testing for people without symptoms - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)](https://www.gov.uk)
Link for testing if have symptoms [Get a free PCR test to check if you have coronavirus (COVID-19) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)](https://www.gov.uk)
The NHS test and trace service – Normal process ensures that anyone who develops symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) can quickly be tested to find out if they have the virus, and also includes targeted asymptomatic testing of NHS and social care staff and care home residents.
They contact tested cases to provide them with their results and if positive provide support links in how to isolate and what a positive test means.
Helps trace close recent contacts of anyone who tests positive for coronavirus and notifies them that they must self-isolate at home to help stop the spread of the virus. If that contact has been doubled vaccinated with a UK approved COVID-19 vaccine they will not need to self-isolate, but should still refer to government guidelines on what they should do.
As of 28/11/2020 the process of contact and isolation advice was updated. A primary (Index) case within a household will be able to provide the required details of contacts in their households and take responsibility to advise the contacts to isolate if they need to, as per notes above if vaccinated with UK approved COVID-19 vaccine the household contact will not need to isolate – these contacts can then be marked as complete and will not need to be separately invited for the digital journey. Previously every member in the household would have been contacted by NHS Test & Trace meaning households received multiple contacts. This amendment addresses that issue, reducing the amount of contacts made to the household.
The aim of NHS test & trace is to help return life more to normal, in a way that is safe and protects the NHS and social care. The service will allow the spread of the virus to be traced and isolate new infections, playing a vital role in giving early warning if the virus is increasing again, locally or nationally.
NHS Test and Trace index cases/contacts will receive a maximum of 10 calls, with calls attempted up to 96 hours from the time of notification into the NHS Test and Trace system. If after these attempts there is no contact made with the case then the case is closed and classed as a Follow Up Failed.
How it works:
Tier 2: People who test positive for COVID-19 are contacted by NHS Test and Trace by email, text message or phone call, and will get advice via the Test and Trace website or from a contact tracer over the phone.
They will be invited to go onto a secure website to complete the questions or can answer the questions over the phone with a Tier 2 Clinician. All of this information remains confidential and is only used for contact tracing reasons. It is not shared with any other authority bodies.
Questions cover:
• When symptoms started or date of their test if no symptoms to be able to provide advice on their isolation time period. They will be tracing contacts they had from 48 hours before symptoms started or their positive test up to 10 days post symptoms.
• Contacts are checked by category of both household and non-household
• If have school or nursery school age children
• Check on their place of work.
• Check if they are within the *clinically vulnerable or extremely clinically vulnerable classification, who need to have extra support and advice for their isolation period.
*This group during the initial stages of lockdown back in March started isolation before the general population and had prolonged isolation to shield them from the risks of the virus.
All of these questions are vital as they identify if there is a risk of the virus spreading in complex settings. If any of these settings are identified that the positive case has visited, works in or children are at school then the details are escalated to Tier 1 for the incident management team to handle working in partnership with Public Health England.
Tier 2 are also doing backward tracing from 7-10 of onset of symptoms to establish places, venues, areas positive cases have been. This is to see if there are common areas of spikes that other positive cases have visited and if a certain setting/environment/place is an area of risk for the virus spreading.
Once all questions have been completed and advice given to the person with the positive result, Tier 2 end the conversation or the website questions are completed if doing online. All contacts information is then passed to Tier 3.
Tier 3: Call close recent contacts of anyone who tests positive for coronavirus and notifies them that must self-isolate at home if they are not COVID-19 vaccinated to help stop the spread of the virus. The contact will receive the same format of notification, a text/email or phone call and complete similar questions online or with a call handler.
Tier 1: There are cases such as those linked to care homes, prisons, homeless hostels or schools, that are more complex to contact trace and are referred to PHE health protection teams, often working in partnership with local government, who will do the contact tracing.
During the process of contact tracing must ensure that reassurance is offered to the contacts regarding confidentiality and that all information will be treated with privacy, respect, collected in good faith for the public’s wellbeing, fair and just and totally confidential and that the aim is to reduce the spread of the viruses, not to share their information with any other agency outside of contact.
Due to legal requirement it is also important to explain the legal implications of isolation and risk of fines if isolation is not adhered to.
No contact of a positive case will know the details of the case, they will simply be informed that they were in contact with someone who received a positive result.
Contact tracing is used to help prevent the infection spreading further and is a fundamental part of outbreak control that’s used by public health professionals around the world.
**Aims:**
Ensure anyone that has tested positive for Coronavirus is quickly contacted – with an aim to achieve an 80% contact rate for positive cases.
National and local Tier 2 Teams will make the initial attempt at contact. If a case is identified as complex or part of an outbreak the case will be referred to Tier 1 local authority teams, working with Public Health England to follow up. An example of a ‘complex’ case would be where there has been an identified positive case in a setting, e.g. school or care home and Tier 1 have to implement process to manage the situation within that environment.
Local contact tracing teams will initially make contact by phone, text or email asking people to call a local number - which earlier experiences in contacting shielded people, has been found to be more effective than a contact from a national number.
But if this fails the contact will be referred for a door knock, which can take two forms:
1. Door knock to establish have correct contact telephone number and to leave a card outlining the contact trace team will be in touch.
2. Door knock to complete the contact trace if telephone call follow up unsuccessful
The contact traces work from the Contact Tracing Advice Service (CTAS) script and update information collected back into CTAS and the local Case Management System (CMS). The CMS can be used to record or outbreak related cases/contacts and outbreak management, allowing different teams to view all the information in relation to a case situation and contact trace, e.g. if escalated internally for follow up within a workplace can view progression via CMS.
Type of questions NHS Test & Trace ask
Examples questions:
When Did Symptoms Start?
Type of Symptoms?
Do you need support as clinically vulnerable?
Where live and who live with?
Activities completed during infectious period?
School age setting?
Place of work?
Information they need:
NHS Test and Trace needs to collect personal identifiable information so that they can provide advice to people who have coronavirus and protect the people they have been in contact with.
The information collected on people with coronavirus or those with symptoms includes:
• Full name date of birth home postcode & house number telephone number email address
• The type of symptoms people have and how these are changing over time.
The information NHS Test & Trace collects on the contacts of people with coronavirus includes, where available, their:
• Full name home postcode & house number telephone number email address
This information is used by Public Health England to help control the spread of coronavirus by providing advice to people with coronavirus and those who have symptoms; identifying people who have been in contact with someone with coronavirus symptoms and who may be at risk of developing the infection; and asking anyone who is infectious to stay at home until they stop being a risk for others.
From 16 August, you will not be required to self-isolate if you live in the same household as someone with COVID-19 and any of the following apply:
- you are fully vaccinated
- you are below the age of 18 years 6 months
- you have taken part in or are currently part of an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial
- you are not able to get vaccinated for medical reasons
Even if you do not have symptoms, you should still:
- Get a PCR test on GOV.UK to check if you have COVID-19
- Follow advice on how to avoid catching and spreading COVID-19
- Consider limiting contact with people who are at higher risk from COVID-19
Source: Stay at home: guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
When to self-isolate and what to do – Coronavirus (COVID-19) – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
From 16 August, you will not be required to self-isolate if you live in the same household as someone with COVID-19 and any of the following apply:
- you are fully vaccinated
- you are below the age of 18 years 6 months
- you have taken part in or are currently part of an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial
- you are not able to get vaccinated for medical reasons
Fully vaccinated means that you have been vaccinated with an MHRA approved COVID-19 vaccine in the UK, and at least 14 days have passed since you received the recommended doses of that vaccine.
NHS Test and Trace will contact you to let you know that you have been identified as a contact and check whether you are legally required to self-isolate.
If you are not legally required to self-isolate, you will be provided with advice on testing and given guidance on preventing the spread of COVID-19. Even if you do not have symptoms, you will be advised to have a PCR test as soon as possible.
You should not arrange to have a PCR test if you have previously received a positive PCR test result in the last 90 days, unless you develop any new symptoms of COVID-19, as it is possible for PCR tests to remain positive for some time after COVID-19 infection.
This advice applies while the person in your household with COVID-19 is self-isolating.
If you develop symptoms at any time, even if these are mild, self-isolate immediately, arrange to have a COVID-19 PCR test and follow the guidance for people with COVID-19 symptoms.
Even if vaccinated, you can still be infected with COVID-19 and pass it on to others.
Even if you are not required to isolate you can help protect others by following the guidance on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread.
As well as getting a PCR test, you may also consider:
• limiting close contact with other people outside your household, especially in enclosed spaces
• wearing a face covering in enclosed spaces and where you are unable to maintain social distancing
• limiting contact with anyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable
• taking part in twice weekly LFD testing
If develop symptoms at any time, even if these are mild, self-isolate immediately, arrange to have a COVID-19 PCR test and follow the guidance for people with COVID-19 symptoms.
Source: Stay at home: guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
When to self-isolate and what to do – Coronavirus (COVID-19) - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Even if you are vaccinated, you can still be infected with COVID-19 and pass it on to others. If you are identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19 but you are not required to self-isolate, you can help protect others by following the guidance on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread.
As well as getting a PCR test, you may also consider:
• limiting close contact with other people outside your household, especially in enclosed spaces
• wearing a face covering in enclosed spaces and where you are unable to maintain social distancing
• limiting contact with anyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable
• taking part in twice weekly LFD testing
This advice applies while the person in your household with COVID-19 is self-isolating.
If you develop symptoms at any time, even if these are mild, self-isolate immediately, arrange to have a COVID-19 PCR test and follow the guidance for people with COVID-19 symptoms.
Isolation dates for a case and household contacts
Double jabbed and over 18:
- No longer need to self-isolate if come into contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.
One jab and over 18:
- Self-isolate for 10 days if come into contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.
No jab and over 18:
- Self-isolate for 10 days if come into contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.
Under 18s:
- No longer need to self-isolate if come into contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.
Close contacts of confirmed cases advised to take a PCR test.
Only self-isolate for 10 days if the test is positive.
If you get a second dose just before or just after 16 August, you will not have to wait two weeks - instead, your second jab can take effect straight away and give you the new protection.
Please note if household contacts are double COVID-19 vaccinated with UK approved vaccine do not need to isolate
Source: link to isolation example timeframe https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance
Source: https://www.nationalworld.com/health/do-we-need-to-self-isolate-after-16-august-self-isolation-rules-and-changes-for-double-vaccinated-explained-3305853 / Self-isolation rules will change on August 16. (Graphic: Mark Hall/JPI Media)
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance
Double vaccinated and over 18 no longer need to self-isolate if come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
One jab and over 18, self isolate for 10 days if come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
No jab and over 18 will need to self isolate for 10 days if a contact of a positive case.
Under 18s no longer need to self isolate if come into contact with a positive case.
Please note:
For those who are double vaccinated and the under 18s as a close contact of a positive case they are advised to have a PCR test and only self isolate if then receive a positive result if double.
If test positive in any of the situations described above still need to isolate for 10 days.
How to stay safe and help prevent the spread
Coronavirus remains a serious health risk. It’s important to stay cautious and help protect yourself and others. In England:
- Meet up outside or if you’re indoors open windows or doors if you have visitors.
- If you think you might have COVID-19 symptoms, take a PCR test and stay home.
- Wear face coverings in crowded places to help protect others.
- Check in with the NHS COVID-19 app when you’re out.
- Wash your hands regularly and for at least 20 seconds with soap.
- Get vaccinated if you are 18 or over.
Source: Link to Gov guidance on Coronavirus: how to stay safe and help prevent the spread - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Step 4 – July 19th
While cases are high and rising, everybody needs to continue to act carefully and remain cautious. This is why key protections remain in place:
- testing when have symptoms and targeted asymptomatic testing in education, high risk workplaces and to help people manage their personal risk.
- isolating when positive or when contacted by NHS Test and Trace.
- border quarantine: for all arriving from red list countries and for those people not fully vaccinated arriving from amber list countries.
- cautious guidance for individuals, businesses and the vulnerable whilst prevalence is high including:
- Government is no longer instructing people to work from home if they can but do expect and are recommending a gradual return over the summer
- Government expects and recommends that people wear face coverings in crowded areas such as public transport;
- being outside or letting fresh air in
- minimising the number, proximity and duration of social contacts.
- encouraging and supporting businesses and large events to use the NHS COVID Pass in high risk settings. The Government will work with organisations where people are likely to be in close proximity to others outside their household to encourage the use of this. If sufficient measures are not taken to limit infection, the Government will consider mandating certification in certain venues at a later date.
Most legal restrictions to control COVID-19 have been lifted at step 4. This means that:
- You do not need to stay 2 metres apart from people you do not live with.
- There are also no limits on the number of people you can meet.
However, in order to minimise risk at a time of high prevalence, you should limit the close contact you have with those you do not usually live with, and increase close contact gradually. This includes minimising the number, proximity and duration of social contacts.
You should meet outdoors where possible and let fresh air into homes or other enclosed spaces.
The Government is no longer instructing people to work from home if they can. However, the Government expects and recommends a gradual return over the summer.
The requirement to wear face coverings in law has been lifted. However, the Government expects and recommends that people wear face coverings in crowded areas such as public transport.
There are no longer limits on the number of people who can attend weddings, civil partnerships, funerals and other life events (including receptions and celebrations). There is no requirement for table service at life events, or restrictions on singing or dancing. You should follow guidance for weddings and funerals to reduce risk and protect yourself and others.
There are no longer restrictions on group sizes for attending communal worship.
COVID-19 has not gone away, so it’s important to remember the actions you can take to keep yourself and others safe. Everybody needs to continue to act carefully and remain cautious:
- Meet up outside or if you’re indoors open windows or doors if you have visitors.
- If you think you might have COVID-19 symptoms, take a PCR test and stay home.
- Wear face coverings in crowded places to help protect others.
- Check in with the NHS COVID-19 app when you’re out.
- Wash your hands regularly and for at least 20 seconds with soap.
- Get vaccinated if you are 18 or over. Vaccines for healthy children age 12 and over have been approved and Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI) are presently discussing the vaccine programme for children.
Across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough a network of coordination and response hubs have been set up and working extremely well.
Aim to provide support, guidance and links to everyone within the local authority areas
**Support to local contract tracing**
- Provide localised data e.g. contact details
- Support the household contact tracing where a positive case is identified
- Coordinate the self-isolation support package offer – ensuring people have access to essential supplies and working closely with each district and city to arrange financial support where needed
NHS Test & Trace contact positive cases and their contacts.
Local teams of contact tracers are conducting contact tracing on cases NHS Test & Trace have been unable to follow up and at Zero hours of a confirmed positive case.
Still recommended to follow social measures to help reduce spread as we have more interactions.
Local plan wraps all the information together of county council actions for isolation support, contact tracing, prevention and surveillance and outbreak management.
COVID-19 has not gone away, so it’s important to remember the actions you can take to keep yourself and others safe. Everybody needs to continue to act carefully and remain cautious:
- Meet up outside or if you’re indoors open windows or doors if you have visitors.
- If you think you might have COVID-19 symptoms, take a PCR test and stay home.
- Wear face coverings in crowded places to help protect others.
- Check in with the NHS COVID-19 app when you’re out.
- Wash your hands regularly and for at least 20 seconds with soap.
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#WorldWaterDay is a United Nations observance that celebrates water and raises awareness of the global water crisis, with the theme of World Water Day 2021 being valuing water. Water has multiple values for individuals, households, communities, governments and businesses globally. It plays an enormous part in food, culture, health, education, economics and the integrity of our natural environment, and therefore it is critical to safeguard water for the benefit of everyone, and to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: to ensure water and sanitation for all.
IOM WASH values the multidimensional role water plays in the lives of the communities where we work. IOM WASH provide safe access to sufficient quantities of clean water for human consumption and livelihoods, and work with communities and governments to protect water sources. This year #WorldWaterDay is about what water means to people. IOM have asked communities where IOM operates what #ValuingWater means to them, to support and celebrate all the different ways water benefits our lives, and to ensure it is properly valued and safeguarded for everyone.
**In Somalia**
IOM have rehabilitated 26 boreholes and built 46 shallow wells, that provide clean and safe water to vulnerable communities.
For Ibaado Salah Nur #Watertome means **a life free from drought**. “I wasn’t born in here, I moved because of the drought. Here we can collect [water] by ourselves from the well and bring it home. This water is used for everything. We cook our food, wash the dishes and wash the clothes.”
For Jama Abdi Slalan **water means livelihoods**. “I am a nomadic man with goats, camels, and a family. Everything I do is for these camels. Our lives are consumed by livestock. The borehole is good for our lives. We drink form it and it has only a positive impact on our lives. And it has been nothing but good for the animals.”
**In North-east Nigeria**
Over 2.1 internally displaced people (IDPs) living in camps and camp-like settings and in host communities rely on a steady water supply to feed their families, prevent disease, and keep their businesses afloat. St. Hilary camp is an informal settlement in Maiduguri, Borno, the state worst-affected by the humanitarian crisis. In 2020, IOM rehabilitated a borehole that provides solar pumped water to camp residents as well as the neighboring community.
A woman collects water at St Hilary camp from a solar-powered borehole rehabilitated by IOM. IOM 2020.
For Furiara, #Watertome means benefits to business, saying “I used to spend a lot of money buying water, but now I use that money for my business.” Furiara sells tiger nut juice and zobo, an infusion made from hibiscus.
In Suleimanti camp, another informal settlement, two water points distribute 21,000 liters of water in Suleimanti daily. For children living in the neighboring houses #Watertome means being able to fill up their jerrycans and buckets at a water collection point.
Last year, IOM designed and installed 659 foot-operated handwashing stations in Borno and Adamawa States which prevent the spread of COVID-19 by avoiding contact with surfaces. For Abatcha #Watertome means safe hygiene, saying that he endeavors to raise awareness among his family of the importance of physical distancing and reporting COVID-19 symptoms. “I always tell them that if their temperature is high, they should inform me immediately.”
**In Yemen**
It is six years into the conflict and over a year since fighting erupted along the outskirts of Ma’rib, Al Jawf and Sana’a governorates, causing the displacement of nearly 150,000 people mostly towards Ma’rib city and surrounding areas. Displacement sites in Ma’rib are overcrowded, with limited access to essential services like clean water. IOM are working to provide comprehensive water, sanitation, and hygiene services to 16 displacement sites across the governorate. IOM rehabilitated the worn-out water network, extended pipes to displaced persons’ shelters that previously had no access to the network, and installed a submersible pump and generator to guarantee a continuous flow. 5830 families also received 500-litre tanks, which allowed them to safely store water.
For Hassan, #Watertome means resilience, “It was very hard for us whenever our flow of water would be interrupted. We had no way of storing water for these emergencies. The family storages tanks are a solution to our problems. Now, we are prepared for any possible future water shortages and we can also keep the water clean.”
IOM carried out hygiene and water management awareness sessions to spread key messages with people about how to use and store water properly and how to follow correct hygiene practices to stay healthy and keep their sites clean. For Abdalkreem, #Watertome means health, “After the awareness sessions, we learned safe and healthy ways to transport and store water, as well as paying correct handwashing methods to limit the spread of communicable disease and combat the transmission of dangerous viruses.”
**WORLD WATER DAY 2021: VALUING WATER** | d0d9ccbd-e26e-4432-9f4d-6e07e9b0089b | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | https://environmentalmigration.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl1411/files/documents/World%20Water%20Day%202021.pdf | 2022-05-19T09:14:28+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652662526009.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220519074217-20220519104217-00255.warc.gz | 306,880,207 | 1,076 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.997838 | eng_Latn | 0.998223 | [
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AN ADVANCED CITY IS NOT ONE WHERE EVEN THE POOR USE CARS, BUT RATHER ONE WHERE EVEN THE RICH USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT.
-- ENRIQUE PEÑALOSA,
MAYOR OF BOGOTÁ, COLUMBIA
APPENDIX A: DEMAND AND BENEFITS ANALYSIS DETAILED REPORT
Introduction
Walking and bicycling are gaining new interest from communities across the United States after decades of neglect in which a one-size-fits-all approach to roadway design focused on motor vehicle transportation. With low levels of funding and comparatively low mode share, walking and bicycling face an uphill battle to prove their utility as viable, efficient modes of transportation. Many of walking and bicycling’s greatest strengths – such as improving community health through physical activity – are not accounted for when evaluating transportation projects. Quantifying these factors demonstrates the importance of walking and bicycling transportation and help compare benefits with costs.
The benefits created by walking and bicycling are directly linked to levels of use or activity. For each additional mile traveled by walking or bicycling instead of driving, about one pound of greenhouse gas emissions are prevented, a few less cents are spent on gas, and a person gets a few minutes closer to reaching their recommended healthy levels of physical activity for the week. People who bike and walk to work – which, according to 2010-2012 American Community Survey (ACS) data, is likely around 8,000 employees in Columbia every weekday – free up additional road area and parking spaces that are shared among the remainder of the population who drive and carpool.
When walking and bicycling rates increase, these associated benefits add up to create healthier and more affordable communities. Increasing bicycling and walking transportation increases physical activity in a community. Because walking and bicycling are transportation activities, they play a role in a person’s set of daily behaviors, keeping a person physically active on a regular basis such as through daily commuting, but also trips to school, social visits or trips to the grocery store.
To calculate the current benefits of walking and bicycling in Columbia, the first step is to estimate existing levels of use.
Estimating Walking and Bicycling Activity
Introduction
A number of tools for measuring walking and bicycling activity exist, however, each falls short of establishing a complete picture current activity. The following section describes the strengths and weaknesses of the most commonly used tools, and presents a methodology for estimating activity across an entire community.
User Counts
User counts, typically conducted at points across the street network during peak travel hours, capture levels of walking and bicycling activity on street or paths during a short period of time. While user counts can be instructive in comparing relative levels of use between one street and another, they do not fully capture the spectrum of walking and bicycling activity happening across the community over the length of the year. Counts are well suited to studying where people walk and bike, but do not provide answers to other important questions, such as:
- What destinations are people walking and bicycling to, and where are they coming from?
- How far are they traveling?
- What is the purpose of their trip?
- How often do they make similar walking or bicycling trips?
- How often do they make other kinds of walking or bicycling trips?
- Do other residents also make similar types of trips by walking and bicycling, or do they typically travel by another mode?
Therefore, while user counts are a good tool for measuring walking and bicycling at a certain location, user surveys are needed to estimate the overall role of bicycling and walking in the transportation patterns of residents across the region.
User Surveys
Transportation user surveys often ask respondents about their perceptions – e.g., their feeling of safety on a street – and about their usual travel behavior. The American Community Survey (ACS), an ongoing survey conducted by the US Census Bureau, collects social, economic and demographic information from respondents, and includes a question on respondents’ commute to work. Sampling over 250,000 households per month, the ACS is the largest survey that asks Americans about their transportation habits, and the most widely available source of walking and bicycling data in communities. According to the 2010-2012 ACS, 0.42% of workers in Columbia bicycle to work, while 12.96% walk to work. These percentages are known as commute mode share; the percentage of a community’s population making their journey to work by a certain mode of transportation compared to all modes.
Although commute mode share data is able to capture wider information about walking and bicycling than user counts alone, work commutes are just one type of trip. Columbia residents make many other types of trips (to school, college, go shopping, etc.) by a variety of modes. Detailed household travel surveys can provide more information on travel patterns and help measure the full spectrum of walking and bicycling trips happening in the community.
HOUSEHOLD TRAVEL SURVEYS
Household travel surveys are usually conducted by phone, where an operator interviews each respondent using a detailed script to record a travel diary. To complete a travel diary, respondents are asked to recall all of their trips during a recent period of time, usually the last 24 hours or the previous full day. Detailed information is collected on the qualities of each trip, including the trip purpose, time of day, duration, length, mode, and other factors. By collecting this data from a large sample of people across the population, household travel surveys can provide information on where, why, and how far people are walking and bicycling for transportation. Though a recent household travel survey for the Columbia is not available, national data from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS 2009) can be used to estimate the number of other types of bicycling and walking trips being made in addition to work trips.
Estimating Overall Activity
EMPLOYED WORKERS AND ADULTS
Overall adult bicycling and walking activity can be estimated by combining available local data such as ACS commute mode share with national trip purpose information from NHTS 2009. On average, 16 utilitarian bicycle trips are made for every bicycle-to-work trip in the United States, and 4.3 utilitarian walk trips are made for every walk-to-work trip. An additional 3.9 social/recreational walking trip and 4.8 bicycling trips are made for each walking or bicycling commute trip, respectively (see Figure 1 and Figure 2). Assuming travel behavior in Columbia is similar to these national averages shows how walking and bicycling trips can add up beyond just commute trips, and provide a significant portion of the physical activity necessary to meet the health needs of the community.
COLLEGE STUDENTS
Student commute trips to school and college are estimated independently of ACS data, because the populations making those trips are substantially different from the employed workforce surveyed by ACS. National data on walking and bicycling college trip mode share from NHTS 2009 was used to represent trips to local colleges and universities like the University of South Carolina.
SCHOOL CHILDREN
National baseline K-8 school trip data from Safe Routes to School (SRTS) was used to estimate mode share for K-12 school trips such as those in Richland County School District One or other local school systems. For each type of trip, average trip distance applied to estimate the total distance traveled by walking and bicycling. National average trip distance multipliers are sourced from NHTS and SRTS, ranging from 0.36 miles for the K-12 walk to school to 3.54 miles per adult bike commute trip.
BICYCLING AND WALKING ACTIVITY
ESTIMATE REFERENCES AND METHODOLOGY
Figure 3 provides a visual depiction of the steps used to translate local and national transportation data into an annual estimate of bicycling and walking activity currently happening in Columbia.
The scale of health benefits created by bicycling and walking are based on the number of people using walking and bicycling for transportation, the rate at which they walk and bike, and the distance they travel using active transportation. By multiplying estimates of overall bicycling and walking trips with average trip distances and normal travel speeds, these data can be used to estimate quantities of physical activity generated by current transportation behaviors in the community at large.
TABLE 1 – BICYCLING AND WALKING ACTIVITY ESTIMATION REFERENCES - TRIP PURPOSE MULTIPLIERS
| Factor | Value | Source/Note |
|---------------------------------------------|---------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Commute Trip Mode Share | | |
| - Bike: | 0.42% | ACS 2010-12 |
| - Walk: | 12.96% | ACS 2010-12 |
| College Trip Mode Share | | |
| - Bike: | 1.67% | NHTS 2009 |
| - Walk: | 6.82% | NHTS 2009 |
| School Trip Mode Share (K-12) | | |
| - Bike: | 1.00% | SRTS Baseline, 2010 |
| - Walk: | 13.35% | SRTS Baseline, 2010 |
| Utilitarian Trip Multiplier | | |
| - Bike: | 1.6% | NHTS 2009 (avg. number of utilitarian trips per commute) |
| - Walk: | 4.32% | NHTS 2009 (avg. number of utilitarian trips per commute) |
| Social/Recreational Trip Multiplier | | |
| - Bike: | 4.77% | NHTS 2009 (avg. number of soc./rec. trips per commute trip) |
| - Walk: | 3.91% | NHTS 2009 (avg. number of soc./rec. trips per commute trip) |
* 2009 National Household Travel Survey (http://nhts.ornl.gov/data/Extraction3.aspx)
** Safe Routes to School Travel Data: A Look at Baseline Results. National Center for Safe Routes to School. 2010 (http://www.secoag.org/complete-streets/toolkit/files/docs/NCSRTS_SRTS%20Travel%20Data.pdf)
### TABLE 2 – BICYCLING AND WALKING ACTIVITY ESTIMATION REFERENCES - TRIP DISTANCE MULTIPLIERS
| Overall Bike/Walk Activity Extrapolation - Trip Purpose Multipliers | Factor | Value | Source/Note |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------|------------------------------|
| Commute Trip Distance (miles) | | | |
| - Bike: | 3.54 | NHTS 2009 |
| - Walk: | 0.67 | NHTS 2009 |
| College Trip Distance (miles) | | | |
| - Bike: | 2.09 | NHTS 2009 |
| - Walk: | 0.48 | NHTS 2009 |
| School Trip Distance (K-12) | | | |
| - Bike: | 0.77 | SRTS Baseline, 2010 |
| - Walk: | 0.36 | SRTS Baseline, 2010 |
| Utilitarian Trip Distance (miles) | | | |
| - Bike: | 1.89 | NHTS 2009 |
| - Walk: | 0.67 | NHTS 2009 |
| Social/Recreational Trip Distance (miles) | | | |
| - Bike: | 2.20 | NHTS 2009 |
| - Walk: | 0.78 | NHTS 2009 |
### TABLE 3 – BICYCLING AND WALKING ACTIVITY ESTIMATION REFERENCES - ANNUAL MULTIPLIERS
| Overall Bike/Walk Activity Extrapolation - Trip Purpose Multipliers | Factor | Value | Source/Note |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Annual Work Days | | 251 | 261 Weekdays - 10 Federal Holidays |
| Annual College Class Days | | 150 | Assumes two 15-week semesters/three 10-week quarters |
| Annual K-12 School Days | | 180 | South Carolina state minimum* |
* Number of Instructional Days/Hours in the School Year. Education Commission of the States. 2008 [http://www.ecs.org/html/Document.asp?chouse=pr7824](http://www.ecs.org/html/Document.asp?chouse=pr7824).
Physical Activity Benefits of Active Transportation
Introduction
Current levels of bicycling in Columbia are just slightly lower than the national average, at 0.42%, but walking rates are some of the highest in the country at nearly 13%. Together walking and bicycling activity in Columbia returns significant benefits to the region. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognizes bicycling and walking are common activities that people can participate in to be physically active and increase their health. By walking and bicycling for transportation, Columbia residents can incorporate meaningful physical activity into their daily schedules. Exercise from bicycling and walking transportation typically falls under moderate intensity physical activity (see Table 4).
For many Columbia residents, meeting the CDC’s recommended minimum guideline of 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week could be as simple as commuting or making daily errands by walking and bicycling. A walk commute of three quarters of a mile each way, or a bicycle commute of 2.5 miles each way, five times per week, is sufficient to meet the CDC’s recommended guideline.
Current levels of bicycling and walking transportation already make a significant contribution to the overall level of physical activity and health of residents in the community. Using the estimates of annual bicycling and walking activity using the methodology described above, Columbia residents bike and walk a combined 40 million trips annually, traveling a total of 30 million miles. This translates into about 9 million hours of moderate intensity physical activity annual from walking and bicycling (see Table 6, Table 7 and Table 8).
| Example Physical Activity Benefits from Active Transportation |
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Active Transportation Mode** | **Commute Distance (miles, round trip)** | **Assumed Speed** | **Weekly Minutes of Exercise (assumes 5 day work week)** |
| Walking | 1.5 | 3 mph | 150 |
| Bicycling | 5.0 | 10 mph | 150 |
**CDC recommended weekly physical activity (minutes)** 150
| Columbia Estimated Physical Activity Benefits of Active Transportation |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Estimated Annual Walking Trips** | **38,546,736** |
| Commute walking trips | 4,029,554 |
| Utilitarian walking trips | 17,421,580 |
| K-12 walking trips | 815,963 |
| College commute walking trips | 515,215 |
| Social/recreational walking trips | 15,764,424 |
| **Estimated Annual Bicycling Transportation Trips** | **1,161,821** |
| Commute walking trips | 132,023 |
| Utilitarian walking trips | 212,709 |
| K-12 walking trips | 61,121 |
| College commute walking trips | 126,469 |
| Social/recreational walking trips | 629,497 |
**CDC recommended weekly physical activity (minutes)** 39,708,557
### TABLE 7 - COLUMBIA TRANSPORTATION PHYSICAL ACTIVITY BENEFITS - DISTANCE TRAVELLED
| Columbia Estimated Physical Activity Benefits of Active Transportation | Estimated Annual Miles Walked | Average Distance (miles) | Total Annual Distance (miles) |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------------|------------------------------|
| Commute walking trips | 0.67 | 2,699.801 |
| Utilitarian walking trips | 0.67 | 11,614.445 |
| K-12 school walking trips | 0.36 | 289.765 |
| College commute walking trips | 0.48 | 247.299 |
| Social/recreational walking trips | 0.78 | 12,250.882 |
| **Walking Subtotal** | | **27,108,191** |
| Columbia Estimated Physical Activity Benefits of Active Transportation | Estimated Annual Miles Biked | Average Distance (miles) | Total Annual Distance (miles) |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------------|------------------------------|
| Commute bicycling trips | 3.54 | 467.372 |
| Utilitarian bicycling trips | 1.89 | 402.727 |
| K-12 school bicycling trips | 0.77 | 46.939 |
| College commute bicycling trips | 2.09 | 263.918 |
| Social/recreational bicycling trips | 2.20 | 1,384.412 |
| **Bicycling Subtotal** | | **2,565,369** |
| Columbia Estimated Physical Activity Benefits of Active Transportation | Estimated Annual Miles Traveled Using Active Transportation | Total Annual Distance (miles) |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| **Estimated Annual Miles Traveled Using Active Transportation** | **29,667,560** | |
### TABLE 8 - COLUMBIA ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION PHYSICAL ACTIVITY BENEFITS - HOURS OF ACTIVITY
| Columbia Estimated Physical Activity benefits of Active Transportation | Active Transportation mode | Distance Traveled (miles) | Assumed Speed | Total Hours of Exercise |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------|---------------|-------------------------|
| Walking Trips | 27,102.191 | 3 mph | 9,034.064 |
| Bicycling Trips | 2,565,369 | 10 mph | 256,537 |
| **Total** | **29,667,560** | | **9,290,601** |
Potential Increased Benefits
Columbia is taking steps to improve the accessibility, safety, and quality of the walking and bicycling environment. The League of American Bicyclists has recognized Columbia as a Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) since 2008. The city’s new movement toward investing in bicycling and walking network improvements is starting to show results, and further improvements that increase walking and bicycling rates could return greater annual health benefits to the community.
Other cities awarded BFC designation can provide a valuable reference point for setting goals and creating a vision for what role bicycling could play in the future. Around the state, five other cities, 16 businesses, and two universities have achieved Bicycle Friendly status from the League of American Bicyclists. Many BFCs have reputations for their livability and the quality of their walking environment in addition to bicycling, providing examples for how active transportation can help create healthier, livable communities. Table 9 shows existing walking and bicycling rates in Columbia compared to other, similarly sized Bronze- and Silver-level BFC cities. It is also worth noting that, while there are currently no communities in South Carolina designated as a Walk Friendly Community (a program begun in 2010 and administered by the UNC Highway Safety Research Center’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center), the following peer cities have earned the designation at the level noted:
- Tallahassee, FL: Silver
- Fort Collins, CO: Bronze
- Charlottesville, Virginia: Gold
The League of American Bicyclists reports that BFC-awarded cities have seen 80% growth in bicycling between 2000 and 2011. Although many Bronze-level BFC cities in the South have bicycle commuting rates similar to the national average, the average Silver-level bike friendly community has bicycling rates several times the national average. In these communities, commute mode choice data from ACS shows that many residents are able to get regular exercise by walking and bicycling for transportation.
**TABLE 9 - COMPARISON WALKING AND BICYCLING RATES**
| Peer City | Bicycling and Walking Rate Comparisons |
|-----------|----------------------------------------|
| Geography | BFC Level | Population | Employed Population | Bicycle Mode Share | Walk Mode Share | Transit Mode Share |
| United States | - | 306,603,772 | 139,488,206 | 0.53% | 2.83% | 4.99% |
| Tallahassee, FL | Bronze | 184,079 | 86,782 | 0.86% | 3.39% | 2.22% |
| Fort Collins, Colorado | Platinum | 146,235 | 75,098 | 6.39% | 3.82% | 1.55% |
| **Columbia, South Carolina** | **Bronze** | **130,596** | **61,915** | **0.42%** | **12.96%** | **1.75%** |
| Charleston, South Carolina | Bronze | 123,226 | 62,300 | 2.52% | 5.55% | 2.92% |
| Athens & Clarke County, Georgia | Bronze | 117,331 | 49,342 | 2.14% | 5.72% | 2.95% |
| Portsmouth, Virginia | Bronze | 95,915 | 41,095 | 0.55% | 3.92% | 2.02% |
| Charlottesville, Virginia | Silver | 43,644 | 20,773 | 3.29% | 11.32% | 8.21% |
Population and mode/share data obtained from 2012 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates
If bicycling rates in Columbia could grow similarly to BFC cities, health and other benefits to the city would increase significantly. Table 10 and Table 11 explore the potential benefits of increased bicycling rates in Columbia at several example increased rates.
### Table 10 - Potential Air Quality and Monetized Benefits of Increased Bicycling in Columbia
| Columbia Potential Annual Bicycle Benefits | Current | Double Current Bike Mode Share | Example Silver BFC (Charlottesville) |
|-------------------------------------------|---------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| **Bicycle Commute Mode Share** | 0.42% | 0.84% | 3.29% |
| Annual VMT Reduced | 846,000 | 1,690,000 | 6,630,000 |
| **Air Quality** | | | |
| CO2 Emissions Reduced (pounds) | 688,000 | 1,380,000 | 5,390,000 |
| Other Vehicle Emissions Reduced (pounds) | 27,000 | 54,000 | 212,000 |
| Total Vehicle Emissions Costs Reduced | $20,000 | $40,000 | $157,000 |
| **Social Benefits** | | | |
| Reduced Traffic Congestion Costs | $42,000 | $84,000 | $329,000 |
| Reduced Vehicle Crash Costs | $304,000| $610,000 | $2,380,000 |
| Reduced Road Maintenance Costs | $127,000| $250,000 | $990,000 |
| **Individual Benefits** | | | |
| Household Vehicle Operation Cost Savings | $478,000| $960,000 | $3,740,000 |
| Health Care Cost Savings from Physical Activity | $98,000 | $195,000 | $770,000 |
| **Total Benefits:** | $1,069,000 | $2,140,000 | $8,370,000 |
Note: Estimates reflect conceptual benefits that would be generated at given increases in bicycle use as if they existed in Columbia today. Values are rounded for readability. Values are not discounted and do not reflect future demographic growth, cost changes or other multiplier changes.
### Table 11 - Potential Physical Activity Benefits of Increased Bicycling in Columbia
| Columbia Potential Annual Bicycle Benefits | Current | Double Current Bike Mode Share | Example Silver BFC (Charlottesville) |
|-------------------------------------------|---------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| **Bicycle Commute Mode Share** | 0.42% | 0.84% | 3.29% |
| Annual Bicycling Trips | 1,160,000 | 2,320,000 | 8,980,000 |
| Annual Miles Biked | 2,570,000 | 5,140,000 | 19,890,000 |
| Annual Hours of Physical Activity | 300,000 | 600,000 | 2,320,000 |
Note: Estimates reflect conceptual benefits that would be generated at given increases in walking use as if they existed in Columbia today. Values are rounded for readability and do not reflect future demographic growth or other multiplier changes.
Bicycling rates are typically more responsive to changes in transportation infrastructure than walking. While national bicycling rates have trended upward for the last decade – growing nearly 50% over that time – walking rates are still declining slowly at the national level. Because walking is heavily dependent on the availability of short trips – generally under one mile – walking is more dependent on factors, such as land use, that are slow to change. It is quicker to build a bike boulevard or install a cycle track than it is to incent walkable, mixed-use development, which is dependent on private developers and the health of the real estate market. Bicycling rates in Columbia are therefore more likely to increase at a faster relative rate than walking, and may hold greater short-term potential for creating health benefits to the region. Table 12 and Table 13 below show the benefits of walking at example increased rates; it may be challenging to increase walking rates to levels shown, since current walking rates in Columbia are already among the highest in the nation.
**TABLE 12 - POTENTIAL AIR QUALITY AND MONETIZED BENEFITS OF INCREASED WALKING IN COLUMBIA**
| Columbia Potential Annual Bicycle Benefits | Current 13.0% | Example 2% Walk Mode Share Increase 15.0% | Example 4% Walk Mode Share Increase 17.0% |
|-------------------------------------------|---------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| **Walk Commute Mode Share (key activity indicator)** | | | |
| Annual VMT Reduced | 11,846,000 | 13,670,000 | 15,500,000 |
| **Air Quality** | | | |
| CO2 Emissions Reduced (pounds) | 9,637,000 | 11,120,000 | 12,610,000 |
| Other Vehicle Emissions Reduced (pounds) | 384,000 | 440,000 | 500,000 |
| Total Vehicle Emissions Costs Reduced | $276,000 | $320,000 | $360,000 |
| **Social Benefits** | | | |
| Reduced Traffic Congestion Costs | $598,000 | $84,000 | $329,000 |
| Reduced Vehicle Crash Costs | $4,265,000 | $4,920,000 | $5,580,000 |
| Reduced Road Maintenance Costs | $1,777,000 | $2,050,000 | $2,330,000 |
| **Individual Benefits** | | | |
| Household Vehicle Operation Cost Savings | $6,693,000 | $7,730,000 | $8,760,000 |
| Health Care Cost Savings from Physical Activity | $1,213,000 | $1,400,000 | $1,590,000 |
| **Total Benefits:** | **$14,815,000** | **$17,100,000** | **$19,400,000** |
*Note: Estimates reflect conceptual benefits that would be generated at given increases in walking use as if they existed in Columbia today. Values are rounded for readability. Values are not discounted and do not reflect future demographic growth, cost changes or other multiplier changes.*
**TABLE 13 - POTENTIAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY BENEFITS OF INCREASED WALKING IN COLUMBIA**
| Columbia Potential Annual Bicycle Benefits | Current 12.96% | Example 2% Walk Mode Share Increase 14.96% | Example 4% Walk Mode Share Increase 16.96% |
|-------------------------------------------|---------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| **Walking Commute Mode Share** | | | |
| Annual Bicycling Trips | 38,550,000 | 44,500,000 | 50,440,000 |
| Annual Miles Biked | 27100,000 | 31,280,000 | 35,460,000 |
| Annual Hours of Physical Activity | 9,000,000 | 10,390,000 | 11,780,000 |
*Note: Estimates reflect conceptual benefits that would be generated at given increases in walking use as if they existed in Columbia today. Values are rounded for readability and do not reflect future demographic growth or other multiplier changes.*
Key Findings
The demand analysis reveals that Columbia residents are already walking, biking, and accessing transit with a combined total of 40 million trips annually. This equates to a total of 30 million miles traveled by bike or on foot each year and about 9 million hours of moderate intensity physical activity.
When translating existing demand into measurable benefits to the Columbia community, the analysis reveals that *Columbia is already realizing over $1 million in community-wide benefits from existing bicycling activity, and over $14 million in community-wide benefits from existing walking activity*. With incremental increases in mode share for bicycling and walking, those monetary benefits will grow exponentially, equating to a significant return on investment when it comes to bicycling and walking infrastructure, policies, and programs.
By doubling the current bicycling mode share and increasing walking rates by two percentage points, Columbia could increase those benefits to more than $19 million in community-wide impact. By reaching the bicycling mode share of a peer Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community and increasing walking mode share by a total of four percentage points, Columbia could realize an estimated $27.7 million in economic benefits resulting from bicycling and walking activity, nearly doubling the current estimated benefits.
Bus, Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Accessible Icons
A group of people walking on a sidewalk with icons representing bus, pedestrian, bicycle, and accessible transportation options.
APPENDIX B: BFC AND WFC ASSESSMENT
Introduction
The Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) and Walk Friendly Community (WFC) programs are two national initiatives designed to encourage cities and towns across the country to improve the bicycling and walking environments in their communities and to recognize communities that are successfully doing so. The programs provide communities with invaluable resources related to bicycle and pedestrian planning, help communities identify projects and programs to improve the bicycling and walking environment, and also generate positive media attention at the national and local level for communities that earn a designation.
In 2008, Columbia applied for BFC designation and received a Bronze level award. Columbia is one of five Bronze level communities in South Carolina, alongside Charleston, Greenville, Spartanburg, and Rock Hill. Hilton Head is the only Silver level community in the state; no South Carolina communities have reached Gold, Platinum, or Diamond BFC designation. There are two opportunities each year to apply to both the BFC and WFC programs: BFC deadlines are in the spring and fall of each year, and WFC deadlines are in the summer and winter of each year.
As part of the scope of this project, Walk Bike Columbia will include a BFC Action Plan to set clear action steps for Columbia to reach Gold level BFC status. This project will also involve completing and submitting Columbia’s WFC application in the spring of 2015, along with a WFC Action Plan for Columbia to become the first Walk Friendly Community in the state.
The BFC program is administered by the League of American Bicyclists, a national bicycling advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Since the program began, the League has awarded over 300 communities with “bicycle-friendly” status. There are currently 6 BFCs in South Carolina. In 2011, the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, announced the development of the WFC Program. There are currently 47 “walk-friendly” designated communities around the country, but none yet in South Carolina.
Both the WFC and BFC program use the five “E’s” of bicycle and pedestrian planning as the framework for identifying successful biking and walking communities. The five “E’s” are: Engineering, Encouragement, Education, Enforcement, and Evaluation. Each program has its own detailed questionnaire that a city or town must complete online in order to apply for recognition. Five levels of award designation are possible in the BFC program: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. The WFC program offers four award levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Both programs offer an Honorable Mention category, as well.
BFC Assessment
The BFC application involves a detailed list of questions organized around the 5 “E’s”. The following scorecard uses this application framework to evaluate the current bicycling environment in Columbia. This scorecard is not intended to be a complete picture of BFC-readiness, but rather a useful snapshot of Columbia’s strengths and weaknesses based on our understanding of the selection criteria.
The BFC scorecard shows that:
- Columbia has a strong collection of Education and Encouragement efforts to develop a safer and more welcoming bicycling environment.
- Some Engineering and Enforcement initiatives promote bicycle safety, convenience, and comfort, but several policies and programs are lacking in these categories that could further improve Columbia’s bicycling environment.
- Columbia scores weakest on Evaluation & Planning: this planning process, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and the Safe Streets Save Lives Campaign provide a good foundation, but there is room for improvement. In particular, the City currently lacks a dedicated bicycle coordinator position and long-term tracking of valuable bicycle-related data, such as crashes, motor vehicle traffic volumes and speeds, and bicycle counts to target improvements and track progress.
With a total score of 18.5 out of 29 possible points, the City of Columbia shows its commitment to maintaining its BFC status and potential for a Silver level designation within the near-term. A higher range of points are needed to evidence a likelihood of attaining Silver (20-24) or Gold (25-29) level status.
| Engineering | Yes (1 pt) | Partial (0.5 pt) | No (0 pt) | Description |
|-------------|------------|------------------|-----------|-------------|
| Does Columbia have a complete streets policy or other policy that requires the accommodation of pedestrians and cyclists in all new road construction and reconstruction projects? | | | | Adopted July 21, 2010 by resolution R2010-054. |
| Does Columbia have guidelines for bicycle facility design or provide regular training to engineers and planners regarding bicycle facility design? | | | | FHWA/NHI training course, APBP webinars, send staff to training/conferences, NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide adoption. Design manual under development |
| Does your community have a comprehensive, connected and well-maintained bicycling network? | | | | 75 miles of off-road facilities; 19 miles of bike lanes; 0.5 miles of sharrows; 36 miles of bike routes out of 740 total road miles |
| Is bike parking readily available throughout the community? | | | | The City does not currently have comprehensive bike parking requirements, but is installing bike corrals in key locations |
| Are all bridges accessible to bicyclists? | | | | Some bridges are unsafe or inaccessible to bicyclists |
| Does the City employ traffic calming measures to slow motor vehicle traffic on city streets (such as road diets, ≤ 20 mph speed limits, speed tables, etc.)? | | | | Traffic calming has been implemented in some neighborhoods in the city |
| Are all public transit buses equipped with front-mounted bike racks? | | | | All public buses are equipped with bike racks (USC buses are not) |
| Does Columbia have a citywide bicycle way-finding system? | | | | Palmetto Trail signage guides user through the City and a pilot way-finding program is planned for the Vista Greenway |
**Engineering Score Total**
5.8/8
| Education & Encouragement | Yes (1 pt) | Partial (0.5 pt) | No (0 pt) | Description |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------|------------------|-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Has Columbia implemented Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs in elementary and middle schools within the last 18 months? Does it include bicycle education? | | | | 51-75% of elementary schools; 26-50% of middle schools have SRTS programs with bicycle education. |
| Are adult bicycling education and skills courses regularly offered in Columbia? | | | | Traffic Skills 101 class, cycling skills classes, commuter classes, bicycle maintenance classes. |
| Has Columbia implemented a program in the last 18 months to educate motorists, pedestrians and cyclists on their rights and responsibilities as road users (e.g., as part of drivers education curriculum, test, manual, or bus driver training)? | | | | Safe Streets Save Lives Campaign, public service announcements, Share the Road videos and signage, dedicated page on City website. |
| Does Columbia have an up-to-date bicycle map available online and in print? | | | | |
| Does Columbia celebrate bicycling during National Bike Month with community rides, Bike to Work Day or media outreach? | | | | Bike to Work Day, mayor-led ride, public education and outreach. |
| Is there an active bicycle advocacy group in Columbia? | | | | Palmetto Cycling Coalition, Columbia BPAC, Palmetto Conservation Foundation, Friends of Harbison State Forest, USC Bike Advisory Committee. |
| Has Columbia implemented any education and training programs related to bicycle education or safety for city staff? | | | | Bicycle education through Bike to Work Day, safety materials distributed during Bike Month. |
| Does Columbia have an active bicycle club? | | | | Carolina Cyclers, Midlands SORBA, Summit Cycles Riders, Outspokin’ Ride Group. |
| Does Columbia host any signature events that promote bicycling (such as car-free streets)? | | | | Weekly bike rides, family rides, races, charity rides, parades, workshops, guided trail rides. |
| Does Columbia have recreational bicycle facilities such as bike parks, greenway trails, mountain bike trails, and velodromes? | | | | 20 miles of paved shared use paths, Vista Greenway, 30 miles of natural surface paths, 25 miles of singletrack. |
| Does Columbia have a ticket diversion program (i.e., where road users who receive a traffic citation can waive their fines by attending a bicycle and pedestrian education course)? | | | | |
**Education & Encouragement Total**
| | | | | **8.5/11** |
| Enforcement | Yes (1 pt) | Partial (0.5 pt) | No (0 pt) | Description |
|-------------|------------|-----------------|-----------|-------------|
| Does Columbia have Traffic Safety officers that are trained in traffic law as it applies to bicyclists? | | | | Law Enforcement Bicycle Association training, Smart Cycling course, LCI class |
| Does Columbia have law enforcement or other public safety officers on bikes? | | | | 1-10% of officers patrol on bikes |
| Does Columbia have laws in place that protect bicyclists, such as penalties for motorists who fail to yield to a cyclist when turning, or a ban on cell phone use while driving? | | | | It is illegal to park or drive in a bike lane; penalties for motorists that “door” cyclists, safe passing distance law; ban on texting while driving |
| Do police work regularly with traffic engineers and planners to review sites in need of safety? | | | | |
**Enforcement Total**
| Evaluation & Planning | Yes (1 pt) | Partial (0.5 pt) | No (0 pt) | Description |
|-----------------------|------------|-----------------|-----------|-------------|
| Is there an active Bicycle Advisory Committee that meets regularly? | | | | The Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee meets monthly |
| Is there a specific plan or program to reduce cyclist/motor vehicle crashes? | | | | Safe Streets Save Lives Campaign, BPAC efforts |
| Does Columbia conduct regular bicycle counts and/or surveys for long-term benchmark analysis of bicycling mode share? | | | | Columbia will undertake its first bicycle and pedestrian counts as part of Walk Bike Columbia |
| Does Columbia collect data related to bicycle-vehicle crashes, traffic volumes, and motor vehicle speeds on existing or future corridor improvement projects? | | | | This process will be started by the bicycle and pedestrian plan under development |
| Does Columbia have a bicycle master plan that is being implemented? | | | | Under development |
| Do you have a full-time Bicycle Coordinator or staff person responsible for bicycle-related issues? | | | | About 10% of the Planning Administrator’s time is devoted to bicycling issues |
**Enforcement Total**
2/4
**Bicycle Friendly Total**
18.5/29
WFC Assessment
The WFC application involves a detailed list of questions organized around the 5 “E’s”. The following scorecard uses this application framework to evaluate the current walking environment in Columbia. This scorecard is not intended to be a complete picture of WFC-readiness, but rather a useful snapshot of Columbia’s strengths and weaknesses based on our understanding of the selection criteria.
Based on the WFC scorecard:
- **Columbia has been successful at implementing a variety of Education & Encouragement programs** related to walking.
- **Some Engineering and Enforcement practices and policies are positively influencing the walking environment**, while others currently limit pedestrian activity and safety.
- **Evaluation & Planning for pedestrians is the area most in need of improvement**. The City currently lacks a dedicated pedestrian coordinator position, a full range of planning initiatives and policies related to pedestrian safety and accessibility, and long-term tracking of valuable pedestrian-related data such as crashes, motor vehicle traffic volumes and speeds, and pedestrian counts to target improvements and track progress.
With a total score of 15 out of 32 possible points, the City of Columbia is identified as a candidate for Bronze level WFC status. A higher range of points are needed to evidence a likelihood of attaining Silver (19-25) or Gold (26-32) level status.
| Engineering | Yes (1 pt) | Partial (0.5 pt) | No (0 pt) | Description |
|-------------|------------|------------------|-----------|-------------|
| Does Columbia have a complete streets policy or other policy that requires the accommodation of pedestrians and cyclists in all new road construction and reconstruction projects? | | | | Adopted July 21, 2010 by resolution R2010-054. |
| Does Columbia have guidelines for pedestrian facility design or provide regular training to engineers and planners regarding pedestrian facility design? | | | | FHWA/NH training course, APBP webinars, send staff to training/conferences. Design manual under development. |
| Does Columbia have a connected network of sidewalks, trails, and/or paths in the city? | | | | The City has 391 miles of sidewalk along 740 total roads, including 20 miles of shared use paths and 30 miles of natural surface paths, but there are still major gaps in the sidewalk network. |
| Does Columbia have a sidewalk condition and curb ramp inventory process? | | | | |
| Are all bridges accessible to pedestrians? | | | | Some bridges are unsafe or inaccessible to pedestrians. |
| Are crosswalks provided at all street intersections and at areas with high demand for pedestrian traffic? | | | | Some street intersections and areas with high pedestrian demand lack crosswalks. |
| Are accommodations for persons with disabilities, such as curb ramps or audible signals, provided throughout Columbia? | | | | Curb ramps are provided at some intersections. Audible signals are lacking. |
| Does the City employ traffic calming measures to slow motor vehicle traffic on city streets (such as road diets, <20 mph speed limits, speed tables, etc.)? | | | | Traffic calming has been implemented in some neighborhoods in the city. |
**Engineering Score Total**
4.5/8
| Education & Encouragement | Yes (1 pt) | Partial (0.5 pt) | No (0 pt) | Description |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------|------------------|-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Is there a Pedestrian Advisory Committee that meets regularly? | | | | The Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee meets monthly. |
| Is there a specific plan or program to reduce pedestrian/motor vehicle crashes in Columbia? | | | | Safe Streets Save Lives Campaign, BPAC efforts |
| Does Columbia conduct regular pedestrian counts and/or surveys for long-term benchmark analysis of walking mode share? | | | | Columbia will conduct its first bicycle and pedestrian counts as part of Walk Bike Columbia. |
| Does Columbia collect data related to pedestrian-vehicle crashes, traffic volumes, and motor vehicle speeds on existing or future corridor improvement projects? | | | | This process will be started by the bicycle and pedestrian plan under development. |
| Does Columbia have a pedestrian master plan or pedestrian safety action plan? | | | | Under development |
| Does Columbia have a trails plan? | | | | Multiple trail planning and development efforts exist and are being reflected in the current master planning process. |
| Does Columbia have a trails plan? | | | | Multiple trail planning and development efforts exist and are being reflected in the current master planning process. |
| Has Columbia adopted an ADA Transition Plan for the public right of way? | | | | |
| Does Columbia have a policy requiring sidewalks on both sides of arterial streets? | | | | |
| Has Columbia established a connectivity policy, pedestrian-friendly block length standards, and connectivity standards for new developments, or convenient pedestrian access requirements? | | | | Columbia requires that new student housing developments provide sidewalks, but broader policies are not in place. |
| Does Columbia have a full-time Pedestrian Coordinator or staff person responsible for pedestrian-related issues? | | | | About 10% of the Planning Administrator’s time is devoted to pedestrian issues. |
| Is Columbia served by public transportation? | | | | |
**Evaluation & Planning**
3.5/11
**Walk Friendly Total**
15/32
The City of San Diego is committed to creating a safe, accessible, and sustainable transportation system that meets the needs of all residents. We believe in providing a variety of transportation options to ensure that everyone has access to their desired destinations. Our goal is to create a transportation network that is efficient, reliable, and user-friendly for all users, including pedestrians, cyclists, public transit riders, and motorists.
To achieve this goal, we have developed a comprehensive transportation plan that includes a range of strategies and initiatives. These include:
- **Pedestrian Safety**: We are working to improve pedestrian safety by implementing measures such as crosswalks, sidewalks, and traffic calming measures. We also aim to promote walking as a healthy and sustainable mode of transportation through the development of pedestrian-friendly streets and the creation of safe routes to school.
- **Cycling Infrastructure**: We are investing in cycling infrastructure to encourage more people to cycle for transportation. This includes the construction of bike lanes, shared-use paths, and other facilities that make cycling safer and more convenient.
- **Public Transit**: We are expanding our public transit system to provide more frequent and reliable service. This includes the addition of new routes, the improvement of existing routes, and the introduction of new technologies such as electric buses.
- **Transportation Demand Management**: We are promoting alternative modes of transportation such as carpooling, vanpooling, and telecommuting. We are also encouraging the use of electric vehicles and other low-emission vehicles.
- **Sustainable Transportation**: We are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by promoting the use of alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technologies. We are also working to reduce congestion and air pollution through the implementation of smart growth policies and the promotion of mixed-use development.
We invite you to learn more about our transportation plan and how you can get involved. Together, we can create a transportation system that works for everyone.
APPENDIX C: PLANNING, POLICY, CODE, AND PROGRAMS REVIEW
This section provides a summary of the planning, policy, and municipal code review completed as it relates to bicycle, pedestrian, and transit-related efforts in Columbia.
Review of Existing Planning Efforts
Introduction
This section provides a summary of bicycle, pedestrian, and transit planning-related efforts in Columbia. Twenty relevant plans were reviewed for information and recommendations relevant to walking and bicycling. The documents reviewed for this Plan are listed in Table 16 and described on the following pages.
| Plan | Agency | Year |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Columbia Owens Master Plan | South Columbia Development Corporation and Columbia Empowerment Zone | 2002 |
| A Plan for the Redevelopment of East Central City | East Central City Consortium, City of Columbia | 2004 |
| The Master Plan for The Villages of North Columbia | City of Columbia | 2005 |
| Five Points “FutureFive”® Redevelopment and Master Plan | The Five Points Association | 2006 |
| Lower Waverly Catalyst Redevelopment Plan | City of Columbia Planning Department | 2006 |
| Bike and Pedestrian Pathways Plan | Central Midland Council of Governments (CMCOG) | 2006 |
| Central Midlands Commuter Rail Feasibility Study | CMCOG | 2006 |
| Innovista Master Plan | University of South Carolina, City of Columbia | 2007 |
| Midlands Tomorrow Household Travel Survey Report | CMCOG | 2007 |
| Midlands Tomorrow – 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan | CMCOG | 2008 |
| South Carolina Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan – At a Crossroads | South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) | 2008 |
| The Columbia Plan: The Comprehensive Plan for Columbia, South Carolina, 2008-2018 | City of Columbia Planning Department | 2008 |
| Southeast Lower Richland Sub-Area Transportation Study | CMCOG | 2008 |
| Columbia Area Transportation Study Transportation Improvement Program | CMCOG | 2009 |
| Regional Pathways Plan | CMCOG | 2010 |
| University of South Carolina Vision for a Sustainable Future: 2010 Master Plan | University of South Carolina | 2010 |
| Broad River Road Corridor and Community Master Plan | CMCOG and Richland County | 2010 |
| Irmo/Dutch Fork Sub-Area Transportation Study | CMCOG | 2010 |
| Central Midlands Regional Transportation Authority Comprehensive Operational Analysis Report | Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority (CMRTA) | 2010 |
| Central Midlands Regional Transportation Authority Park-and-Ride Study | CMRTA | 2010 |
| Columbia Connectivity: Linking Main Street and the Vista | Urban Land Institute - South Carolina | 2011 |
| COMET Vision: 2020 | CMRTA | 2012 |
| Rosewood Plan: A Corridor & Neighborhood Plan | City of Columbia Planning & Development Department | 2012 |
| Joint Land Use Study Implementation for Fort Jackson – McGrady Training Center – McEntire_JNGB | CMCOG | 2013 |
| City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Master Plan | City of Columbia | 2013 |
| Newberry-Columbia Alternatives Analysis | CMCOG | 2014 |
| Devine Street/Fort Jackson Boulevard Commercial Node Plan | CMCOG | 2014 |
Summary of Planning Efforts
RELEVANT PLANS
Columbia Owens Master Plan
Year: 2002
Description: The purpose of this plan is to identify infrastructure investments and other improvements that can be made to stimulate economic development in the Columbia Owens area and Rosewood community. The plan identifies the primary weaknesses of the area as 1) a lack of direct truck access into the commercial/light industrial area, 2) poor storm drainage, and 3) litter, neglect of properties, poor maintenance, and the perception of crime. Recommendations include constructing a new spine road through the community to alleviate existing motor vehicle traffic congestion, with sidewalks included to improve pedestrian access through the area. This road and any other roadway or streetscape projects through the Columbia Owens/Rosewood community should be examined for opportunities to include bicycle and pedestrian improvements.
Recommendations:
- Traffic Improvements via a Spine Road (p. 28)
- Landscaping and Streetscape Improvements (p. 30)
A Plan for the Redevelopment of East Central City
Year: 2004
Description: This document is a Master Land Use and Redevelopment Plan for the East Central City area. The Land Use Plan presents strategies for the area’s development and revitalization opportunities, and the Redevelopment Plan identifies catalyst projects for redeveloping twelve core Columbia neighborhoods. Key goals of the Master Plan are to create a pedestrian-friendly environment; preserve, enhance, and create public open space, including linear trail space, and to develop high-density, mixed-use commercial activity nodes that include improvements for quality pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access. The plan also includes a Design Guidelines section with design specifications for pedestrian and bicycle improvements.
Recommendations:
- Recommendations (Section 2, p. 14-15)
- Land Use Plan (Section 4A, p. 3-6)
- Clusters (Section 4C, p. 2-15)
- Catalyst Projects (Section 5, p. 1-39)
The Master Plan for The Villages of North Columbia
Year: 2005
Description: This Master Plan presents a community vision and strategies to guide development in North Columbia as the area continues to grow. Included in the plan are several sites for catalyst projects that, through new construction and redevelopment, are intended to spur growth and activity in the area. Many recommendations are made to make North Columbia more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly, including new and improved crosswalks, sidewalks, bike lanes, trail connections, and streetscape enhancements.
Recommendations:
- Master Plan (Section 1, p. 12-13)
- Vision and Goals (Section 3, p. 83)
- Neighborhood Villages (Section 3, p. 84-130)
- Catalysts (Section 4, p. 138-176)
Five Points “FutureFive” Redevelopment and Master Plan
**Year:** 2006
**Description:** The Five Points “Future Five” Plan identifies opportunities for development and redevelopment in order to promote economic vitality, livability, and the unique character of the Five Points area. The goals and objectives of the plan highlight the importance of creating pedestrian-friendly environments to attract residents, visitors, and businesses to the area. Pedestrian-related recommendations include encouraging interconnectivity and density along major streets to promote more pedestrian activity; developing strategies for pedestrian scaled signage; and improving the design of crosswalks and pedestrian lighting to improve safety.
**Recommendations:**
- Goals and Objectives (p. 3-4)
- Master Plan Overview (p. 46)
- Implementation Recommendations (p. 49-55)
Lower Waverly Catalyst Redevelopment Plan
**Year:** 2006
**Description:** The purpose of the Lower Waverly Catalyst Redevelopment Plan is to identify conservation areas and blighted areas within the community that have opportunities for revitalization projects. The eastern portion of the Lower Waverly neighborhood was highlighted as an area that has not yet seen the same focus on redevelopment that is occurring in surrounding communities. The Lower Waverly plan recommends that the catalyst projects included in *A Plan for the Redevelopment of East Central City* be implemented to promote the revitalization of the area, including new sidewalks and streetscape improvements.
**Recommendations:**
- Appendices 6-8: Catalyst Project 1-2 (p. 52-54)
Bike and Pedestrian Pathways Plan
**Year:** 2006
**Description:** The 2006 Bike and Pedestrian Pathways Plan provides recommendations for sidewalks, on-road bicycle improvements, off-road multi-use trails, and over 35 program and policy strategies for improving the bicycle and pedestrian network in the Columbia Area Transportation Study (COATS) region. The plan identifies key local issues with walking and bicycling: a lack of sidewalks and shoulders; inadequate route signage; roadway debris; a lack of development regulations requiring pedestrian and bicycle facilities; and a lack of bicycle and pedestrian safety education and enforcement. The Bike and Pedestrian Strategies and Early Action Projects in the plan are designed to address these challenges through a series of phased infrastructure, programmatic, and policy improvements.
**Recommendations:**
- Bike and Pedestrian Strategies (p. 33-42)
- Early Action Projects (p. 43-53)
- Preliminary Routing (p. 53-55)
- Three Rivers Greenway Additions (p. 55-56)
- Implementation Plan (p. 57-59)
Central Midlands Commuter Rail Feasibility Study
**Year:** 2006
**Description:** The Central Midlands Council of Governments (CMCOG) completed this study to evaluate the feasibility of developing and operating commuter rail in the Central Midlands region. The study also assessed the feasibility of other high-capacity transit alternatives, such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The study investigated three corridors for potential service: Newberry to Columbia, Camden to Columbia, and Batesburg-Leesville to Columbia. The Camden corridor ranked best in the comparative analysis. This study does not include recommendations specific to bicycle and pedestrian planning, but providing walking and bicycling access to transit and amenities (such as sidewalks, bikeways, and bicycle parking) will be important as transit improvements along the Camden corridor or other corridors are pursued.
---
Innovista Master Plan
**Year:** 2007
**Description:** The Innovista Master Plan presents a vision for a vibrant, mixed-use urban neighborhood in the Innovista planning area near downtown Columbia. The plan seeks to revitalize this historically industrial area through redevelopment and the reuse of vacant properties and parking lots, extension and redesign of the historic street grid, and development of a grand waterfront park. Some streets in the planning area are identified for improvements to primarily serve pedestrian and bicycle traffic ("A" streets) while other streets will remain designed primarily for automobile traffic ("B" streets). Two trails are planned as part of the waterfront park and restored Columbia Canal to complete the twelve-mile long Three Rivers Greenway regional trail system.
**Recommendations:**
- Community Goals (p. 23)
- Urban Design Concept (p. 24-27)
- Open Space (p. 28-30)
- Circulation (p. 31-37)
- Greene Street Corridor (p. 40-57)
- Implementation (p. 81-82)
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Midlands Tomorrow Household Travel Survey Report
**Year:** 2007
**Description:** The Central Midlands Council of Governments (CMCOG) sponsored the Midlands Tomorrow Household Travel Survey to obtain demographic information and travel behavior data from Columbia residents. This information is used to update data inputs for the regional transportation model, which predicts future travel demand on the region’s roadways. When respondents were asked how important it is to them to have sidewalks in their neighborhood, 56.9 percent answered “Important” or “Very Important.” When asked how important it is to them to have neighborhood bike paths, 42.6 percent answered “Important” or “Very Important.” When asked to rate their neighborhood sidewalk and bike path networks, 46.4 and 35.2 percent rated their sidewalk network and bike path network as average or worse (grade “C” to “F”), respectively. No recommendations were included in the report.
Midlands Tomorrow 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan
**Year:** 2008
**Description:** The Midlands Tomorrow: 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan is the regional transportation plan for the Columbia metropolitan area prepared by the Central Midlands Council of Governments (CMCOG). CMCOG is the MPO for the urbanized area around Columbia, the Columbia Area Transportation Study (COATS), and is responsible for developing, maintaining, and administering the region’s LRTP. Chapter 5, “Quality of Life,” covers bicycle and pedestrian planning initiatives and recommends a multimodal system that improves the quality of life for residents by providing bicycling and walking facilities, greenway trails, and walkable downtowns. The LRTP lists the twenty-six Early Action Projects from the Bike and Pedestrian Pathways Plan to fill critical gaps that exist in the current network and to build momentum for other bicycle and pedestrian initiatives. A series of Transportation Network Design Principles are outlined in the plan to guide facility development, along with complete streets design standards.
**Recommendations:**
- Goals for the 2035 LRTP (p. 5)
- Chapter 5: Quality of Life (p.69-87)
- CMCOG Regional Pathways Plan (Appendix A)
- Mitigation Strategies for Congested Corridors (p. 142-143) establishes five major mitigation strategies including, “shifting trips from automobiles to other modes”
- Over 900 people responded to the LRTP Transportation Survey. The issues that survey respondents would like to see addressed in the future include, “More sidewalks in subdivisions” and “More bike/walking facilities”.
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The Columbia Plan: The Comprehensive Plan for Columbia, South Carolina, 2008-2018
**Year:** 2008
**Description:** The Columbia Plan was developed by the City of Columbia Planning Department to guide the city’s growth and development over the next ten years. The plan’s Transportation Element includes recommendations to better coordinate the regional transportation system – including the bicycle and pedestrian network – with land use planning and policies. Suggested pedestrian and bicycle improvements include hiring a Bike/Pedestrian Coordinator, conducting Holistic Design and Planning, requiring Walking and Biking Oriented Neighborhood Design, and implementing Streetscape projects along major transportation corridors. No specific locations are identified for pedestrian and bicycle improvements. The plan’s goals, policies, and objectives provide general planning and policy guidance for future detailed studies, plans, and recommendations.
**Recommendations:**
- Suggested Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements (p. 40-45)
- Potential New Developments (p. 56-57)
- Roadway and Intersection Improvements (p. 92)
- Bicycle and Pedestrian Needs (p. 93-104)
- Policy Needs and Recommendations (p. 126-127)
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Southeast Lower Richland Sub-Area Transportation Study
**Year:** 2008
**Description:** This report provides an analysis of the existing multimodal transportation system for Lower/Southeast Richland County, development trends, transportation needs, and recommended improvements. Multimodal improvements were identified for roadways, public transportation services, intersections, bicycle facilities, and pedestrian facilities.
**Recommendations:**
- Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities (p. 204-206)
- Goals, Policies and Objectives (p. 211-233)
Columbia Area Transportation Study (COATS) Transportation Improvement Program
**Year:** 2009
**Description:** The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) establishes a list of agreed-upon transportation capital projects that are anticipated to receive federal funds for the next 7 years (2009-2015). The majority of projects are aimed at increasing the safety and efficiency of the existing transportation systems. Relevant bicycle and pedestrian improvements listed in the TIP include sidewalks, bikeways, wide outside shoulders, trails, intersection improvements, medians, street lighting, and other streetscaping. The TIP also includes a list of resurfacing projects, which may provide an opportunity to concurrently implement bicycle and pedestrian improvements.
CMCOG Regional Pathways Plan
**Year:** 2010
**Description:** The Regional Pathways Plan highlights twenty-eight existing and proposed greenway, bikeway, and sidewalk projects to connect local and regional destinations, including major employment centers, Downtown Columbia, tourist and recreational attractions, schools, parks, places of worship, and shopping centers. This vision plan includes over 272 miles of existing and proposed facilities to create a regional bicycle and pedestrian pathways network. Phase I summarizes the existing conditions, gaps, and recommendations from various recent transportation, bicycle, and pedestrian studies. Phase II will involve more detailed analysis of specific corridors, short- and long-term recommendations, and identification of funding and implementation strategies.
**Recommendations:**
- Regional Pathway Index (p. 8)
University of South Carolina Vision for a Sustainable Future: 2010 Master Plan
**Year:** 2010
**Description:** The University of South Carolina completed the 2010 Master Plan to address the University’s existing facility needs and projected future development. In addition to providing a development framework for the campus as a whole, the plan includes a long range vision to improve USC’s South Campus with a linear park, student recreation area, and improved pedestrian connections to Williams Brice Stadium. Improved connections between the historic core campus, Innovista, and South Campus are also addressed. Three streets are recommended as pedestrian and bicycle priority streets – Greene Street, Main Street, and Sumter Street – to provide better walking and bicycling connections between areas of campus and to surrounding areas. The recommended restoration of Rocky Branch Creek into a campus linear park would include multi-use trails that link to a regional parks and trails network.
**Recommendations:**
- Goals (p. 6)
- The Vision Plan for South Campus (p. 16-17)
- Pedestrian and Vehicular Circulation and Parking (p. 21-25)
Broad River Road Corridor and Community Master Plan
**Year:** 2010
**Description:** This plan outlines strategies for the development and redevelopment of the Broad River Road Corridor, a conventional suburban corridor from the Broad River Bridge to Harbison State Forest that connects downtown Columbia to the surrounding region. The goals of the plan include developing an integrated land use and transportation system, introducing improved multimodal networks, encouraging transit oriented mixed-use developments, and enhancing connectivity to neighborhoods. Analysis for the plan included a Walkability Index study. Recommendations include a detailed alignment and feasibility study for developing a multi-use trail along Board River, multiple trailheads, and bicycle lanes and sidewalks on Broad River Road where right-of-way exists.
**Recommendations:**
- Project Goals (p. 5)
- Master Plan Guiding Principles (p. 17)
- Objectives (p. 28)
- Concept Plan (p. 29)
- Action Strategies (p. 46-47, 55, 75)
- Pedestrian Circulation and Walkability (p. 61-69)
- Bike Lanes (p. 70-71)
- Implementation Program (p. 100-106)
Irmo/Dutch Fork Sub-Area Transportation Study
**Year:** 2010
**Description:** The purpose of this study is to guide the development of multimodal transportation improvements in the Irmo/Dutch Fork region. The study examines the existing transportation system, including bicycle and pedestrian facilities and transit service. A key issue identified in the document is a lack of sidewalk connections to schools, shopping, and parks throughout the study area. The study survey found that, on average, residents would like to see the majority of transportation funding spent on a combination of pedestrian facilities (5.5% of total funding, on average), bicycle facilities (2.4%), and transit service (23.5%). To address this demand and the current lack of bicycle and pedestrian connectivity, the plan recommends creating “complete streets”, developing dense mixed-use and transit-oriented development centers where appropriate, and maximizing the availability of transportation options by providing sidewalk, bike lanes, and expanded public transit.
**Recommendations:**
- Sidewalk Recommendations and Crossing Improvements (p. 38)
- Bicycle Facility and Multi-Purpose Path Recommendations (p. 39-40)
- Public Transit Needs and Recommendations (p. 41-44)
- Intersection Improvements (p. 45-46)
- Access Management Recommendations (p. 47-48)
Central Midlands Regional Transportation Authority Comprehensive Operational Analysis Report
**Year:** 2010
**Description:** The CMRTA Comprehensive Operational Analysis identifies near-term, short-range, and long-range transit service recommendations to expand transit opportunities for Columbia-area residents. The report identifies three major themes and stages for improving transit: improving service reliability in the Near-Term Plan, enhancing service connectivity in the Short-Range Plan, and increasing transit accessibility in the Long-Range Plan. While the document does not include any specific pedestrian or bicycle recommendations, walking is recognized as an important transit access and egress mode. According to a CMRTA survey, 83.9% of transit users walk to the bus, and 87.1% walk from the bus to their final destination. Pedestrian facilities should therefore be a priority along current and proposed transit corridors (p. 55) and to connect proposed locations for future transfer centers (p. 43).
Columbia Connectivity: Linking Main Street and the Vista
**Year:** 2011
**Description:** This report explores ways to improve connections between Main Street, the University of South Carolina campus, the Innovista, and the Vista – particularly for pedestrians and bicyclists – to support the development and revitalization of downtown Columbia. Some of the major recommendations of the study that affect bicycle and pedestrian travel include: repurpose Assembly Street for multimodal use, establish connections between adjoining neighborhoods, launch a traffic safety and multimodal transportation public awareness campaign, conduct a road diet on Gervais Street, and improve north-south streetscapes.
**Recommendations:**
- Panel Recommendations (p. 15-21)
CMRTA COMET Vision: 2020
**Year:** 2012
**Description:** Vision: 2020 is a visionary plan to restructure and rebrand public transportation service in the Central Midlands region. The purpose of the effort is to create a transit system that is more innovative and intelligent, more connected throughout the region, and more accessible to all residents. Major efforts recommended in the plan are an upgrade to natural gas fueled buses, an improved downtown Transit Center, high-frequency service along high-capacity corridors, using smaller buses to serve neighborhoods with lower-density routes, offering reloadable smartcard passes, and providing real-time bus information via smartphones and online. Larger-capacity bicycle racks are recommended at bus stops and stations to support bicycle access to transit. No pedestrian or bicycle infrastructure recommendations are made, although it will be important to accommodate walking and bicycling access to transit along all routes.
Rosewood Plan: A Corridor & Neighborhood Plan
**Year:** 2012
**Description:** This plan serves as a guide for the future growth, development, and redevelopment of the Rosewood corridor and neighborhood. In terms of pedestrian amenities, the community is defined as being isolated from the overall pedestrian network, with Rosewood Drive acting as a barrier to pedestrian activity. At the time of the plan’s writing, most streets in the neighborhood lack sidewalks, including many streets near the community’s four elementary schools. Bicycle connectivity is also rated as being low both within the neighborhood and along the Rosewood corridor. The plan includes several recommendations for improving the walking and bicycling environment, including: identify cyclist and pedestrian priority streets, reduce residential speed limits to 20 miles per hour, and installing traffic calming improvements on priority streets.
**Recommendations:**
- Rosewood Transportation Vision and Goals (p. 56)
- Recommendations (p. 57-64)
- Priority Transportation Projects (p. B-34)
Joint Land Use Study Implementation for Fort Jackson – McGrady Training Center – McEntire JNGB
**Year:** 2013
**Description:** The 2013 Joint Land Use Study provides a plan for implementation of the 2009 Fort Jackson/McEntire Joint Land Use Study (JLUS). The plan includes two small area plans, one for the McEntire JNGB Study Area and one for the Fort Jackson-McCrady Training Center Study Area, that identify a timeline and action plan for implementing strategies from the 2009 JLUS. The plan’s recommendations focus on land use compatibility, zoning changes, and community-military coordination; they do not specifically include bicycle and pedestrian improvements. As infrastructure and development projects are planned in these areas, opportunities for bicycle and pedestrian facilities should be examined and included as appropriate.
City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Master Plan
**Year:** 2013
**Description:** The purpose of this plan is to provide a five-year vision of leisure services for the City of Columbia, with an understanding of and plan for the long-term recreation needs of the community. The plan recognizes the importance of providing for bicycle and pedestrian recreation and defines three types of park trails that accommodate different user groups and needs within the community. One key recommendation made in the plan is to remove underutilized facilities at current parks and replace with walking trails, picnic areas, and natural woods areas with limited trails. The plan also calls for a greater focus on system-wide park linkages through greenways and waterway features, which could include trail access.
**Recommendations:**
- Recommendations (p. 131-158)
Devine Street/Fort Jackson Boulevard Commercial Node Plan
**Year:** 2014
**Description:** The purpose of this plan is to inform investment and identify catalytic projects to pursue in and around the Devine Street/Fort Jackson Boulevard Commercial Node. This area, comprising approximately 300 acres on the east side of Columbia near Fort Jackson, is a primary gateway and commercial center in Columbia. The Commercial Node Plan identifies a series of key issues that are limiting development, traffic, and interest in the area, including a lack of safe pedestrian connections, lack of bicycle facilities, and poor streetscape conditions. A series of Mobility Recommendations are made to address bicycle and pedestrian connectivity, safety, and access to destinations.
**Recommendations:**
- Mobility Recommendations (p. 29-35)
- General Urban Design and Placemaking Recommendations (p. 36-38)
- Open Space Recommendations (p. 39-40)
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**OTHER RELEVANT PLANNING EFFORTS**
**South Carolina Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan – At a Crossroads**
**Year:** 2008
**Description:** The South Carolina Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan provides a comprehensive evaluation and needs assessment of all transportation modes for the State of South Carolina. The plan outlines SCDOT’s recommendations for transportation investments across all modes through the year 2030. The plan’s recommendations for pedestrian and bicycle facilities are 1) Work to provide paved shoulders on routes in the statewide bicycle tour network, 2) Work with each MPO to implement low-cost bike improvements wherever feasible, such as when roads are resurfaced, 3) Include bike/pedestrian provisions in new projects wherever appropriate or where requested by local government officials. The next iteration of the plan, Charting a Course to 2040, is currently under development.
**Recommendations:**
- Goals (p. 3)
- Bike and Pedestrian Needs (p. 27)
- Recommendations (p. 32-35)
**ONGOING PLANNING EFFORTS**
Other planning efforts that are currently underway include:
- City of Columbia Parking Master Plan Update
- West Gervais Commercial Plan
- South Carolina Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan – Charting a Course to 2040
At the time of this writing, these planning efforts were ongoing and not yet available in draft form. As materials become available, these plans and other future plans should be reviewed and their recommendations checked for consistency with this plan.
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**Key Findings**
These plans, studies, and reports help to identify the gaps that exist in the current bicycle and pedestrian network and underscore the demand for investment in improved facilities for walking and bicycling. Several of the plans repeatedly stress the importance of developing complete streets that make the transportation network and local and regional destinations accessible not just by automobile, but also by foot, bike, and transit. Key themes from previous planning efforts include:
- Improve bicycle and pedestrian connections to schools, parks, and employment centers; along major corridors; within commercial nodes; and within and between neighborhoods.
- Provide multi-use trails to link destinations throughout Columbia and the surrounding region.
- Improve bicycle and pedestrian access to transit with more sidewalks, bikeways, and amenities.
- Integrate complete streets design on new and existing roadways.
- Revise development regulations and policies to include standards for the provision of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and amenities.
Page Intentionally Left Blank
Municipal Code Review
Introduction
The consultant team reviewed existing development policy and regulatory documents for the City of Columbia. This task included a review of available policies and standards directly related to pedestrian and/or bicyclist safety within the City. The review focused on the City’s Code of Ordinances (CO), but also included a review of the City of Columbia 2010 Complete Streets Resolution.
The full policy and regulatory review is provided in the following policy matrix.
Planning and development regulations provide guidelines and requirements for most of what is developed in the City and as such are fundamental to the area’s walk- and bike-friendliness. Since most new development in Columbia is provided through private investment or investment by non-City agencies, the provision of walk- and bike-friendly development policies and ordinances are one of the most cost-effective means that the City has to establish walkable and bikeable infrastructure for its neighborhoods and districts.
Key Findings
The City of Columbia has a number of very positive policies and regulations that support walkable and bikeable environments. However, it is also evident that the City could significantly strengthen many areas of policy regarding complete streets (including transit access), bicycle parking, and bicycle and pedestrian facility requirements and enhancements within the context of development ordinances. Policies and standards geared toward retrofit of existing facilities are also recommended and discussed within the attached policy matrix. Table 18 describes key strengths identified within the existing ordinances and policies of the City, as well as priority areas for improvement.
TABLE 18 - EXISTING KEY ORDINANCE AND POLICY STRENGTHS
| City of Columbia Ordinances and Policies | Policy Areas for Improvement |
|------------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| **Strengths** | |
| Complete Streets Resolution | Development of comprehensive Complete Streets design guidance for new development and public investment |
| Adoption of NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide | Require pedestrian improvements with new development and redevelopment (sidewalks, lighting, street trees, etc.) |
| Good base of ordinances supporting pedestrian and bike safety (including prohibition on using mobile devices while driving, etc.) | Good base of ordinances supporting pedestrian and bike safety (including prohibition on using mobile devices while driving, etc.) |
| Good ordinance language requiring property owner participation in sidewalk maintenance | Update very suburban, auto-oriented development standards to be more context-based and pedestrian-friendly |
| Clear language prohibiting obstructions to sidewalks | Develop policy and ordinances for improved access to transit and improved safety requirements for heavy commercial vehicle operation within the City |
Conclusion
What is evident is that a more holistic approach to facilitating walkable and bikeable new development is required. The City development standards are very much oriented towards automobile access first and foremost. Walkability begins with access to destinations and to the extent politically feasible, the City and its partners at County and State agencies should promote development that is proximate to existing infrastructure, residential development, and existing destinations for education, employment, commerce, and civic activities. This begins with allowing and promoting a mixture of land uses and density of land uses that support walking and bicycle access in the built up areas of the city. For current residents who do not drive or have access to a car and for future residents and visitors who are looking to visit or invest in a place where walking and biking are part of the transportation options, walkable land use patterns are critical to quality of life.
Second, promoting “complete” infrastructure and transportation linkages between land uses is what is required to make sure that places that are proximate in distance are indeed comfortable and safe to walk or bike to and from. This will require a thorough review and refinement of existing development standards to ensure that pedestrian and bicycle access and access to transit is considered in every requirement from the development of sidewalks to provision of bicycle parking and street trees and pedestrian-scaled lighting. Development standards should also consider whether or not buildings and lots are oriented for pedestrian and bicycle access. The City of Columbia recently adopted a Complete Streets resolution and endorsed the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, which are great first steps in this direction.
The comments in the tables below outline many opportunities for making local development standards more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. This plan suggests that City staff and appropriate appointed committees develop proposed text amendments for any “low hanging fruit” amendments noted below. For more holistic changes, staff, committees, and the Plan committee members should incorporate changes into the upcoming comprehensive audit and rewrite of development standards over the next 12-18 months. The outcome of such an effort will be development standards that are predictable and sustainable for investors and developers, but that also promote active living, aging in place, quality of life, and transportation and recreation choices, and respect the local character of the City.
| Topic | Review |
|-------|--------|
| **DEFINITIONS and SUPPORTING ORDINANCES** | |
| 1.1 Does “Street” definition include pedestrian, cyclist, and transit reference? | Needs improvement. Definition of “street” includes pedestrian infrastructure, but does not reflect City’s Complete Streets policy or intent.
*From CO Sec. 1-2:*
**Roadway** The term “roadway” means that portion of a street improved, designated or ordinarily used for vehicular travel.
**Street** The term “street” includes avenues, boulevards, highways, roads, alleys, lanes, viaducts, bridges and the approaches thereto and all other public thoroughfares in the city, and means the entire width thereof between opposed abutting property lines. It shall be construed to include a sidewalk or footpath [ADD: and accommodations for bicyclists, transit riders, and persons of all abilities as deemed contextually appropriate] unless the contrary is expressed or unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the city council. |
| | Consider adding language to reflect City’s Complete Streets policy intent and specifically to include references to user groups including pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, etc.
The term “street” includes avenues, boulevards, highways, roads, alleys, lanes, viaducts, bridges and the approaches thereto and all other public thoroughfares in the city, and means the entire width thereof between opposed abutting property lines. It shall be construed to include a sidewalk or footpath [ADD: and accommodations for bicyclists, transit riders, and persons of all abilities as deemed contextually appropriate] unless the contrary is expressed or unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the city council. |
| 1.2 Vehicle | No definition listed | Some states’ definition of ‘vehicle’ includes the bicycle. However, the State of South Carolina’s definition of ‘vehicle’ does not include bicycles. See SC 56-3-20 Definitions –
(f) “Vehicle” means every device in, upon, or by which a person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. |
| 1.3 Definition of Sidewalk | Yes. Includes pedestrian reference.
*From CO Sec. 1-2:* Sidewalk. The term “sidewalk” means any portion of a street between the curbline, or the lateral line of a roadway where there is no curb, and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians. | Good. Very similar to MUTCD Definition: That portion of a street between the curb line, or the lateral line of a roadway, and the adjacent property line or on easements of private property that is paved or improved and intended for use by pedestrians. |
| 1.4 Definition of Bicycle | No definition of bicycle found | MUTCD Definition: A pedal-powered vehicle upon which the human operator sits. |
| Topic | Review |
|-------|--------|
| **2.4 Use of Utility Rights-of-Way for walkways, bikeways, trails** | Kershaw County’s ZLDR Article 5-1-8 Utility Easements and Rights-of-Way contains a good example with respect to sewer rights-of-way. See below.
b) - *The Planning and Zoning Commission or Planning Official, as applicable, may approve the installation of sidewalks, trails, and greenways as required in this Article within the Kershaw County public sewer rights-of-way. All proposed sidewalks, trails, and greenways including any proposed hardscaping shall have approval from the Utilities Director prior to sketch plan or site plan submittal to the Planning Official or Planning and Zoning Commission, as applicable.*
This provision could be further improved/expanded to allow sidewalks, trails, and greenways in other utility rights-of-way such as water, power, etc. |
| **2.6 Cross-Access between adjacent land parcels** | Needs Improvement. Currently vague and difficult to enforce.
CO Sec. 17-512 (8): Street access to unsubdivided property: *Where it is deemed necessary to the development of a logical street pattern and transportation network, streets and rights-of-way shall be extended to the boundary of adjoining property. Incompatible characteristics of adjoining property shall be given due consideration in making a determination of what shall constitute a logical street pattern. Reserve strips adjoining street rights-of-way for the purpose of preventing access to adjacent property shall not be permitted.*
Add section in subdivision regulations to require cross-access between adjacent parcels to facilitate non-motorized (pedestrian and bicycle) access, at least. Requiring cross-access between adjacent parcels of land is a great tool for reducing the amount of traffic on major roads while increasing connectivity for pedestrians, bicycles, and cars.
See City of Charlotte Subdivision Ordinance, Section 20-23 for example of connectivity requirements and block standards: [http://www.charmeck.org/Planning/Subdivision/SubdivisionOrdinanceCity.pdf](http://www.charmeck.org/Planning/Subdivision/SubdivisionOrdinanceCity.pdf)
Example language from the City of Wilson, NC, Unified Development Ordinance, Section 6.4: [http://www.wilsonnc.org/departments/developmentservices/unifieddevelopmentordinance/](http://www.wilsonnc.org/departments/developmentservices/unifieddevelopmentordinance/) |
| **2.7 Block size** | Needs improvement to promote walking, biking and transit access.
CO Sec. 17-513. Blocks.
(b) *Residential block length. In order that there may be convenient access between various parts of a subdivision, and in order to help prevent traffic congestion and undue inconvenience, the length of blocks hereafter established shall not exceed 1,800 feet or be less than 600 feet.*
Small block size is important to intersection density and interconnectivity which serve to enhance walking, bicycling, and transit-access opportunities. Ideally, block size should not exceed 1000’-1200’ feet for low density residential development and where blocks exceed this length, a crosswalk easement (as suggested in current text) should be required and not made an optional provision. In higher density areas, blocks can be as narrow as 200-400’ wide. Block length should be tied to density of development.
See City of Charlotte Subdivision Ordinance, Section 20-23 for example of connectivity requirements and block standards: [http://www.charmeck.org/Planning/Subdivision/SubdivisionOrdinanceCity.pdf](http://www.charmeck.org/Planning/Subdivision/SubdivisionOrdinanceCity.pdf)
See City of Wilson, NC, Unified Development Ordinance Section 6.4 for excellent connectivity requirements, including bicycle and pedestrian connections: [http://www.wilsonnc.org/departments/developmentservices/unifieddevelopmentordinance/](http://www.wilsonnc.org/departments/developmentservices/unifieddevelopmentordinance/) |
| Topic | City of Columbia Code of Ordinances (CO) or Other Regulations | Review |
|-------|-------------------------------------------------------------|--------|
| 2.8 Dead end streets | Needs Improvement
CO Sec 17-513. Blocks.
(d) Cul-de-sac length. Cul-de-sac shall not exceed 1,000 feet. | Street interconnectivity is critical to successful bicycle/pedestrian networks. Furthermore, long dead-end streets are create challenges for pedestrians, cyclists, and effective transit and other public services. Consider replacing this section with the following:
*Cul-de-sacs may be permitted only where topographic conditions and/or exterior lot line configurations offer no practical alternatives for connection or through traffic. Cul-de-sacs, if permitted, shall not exceed 250 ft in length from the nearest intersection with a street providing through access (not a cul-de-sac). A close is preferred over a cul-de-sac. Cul-de-sacs shall have pedestrian and bicycle neighborhood access trails at the ends to connect to adjacent streets.* (For similar language, see the Town of Davidson, NC, Planning Ordinance - http://www.ci.davidson.nc.us/index.aspx?nid=598) |
| PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY BUILDINGS AND SITE DESIGN STANDARDS | | |
| 3.1 Off-street motorized vehicle parking is behind or to side of buildings | | Consider requiring motorized vehicle parking that is behind or to the side of buildings in pedestrian-oriented zoning districts to improve the pedestrian-orientation of buildings and to minimize the need for pedestrians to walk through parking lots to access buildings. |
| 3.2 Maximum automobile parking requirements defined | | Limiting off-street parking allows for more dynamic use of space which will enhance bicycle and pedestrian opportunities. |
| Topic | City of Columbia Code of Ordinances (CO) or Other Regulations | Review |
|-------|-------------------------------------------------------------|--------|
| 3.3 Bicycle parking requirements | Very limited. Bicycle parking is only required for Private Dormitory uses per CO Sec. 17-321:
*Parking requirements for a private dormitory shall be as follows: in RG-3, C-4, M-1, M-2, and MX-2 districts the ratio shall be 0.75 on-site vehicular parking space and .25 on-site bicycle parking space per bedroom. In the C-5 zoning district the ratio shall be 0.5 vehicular parking space located within 800 feet of the dormitory’s main entrance and 0.25 on-site bicycle parking space per bedroom. Seventy-five (75) percent of required bicycle parking in all districts shall be located in an enclosed and secured area.* | Incorporate bicycle parking requirements throughout CO Chapter 17, especially Article III, Division 10: Off-Street Parking & Loading Facilities
City of Greenville Bicycle Parking Ordinance (good, complete example for southeastern city, however, only includes provisions for short term parking – e.g., racks – and does not include requirements or guidelines for long term parking and facilities for employee, resident, or student parking): https://www.greenvillesc.gov/ParksRec/trails/forms/GreenvilleBicycleParkingOrdinance_Article%2019-6.1.pdf
City of Charleston’s bike parking requirements are much less detailed and complete than Greenville’s (Sec. 54-320): https://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientid=14049&stateid=40&stateName=South%20Carolina
City of Charlotte’s bike parking requirements include standards for short term and long term bicycle parking, but do not include requirements for showers or lockers for active transport commuters: http://www.charmeck.org/Planning/ZoningOrdinance/ZoningOrdCityChapter12.pdf
References for best practices in bicycle parking requirements:
• Bicycle Parking Model Ordinance, Change Lab Solutions: http://changelabsolutions.org/publications/bike-parking
• Bicycle Parking Guidelines, 2nd Edition – by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP; available for purchase)
• The Model Bicycle Parking Ordinance developed by the Public Health Law & Policy group provides excellent model language for bicycle parking requirements and related amenities, including showers and changing areas: http://www.atpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Model%20Bike%20Parking%20Ordinance%20with%20Annotations%20-%20Public%20Health%20Law%20and%20Policy.pdf |
| 3.11 Site Amenities for Cyclists and others (Showers, Changing areas, etc) | No guidelines or requirements found | Consider requiring or providing incentives to encourage the installation of site amenities such as showers, storage lockers/changing areas for bicyclists and others for employment and educational sites. The Model Bicycle Parking Ordinance developed by the Public Health Law & Policy group provides excellent model language for bicycle parking requirements and related amenities, including showers and changing areas: http://www.atpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Model%20Bike%20Parking%20Ordinance%20with%20Annotations%20-%20Public%20Health%20Law%20and%20Policy.pdf |
| Topic | Review | Comments and Suggestions |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3.4 Other place-supportive parking regulations (On-street parking, shared parking, pricing, employer incentives/programs, etc) | No guidelines found | Require or incentivize shared parking and parking reductions in pedestrian-oriented districts, especially downtown. |
| 3.5 Form-based or design-based codes are used | The Bull Street PUD provides a local example of form-based requirements, however, these standards apply only to a single master planned development: https://columbiasc.gov/depts/planning-development/docs/bullstreetpudoctober22012.pdf | These types of codes offer flexibility in allowing mixed use while unifying streetscape design. These types of regulations are fundamentally pedestrian-oriented. The City of Spartanburg adopted a form-based code for its downtown area in 2011: http://www.cityofspartanburg.org/cms_assets/Downtown%20Code.pdf Another example can be found in the Beaufort, SC, Unified Development Ordinance, specific to their Boundary Street and Bladen Street Redevelopment Districts - http://www.cityofbeaufort.org/Data/Sites/1/media/City_Ordinances/udo-revised-september-2012-web.pdf |
| 3.12 Pedestrian-scale lighting (<15’ tall) required along sidewalks, paths and in parking areas | No guidelines or requirements found. | Incorporate human-scale lighting (<15’ tall) considerations for bicyclists and pedestrians where appropriate. |
| PEDESTRIAN FACILITY DESIGN | | |
| 4.2 Minimum sidewalk width by context | No guidelines found | Best standards would require or provide sidewalks on both sides of all collector and arterial streets and on at least one side of local streets where warranted by density and/or system connectivity. Five foot wide sidewalks along local streets and six foot wide sidewalks along collectors and arterials are preferred minimum widths. Five feet is the minimum width required for two adults to walk side-by-side. In areas of higher density and mixed-use development, the minimum required width for sidewalks should be six feet or more. The land use context and density of development necessitates a greater level of requirement for sidewalk specifications. In areas such as downtown with buildings at the back of the sidewalk and ground level retail, sidewalks should be as wide as 10-18 feet wide. |
| Topic | Review |
|-------|--------|
| **City of Columbia Code of Ordinances (CO) or Other Regulations** | **Comments and Suggestions** |
| 4.3 Street Trees | Needs improvement. Not required between sidewalk and the curb. CO Sec. 17-418. Street protective yard (a) *Purpose, definition and applicability.* (f) *Purpose and definition.* A street protective yard is a landscaped area located parallel and adjacent to a recorded public street right-of-way. This area contains plantings of trees and other vegetation designed to: provide more pleasing views along city travel ways; provide for continuity of vegetation throughout Columbia; reduce the amount of impervious surface and thereby reduce stormwater runoff; provide shade; and preserve a remnant of Columbia’s natural vegetative cover. CO Sec. 17-531(10) Street trees. The planting of street trees is not required. However, if the subdivider chooses to plant trees along the street to enhance the appearance of a subdivision, the trees shall not be planted on any street right-of-way of less than 60 feet unless it can be conclusively shown that there will be no future conflict with vehicles or with utility lines either above or below the ground surface. | In addition to their value for improving the air quality, water quality, and beauty of a community, street trees can help slow traffic and improve comfort for pedestrians. Trees add visual interest to streets and narrow the street’s visual corridor, which may cause drivers to slow down. When planted in a planting strip between the sidewalk and the curb, street trees also provide a buffer between the pedestrian zone and the street. See NCDOT Complete Streets Planning and Design Guidelines (Chapter 4) for context-based pedestrian and “green” zone recommendations: http://www.completestreetsnc.org/wp-content/themes/CompleteStreets_Custom/pdfs/NCDOT-Complete-Streets-Planning-Design-Guidelines.pdf See also, Town of Wendell UDO Chapter 8, especially section 8.8. Street Trees: http://files.wendell.gethi.com/departments/planning/zoning/udo-unified-development-ordinance/Chapter_8_-_amended_092611.pdf |
| **BICYCLE FACILITY DESIGN** | |
| 5.1 Types of Facilities Specified or Allowed | The City of Columbia officially endorsed and adopted the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide in 2013: http://nacto.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ColumbiaSC_Urban-Bikeway-Design-Guide-Resolution_05.2113.pdf. However, development requirements or City Street Design standards do not currently reference or reflect the NACTO guidance. | Incorporate bicycle facility design best practices into CO and other appropriate City design requirements. The Design Guidelines developed for this Plan, as well as the following resources, will provide specific design guidelines and reference to national design guidelines. |
| 5.3 Bicycle Accommodations at Intersections | | |
| **COMPLETE STREETS SUPPORTING POLICIES AND MANUALS** | |
| 6.1 Complete Streets Policy | Yes. Complete Streets Resolution presented to council in 2010 and adopted: http://www.columbiasc.net/depts/city-council/docs/old_downloads/07_21_2010_Agenda_Items/Resolution_2010_054%20Complete%20Streets%202_Final.pdf | The Complete Streets Policy needs to have an associated design guide with context-based provisions for all modes of transport, including walking, biking, and transit. The design guidance should be integrated into development standards for new development, as was done with the Raleigh Street Design Manual (http://www.raleighnc.gov/content/extra/Books/PlanDev/StreetDesignManual/#/) and the Charlotte Urban Street Design Guidelines: http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/transportation/plansprojects/pages/urban%20street%20design%20guidelines.aspx |
| Topic | City of Columbia Code of Ordinances (CO) or Other Regulations | Comments and Suggestions |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 6.2 Design Manual for Pedestrian and/or Bicycle Facilities | The City of Columbia officially endorsed and adopted the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide in 2013: [http://nacto.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ColumbiaSC_Urban-Bikeway-Design-Guide-Resolution_05.21.13.pdf](http://nacto.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ColumbiaSC_Urban-Bikeway-Design-Guide-Resolution_05.21.13.pdf) | The City’s CS Policy states that the City will prepare draft regulations to implement the policy. The following resources may be used in referencing best practices guidelines and policy specific to each point in the far left column:
NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide (National Association of City Transportation Officials); [adopted by City of Columbia]
NACTO Urban Street Design Guidelines
Complete Streets Local Policy Workbook – by the National Complete Streets Coalition and Smart Growth America |
| 6.3 Complete Street Design Guidelines for a variety of contexts | Needs improvement. Street classification system (CO. Sec. 17-512) does not provide context-sensitive options and does not provide detailed guidance for installation of sidewalks or any guidance for selection or provision of bikeways. | |
| 6.4 Existence of street hierarchy plan by context | | |
| 6.5 Traffic Calming programs, policies, and/or manuals | None found. | City of Charlotte, NC Urban Street Design Guidelines and related development standards: [http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/transportation/plansprojects/pages/urban%20street%20design%20guidelines.aspx](http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/transportation/plansprojects/pages/urban%20street%20design%20guidelines.aspx)
City of Raleigh, NC Raleigh Street Design Manual: [http://www.raleighnc.gov/content/extra/Books/PlanDev/StreetDesignManual/#1](http://www.raleighnc.gov/content/extra/Books/PlanDev/StreetDesignManual/#1)
The National Complete Streets Coalition provides good guidelines for traffic calming through their best practices manual: ([http://www.completestreets.org/resources/complete-streets-best-practices/](http://www.completestreets.org/resources/complete-streets-best-practices/)) |
| 6.8 Consideration of pedestrian and bicycle concerns and Level of Service (LOS) in Traffic Impact Analyses and other required engineering studies | None found. | Consider adopting multi-modal of service standards for new development where active transportation and transit use are expected to be high. Consideration of bicycle and pedestrian levels of service assure adequate facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians.
The City of Raleigh uses multimodal level of service approach in determining road improvements and traffic mitigation: [http://www.raleighnc.gov/content/extra/Books/PlanDev/StreetDesignManual/#1](http://www.raleighnc.gov/content/extra/Books/PlanDev/StreetDesignManual/#1)
Charlotte, NC uses Pedestrian LOS and Bicycle LOS Methodologies for Intersection improvements in their Urban Street Design Guidelines: [http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/transportation/plansprojects/pages/urban%20street%20design%20guidelines.aspx](http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/transportation/plansprojects/pages/urban%20street%20design%20guidelines.aspx) |
| 6.9 Access management program or policy | None found. | Consider adding language across all types of development pertaining to non-motorized vehicle and pedestrian access management; this could broadly be incorporated into zoning districts requirements or street design standards. |
| Topic | Review |
|-------|--------|
| **ITEMS REVIEWED** | **City of Columbia Code of Ordinances (CO) or Other Regulations** | **Comments and Suggestions** |
| 7.1 Names of Resources | GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS:
- City of Columbia, South Carolina Code of Ordinances (CO): [https://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientid=13167](https://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientid=13167)
ADDITIONAL POLICIES AND ORDINANCES:
- City of Columbia Complete Streets Resolution 2010: [http://www.columbiasc.net/depts/city-council/docs/old_downloads/07_21_2010_Agenda_Items/Resolution_2010_054%20Complete%20Streets%202_Final.pdf](http://www.columbiasc.net/depts/city-council/docs/old_downloads/07_21_2010_Agenda_Items/Resolution_2010_054%20Complete%20Streets%202_Final.pdf)
- City of Columbia Endorsement of NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, 2013: [http://nacto.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ColumbiaSC_Urban-Bikeway-Design-Guide-Resolution_05_2113.pdf](http://nacto.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ColumbiaSC_Urban-Bikeway-Design-Guide-Resolution_05_2113.pdf) | REFERENCES AND HELPFUL RESOURCES
- *Making Neighborhoods More Walkable and Bikeable*, ChangeLab Solutions: [http://changelabsolutions.org/sites/default/files/MoveThisWay_FINAL-20130905.pdf](http://changelabsolutions.org/sites/default/files/MoveThisWay_FINAL-20130905.pdf)
- *Getting the Wheels Rolling: A Guide to Using Policy to Create Bicycle Friendly Communities*, ChangeLab Solutions: [http://changelabsolutions.org/bike-policies](http://changelabsolutions.org/bike-policies)
- *Bicycle Parking Guidelines, 2nd Edition* – by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP)
- *Complete Streets Local Policy Workbook* – by the National Complete Streets Coalition and Smart Growth America
- *NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide* – by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)
- City of Beaufort, SC, Unified Development Code: [http://www.cityofbeaufort.org/Data/Sites/1/media/City_Ordinances/udo-revised-september-2012-web.pdf](http://www.cityofbeaufort.org/Data/Sites/1/media/City_Ordinances/udo-revised-september-2012-web.pdf)
- City of Charlotte Sidewalk Retrofit Policy: [http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/Transportation/PedBike/Documents/Sidewalk%20Retrofit%20Policy%20Amendments%20FINAL.pdf](http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/Transportation/PedBike/Documents/Sidewalk%20Retrofit%20Policy%20Amendments%20FINAL.pdf)
- City of Wilson, NC, Unified Development Ordinance provides: [http://www.wilsonnc.org/departments/developmentservices/unifieddevelopmentordinance/](http://www.wilsonnc.org/departments/developmentservices/unifieddevelopmentordinance/)
- Form-Based Codes Institute (FBCI): [http://www.formbasedcodes.org/](http://www.formbasedcodes.org/)
- 12010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design: [http://www.ada.gov/2010ADastandards_index.htm](http://www.ada.gov/2010ADastandards_index.htm) |
Walk, Bike, and Transit Program Resources
In order to build upon the success of existing programs and improve the safety, comfort, and enjoyment of walking and bicycling in Columbia, this section provides a series of program recommendations for the City of Columbia to pursue.
Education Programs
Expand Media Campaign to Educate Motorists, Bicyclists, and Pedestrians
Education programs are essential to raise local awareness and understanding of pedestrian and bicycle issues and to improve safety. According to the Walk Bike Columbia Survey, 46% of Columbia citizens believe that a media campaign to educate motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians would have the greatest impact on improving walking and biking in Columbia. The City of Columbia should work with the Palmetto Cycling Coalition, the Columbia BPAC, and other partners to further promote the Safe Streets Save Lives Campaign within Columbia and through a variety of media outlets, including online, TV, radio, bus placards and posters, billboards, and bumper stickers. Hard copy and online materials could also be provided as part of other education, encouragement, and enforcement programs as described below.
Program website:
- http://safestreetssavelives.org/
Walk Bike Ambassador Program and Classes
A Walk Bike Ambassador Program empowers local advocates and volunteers to provide bicycling and walking education and encouragement to the larger community. This outreach and education program acts as a one-stop local resource for safety information, presentations, skills clinics, and instructional courses to incorporate bicycling and walking into everyday life. Walk Bike Ambassadors also serve as ideal partners for other education, encouragement, and evaluation programs and could help to promote the Safe Streets Save Lives campaign locally. Developing an ambassador program is one of the recommendations for Columbia made in the League of American Bicyclists’ BFC Application feedback.
Some examples of the services that a Walk Bike Ambassador Program can provide to the community include:
- Youth and family education: Signaling, helmet fitting, safe crossings, bike rodeo skills courses, guided rides on trails, bicycle maintenance classes
- Adult bicycling classes: Laws and responsibilities, Smart Cycling Courses, Traffic Skills 101 Courses, guided road and trail rides, bicycle maintenance classes
- Workplace education: Walking, bicycling, and transit information packages, brown bag talks, promotional materials, and encouragement and incentive programs for walking, bicycling, and transit
- School education: Safe Routes to School assistance, walkability and bikeability assessments, bicycle lessons
Sample programs:
- Minneapolis, MN: http://www.bikewalktwincities.org/ambassadors
- Northern CO: http://bicycleambassadorprogram.org/
Traffic Ticket Diversion Program
Developing a ticket diversion program is one of the recommendations for Columbia made in the League of American Bicyclists’ BFC Application feedback. A diversion class is offered to first-time offenders of certain community-related traffic violations, such as motorists speeding, pedestrians jaywalking, or bicyclists running a stoplight. In lieu of receiving a citation and/or fine, individuals can take a one-time free or inexpensive traffic safety class instead. This class should teach participants about traffic laws, traffic safety, and road user dangers and responsibilities for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. The Columbia Safety Analysis developed for this plan found that motorist education should focus on the dangers of speeding, how to share the road with bicyclists, and when a motorist must yield to a bicyclist. Bicyclist education should cover bicycle laws at traffic signals and stop signs and how to safely ride with traffic. This program provides an excellent way to educate all road users on how to operate in a multimodal traffic environment.
Sample program:
- Marin County, CA: http://www.marinbike.org/Campaigns/ShareTheRoad/index.shtml#StreetSkills
Professional Training Opportunities
Professional development courses provide training to transportation and other professionals who may not have received extensive experience or training in pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Educating professional staff about bicycle and pedestrian issues helps staff understand why and how to include bicycle and pedestrian accommodations in roadway projects and developments. Some trainings have already been offered in Columbia, such as the Safe Streets Save Lives Campaign Ambassador Training Tour, and the Innovative Design Training held by the Columbia BPAC, Walk Bike Columbia, and Alta Planning + Design in October 2014.
New professional training opportunities for city engineers, planners, police, and other staff should be pursued to build off of this progress and teach local professionals about current trends in bicycle and pedestrian design, planning, and implementation. Webinars and courses are available through the Association of Bicycle and Pedestrian Professionals (ABP), the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC), and others. Sample topics include bicycle and pedestrian design standards, complete streets concepts, how to coordinate with other departments on bicycle and pedestrian projects, and funding opportunities.
Sample programs:
- Institute for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation: http://www.ibpi.usp.pdx.edu/
- http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/training/webinars.cfm
Expand Safe Routes to School Efforts
Based on the Walk Bike Columbia Survey results, 33% of Columbia citizens believe that Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs to engage schools, parents, and local officials would have the greatest impact on walking and biking in Columbia. The city should expand on existing efforts at local schools to include SRTS programs at all elementary and middle schools. Schools with existing programs could expand their offerings to include interactive traffic skills and safety classes, such as bike rodeo events where children have the opportunity to learn bicycle safety, practice safe riding skills in a controlled obstacle course, and win prizes for safe bicycling behavior. Neighborhood “Walking School Buses” or “Bike Trains”, in which a group of children walk or bike to school with parent volunteers, also help to educate children on safe walking and bicycling skills and raise awareness throughout the community.
Sample programs:
- National Center for Safe Routes to School: http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/program-tools/organizers-guide-bicycle-rodeos
- Sonoma County, CA: http://www.sonomasaferroutes.org/content/bicycle-education-programs
Encouragement Programs
Commute Trip Reduction and Employer Incentives Program
A commute trip reduction program is designed to reduce drive-alone trips and traffic congestion through programs and incentives for employees, employers of all sizes, and property owners. The City of Columbia should work with Central Midlands Transit and local employers to launch a commute trip reduction and employer incentives program throughout the city. The program would offer information about walking, bicycling, and transit, and provide incentives to try different modes to work, such as free trial transit passes, the ability to purchase passes at a reduced rate, and bike and transit maps. The program could also offer periodic events for major employers, such as brown bag talks on commute options, providing bike storage and shower facilities at the workplace, and navigating transit. A local Bike Commute Challenge during Bike Month in May could be organized for a friendly competition between employers, with organized bike commuter groups, breakfast stations at work for people who bike, and prizes for employees online badges for achieving walking milestones. Ideally, such a program would be started and organized by a prominent local community leader, but could also be supported by Healthy Columbia, local health providers, and other local health groups. GirlTrek and other programs that reach out to specific community groups can help to improve access to walking and bicycling opportunities in order to address health and equity issues within Columbia.
Sample programs:
- GirlTrek: http://www.girttrek.org/
- Senior Strolls and Senior Cycles: http://www.portlandonline.com/portlandcan/index.cfm?a=34591&c=
- iCan Shine: http://icanshine.org/
- Healthy Portsmouth, Portsmouth, VA: http://www.healthyportsmouthva.org/getinvolved
Bicycle Friendly Business Districts
A Bicycle Friendly Business District (BFBD) is an existing business district that works in partnership with the City, local businesses, and local neighborhood organizations to make a district more bicycle-friendly. Columbia is characterized by business districts and downtown neighborhoods that are well-organized, well-branded, and highly valued. The BFBD program capitalizes on that community asset.
The purpose of a BFBD is to encourage people to visit local businesses on bike and on foot, promote local character and community, create a lively street space that encourages people to visit the district, increase local traffic safety, and improve traffic congestion. A BFBD is characterized by improved bicycle infrastructure, such as ample bicycle parking, dedicated bicycle facilities to, from, and throughout the district, bicycle repair stations; map kiosks of the bicycle network; and bicycle safety and wayfinding signage. Local businesses in the district also offer discounts and incentives for people who travel by bike.
The City of Columbia should work with local business districts and neighborhood groups, particularly in and near downtown, to develop Bicycle Friendly Business Districts. Targeted bicycle infrastructure and parking improvements within a district would be coupled with local business discounts for bicyclists. Discounts could be a daily or once-weekly promotion that encourages residents and visitors to visit local businesses by bike. One successful version of the program requires bicyclists to purchase a low-cost program sticker that they display on their helmets. This allows businesses to identify participating bicyclists and provide discounts to those customers. A business discount program could be especially popular with businesses in downtown that have limited motor vehicle parking. In return for businesses’ participation, a “Bicycle-Friendly Local Businesses” feature, along with discount information, could be featured on the BPAC website and Facebook page.
Businesses that make these and other efforts to provide incentives to bicyclists will be in a position to apply for Bicycle Friendly Business status with the League of American Bicyclists (LAB). In its Bicycle Friendly Community application feedback to the City of Columbia, the LAB recommended that more businesses apply for and obtain Bicycle Friendly Business designation to improve the bicycling environment and culture throughout Columbia.
**Sample programs and materials:**
- [http://www.activetrans.org/businessdistricts](http://www.activetrans.org/businessdistricts)
- [http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/images/uploads/Bike_Friendly_Business_Districts_Draft_3_%28%29.pdf](http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/images/uploads/Bike_Friendly_Business_Districts_Draft_3_%28%29.pdf)
- Salt Lake City, UT: [http://www.bikeslc.com/GetBiking/DiscountsforBicyclists.html](http://www.bikeslc.com/GetBiking/DiscountsforBicyclists.html)
- Long Beach, CA: [http://www.bikelongbeach.org/bike-friendly-businesses](http://www.bikelongbeach.org/bike-friendly-businesses)
**Open Streets Events**
Open Streets Events are periodic street festivals (typically held on the weekend) that create a temporary park that is open to the public for walking, bicycling, dancing, hula hooping, roller skating, and other forms of human-powered activity. These programs are known by many names: Open Streets, Ciclovias, Sunday Parkways, Summer Streets, and Sunday Streets. They promote health by creating a safe and attractive space for physical activity and social interaction, and are cost-effective compared to the cost of building new parks for the same purpose. These events can be weekly, monthly, or annual events, and are generally very popular and well-attended. Developing an Open Streets Program is one of the recommendations for Columbia made in the League of American Bicyclists’ BFC Application feedback.
Open Streets events lend themselves to innovative partnerships and public/private funding. The City of Columbia should partner with Healthy Columbia, health care providers, and local health and fitness groups to hold periodic open streets events throughout Columbia. Activities at Open Streets Events can include a bicycle rodeo to teach children bicycling skills, hula hoop and jump rope contests, wheelchair basketball, yoga or Zumba classes, and prize drawings. Health care providers whose mission includes facilitating physical activity are often major sponsors. Businesses may also help sponsor the event if it brings customers to their location.
**Sample programs:**
- Portland, OR Sunday Parkways Guide: [http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=51622&a=274625](http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=51622&a=274625)
- Durham, NC Bull City Play Streets: [https://www.facebook.com/BullCityOpenStreets](https://www.facebook.com/BullCityOpenStreets)
- Sunday Parkways videos: [http://www.streetfilms.org/tag/ciclovias/](http://www.streetfilms.org/tag/ciclovias/)
**Walking and Bicycling Map with Online Route Planning Tool**
One of the most effective ways of encouraging people to walk and bike is through the use of maps and guides. In its BFC Application feedback, the League of American Bicyclists listed “Design and publish a local bike map in paper and online” as one of its top recommendations for Columbia. Based on the results of the Walk Bike Columbia Survey, 25% of Columbia citizens believe that a free, personalized route planning tool for walking, bicycling, and transit trips would have the greatest impact on walking and biking in Columbia.
The City of Columbia should develop a walk and bike map and distribute it to residents and visitors both in print and online, hard copies could be available for free or for a small charge at City Hall, local bike shops, gyms and recreation centers, and at other businesses. The map should show where existing bike lanes, sidewalks, trails, and other facilities are located and help to guide people to enjoyable routes and destinations; safety tips and links to local resources are also valuable additions. The map should be updated on a regular basis to reflect the most current facilities in town. An online route planning tool could be integrated with the map data of existing facilities and routes to help citizens plan trips on foot, by bike, and by transit. These resources could be developed as part of or as a complement to local transit-planning resources (e.g. a smartphone application or online route-planning tool).
**Sample walk/bike maps:**
- Durham, NC: [http://durhamnc.gov/icb/op/dot/Pages/Durham-Bike--Hike-Map.aspx](http://durhamnc.gov/icb/op/dot/Pages/Durham-Bike--Hike-Map.aspx)
- Portland, OR: [https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/39402](https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/39402)
- Raleigh, NC: [http://www.raleighnc.gov/government/content/PWksTranServices/Articles/BicycleProgram.html](http://www.raleighnc.gov/government/content/PWksTranServices/Articles/BicycleProgram.html)
Bicycle Co-op
A Bicycle Co-op is a community-based coalition or non-profit bicycle repair shop and/or lending library. The mission, structure, and outcomes of Bicycle Co-ops varies significantly but the basic premise of a community-driven support service for bicycle maintenance and increased access to bicycles consistently serves as a powerful tool for advancing bicycle culture in cities across the country.
Most commonly, individuals bring a bicycle needing repair or maintenance and volunteers teach them the necessary steps. Co-ops often sell or loan used bicycles and new or used parts. Formal group bike-repair classes, programs directed at underserved youth, or broader bike advocacy efforts are common as well.
New interest in establishing a Bicycle Co-op in Columbia and the support of the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee indicate existing community support and an opportunity to develop this program. The City of Columbia and other partners, such as the downtown business districts, should support this initiative through in-kind or financial support and through connecting the group with potential sponsors or promotional opportunities.
Sample Programs:
- Lincoln Bike Kitchen in Lincoln, NE: http://www.lincolnbikekitchen.org/index.html
- Hub Cycle in Spartanburg, SC: http://www.active-living.org/borrowing-bicycles
- Iowa City Bike Library in Iowa City, IA: http://www.bikelibrary.org/
- Trips for Kids in Charlotte, NC: http://tripsforkidscharlotte.org/
Walk, Bike, and Take Transit to Special Events
Columbia’s downtown is a major destination for special events, ranging from the Soda City Market on Saturdays to college football and basketball games, from live music shows to weekend festivals. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and community volunteers provide a bicycle valet service at many downtown events and festivals. Bike valet is a recognized best practice as a successful encouragement program, but is also volunteer- and time-intensive to maintain as an ongoing effort. Additionally, other efforts beyond bike valet can encourage safe access to special events via biking, walking, and using transit. The following multi-pronged approach will encourage residents to travel to events through active transportation and can help to mitigate special event traffic congestion.
- Formalize bicycle parking at special events through ordinance or an amendment to the existing special event permitting process that incorporates special event bicycle parking as a requirement for permit approval. Ensure that bicycle parking is well-signed and promoted prior to the event. Further guidance is offered in the Policy Recommendations chapter of this Plan.
- Establish temporary road diets (using traffic cones or similar treatment) on corridors linking to or passing through event sites as a way to reduce crossing distances for pedestrians and provide a buffer between increased pedestrian traffic and motor vehicle traffic. In addition to creating safer pedestrian access, this prioritizes active transportation and discourages motor vehicle transportation in target areas. For weekend events, this can serve as a way to right-size that section of roadway for reduced weekend traffic.
- List transit routes that provide access to a special event site in all City-sponsored promotions related to the event and establish this as City policy. Additionally, the City can encourage USC and other major partners to do the same and establish such a request within its own special events permitting policy.
- As Columbia moves forward with implementing a bike share system, establish a protocol for creating temporary bike share stations at major events. This could include a temporary station at Williams Brice Stadium on game days and adding additional capacity for stations at or near the annual St. Patrick’s Day festival, among other similar efforts.
Enforcement Programs
One of the gaps identified in the Columbia BFC/WFC Assessment and the League of American Bicyclists’ BFC Application feedback is a lack of bicycle- and pedestrian-specific enforcement programs. 39% of Columbia Walk Bike Columbia survey respondents believe that law enforcement programs targeting drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians would have the greatest impact on improving walking and biking in Columbia. These programs can help to raise awareness of bicyclists and pedestrians, enforce road user rights and responsibilities, and reduce unsafe traffic behavior.
The Columbia Safety Analysis performed for this plan found that traffic enforcement for motorists should focus on speeding enforcement and ticketing drivers who fail to yield the right of way to bicyclists and pedestrians. Traffic enforcement for bicyclists should focus on enforcement for failing to follow traffic signs and signals, improper operations on the road, and wrong way riding on the road. These issues present the greatest crash risks to road users and could be reduced through targeted enforcement programs, as well as improved education and roadway engineering.
Crosswalk Enforcement Action Program
Crosswalk enforcement actions (sometimes known as “crosswalk stings”) raise public awareness about the legal obligation of motorists to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks. While crosswalk enforcement actions do result in tickets being
distributed, the greater impact comes through media publicity of the event to reinforce the importance of obeying pedestrian crossing laws.
Crosswalk enforcement should be implemented by the Columbia Police Department at locations where pedestrians have trouble crossing and where a large volume of pedestrians (especially vulnerable pedestrians such as children and seniors) is expected. High-crash locations may also be candidates for enforcement actions. If locations near schools are selected, the best timing for an enforcement action is the back-to-school window just after school has begun for the year. Locations should be selected by local police departments in consultation with city engineers and planners. If any complaints from the public have been received about problem crossing locations, they should be considered. School officials will also have valuable input about school crossing locations that would benefit from targeted enforcement.
Once locations have been determined, police officers prepare by marking the safe crosswalk stopping distance with cones. Plainclothes police officers or trained volunteer decoys then attempt to cross at corners and marked mid-block crossings. (Decoys may also be notable community members, such as the mayor or a well-known business leader, to increase media interest in the event.) If motorists fail to yield to the pedestrian in the crosswalk, a second police officer issues a warning or a ticket at the officer’s discretion. It is recommended that the enforcement action be recorded on video to support issued violations should a motorist challenge the ticket. First-time offenders receiving a ticket should receive educational materials through the Safe Streets Save Lives Campaign (see “Existing Programs”) and the option of taking a Traffic Ticket Diversion Class (see “Education Programs”) for a waived or reduced fine.
Example crosswalk enforcement action programs:
- Chicago, IL: http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/provdrs/ped/svcs/crosswalk_enforcementinitiatives.html
- New Jersey: http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/data/library/details.cfm?id=4649
**Targeted Enforcement & Speed Feedback Signs**
Speeding vehicles endanger all road users, including pedestrians and bicyclists. High-speed driving results in more frequent crashes and crashes that are more likely to result in serious injury or death. Targeted speed enforcement activities are a proven way to improve road safety and make walking and bicycling more comfortable.
Law enforcement officials should enforce speed near schools and parks, in downtown, and at locations that are known to have speeding problems (as identified by police officers and resident complaints). These campaigns are ideal for a Safe Routes to School Program; many towns hold an annual “Back to School Blitz” to enforce speed limits in school zones.
As part of ongoing enforcement against speeding, the City of Columbia should also consider creating a speed feedback sign request program to deploy speed feedback signs at the request of neighborhood associations and schools. The signs serve as a traffic calming device when used temporarily at strategic roadway locations. The town should also use speed feedback signs on streets with new pedestrian and bicycle facilities. The signs should be mounted temporarily (e.g., for two weeks) and then be moved to another location to keep motorists from becoming inured to the speed feedback sign effect.
**Example speed feedback sign request program:**
- Toronto, Canada: http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/walking/wysp/
**20’s Plenty Campaign**
“20’s Plenty” is a campaign that originated in the United Kingdom with the goal of minimizing pedestrian crash injuries and deaths. Lowering residential speeds to 20 MPH has enormous safety benefits for all users, especially pedestrians and cyclists, by reducing both the chance of a crash and its severity. This campaign could be implemented throughout the City of Columbia in areas with high pedestrian and bicyclist traffic, such as in downtown, on bicycle boulevards recommended in this plan and other neighborhood streets, and near schools, parks, and shopping centers. On higher order collector and arterial streets, the City should consider lowering speed limits to 25-30 mph where high pedestrian volumes are known to occur.
A successful campaign will bring together several different strategies, including:
- Making residents aware of the benefits of 20 MPH roadways and engaging their partnership on raising awareness and buy-in from their neighbors.
- Identifying specific streets on which a 20 MPH speed limit is appropriate, such as walking or bicycling routes, priority pedestrian and bicycle corridors, and residential streets.
- Traffic engineering to ensure that the design speed of the street matches the new posted speed.
- Partnership with law enforcement to enforce speed limits and deploy temporary speed feedback signs on 20 MPH streets.
- Evaluation of vehicle speeds and reported crashes (number and severity) before and after the integrated campaign is implemented to the effort to measure results and correct course.
More about UK “Twenty’s Plenty” campaign:
- http://www.20splentyforus.org.uk/
- http://www.streetfilms.org/no-need-for-speed-20s-plenty-for-us/
Evaluation and Planning Programs
In the Columbia BFC/WFC Assessment conducted for this plan, Evaluation and Planning program efforts were identified as the most in need of enhancement. Establishing this plan and tracking its implementation is an important first step in the evaluation and planning arena. Creating a dedicated bicycle and pedestrian coordinator position or selecting an outside consultant to perform the duties of coordinator at the City will be a critical implementation step in developing and maintaining long-term evaluation and planning initiatives within Columbia. A series of evaluation programs are described below that can help Columbia identify bicycle and pedestrian needs, track successes, and make the case for further bicycling and walking investments.
Citywide Pedestrian and Bicycle Counts Program
In order to track bicycling and walking trends in Columbia and measure the success of walking and bicycling projects, it is important to establish a citywide pedestrian and bicycle counts program. Developing a regular counts program is one of the recommendations for Columbia made in the League of American Bicyclists’ BFC Application feedback. The program should tally the number of pedestrians and bicyclists at key locations around the community, particularly at pinch points, in downtown, near schools, and on shared use paths. This program should build off of the counts that were started as part of the Walk Bike Columbia planning effort and be repeated at least once per year. This will provide the city with information on walking and bicycling activity levels.
It is recommended that the data collection program use methods developed by the national National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project (NBPOP). Counts should be performed in the second week in September; one weekday count (from 5-7 PM on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday) and at least one Saturday count (12 noon – 2 pm) should be completed. Counters can be city staff or volunteers, as long as proper training is provided. If desired, the data collection effort can also include surveys to learn more about walking and bicycling demographics, where people are traveling to and from, and what their needs are.
Manual counts are inexpensive to implement and help gather behavioral data (gender, age group, sidewalk versus roadway riding). However, manual counts necessarily gather a very small sample size and are subject to significant variability. Hence year-on-year comparisons of manual count sites are not statistically robust. Manual counts should therefore be one part of a complete evaluation program that also includes automatic machine counters. New and increasingly affordable technologies including active infrared, inductive loops, and pneumatic tubes that exclude motor vehicles in mixed traffic environments can produce much larger and statistically significant datasets. A limited number of automatic counters can be rotated around the city in a mobile counting program and in many cities is funded out of the city’s existing motor vehicle count budget.
The NBPOP website includes count and survey instructions, forms, and participant training materials:
- National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project: http://bikepedddocumentation.org/
- NCHRP 07-19
“Measuring the Street” Pre- and Post-Project Evaluation Program
As pedestrian, bicycle, and greenway infrastructure projects are planned, pre- and post-construction evaluation should be conducted to measure existing conditions, identify the areas of greatest need for walking and bicycling improvements, and track the influence of new facilities on walking and bicycling rates and safety. A pre/post evaluation program for pedestrian and bicycle projects is one of the recommendations for Columbia made in the League of American Bicyclists’ BFC Application feedback. This data will be valuable to build public and political support for future projects.
One example program is New York City’s “Measuring the Street” campaign, which tracks changes in crashes, traffic speeds, congestion, foot traffic, retail sales, and bike, walk, and transit rates after street improvements are made. These data help to show how bicycle and pedestrian improvements can provide universal benefits to road users and local businesses, and allow city staff to measure and track this progress over time. Baseline user counts are also useful data for making the case for needed pedestrian and bicycle improvements; many people in Columbia already walk and bike, and counts help to quantify the existing demand for a new facility or intersection improvement.
Crash data can likewise help to identify areas where bicycle and pedestrian improvements are needed and help make the case for investments to improve safety. Crash data provide useful indications of potential issues, but under-reporting issues, small numbers, and regression to the mean effects are key limitations. Furthermore, a lack of reported crashes at a given location does not mean that there are no engineering deficiencies: it may simply be that the location is so challenging to navigate on foot or on a bike that people avoid it. A comprehensive evaluation program that tracks several different metrics will help to mitigate these limitations.
Sample Programs and Resources:
• Measuring the Street, New York City Department of Transportation: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/2012-10-measuring-the-street.pdf
Walking, Bicycling, and Greenways Report Card
As the implementation of this plan progresses, a useful strategy is to use performance benchmarks to measure implementation accomplishments. A comprehensive review of the plan’s progress should be published in an annual report that includes relevant performance metrics (walking and bicycling count results, new bicycle and pedestrian facility miles, completed projects, new and ongoing programs, pedestrian- and bicyclist-involved crashes). The report may also include information on user satisfaction, public perception of safety, or other qualitative data that has been collected related to walking and bicycling. Tracking successes over time helps to build momentum and justify continued or increased funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects and programs.
Sample programs:
• Memphis, TN: http://bikepedmemphis.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/state-of-bicycling-2014.pdf
• San Francisco, CA: http://www.sfbike.org/download/reportcard_2006/SF_bike_report_card_2006.pdf
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Transportation is a critical component of any community. We work with local partners to ensure that all residents have access to safe, reliable transportation options.
APPENDIX D: PUBLIC INPUT AND BICYCLE COUNTS
Introduction
This memo presents a summary of public input efforts for Walk Bike Columbia: Columbia Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan and Bike Share Plan. The consultant team conducted a multifaceted public outreach effort over a period of four months, from May 2014 to August 2014. The purpose of the effort was to gather local knowledge and community input to guide the plan’s development. The project team’s public engagement events and efforts included the following:
- Steering Committee meetings
- 4 public workshops with interactive project boards and maps
- 8 stakeholder focus groups
- Citizen survey (available both online and in hard copy)
- Project website with project information, videos, and relevant links
- Online interactive map and input tool
- Flyers for public workshops
- Social media promotion
- Spanish language materials and interpreters at public events
These efforts were offered across the city and through a variety of media in order to provide the representatives and residents of Columbia with many opportunities and different mechanisms for contributing to the plan’s development. The following sections present key findings of the public outreach process and a summary of the outreach efforts and their results.
Key Findings
The Walk Bike Columbia public outreach process confirmed that Columbia citizens value access to active transportation and public transit. This is reflected in the low marks given to Columbia’s existing pedestrian and bicycle network and its transit operations, as well as in the fact that 81% of respondents said walking and bicycling improvements are “very important” and 61% of respondents said that transit improvements are “very important.”
The primary concerns of residents when it comes to both walking and biking are the lack of safe roads and/or sidewalks, the need for improved design and/or maintenance of existing facilities, and the distance between destinations. The latter item points to a critical link between land use planning/land development and transportation planning/network development. The current efforts by the City and County to work collaboratively to update their land use plans and policies present a unique opportunity to address that important element. In addition to these priority concerns, citizens also noted bicycle parking as a key deterrent to bicycling activity and transit users stressed the need to improve and enhance transit operations (route network, headways, and reliability) while also improving walking and biking access to transit.
Key non-infrastructure strategies for encouraging safe walking, bicycling, and transit usage that are likely to have an impact in Columbia fall into the following categories:
- **Education & Enforcement**
- safety education media campaign
- law enforcement sting targeted to motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians
- awareness campaign regarding the benefits and availability of walking, bicycling, and transit usage
- **Encouragement**
- employer-based incentives
- wayfinding signage for the complete multi-modal network
- informal, family-friendly events like ‘Open Streets’ (also known as Ciclovia)
- **Evaluation**
- Policies, plans, programs, and funding that prioritizes Safe Routes to School
- Policies, plans, programs, and funding that prioritizes Safe Routes to Transit
- Coordination of land use planning and transportation planning
- Updated and improved design standards and design guidance for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, transit stop infrastructure, bicycle parking, and ADA accessibility
Regarding infrastructure improvements, citizens expressed a preference for sidewalks, trails, and shared-use paths and intersection improvements. For on-street bicycle facilities, buffered bicycle lanes and cycle tracks are preferable to standard bicycle lanes or shared roadways. Citizens also clearly stated neighborhood connectivity and access to parks and trails as city-wide priorities.
A majority of responses supports the concept of bike share in Columbia. Concerns regarding the distance between destinations and the low levels of bicycling for transportation that currently exist were expressed in terms of potential bike share usage. For a local bike share program to be deemed successful, citizens and stakeholders identified the following as the primary outcomes:
- Reduce the number of cars on the road.
- Reduce the number of car trips and vehicle miles traveled in private vehicles.
- Improve options and access to healthy living and active transportation.
Project Website and Online Mapping
The project website, www.walkbikecolumbia.org, provided information to the public about the plan and the planning process. The website included information on complete streets and bike share, background on the plan and existing conditions in Columbia, upcoming public workshops and meetings, informational videos and links, and relevant planning documents. Several thousand people accessed the website during the planning process; from mid-July to mid-August alone, over 3,300 unique viewers visited the project website.
The website also included a link to the online Walk-Bike Columbia mapping tool, which provided an interactive map of the study area to invite public input. Web users were able to place points with comments to identify areas of safety concern; ideal routes for trails, on-road bicycle facilities, sidewalks, and bike share stations, and intersections and crossings that need improvement. The map below shows the online mapping interface with points that were placed by users. The different pin colors on the map represent different types of recommendations made. Altogether, users placed 193 points on the map and provided 89 additional comments.
Users were able to view other users’ points and comments, and could vote to “support” a peer’s recommended project. The following is a list of user-proposed projects that received the greatest support:
- Rosewood corridor bike lanes (13 votes of support)
- Safer crossing across Assembly Street at the Richland County Public Library (11 votes of support)
- Dedicated bicycle path connecting Shandon/Rosewood to Downtown (8 votes of support)
- Assembly Street bike lane from Elmwood Avenue to Shop Road (8 votes of support)
- River Drive bike lane between Main and Sunset (7 votes of support)
Other projects that received 6 votes of support included constructing the Vista Greenway from Park Street to Finlay Park, a road diet and bike lanes on Devine Street from Millwood to Harden, bike lanes along the length of Gervais, connecting the Three Rivers Greenway between Columbia Canal Dam and Granby Park, intersection improvements at Whaley and Main, Millwood Avenue bike lanes with frequent crosswalks and pedestrian refuge islands, intersection improvements at Garner’s Ferry and Rosewood, keeping the Fort Jackson Boulevard Gate (Gate #1) open for longer hours for bicyclists to pass through, and bike lanes and sidewalks on Kilbourne Road between Rosewood and Devine.
FIGURE 4 – WALK BIKE COLUMBIA ONLINE MAPPING TOOL
The top voted locations for bike share stations included the following:
- Riverfront Park (6 votes of support)
- Richland County Public Library (6 votes of support)
- Aspyre and Olympia & Granby Mills (4 votes of support)
- River Walk Amphitheater (4 votes of support)
- Rosewood corridor (4 votes of support)
- Williams-Bryce Stadium and tailgate lot (3 votes of support)
- River Rat Brewery (3 votes of support)
- Main and Hampton (3 votes of support)
- Pinehurst Park (3 votes of support)
- Elmwood Park (3 votes of support)
The following maps show points by location, classified by number of votes of support, for proposed bicycle improvements, pedestrian improvements, trail improvements, and bike share stations, respectively. Users placed 69 points for bicycle improvements, 68 points for pedestrian improvements, 23 points for trail improvements, and 33 points for bike share stations. The majority of all points and comments were concentrated in the downtown area.
**FIGURE 5 – PROPOSED BICYCLE IMPROVEMENTS FROM ONLINE INPUT MAP**
**Legend**
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Administration Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
FIGURE 6 – PROPOSED PEDESTRIAN IMPROVEMENTS FROM ONLINE INPUT MAP
Proposed Pedestrian Improvement
Votes of Support
- 0
- 1 - 2
- 3 - 4
- 5 - 6
- 11
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments Map created May, 2014.
FIGURE 7 - PROPOSED TRAIL IMPROVEMENTS FROM ONLINE INPUT MAP
Proposed Trail Improvement
Votes of Support
- 0
- 1 - 2
- 3
- 6
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future
- Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
FIGURE 8 – PROPOSED BIKE SHARE STATIONS FROM ONLINE INPUT MAP
Proposed Bike Share Station
Votes of Support
- 0
- 1 - 2
- 3 - 4
- 6
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
Public Workshops
The project team held a series of public workshops during the existing conditions assessment phase of the Walk Bike Columbia planning process to collect input from different resident stakeholders around the City of Columbia. Four meetings were held at the end of July in different Districts around Columbia:
- District 1 – July 29, 2014, 5:30 to 7:30 PM, Eau Claire Print Building, 3907 Ensor Street
- District 2 – July 30, 2014, 11:30 to 1:30 PM, Capstone Building, 898 Barnwell Street
- District 3 – July 30, 2014, 5:30 to 7:30 PM, MLK Park Community Center, 2300 Greene Street
- District 4 – July 31, 2014, 5:30 to 7:30 PM, Woodland Park Community Center, 6500 Olde Knight Parkway
The meeting promotion strategy, location selection, and variation in meeting times were all intended to attract stakeholders with diverse backgrounds and needs. The meetings were all held in a drop-in format, allowing participants to arrive, participate in the exercises, and ask questions at their leisure. The project team set up and operated several display boards with information on the Plan, maps of existing and proposed bikeways, walkways and transit in Columbia, and exercises to help determine preferences related to types of infrastructure as well as non-infrastructure walking and bicycling support programs. A Spanish language interpreter was present at two of the four events.
The following graphs show the demographics of attendees across all meetings based on the workshop exit surveys, which were voluntary and not completed by all attendees. The meetings attracted people from a broad range of ages and income levels, and approximately 40% of participants were women. According to the exit surveys, the majority of attendees were Caucasian, though there was a modest representation of minority participants.
SUMMARY OF COMMENTS ON THE EXISTING WALKING AND BICYCLING NETWORK, BIKE SHARE, AND TRANSIT
Across all meetings, comments on specific infrastructure focused on connectivity across barriers such as railways and rivers, as well as improvements for bicycling and walking along major corridors around the City such as Assembly Street, Garner’s Ferry Road, and Gervais Street.
Bike sharing was seen as being the most successful around the colleges and universities, Five Points, downtown, the greenways, and the Vista Business District. In terms of transit improvements, participants generally desired more amenities at bus stops such as shelters and better route information, better sidewalk connectivity to bus stops, and more frequent and extensive service.
SUMMARY OF COMMENTS ON INFRASTRUCTURE AND NON-INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT TYPES
Attendees were asked to vote with a fixed number of stickers (6) on pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements that they would like to see in Columbia. As shown in the chart below, separated on-street bicycle facilities (bike lanes/buffered bike lanes and cycle tracks) and trails were the most favored improvements. More shared-use paths and better intersection treatments for pedestrians and bicyclists were also popular choices. Shared lane markings, bicycle boulevards, and pedestrian crossing islands were the least requested.
Attendees were asked to vote on pedestrian and bicycling education, encouragement, and enforcement programs they would like to see around Columbia, and again vote with (3) stickers on the programs they prefer. The chart below shows that participants desired various programs with “open streets” type events, bicycle and pedestrian safety campaigns, wayfinding signage, and employer-based encouragement programs.
Citizen Survey
A citizen survey was developed for Walk Bike Columbia and made available in both hardcopy and online form. The purpose of the survey was to gain a better understanding of Columbia residents’ walking, bicycling, and transit behavior; their opinions on existing walking, bicycling, and transit conditions in Columbia; and their thoughts on how walking, bicycling, and transit in Columbia could be improved. The comment form was available online for nearly four months, from May 2014 to August 2014. To maximize the responses to the online form, the web address was distributed at steering committee meetings, public workshops, to local interest groups, in newsletters, in newspaper public service announcements, on the website and through social media, and on flyers throughout the city. Volunteers and staff set up booths to provide hard copy surveys on multiple days at the downtown transit center and the Soda City Market. Nearly 850 people completed the citizen survey.
SURVEY RESPONDENTS
The survey included several questions to gather information about the survey respondents. Participants were asked about their age range, gender, disability status, where they live, where they work, and what type of bicyclist they identify as.
A wide range of age groups were well represented:
- 18% of respondents were age 20-29
- 27% were age 30-39, 19% were age 40-49
- 21% were age 50-59
- 12% were age 60-69
Men and women were evenly represented, with 50.1% female respondents and 49.9% male respondents. Nearly 30% of respondents stated that they are aware of one or more resident in their neighborhood with a disability that affects that person’s ability to walk or drive.
Most participants reported living in the City of Columbia (64%), Richland County (21%), or Lexington County (14%). An even greater proportion, 77%, reported working in Columbia. When asked, “What type of bicyclist are you?” the large majority (78%) responded “Enthused and Confident” (32%) or “Interested, but Concerned” (46%). Only 10% identified as “Strong and Fearless” and 11% answered “No Way, No How” (Not interested in bicycling).
Overall, walking and bicycling conditions in Columbia are viewed as fair to poor. Survey participants view the existing bicycling conditions more negatively than the existing walking conditions. Over 70% of respondents said that walking conditions are “fair” (52%) or “poor” (21%), while 25% said “good” and just 2% said “excellent”. For bicycling conditions, nearly 80% said that conditions are “fair” (45%) or “poor” (44%), 10% said “good”, and just 1% responded “excellent”.
For many residents, the sidewalk network is insufficiently connected. Survey participants were asked, “Is the sidewalk network near your home complete?” and only 20% responded “Yes”. The other 80% reported that their sidewalk network is some degree of incomplete: 26% reported it as mostly complete, but with gaps; 27% reported that “The sidewalks are spotty at best”; and 27% said “There are no sidewalks where I live”.
Factors That Influence Walking and Bicycling
Respondents were asked to rank a series of factors in terms of how influential each factor is on the respondent’s decision to walk instead of drive. The factors that are most influential are walking for health reasons, walking to spend time outdoors, walking to see things that are missed while driving, and walking for environmental reasons. The factors that were reported to be the least influential on the decision to walk are “Walking and/or bus transit are my primary forms of transportation” and “Walking is the most practical/convenient way for me to get to my destination.”
Respondents were asked a similar question about bicycling facilities, in which they had to rank facilities based on how likely they were to influence the respondent to bike more often, with 1 being most likely and 4 being very unlikely. The facilities that were reported as the most influential in encouraging people to bike are paved off-street paths/greenways (average rank 1.36), intersection improvements for bicyclists (average rank 1.41), striped bike lanes (average rank 1.46), cycle tracks (average rank 1.57), and bicycle boulevards (average rank 1.59).
Factors That Prevent Walking and Bicycling
When survey participants were asked, “What obstacles or concerns prevent you from walking more frequently (mark all reasons why)?” the most popular answer was “Roads and sidewalks that do not feel safe” (67%). Other top responses were “Distance to destinations too far” (57%) and “Lack of shade or not well-maintained” (45%). When asked a similar question for bicycling, the standout answer was “Roads that do not feel safe” (84%). Other common responses were “Unclean/debris in the bike lane” (41%), “Lack of bicycle parking at destinations” (37%), and “Lack of bike storage at my destination” (31%).
Employer Support for Alternative Transportation
Employer supported programs that encourage walking, bicycling, and transit can help to encourage employees to commute by these modes. When asked, “How does your place of work support employees who walk, bike, or take transit?” the most commonly reported response was “Offer shower facilities”, followed by “Provide secure long-term bike parking”, “Provide lockers or storage for personal items”, and “Participate in Bike to Work Day or other biking/walking events.”
SURVEY RESPONSES – BICYCLING AND WALKING IMPROVEMENTS
Importance of Walking and Bicycling Improvements
When asked, “How important is it to you to improve the bicycle and pedestrian environment in Columbia?” the response was overwhelmingly supportive: Nearly all (98%) of the respondents believe that it is very important (81%) or somewhat important (17%) to improve the bicycle and pedestrian environment in the city.
Walking Destinations
The top destinations that people in Columbia would most like to be able to walk to are parks and trails (66%), restaurants or bars (66%), shopping or errands (60%), no particular destination – just walking for fitness or leisure (57%), houses of friends or family (53%), and to work (59%).
Bicycling Destinations
The top destinations that people in Columbia would most like to be able to bike to are parks and trails (70%), no particular destination – just biking for fitness or leisure (64%), houses of friends or family (62%), shopping or errands (60%), restaurants or bars (57%), and to work (56%).
Priority Roadway Corridors for Walking Improvements, Pedestrian Intersection Improvements, and Bicycling Improvements
Survey respondents were asked to name one roadway corridor that they would most like to see improved to accommodate walking, safe pedestrian crossings, and bicycling, respectively. The most common answers for walking improvements were Gervais, Assembly, Rosewood, Beltline, Garners Ferry, Trenholm, and Vista.
Several of the most commonly listed roadways for walking improvements were also in the lists of top corridors for intersection improvements and bicycling improvements. The top answers for pedestrian intersection improvements were Assembly, Gervais, Huger, Elmwood, Devine, Broad River, and Rosewood. The most common responses for bicycling improvements were Gervais, Assembly, Harden, Downtown, Forest Drive, Main Street, and Vista.
Priority Locations for Bicycle Parking
Participants were asked to list up to three locations where they would like to have bicycle parking. The most common answers were Publix, Gervais, Vista, parks, Trenholm Plaza, Five Points, Main Street, Rosewood, shopping centers, and Downtown.
Walking and Bicycling Programs
As part of the Walk Bike Columbia effort, the plan includes a series of program recommendations to increase education and awareness around walking and bicycling, improve traffic safety, and encourage people to walk and bike more for transportation and recreation. Survey participants were asked to choose the top 3 programs that they believe would have the greatest impact on walking and biking in Columbia, and the overriding theme in the responses was a need to address safety concerns through education and enforcement. A media campaign to educate motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians was the number one choice, with 46% of respondents placing it in their top 3. The second and third most popular choices, respectively, were “Law enforcement programs targeting motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians” (39%) and “Safe Routes to School Program to engage schools, parents, and local officials (33%).
Transportation Funding Priorities
Survey participants were asked to select their top 3 transportation funding priorities to which taxpayer funding should be dedicated. The top choice was to expand the on-street bicycle network (selected by 67% of respondents), followed by “construct sidewalks to increase pedestrian connectivity” (selected by 60%) and “expand the trail network” (48%). The least popular response was “Add more roads and highway lanes for vehicles and freight,” with just 11% of respondents choosing this as one of their top 3 choices.
SURVEY RESPONSES - TRANSIT
Survey participants were asked a series of questions related to transit use and potential transit improvements for Columbia. When asked, “How do you use transit in Columbia?” 41% answered “I do not use transit, but I would like to” and 41% answered “I do not use transit.” Of those who did report using transit, the most popular trip purposes were to get to or from work (43% of transit users) and to run errands (39% of transit users). More than 90% of survey respondents feel that it is important to improve the transit environment in Columbia; 61% said it was “Very Important” and 30% said it was “Somewhat Important.” The roadway corridors that respondents would most like to see improved for transit access include Rosewood, Gervais, Assembly, Downtown, Garners Ferry, Huger, and Two Notch.
SURVEY RESPONSES – BIKE SHARE
The Walk Bike Columbia survey included a series of questions about bike share to gauge Columbia residents’ interest in and willingness to pay for a bike share system in the city. Of the survey respondents, 26.4% have used a bike share system in another city while 73.6% have not. However, the majority of respondents expressed interest in bike share: 62% said they are interested in a bike share program for Columbia, and 38% said they are not. When asked, “How much would you be willing to pay for an annual membership?” most respondents (51%) answered that they would pay less than $50 per year for a bike share membership, and an additional 29% said they would pay between $50 and $60 for a membership.
If so, how much would you be willing to pay for an annual membership?
- Less than $50: 50.9% (246)
- $50-$60: 28.8% (139)
- $60-$75: 10.4% (50)
- $75-$90: 4.8% (23)
- More than $90: 4.8% (23)
Answered: 483 Skipped: 342
Stakeholder Focus Groups
Stakeholder focus groups added targeted feedback to the broader public outreach strategy for Walk Bike Columbia. A total of 8 stakeholder focus groups were held on June 17th and 18th, 2014, to gather input from organizations and residents representing a range of interests related to walking and bicycling in Columbia. The meetings were held at the City of Columbia Parking Services conference room, 820 Washington Street. Comments and feedback received during the meetings were used to inform both the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan and the Bike Share Plan for Columbia. The following is a list of the 8 focus groups that were convened for this portion of the public outreach effort:
- Bicycle Culture
- Target Populations
- Neighborhoods
- County and State Agencies
- Colleges and Universities
- Tourism and Businesses
- Major Employers
- City and University Support Services
At each meeting, the project consultant team led a discussion of vision and goals for the future of walking and bicycling in Columbia, opportunities and strengths of the existing network, constraints and challenges of the existing network, ideas for new and improved programs and policies, and the feasibility of a bike share system for Columbia, including potential station locations, partners and operators, and pricing. A thematic summary of focus group input is provided below.
VISION AND GOALS
At the start of each meeting, each focus group participant was asked to provide a 10-year vision and goals for walking, bicycling, and transit in Columbia. Participants touched upon several important themes to make Columbia a more walk-, bicycle-, and transit-friendly community, including the following:
- **Connectivity and Coordination:**
- More and better connections between neighborhoods, outlying areas, and downtown
- Capitalize on neighborhood network with bike routes
- Leverage downtown neighborhoods
- Coordinate efforts across agencies, jurisdictions, and modes
- **Safety:**
- Develop facilities for all ages and abilities
- Design for interested but concerned riders (90% of bike customers at local bike shop)
- Become competitive among peer cities by meeting best practices
- **Easier transportation choices and range of choices:**
- Multi-modal choices for college students and residents
- Increase investments in bike paths/lanes and improve pedestrian access
- Increase the mode share for bicycling and walking
- Make public transit viable and practical for choice riders and change the negative mindset
- Increase the mode share for transit
- Pursue a light rail line in the next 10 years
- **Environment & Recreation:**
- Connect people to natural resources
- Build more greenways
- **Health:**
- Promote active commuting
OPPORTUNITIES AND STRENGTHS
Focus groups were asked to identify the existing strengths of the current walking and bicycling environment in Columbia, as well as key opportunities for improvement. Some of the strengths and opportunities in the City include existing and potential walk- and bicycle-friendly routes and infrastructure, strong community engagement, college and university presence, partnerships, access to destinations, strong neighborhoods, and recent improvements.
- **Existing and potential walk- and bicycle-friendly routes and infrastructure:** Some streets in Columbia already provide a safe and comfortable environment for walking and biking, such as Greene, Lincoln, Wheat, and Blossom Street. The riverfront trails are popular with residents and visitors, and the dense street grid network downtown makes it easy to reach many destinations within a short distance. The wide existing right of way and over supply of parking on many roads also provides opportunities to add new bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
- **Strong community engagement:** The Columbia bike community is well-connected and very active in supporting projects and events. The River Alliance has helped to plan and fund projects, and a new non-profit group is advocating for improved local transit options.
- **College and university presence:** Local colleges and universities help to create a vibrant walking and bicycling
environment in Columbia and supplement city-provided services. Many college students already regularly walk to major destinations such as Five Points, and USC provides a student shuttle that could potentially be expanded to include city residents through a partnership between USC and the City. USC also has a bike shop on campus and a Bicycle Advisory Committee that could serve as partners for future projects and programming. There is also potential to further promote alternative transportation through the colleges and universities by restricting vehicles on campus. For example, freshmen at Allen University cannot have cars, and more than 75% live on campus.
- **Partnerships and funding:** There are ample opportunities to expand existing partnerships and build new partnerships within Columbia. The City has a positive relationship with USC and other colleges and universities, and the City and County are currently collaborating to make joint updates to their land use plans. These partnerships will be important to funding and implementing future bicycle and pedestrian projects. The Penny Sales Tax revenue is also a valuable source of funding for alternative transportation efforts.
- **Access to destinations:** Some destinations in Columbia are already accessible by walking, biking, and transit, such as some parts of downtown, USC, and the riverfront trails. Grocery stores are located near residential areas throughout Columbia, which makes it possible for some residents to walk or bike to the store.
- **Strong neighborhoods:** Columbia is made up of a series of neighborhoods with a strong sense of community and a culture of walking. The Rosewood neighborhood, for example, has many transit users, walkers, and bicyclists, and is close to USC, downtown, and other key destinations. Neighborhoods along Millwood also have a high proportion of people walking throughout the day.
- **Recent and ongoing improvements:** Several ongoing improvements are contributing to a better walking, bicycling, and transit environment in Columbia. Focus group participants noted that bus service around the city is improving. The recent Assembly Street project improved the pedestrian environment by narrowing the road, installing curb bulb-outs, and making intersection improvements to provide safer crossing opportunities. Some crosswalks in town were also recently updated to comply with ADA accessibility standards. Upcoming developments, such as the Bull Street property redevelopment, present ideal opportunities to develop safe and comfortable bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
**CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES**
The focus groups identified several existing constraints on bicycling and walking in Columbia, and challenges to improving those conditions. The major issues discussed included safety concerns and barriers to using existing facilities, key areas that need safety improvements, difficulty partnering on some projects, and a lack of bicycle, pedestrian, and transit access and connectivity around the city.
- **Partnerships:** There is a lack of coordination among departments and agencies, both at the city level as well as between the City and regional and state agencies.
- **Safety concerns and barriers to using existing facilities:**
- The bicycling environment does not feel safe because of uneven roadway surfaces, a lack of bike lane maintenance and enforcement, and rumble strips on roadways in rural areas. Driver behavior also adds to the safety concerns; vehicles regularly run stop signs or pull through crosswalks without yielding to pedestrians and bicyclists.
- Arterial roadways are major barriers to walking and biking.
- Transit signage and travel information is lacking.
- **Key areas that need safety improvements:**
- Provide a safe connection from the riverfront to campus and downtown
- Add “Watch for Pedestrians” signage and other safety awareness signage at popular crossing points, such as across Assembly, Taylor, and near the Post Office
- Provide traffic calming along roadways with a large amount of bicycle and pedestrian traffic, such as along Millwood by the high school
- Provide better and more safe crossings across all major arterials in Columbia
- **Priority corridors for facility improvements:** The roadway corridors that were regularly mentioned for bicycle, pedestrian, and transit improvements include Assembly, Rosewood, North Main, Eugene, Elmwood, Whaley, Olympia/Granty Mills, Taylor, and Shop Road.
- **Lack of access and connectivity:**
- Expand sidewalks and bicycle facilities into neighborhoods that are within walking and biking distance of downtown and already have a high proportion of pedestrians and bicyclists, such as Rosewood and the Olympia area.
- Improve access to key destinations, such as connections to the riverfront trails, downtown, neighborhoods, grocery and convenience stores, and hospitals.
- Provide more bike racks on buses to improve bicyclist access to and coordination with transit.
- Develop key east-west and north-south cross-town connections.
PROGRAM AND POLICY IDEAS
At each focus group meeting, participants were asked to identify programs or policies that they believe would help to improve bicycling, walking, and transit opportunities in Columbia. Many of the ideas centered on education and awareness campaigns, though participants also identified a need for improved transportation and land use policies as well as encouragement programs:
- **Education and awareness programs:**
- Provide more education to the community on the option of walking, bicycling, or taking transit for transportation.
- Develop a Share the Road campaign for Columbia to increase bicycle safety awareness among all road users.
- Set-up a bike-on-bus demonstration at the downtown transit center to teach riders how to use the bus bike racks.
- Develop a series of Public Service Announcements on bicycling and walking safety, education, and upcoming events that could be broadcasted through TV, radio, on the city website, or via social media.
- Start a Bicycle mentor program to pair experienced cyclists with less experienced cyclists.
- Increase public awareness and traffic safety education for bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists.
- **Transportation and land use policies and planning:**
- Coordinate transportation planning and implementation with the land use planning process.
- Improve land use policies and planning to promote infill and limit sprawl.
- Develop citywide bicycle parking standards and placement policies, and add functional bike parking downtown, to neighborhoods, and at popular destinations around the city.
- Develop wayfinding signage that direct bicyclists and pedestrians around town and to bike parking areas.
- **Encouragement programs:**
- Develop a “transit for everyone” campaign that highlights the benefits of using transit and brands transit as “cool to ride.”
- Develop encouragement programs that use new technologies, such as apps with wayfinding information, walking routes and tours, bus information, hike and bike maps, and other tools to encourage people to walk, bike, and take transit in Columbia.
BIKE SHARE
Focus group participants were asked about the possibility of a bike share program for Columbia, what the program’s goals should be, where stations should be located, and ideas on potential program partners and operators, membership schemes, and pricing. Participants identified three major goals for a Columbia bike share system:
- Reduce the number of cars on the road.
- Reduce the number of car trips and vehicle miles traveled in private vehicles.
- Improve options and access to healthy living and active transportation.
Participants also developed a list of the places in Columbia that, if a bike share system is developed, should have a bike share station and be included in the bike share network. The locations identified included the following:
- Downtown
- USC
- State house
- Five Points
- Decker Mall
- 3 Rivers Greenway
- Stations connecting from the greenway trails to the Vista
- Libraries
- Government Services
The focus groups identified a wide range of potential bike share operators and partners who could help to fund and manage a bike share system for Columbia. The following agencies and organizations were named as potential operators:
- City of Columbia
- USC
- City/County partnership
- USC/City/County partnership
- Transit
- Private operator
- Library system
Lastly, focus group participants discussed ideas for bike share membership and pricing schemes. One idea posed is to have an annual membership fee with a tiered pricing structure for bike use depending on how long a bike is checked out. Some participants identified the potential to include the bike share fee within the student fee at local colleges and universities, which would encourage students to use the system. The fee could be priced and included in student fees similar to the way a student meal plan or a parking pass is priced.
Page Intentionally Left Blank
Bicycle and Pedestrian Counts
Introduction
Annual counts conducted in a systematic manner provide strong benchmarking information on bicycling and walking activity and related benefits. Count data adds to Columbia’s understanding of existing bicycling and pedestrian patterns and needs, allows for more strategic planning of future bikeway and walkway investments, and provides a means of evaluating the impact of programs and facilities. While count data will not provide comprehensive mode share data, it offers a snapshot of peak bicycle and pedestrian activity on a typical day. It can also provide important baseline data for before-after studies where new investments are planned and provide insight into overall trends in Columbia’s walking and bicycling environment over time.
This report outlines Alta’s proposed bicycle and pedestrian count methodology and process for implementation. The approach is based on the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation project, an annual bicycle and pedestrian count and survey effort sponsored by Alta Planning + Design with support from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).
The count analysis will inform Walk Bike Columbia’s summary of existing conditions regarding bicycle and walking activity, as well as the plan’s recommended bicycling and walking network. Additionally, it will serve as a useful complement to the Demand and Benefits Analysis completed for this Plan.
Data Collection Methodology
A regular bicycle and pedestrian count program is instrumental for measuring change over time. This empirical data can be used to monitor Walk Bike Columbia’s success at helping residents and visitors of Columbia walk and bicycle more. This section identifies a methodology for an annual bicycle and pedestrian count data collection program. It includes 2014 count dates and times, pre-count preparation steps, and resources that will help agency staff with ongoing count efforts. The end of this section identifies the 28 count locations to include in the count program.
PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE COUNTS PROGRAM
The purpose of initiating a count program in Columbia is to gather important benchmarking information about walking and bicycling rates. This information will be useful to City and CMCOG staff, and local and regional stakeholders, for understanding whether there is an association between plan implementation and walking and bicycling activity. An ongoing, manual count program, with annual data collection efforts, requires the partnership of community members. In Columbia, likely partners are the institutions of higher education (and especially, departments or institutes related to public health, planning, transportation, and engineering), Eat Smart Move More, the Palmetto Conservation Foundation, advisory committees such as the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, ASLE SC, the COMET staff and transit advocates, Safe Routes to School, and cycling clubs.
At a minimum, this program should tally the number of pedestrians and bicyclists at key locations around the City (particularly at pinch points, in downtowns, near schools, and on trails); the same locations should be counted in the same manner annually (or more often up to four times per year, if resources permit, to track seasonal and other variations). If major on-street or off-street infrastructure projects are planned, baseline and post-construction user counts can be performed through this coordinated annual count process for maximum efficiency. Similarly, if land use developments are occurring that impact a specific user group, pre- and post-construction counts can be performed to track more refined information about growth of walking and bicycling. Examples of this could be new student housing within walking or biking distance of campus, or new multi-family housing near transit stops.
It is recommended that the data collection program use the methodology developed by the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project (NBPD). Counters can be volunteers or agency staff, as long as proper training and support is provided.
As recommended by NBPD, the City will conduct screenline counts. Screenline counts document the number of users passing an imaginary line at either a mid-block or intersection location. They are primarily used to identify general trends in volumes, and to see how demographics, land use, and other factors influence walking and bicycling. For the inaugural count in September 2014, Alta provided a training webinar, which will occur one week prior to the counts and will be mandatory for all participating counters.
If desired, future iterations of the annual count program could include intersection counts or surveys. Depending on the volumes of bicyclists and pedestrians, intersection counts may be more complicated and require additional counters because they record two streets as well as turning movements. Surveys allow an agency to learn more detailed user information such as demographics, trip origin/destinations, trip purpose, and perceived benefits of bicycling and walking. The NBPD website includes count and survey instructions, forms, and participant training materials: http://bikepeddocumentation.org.
Over time, the City and partners should invest in permanent and mobile automated counters and integrate bicycle and pedestrian counts into regularly scheduled, on-going traffic count programs and required traffic impact analysis studies so that data on pedestrian and bicycle usage are a regular part of the City’s transportation data collection. Even as automated counters are used in the future, manual counts can supplement the body of data, as needed.
COUNT DATES AND TIMES
The national count days chosen by NBPD are September 9-14, 2014. Because the University of South Carolina had a home football game on September 13th, which could have significantly impacted traffic, as well as volunteer recruitment, Alta recommended that Columbia conduct counts on the following week, which represents an away-game weekend. The National Count Date represents a peak period for walking and bicycling, in which weather conditions across the country are generally conducive; schools and colleges have been underway for several weeks; and people have returned from vacations and are back at work.
At least one weekday and one weekend day should be included to obtain a sampling of weekday and weekend activity levels. There should be little statistical difference between counts conducted on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday of the same week, and this provides agencies and organizations some scheduling flexibility. For the 2014 counts, the team chose September 16th, 17th and 18th for the weekday counts and Saturday, September 20th for the weekend count.
Though NBPD recommends evening peak periods on the weekday, Columbia conducted counts during the morning peak period. The morning period presents a greater opportunity to capture school and campus travel data, in addition to work commute data. NBPD’s recommended weekend time period is Noon to 2pm, however, given Columbia’s potential heat in September, the team adjusted the time to 10am to Noon. **Note that it is important that count data reflect the same time periods for all future counts in order to be consistent.**
Table 19 summarizes Columbia’s count dates and times:
| Day | Date | Time |
|----------------------------|---------------|-----------------|
| Weekday (Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday) | September 16, 17, 18 | 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM |
| Saturday | September 20 | 10 AM to Noon |
Count Locations
NUMBER OF COUNT LOCATIONS
One count location per 15,000 of population is a useful rule of thumb for determining an appropriate minimum number of count locations. This equates to approximately ten locations in Columbia. **Given the level of planning underway for Walk Bike Columbia and the anticipated near-term investment in bicycling and walking infrastructure, the project team selected 28 count locations.** If Columbia desires greater geographic parity in its count program, or as new projects and new developments occur, additional count locations can be added.
RECOMMENDED COUNT LOCATIONS
The NBPD website provides guidelines for selecting count locations, based on access to transit, proximity to main entrances for shopping or employment areas, and high density downtown or residential areas. Locations with recently completed or planned bicycle or pedestrian projects were also considered. The following 28 locations are proposed for inclusion in an annual count program.
**TABLE 20 - COUNT LOCATIONS**
| Map ID | Corridor | Between | Reason for Location |
|--------|----------------|--------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| 1 | Blossom St | William St and Huger St | Existing Bike Lane; Bridge Access |
| 2 | Wheat St | Pickens St and Sumter St | Existing Bike Lane; Palmetto Trail |
| 3 | Sumter St | Greene St and Pendleton St | Existing Sharrow; Palmetto Trail |
| 4 | N. Beltline Rd | Two Notch Rd and Dubard St | Existing Bike Lane; Collision History (bicycle) |
| 5 | Kilbourne Rd | Wheat St and Bloomwood Rd | Potential Future Investment |
| 6 | Rosewood Dr | S. Ravenel St and S. Ott Rd | Existing Sidewalk and Crossing; School; Planned Improvement |
| 7 | Bull St | Confederate Ave and Victoria St | Collision History (bike & ped) |
| 8 | Broad River Rd | St. Andrews Pkwy and Farrington Way | Transit Stops; Collision History (bike & ped) |
| 9 | Laurel St | Sumter St and Main St | Transit Center |
| 10 | Bluff Rd | Market Rd and Eden St | Collision History (bike & ped); Transit Stops; Planned Improvements |
| 11 | Greene St | Laurens St and Saluda Ave | Planned Improvements; Collision History (bike & ped) |
| Map ID | Corridor | Between | Reason for Location |
|--------|---------------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 12 | Garners Ferry Rd | Leesburg Rd and Dorn Dr | Grocery Store: VA Medical Center; Collision History (bike & ped) |
| 13 | Harbison Blvd | Park Terrace Dr and Columbiana Dr | Commercial/Employment Center |
| 14 | Blossom St | Park St and Lincoln St | Collision History (pedestrian) |
| 15 | Taylor St | Lincoln St to Gadsden St | Park; Planned Improvements |
| 16 | Lake Murray Blvd | Kinley Rd and Parkridge Dr | Healthcare/Employment Center |
| 17 | Gervais St | Lincoln St and Park St | Retail and Visitor Destinations |
| 18 | Taylor St | Oak St and Pine St | Benedict and Allen Colleges |
| 19 | Fairfield Rd (321) | Amberley Rd and Wimmet Dr | Collision History (pedestrian); School; Transit Stops |
| 20 | Holly St | Montgomery Ave and Huron St | Transit Stops; Park; Planned Improvement; Collision History (bike & ped) |
| 21 | Sumter St | Hampton St and Washington St | New Student Housing |
| 22 | River Dr | Gibson St and Pearl St | Access to Trail; Planned Improvement; Collision History (bike & ped) |
| 23 | Devine St | Beltline Blvd and Cross Hill Rd | Grocery; Planned Improvements; Transit Stop |
| 24 | Sunset Dr | Elmhurst Rd and N. Main St | Planned Improvements |
| 25 | Harden St | Greene St and Devine St | Planned Improvements; Collision History (pedestrian) |
| 26 | Assembly St (three count locations) | Washington St and Hampton St | Library, Transit Stop, Planned Improvements |
| 27 | Harden St | Blanding St and Taylor St | Benedict and Allen Colleges |
| 28 | Jackson Blvd | Kilbourne Rd | |
Count Results and Analysis
PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE WEEKDAY COUNT
Volunteers conducted pedestrian and bicycle weekday counts between Tuesday, September 16th and Thursday September 18th. Most of the counts took place on September 16th in the morning between 7:30 and 9:30am. A few counts took place at different times due to scheduling conflicts. The weather was reported as being mild in the lower 70’s and overcast (some volunteers reported a light drizzle). No data was recorded for locations 3, 7 and 10.
A summary of the weekday count data is provided to the right:
Top 3 locations for Bicyclists from Weekday Counts:
- Wheat Street between Pickens Street and Sumter Street – 47 bikes
- Greene Street between Laurens Street and Saluda Avenue – 45 bikes
- Harden Street between Greene Street and Devine Street – 29 bikes
Top 3 locations for Pedestrians from Weekday Counts
- Blossom Street between Park Street and Lincoln Street – 185 pedestrians
- Harden Street between Greene Street and Devine Street – 121 pedestrians
- Laurel Street between Sumter Street and Main Street – 128 pedestrians
| User Types | Total Users During 2 Hour Counts | Average Users During 2 Hour Counts |
|-----------------------------|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| Female Bicycles | 56 | 2 |
| Male Bicycles | 203 | 8 |
| Female Pedestrians | 516 | 21 |
| Male Pedestrians | 865 | 35 |
| Other | 6 | 0 |
| Accessing Transit | 79 | 3 |
| Wrong-way Bicyclists | 28 | 1 |
| Sidewalk bicyclists | 79 | 3 |
Average Number of Users During 2 Hour Daily Window on Weekdays
- Female Bicycles: 2
- Male Bicycles: 8
- Female Pedestrians: 21
- Male Pedestrians: 35
- Other: 0
- Accessing Transit: 3
- Wrong-way Bicyclists: 1
- Sidewalk bicyclists: 3
- ADA users & strollers: 3
Volunteers conducted pedestrian and bicycle weekend counts on Saturday, September 20th. Most of the counts took place on September 16th in the morning between 7:30 and 9:30am. One count took place at a different time due to scheduling conflicts. The weather was reported as being mild in the lower 70’s and sunny. No data was recorded for locations 1, 7, 16, 20, 21, 22, 26 C, and 27.
A summary of the weekend count data is provided to the right:
**Top 3 locations for Bicyclists from Weekend Counts:**
- Broad River Road between St. Andrews Pkwy and Farrington Way – 18 bicyclists
- Sumter Street between Greene Street and Pendleton Street – 11 bicyclists
- Wheat Street between William Street and Huger Street– 9 bicyclists
**Top 3 locations for Pedestrians from Weekend Counts:**
- Hampton Street between Assembly and Park Street – 462 pedestrians
- Sumter Street between Greene Street and Pendleton Street – 329 pedestrians
- Gervais Street between Lincoln Street and Park Street – 279 pedestrians
| User Types | Total Users During 2 Hour Count | Average Users During 2 Hour Count |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| Female Bicycles | 23 | 1 |
| Male Bicycles | 100 | 5 |
| Female Pedestrians | 920 | 46 |
| Male Pedestrians | 962 | 48 |
| Other | 50 | 3 |
| Accessing Transit | 59 | 3 |
| Wrong-way Bicyclists | 21 | 1 |
| Sidewalk bicyclists | 59 | 3 |
Average Number of Users During 2 Hour Daily Window on Weekends
- Female Bicycles: 23
- Male Bicycles: 100
- Female Pedestrians: 920
- Male Pedestrians: 962
- Other: 50
- Accessing Transit: 59
- Wrong-way Bicyclists: 21
- Sidewalk bicyclists: 59
- ADA users & strollers: 59
*Average Users During 2 Hour Daily Window*
Pedestrian and Bicycle Counts Analysis
As seen from both the weekday and the weekend counts, Columbia has a substantial amount of pedestrian and bicycle traffic occurring throughout the City. Much of this traffic observed during the counts implementation is occurring around popular destinations for bicycling and walking such as recreation centers, civic buildings, college and university campuses and downtown.
Pedestrian levels are indicative of the City’s census-reported high rates of walking commuting. Anecdotally, many surveyors noted unsafe jaywalking occurring at several of the count locations. Weekend events such as the Soda-City Market, South Carolina Pride Festival and Greek Festival also likely increased walking rates.
The count results also suggest that many people in Columbia are bicycling for commuting purposes to work and/or school as higher numbers of these users are bicycling during typical weekday commute times. The counts also show a high instance of sidewalk bicycle riding, even occurring on streets with existing bike lanes. This is typically an indicator that users don’t feel comfortable riding in the roadway due to inadequate bicycle facilities for roadway conditions.
A comparison of the weekday and weekend counts are provided below. Full count results can be found in Attachment A.
www.bikepdx.org
APPENDIX E: EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS DETAILED REPORTS
This appendix section houses the analysis and reports for the Pedestrian Level of Service analysis, the Bicycle Level of Traffic Stress analysis, and the pedestrian and bicycle counts. The methodology, findings, conclusions, and maps and figures for the analyses and counts are included and discussed in detail.
**Overview**
**INTRODUCTION**
This memorandum details the methods and results of a Pedestrian Level of Service Analysis (PLOS) and Bicycle Level of Traffic Stress Analysis (BLTS) for the City of Columbia. Each analysis incorporates the recent research on factors that impact bicycle and pedestrian comfort and safety, and was tailored to the City of Columbia using the data available. Each model analyzed the full roadway network within Columbia’s Urban Service Area (and adjacent areas where they border the urban service area on both sides), excluding limited access highways, to provide a full picture of connectivity around the city.
**DATA SOURCES**
The following data inputs were incorporated into the PLOS and BLTS analyses. Table 23 displays each variable, its source, and notes on limitations of the available data and assumptions that were made.
| Model Input | Source | Notes |
|------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Posted Speed Limit | City of Columbia Streets Database | |
| Number of Travel Lanes | 2005 Regional Demand Model | Not available for all streets. Streets without data were assumed to contain two travel lanes. |
| Annual Average Daily Traffic Volumes (AADT) | SCDOT 2012 Traffic Volumes | Not available for all streets. Collector streets without data were assumed to carry between 3,000 – 10,000 AADT. Local streets without data were assumed to carry less than 3,000 AADT. |
| Traffic Signals | SCDOT & City of Columbia | Four-way stops were identified using aerial imagery. Where local roads meet collector or arterial roads, the local roads were assumed to be stop-controlled. |
| Bicycle Lanes | City of Columbia | |
| Shared Lane Markings ('Sharrows') | City of Columbia | |
| On-Street Parking | City of Columbia | Comprehensive for downtown Columbia |
| Speed Control Structures | City of Columbia | |
| Sidewalks | City of Columbia | Updated in January, 2014 |
| Crosswalks | City of Columbia | |
| Curb Ramps | City of Columbia | |
Pedestrian Conditions - Level of Service Analysis
PEDESTRIAN LEVEL OF SERVICE ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY
The Pedestrian Level of Service Analysis treats segments and intersections separately. A level of service was identified for each roadway segment in the study area, apart from limited access highways, while intersections were examined along roadways with a functional classification of ‘collector’ or ‘arterial’. These higher order roadways present the greatest obstacle to pedestrians, and more data was available for analysis along these corridors.
The selected segment-based Pedestrian Level of Service Analysis (PLOS) is rooted in the concept that a doubling of travel speed results in a four-fold increase in stopping time and resulting crash severity. According to one study, speed has the following impact on pedestrian fatalities:
- At 20 mph the odds of pedestrian fatality are 5%;
- At 30 mph the odds of pedestrian fatality are 45%
- At 40 mph the odds of pedestrian fatality are 85%
While other studies have found some variation, these approximate numbers are reported consistently across the literature.
It is imperative that dedicated travel facilities are provided to create safe travel conditions for pedestrians. This PLOS analysis is based primarily on safety and does not consider factors of the built environment known to make walking an attractive and preferred form of transportation. While built environment factors are not explicitly considered, lower posted speeds and more dedicated pedestrian space will typically correlate with places people want to walk based on the surrounding land uses and urban form (e.g., residential neighborhoods and commercial uses in lower speed urban areas).
The segment-based Pedestrian Level of Service Analysis (PLOS) measures pedestrian safety using four factors: posted speed limit, roadway width (number of travel lanes), pedestrian buffer (on-street parking or bicycle lanes), and the presence of sidewalks. Table 24 outlines the scoring methodology of the PLOS analysis. The PLOS follows a five-point scale, with 1 representing the highest comfort level. Generally, more pedestrian space on a lower speed roadway segment correlates to a higher comfort level. Where sidewalks are only provided on one side of the roadway, pedestrian comfort degrades on multi-lane roadways since pedestrians are forced to cross more than two lanes of traffic to reach that sidewalk. Bicycle lanes or on-street parking act as buffers between pedestrians and motor vehicle traffic, increasing comfort.
| Pedestrian Space | <= 25 MPH** | 30 - 35 MPH | >= 40 MPH |
|------------------------------------------------------|-------------|-------------|-----------|
| Complete sidewalk on both sides next to a buffer* | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Complete sidewalk on both sides | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Complete sidewalk on one side next to a buffer* | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Complete sidewalk on one side | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| No dedicated space next to a buffer* | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| No dedicated space | 2 | 3 | 4 |
*Bicycle lanes and/or on-street parking
**Scores also apply to 30 mph roadways with traffic calming
*Killing Speed and Saving Lives, UK Dept. of Transportation, London, England. See also Limpert, Rudolph. Motor Vehicle Accident Reconstruction and Cause Analysis. Fourth Edition. Charlottesville, VA. The Michie Company, 1994. p. 663.
The selected intersection-based Pedestrian Level of Service is rooted in evidence on pedestrian crash reduction factors related to design treatments or interventions\(^2\).
- Installation of a pedestrian crossing reduces crashes by 25%
- Conversion of an unsignalized intersection to a roundabout reduces crashes by 27%
- Installation of a raised median and crosswalk reduces crashes by 56%
- Speed reduction by enforcement reduces crashes by 71%
Each intersection leg was scored based on the characteristics of the crossing. Like the segment-based scoring, 1 represents the highest level of service. Intersection scoring is additive - scores start at 1 or 2 depending on speed, and then increase with missing infrastructure. Stop-controlled or uncontrolled crossings receive additional points since pedestrians must find gaps in traffic.
**TABLE 25 - INTERSECTION SCORING MATRIX FOR PEDESTRIAN LEVEL OF SERVICE. 1 = HIGHEST COMFORT LEVEL**
| Characteristics of Crossing Leg | Posted Speed Limit | <= 25 mph* | 30 - 35 mph | >= 40 mph |
|---------------------------------|--------------------|------------|-------------|-----------|
| Baseline | | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| More than 2 Lanes* | | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| No Marked crosswalk | | 0 | 1 | 1 |
*Bicycle lanes and/or on-street parking
***Scores also apply to 30 mph roadways with traffic calming
---
**PEDESTRIAN LEVEL OF SERVICE ANALYSIS RESULTS**
**Segment Analysis**
The results of the pedestrian segment-based supply analysis can be seen in Figure 9 on the following page. Low speed roadways with buffers and sidewalks, the links with the highest level of pedestrian comfort, are shown in dark green. Roads with a higher level of stress for pedestrians are shown in orange and red. The highest levels of comfort are found in the downtown area, largely due to the extensive sidewalk network there, and in low-speed neighborhoods. Collector and Arterial corridors near downtown have medium levels of comfort due to sidewalks and moderate speed limits, but comfort decreases on major roadways further out as speed limits and numbers of lanes increase and sidewalk infrastructure disappears. Throughout the urban service area there are clusters of high-comfort pedestrian networks along local roads, but these safe walking environments are segmented from one another by low comfort links.
**Intersection Analysis**
The results of the pedestrian intersection-based supply analysis can be seen in Figure 10. Intersection level of service scores were calculated along collector and arterial roadways. These roadways present a large barrier to pedestrians between signalized intersections, particularly in the outer areas of the City. Trenholm Road, Two Notch Road, Beltline Boulevard, Garners Ferry Road, Leesburg Road, Broad River Road, and Clemson Road are some of the greatest barriers to pedestrian travel, with long stretches between safe crossings.
---
\(^2\)Source: Federal Highway Administration. Desktop Reference for Crash Reduction Factors. http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/
FIGURE 9 - PEDESTRIAN LEVEL OF SERVICE SEGMENT ANALYSIS RESULTS
Pedestrian Level of Service
- 1 - Highest Comfort
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5 - Lowest Comfort
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future
- Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
FIGURE 10 - PEDESTRIAN LEVEL OF SERVICE INTERSECTION ANALYSIS RESULTS
Pedestrian Level of Service
- 1 - Highest Comfort
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8 - Lowest Comfort
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
LEVEL OF TRAFFIC STRESS PLUS
METHODOLOGY
The Level of Traffic Stress analysis completed for the City of Columbia builds on the MTI approach, expanding it to incorporate the impact on comfort of traffic volumes, the presence of traffic calming, and sharrows. The resulting categorization of each segment of Columbia’s road network is termed “Level of Traffic Stress Plus”, to highlight its divergence from the original model. Scoring in LTS Plus is based off of the four basic categories defined in the MTI report, but allows half points between each category to represent a more nuanced continuum of bicycle comfort for use in project prioritization. The scoring methodology is summarized in the following table. At its core, the LTS Plus scoring decreases comfort (1 is the highest comfort level) as the number of lanes, posted speed limit, and traffic volumes increase. Traffic volumes reduce comfort more where bicyclists share the road with motorized vehicles, but comfort also decreases in bicycle lanes as traffic volumes next to those bicycle lanes increase. Shared lane markings are scored to have a limited impact on comfort, reducing scores to the equivalent of a 30 mph roadway where they are marked on a 35 mph roadway, but otherwise having no impact on the comfort of a shared street environment.
Unsignalized crossings increase stress for cyclists along otherwise low-stress routes. An intersection level of service analysis was completed to identify difficult crossings. Crossing comfort decreases as the number of lanes and posted speed increase. While median refuges can reduce the stress of an unsignalized crossing, refuges were not included in this analysis because of insufficient data.
| Number of Travel Lanes | Traffic Volume (AADT) | Shared Street | Street with Sharrows | Street with Bike Lane |
|------------------------|-----------------------|---------------|----------------------|----------------------|
| | | <= 25* | 30 | >= 35 | All Other | 35 | <= 30 | 35 | >= 40 |
| 2 Lanes (residential) | No data | 1 | 2 | 3.5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3.5 |
| 2 - 3 lanes | <=3k | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| | 3k - 10k | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | 10k - 20k | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4 |
| | >20k | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 - 5 Lanes | <=3k | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| | 3k - 10k | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| | 10k - 20k | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 |
| | >20k | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 6+ Lanes | All volumes | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
*Bicycle lanes and/or on-street parking
**Scores also apply to 30 mph roadways with traffic calming
BICYCLE LEVEL OF TRAFFIC STRESS (LTS) + ANALYSIS RESULTS
Segment Analysis
The results of the segment-based Level of Traffic Stress Plus Analysis are shown in Figure 11. Much of the network consists of disconnected clusters of low-stress (LTS 1 to 2) streets, shown in green and yellow. Individually, these islands of low-stress streets are comfortable to ride for most adults, but they are isolated from one another by larger roads with higher traffic speeds that disrupt bicycle mobility.
As an additional note, limited data on the roadways within Fort Jackson limit the accuracy of the analysis results on those roadways. Limited access highways were omitted from the analysis entirely.
Intersection Analysis
The results of the intersection-based Level of Traffic Stress Plus Analysis are shown in Figure 12. Many of the major roadways that act as barriers to pedestrians also hinder bicycle travel because of high speeds and lanes and long distances between signalized crossings.
Connectivity Analysis
While major roadways act as barriers at unsignalized crossings, signals provide a connection for cyclists to move between low-stress neighborhood roadways. Figure 13 displays connected clusters of roadways that can be travelled without using any link or crossing with a level of stress higher than 2. In central Columbia where the road network was built in a grid pattern, a large low-stress network is accessible. Outside of this central core, however, low-stress roads have been built without connectivity across major roadways, making travel between neighborhoods inaccessible to most adults. This display makes apparent the gaps in the bicycle network that could be targeted for improvements to create connected bicycling routes that are comfortable for the mainstream adult population. Along with improvements along high-stress corridors, safe crossing opportunities across those corridors will greatly increase bicycling mobility.
FIGURE 11 - BICYCLE LEVEL OF TRAFFIC STRESS SEGMENT ANALYSIS RESULTS
Bicycle Level of Traffic Stress Plus
- 1 - Highest Comfort
- 1.5
- 2
- 2.5
- 3
- 3.5
- 4 - Lowest Comfort
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
FIGURE 12 - BICYCLE LEVEL OF TRAFFIC STRESS INTERSECTION ANALYSIS RESULTS
Bicycle Level of Traffic Stress Plus
- 2 - Medium Comfort
- 3
- 4 - Lowest Comfort
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future
- Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) 1 & 2 Connectivity Clusters
This map displays connected segments of roadway - or clusters - that can be accessed comfortably by a typical adult cyclist (LTS 1 or 2).
Conclusions
The pedestrian level of service analysis and bicycle level of stress analyses described in this memo provide a picture of the quality of infrastructure in the City of Columbia that serves bicyclists and pedestrians. In the next step of this planning process, demand for pedestrian and bicycle travel will be analyzed in order to identify areas of high demand and poor supply that should be prioritized for infrastructure improvements.
Appendix: Data Inputs
The following maps constitute the input data for the analysis.
FIGURE 14 - SPEED LIMITS AND TRAFFIC CALMING
Posted Speed Limit (mph) and Traffic Calming
- <= 25
- 30
- 35
- >= 40
- Speed Bumps or Tables
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
FIGURE 15 - NUMBER OF TRAVEL LANES
Number of Travel Lanes
- <2 lanes
- 3 lanes
- 4 - 5 Lanes
- 6 - 7 lanes
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future
- Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
FIGURE 16 - TRAFFIC VOLUMES (AADT)
Traffic Volumes (AADT)
- 0 - 3,000
- 3,001 - 10,000
- 10,001 - 20,000
- > 20,000
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments Map created May, 2014.
FIGURE 17 - PRESENCE OF SIDEWALKS
Presence of Sidewalks
- Sidewalks on both sides
- Sidewalk on one side
- No Sidewalks
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
FIGURE 18 - BIKEWAYS AND ON-STREET PARKING
Bikeways and On-Street Parking
- On-Street Parking
- Existing or Planned Trail
- Existing Bike Lane
- Existing Sharrow
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
FIGURE 19 - CROSSWALKS AND CURB RAMPS
Crosswalks and Curb Ramps
- Marked Crosswalk
- Curb Ramp
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
Intersection Control
- Traffic Signal
- Four Way Stop
Legend
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
Safety for pedestrians and bicyclists is a priority outcome for this master plan. Columbia’s recent history of pedestrian and bicycle collisions is an important consideration for the development of an improved bikeway and walkway network and new, effective education, enforcement, and evaluation programs. This is underscored by the fact that South Carolina ranks 47th in the country for bicycle-friendliness\(^1\) and is #4 on the list of the most dangerous states for pedestrians in the U.S.\(^2\).
The South Carolina Department of Public Safety provided collision data for the period of January 1, 2010, through May 9, 2014. SCDPS data is catalogued by county. All pedestrian and bicycle collisions within Richland County are analyzed in the following analysis.
For the period of January 1st to May 9th 2014, SCDPS data indicates a total of eight bicycle collisions and 28 pedestrian collisions.
Figure 21 to the right shows the total number of reported pedestrian-motor vehicle and bicycle-motor vehicle collisions in Richland County for each year from 2010 through 2013. This reflects a total of 162 reported bicycle collisions and 529 reported pedestrian collisions. For the period of January 1st to May 9th 2014, SCDPS data indicates a total of eight bicycle collisions and 28 pedestrian collisions.
To better understand the collision data, the table to the right provides a summary of bicycle and pedestrian collision data for a series of North Carolina cities with characteristics similar to Columbia.
The following sections present greater details on the yearly bicycle and pedestrian crash analysis for Richland County. These findings provide a basis for understanding the current safety conditions for bicyclists and pedestrians and priority locations for safety improvements.
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\(^1\) League of American Bicyclists. 2014. Bicycle Friendly State 2014 Ranking. Retrieved here: http://bikeleague.org/sites/default/files/2014_state_ranking_chart.pdf
\(^2\) National Complete Streets Coalition. 2014. Dangerous by Design. Retrieved here: http://www.smartgrowtheamerica.org/documents/dangerous-by-design-2014/dangerous-by-design-2014.pdf
Data Source Summary
Traffic collision data was analyzed for crashes within Richland County, South Carolina involving a pedestrian and motor vehicle or a bicyclist and motor vehicle between January 1, 2010 and May 9, 2014. All analyses are based on the available data. A few considerations should be noted when reviewing the results of this analysis:
- The South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) manages a statewide database of traffic collisions. To be included in the statewide database, a collision must: 1) involve a licensed motor vehicle such as an automobile, truck or motorcycle (mopeds, go-carts and trains on tracks do not qualify); 2) occur on a public roadway (shopping center parking lots and private roads do not qualify); and 3) involve a reportable injury or at least $1000 in total property damage. Crashes that do not meet these definitions are NOT included in the database.
- Second, due to the factors above and others, crash data typically under-reports the actual occurrence of crashes, especially those crashes that do not result in a serious injury. As such, specific locations identified in the crash analysis may not present all potentially unsafe areas for bicyclists and pedestrians. For future follow up studies, local knowledge from bicycle and pedestrian advocacy groups such as running and cycling clubs should be sought when possible to obtain additional information on unsafe environments. Detailed information on causes of crashes is also useful determining common types of collisions in a given area that may indicate a need for engineering improvements. However, inconsistent coding of the primary factors contributing to a collision may misrepresent this information.
- Finally, it should be noted that the data provided for this analysis does not contain certain data that can be helpful in identifying recommendations for awareness programs and engineering improvements. Demographic data such as the age of crash victims can be useful in determining how education plays into potential causes of crashes. Younger bicyclists and pedestrians, in particular, are often less observant of safety practices such as looking left or right before crossing a roadway, to check for the presence of cars. As further reporting and analysis is done on bicycle and pedestrian crash data, data needs should be monitored to ensure that measures important within communities in the region are represented in crash data.
Geographic Distribution of Bicycle Crashes
Bicycle crashes are evenly distributed in Columbia and the surrounding areas (see Figure 22). The majority of crashes are along streets with no dedicated bikeway facility, however three occurred on the Beltline Boulevard bike lane, one on the Wheat Street bike lane, and four along the Trenholm Road bike lane (outside of the project study area). Collisions occur on arterials, collector roads, and neighborhood streets alike. Collisions occurred on both the Hampton Street and Gervais Street bridges across the Broad River. Broad River Road and Bluff Road bear the highest numbers of bicycle collisions.
FIGURE 22 - MAP OF BICYCLE CRASHES
Bicycle Crashes
- Bicycle Crash (2010-2014)
Legend
- Existing or Planned Trail
- Existing Bike Lane
- Existing Sharrow
- City of Columbia Limits
- Potential Future Annexation Areas
- Other Jurisdiction
- Park
- College
- Water Body
Data obtained from the City of Columbia and Central Midlands Council of Governments. Map created May, 2014.
Geographic Distribution of Pedestrian Crashes
Like bicycle crashes, pedestrian crashes are relatively evenly distributed in Columbia and the surrounding areas (see Figure 23). The highest concentration exists in the central Columbia area, immediately west of Main/N. Main Street and east of US 1 and US 76. Additionally, several arterials present long stretches of high levels of pedestrian collisions and pedestrian collisions are clustered at several key intersections.
The table below shows the top intersections and corridors for pedestrian collisions in the study area.
**TABLE 30 - TOP PEDESTRIAN COLLISIONS**
| Top Intersections | Number of Collisions | Top Corridors | Number of Collisions |
|----------------------------|----------------------|---------------------|----------------------|
| Bull & Whaley | 3 | BROAD RIVER RD | 27 |
| Forest & McDuffie | 3 | TWO NOTCH RD | 17 |
| Devine & Santee | 3 | BLUFF RD | 12 |
| Devine & Harden | 3 | GARNERS FERRY RD | 11 |
| Greenlawn & Garners Ferry | 3 | FARROW RD | 9 |
| | | HARDEN ST | 9 |
| | | BLOSSOM ST | 8 |
| | | DEVINE ST | 8 |
| | | MONTICELLO RD | 7 |
| | | BULL ST | 6 |
Collision Injuries and Fatalities
The following figure shows the percent of total collision fatalities attributable to each transportation mode. As shown, between 11.8% (in 2013) and up to 18.8% (in 2014 to-date) of reported collision fatalities in Richland County are pedestrian fatalities, with an annual average (excluding 2014) of 13.0%. No bicyclist fatalities are shown in this time period, however, the Columbia community has suffered the loss of several bicyclists over the last few years. The tragic deaths of 19 year old Jesse Gamble in 2008 and 45 year old Mandy Kennedy, a mother of two, in March of 2014 rattled the community. Each was commuting to/from work at the time of their motor vehicle collision. The March 2014 fatality is not included in this data because the incident is still under investigation.
The following two sections assess the bicycle injuries and fatalities and pedestrian injuries and fatalities, respectively.
BICYCLE INJURIES AND FATALITIES
Figure 24 shows the ratio of bicyclist injuries and of fatalities to the total collisions reported in Richland County that involved a bicycle from 2010 through May 9, 2014. As shown, there have been no bicyclist fatalities as a result of reported collisions in Richland County over the time period. However, the majority of bicycle collisions (94.4%) result in an injury.
PEDESTRIAN INJURIES AND FATALITIES
Figure 25 shows the ratio of pedestrian injuries and of fatalities to the total collisions reported in Richland County that involved a pedestrian during the data time period. As shown, 86.6% of the pedestrian collisions resulted in one or more injuries, and 9.1% resulted in a fatality. Only 4.3% of pedestrian collisions during the data time period did not result in an injury or fatality.
Collision Conditions
A total of 162 bicycle collisions and 529 pedestrian collisions were reported in Richland County from January 1, 2010 through May 9, 2014. Table 31 presents the characteristics of these collisions, such as the road surface conditions, lighting conditions, weather conditions, and where the collision occurred.
As shown in the table, most crashes for bicyclists and pedestrians occurred during dry road surface conditions (96% and 87%, respectively) and on clear days (89% and 83%, respectively. The majority of bicycle collisions occurred during daylight hours (70%), but only 43% of pedestrian collisions occurred during daylight. In addition, most collisions occurred on the roadway (89% for bicyclists and 87% for pedestrians).
| | Bicycle | | Pedestrian | |
|--------------------------|---------|----------|------------|----------|
| | Total | % of Total | Total | % of Total |
| Total Collisions Reported| 162 | 100% | 529 | 100% |
| Road Surface Conditions | | | | |
| - Wet | 6 | 4% | 65 | 12% |
| - Dry | 155 | 96% | 461 | 87% |
| Lighting Conditions | | | | |
| - Daylight | 114 | 70% | 230 | 43% |
| - Dawn / Dusk | 9 | 6% | 29 | 5% |
| - Dark (Street Lamp Lit) | 20 | 12% | 121 | 23% |
| - Dark (Lighting Unspecified) | 7 | 4% | 53 | 10% |
| - Dark (Unlit) | 12 | 7% | 96 | 18% |
| Weather Conditions | | | | |
| - Clear | 144 | 89% | 440 | 83% |
| - Cloudy | 10 | 6% | 38 | 7% |
| - Fog, Smog, Smoke | 2 | 1% | 3 | 1% |
| - Rain | 4 | 2% | 45 | 9% |
| - Snow | 1 | 0.6% | 2 | 0.4% |
| - Unknown | 1 | 0.6% | 1 | 0.2% |
| First Harmful Event Location | | | | |
| - On Roadway | 144 | 89% | 458 | 87% |
| - Median / Shoulder | 3 | 2% | 18 | 3% |
| - Off Roadway | 15 | 9% | 45 | 9% |
| - Unknown | 0 | 0% | 8 | 2% |
Collisions by Month and Time of Day
The following sections present the collisions per month and by time of day from 2010 through May 9, 2014. The data offers some indication as to the time of year and the hours that people bicycle and walk in Richland County. May and October held the highest number of bicycle collisions and October and November held the highest number of pedestrian collisions from 2010 through 2013\(^1\). Both bicycle and pedestrian collisions are concentrated in the late afternoon and evening hours, though there are crashes during the morning period as well.
It should be noted that there are collisions involving bicycles and pedestrians throughout the year, indicating that people in Richland County continue to cycle during the winter months. Similarly, collisions occur at all times of day, although the majority occur during daylight hours (between 6 am and 9 pm).
BICYCLE CRASHED BY MONTH AND TIME OF DAY
Figure 26 displays the bicycle collisions by month from 2010 through 2013. As shown, the most collisions occur in May and October with April and November close behind. The reported bicycle collisions decrease after May and build back up until the second peak in October. The higher numbers of collisions involving bicycles in the spring and fall months likely indicates that cycling is more prevalent during these good weather months.
Figure 27 presents the bicycle collisions by the time of day from 2010 through May 9, 2014. As shown, almost half of the bicycle collisions occur between 3 pm and 9 pm (47.5%), followed by an even distribution of collisions between the three-intervals from 6 am until 3 pm (13.6% during each three-hour interval).
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\(^1\)The 2014 data was excluded from the monthly analysis as it only extends through May 9, and would thus skew the data to more collisions in earlier months.
PEDESTRIAN CRASHES BY MONTH AND TIME OF DAY
Figure 28 displays the pedestrian collisions by month from 2010 through 2013. As shown, the most collisions occurred in November (67 instances). The reported pedestrian collisions increase during the fall months and are lowest in late spring and summer. Trends may reflect the fact that there is more daylight in spring and summer months.
The majority of pedestrian collisions occur during the evening hours from 6 pm to 9 pm (21.4%), followed closely by 9 pm to midnight (18.5%) and 3 pm to 6 pm (17.0%).
Collisions by Contributing Factor
The available data also includes some information about the circumstances of the reported collisions. The following two sections assess the number of crashes for each category of primary factor contributing to the collision.
BICYCLE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
The bicyclist was reported to be a contributor to the collision in 100 of the 162 incidents (61.7%). The top three primary factors for how the bicyclist contributed were failure to yield the right of way (21 collisions), disregarded a sign or signal (20 occasions), and riding in the wrong direction (17 instances). Conversely, in 36 reported bicycle collisions, the motorist failed to yield the right of way to the bicyclist, but the motor vehicle disregarded a sign or signal or was driving in the wrong direction in only two or zero instances, respectively. Note that although this data indicates contributing factors to these incidents, it does not indicate the geometry of the collision, or whether or not a citation(s) was given as a result of the crash.
This data indicates several opportunities for creating targeted education and enforcement programs. For motor vehicle drivers, such programs should address failing to yield the right of way bicyclists and speeding. For bicyclists, such programs should address failing to follow traffic signs and signals, improper operations on the road, and riding on the wrong side (or the wrong way) of the road. Often, improved bicyclist infrastructure can serve as the most powerful and efficient means of teaching a cyclist how to properly navigate a roadway or intersection.
PEDESTRIAN CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
The pedestrian was reported to be a contributor to the collision in 310 of the 529 incidents (58.6%). The top two primary factors for how the pedestrian contributed were illegally being in the roadway (131 collisions) and improper crossing, lane usage, or turn (75 instances). It is important to note that a pedestrian may be identified as illegally within a roadway when they have been given no alternate safe place to walk, stand, or cross. This could include corridors with no sidewalks, a sidewalk on only one side of the road, long distances between intersections (for crossing), or bus stops with no designated waiting area.
The top two primary factors for collisions by motorists were failure to yield the right of way (70 collisions) and driving too fast for conditions (40 collisions). Note that although this data indicates contributing factors to these incidents, it does not indicate the geometry of the collision, or whether or not a citation(s) was given as a result of the crash.
SPECIAL
XCOMET
XATCYNEME
APPENDIX F: INTERMODAL TRANSIT ANALYSIS
Introduction: Bicycle Access and Public Transportation
A major theme emerging from the Bike Walk Columbia Plan and the long-range vision for the Columbia area is that the region must develop a transportation system that creates and encourages the use of more travel choices, such as transit, biking, walking and ridesharing, and begin to reduce the degree of reliance on the single-occupant automobile for vehicle travel.
Quality of life is an important factor in the Columbia area. From the urban core of Columbia to the region’s hills and lakes, the historical, cultural and recreational amenities are abundant. These amenities along with affordable housing, shopping centers, healthcare, and educational facilities draw people to the Midlands. The climate and geography of Columbia and the surrounding communities provide an opportunity for bicycling to truly be a transportation alternative to the single-occupant vehicle, when conveniently linked with the transit system via secure and plentiful bicycle parking at transfer stations and bicycle access onboard transit vehicles. The combination of bicycling and public transit offers many Columbia residents, workers, and visitors perhaps the best alternative to the flexibility and convenience of the single-occupant vehicle as a result of lower costs, reduced parking stress, and reduction in greenhouse gases.
Bicycling can be a convenient method of reaching a transit stop or transfer station. The bicycle offers the independence of the automobile and costs less than auto ownership, including paid parking and gas. On transit systems, such as The COMET, that allow bicycles onboard, the same bike can be used on the origin and destination ends of the trip. Workplace showers can allow longer-distance commuters to bicycle to work, and arrive at their desks fresh and clean.
Well-designed, strategically located bicycle and pedestrian facilities can increase ridership on public transit by providing people with safe, pleasant access to these transit options. With geographically strategic investments in bicycle and pedestrian system improvements, together with the implementation of smart land use strategies and better education and incentive programs, many short auto trips could be shifted to walking, biking or transit trips to help reduce vehicles miles traveled (VMT) and emissions for a relatively low cost.
The following chapters provide an overview of the major transit providers in the Columbia area and a discussion of opportunities for future coordination among bicycle, pedestrian and transit access in the region.
Existing Transit Service
Public transportation empowers individuals to be independent, seek and retain employment, access medical care, and gain access to new opportunities. Nationally, the role of public transportation is evolving from the perspective of the stand-alone provider of services to the idea of public transportation developing partner alliances with other agencies and organizations. The result is improved mobility alternatives for customers for all transportation services. This evolutionary process has resulted in the recognition that while public transit remains an integral part of the overall transportation network, emphasis must be placed on the more inclusive perspective of partnerships.
Transportation providers in Columbia presently serve the mobility needs of the general public, including the elderly, persons with disabilities, low-income persons, commuters, students, and recreational users. Transportation providers include:
• The COMET, a public transit agency operated by the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority (CMRTA)
• University of South Carolina Transportation Services, private student transportation
• The Santee Wateree Regional Transit Authority serving Egin, Lugoff, Sumter, Hopkins, Camden, and Columbia
• Newberry Express from Newberry
• Intercity services, Greyhound Lines and Southeastern Stages, Megabus
• Private taxi, limousine, and shuttle providers
Even though the primary focus of this study is coordination between The COMET and USC Campus Shuttles, future facilities with other providers in the Columbia area should consider bicycle and pedestrian connections, as appropriate.
THE COMET (CMRTA)
The COMET provides fixed route and paratransit service in the Columbia urbanized area, including portions of Richland and Lexington Counties.
In July 2012, Richland County voted to place a penny-on-the-dollar tax referendum on the November 2012 ballot, with transit receiving 29 percent of each penny collected until the sunset of the tax, 22 years OR $1.07 billion, whichever comes first. The penny tax referendum passed in the November 2012 election and, after several legal efforts to overturn the results, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the referendum results; thus, providing The COMET financial stability.
The tax cycle required that the new tax collections would not begin until May 1, 2013 and first disbursement would not occur until approximately November 2013—a full year after the election results.
In May 2014, The COMET added Sunday service for the first time since 2012, matching the level of service on Saturday for the best weekend service Columbia has ever had. In September 2014, The COMET launched 100 hours of additional service, a 25 percent increase, including:
- expanded hours on main line routes;
- increased frequencies on key routes;
- expanded Saturday service;
- the first ever USC-oriented route targeting student housing.
The COMET, previously known as CMRTA, re-branded from CMRTA for a variety of reasons; however, the main reason was the system demanded a name and image that reflected the identity of a bold, aggressive, forward-thinking transit system. It had to be vibrant, speak to the future and create loyalty to the system. It had to be cool. The new brand and color scheme has been the most talked-about aspect of transit for the past year. Much of The COMET’s activity since summer 2013 has surrounded staffing, capital procurement, and system planning with service every 60 minutes. In August 2014, The COMET implemented additional transit service, the Orbit, which is an internal circulation of transit routes that provides approximately 15–30 minute headways for the downtown Columbia area, near the USC Campus. Additional service will be implemented in 2015 to complete the full rollout of the Orbit.
The COMET also operates two other types of service: ADA demand-response (DART) and open-access demand response (Flex) service.
FIGURE 32 - THE COMET SERVICE
DART:
The ADA demand response paratransit service follows the service days and times of the fixed route system. Demand response must be prescheduled the day before and has a no denial policy, using trip negotiation and scheduling to accommodate trip requests. To qualify for DART service, applicants must be unable to independently access and/or use The COMET fixed route system: If an individual resides within ¼-mile of the fixed route service, but does not have an accessible path, such as a sidewalk or wheelchair ramps at an intersection, then the person is eligible for this type of service. Those who wish to use the DART system can be certified as eligible by completing an application and following the short eligibility review process.
Flex:
The open-access service is a newly created flexible service that operates like the ADA service; however, any passenger can ride the vehicle and ALL origins and destinations must be within the service zone, which includes the end-of-the-line points for three fixed routes. This service is designed to connect low-density areas to fixed route buses, especially higher frequency main line routes. The first Flex Zone began in February 2014 and will be expanded to a larger service area. There is no dedicated vehicle to this route, as the passengers are fit into the DART manifest and delivered to the route destinations by DART drivers. This minimizes overall costs and allows for the same staff to answer and schedule telephone-based calls. The COMET also operates a “Re-Flex” route, which is a hybrid deviated fixed route—it has a series of scheduled fixed route trips, but then is available to perform demand-response service like a classic flexible service.
System:
The COMET base fare is $1.50. In FY 2012, The COMET provided just under 2M passenger trips, with approximately 145,000 revenue vehicle hours. The COMET has approximately 45 peak vehicles in operation for fixed route and paratransit services each weekday. In FY2012, the annual operating budget for both services was approximately $12M.
The COMET receives FTA 5307 revenue funds, which have a requirement of at least one percent of the funding apportioned to The COMET must be used for transit enhancement activities, such as historic preservation, landscaping, public art, pedestrian access, bicycle access, and enhanced access for persons with disabilities. This Columbia Bike Walk Plan provides an opportunity for The COMET to use the findings as a priority for these funds, as appropriate to other needs identified within specific transit plans.
Within Columbia, the Downtown Transit Center is the primary transfer point for The COMET routes. The Santee Wateree RTA also provides transit service into the Columbia area via two routes. The stops for the routes include the Downtown Transit Center and the following other locations listed below. Any future roadway or transit improvement projects should consider bicycle and pedestrian facilities and connections at these sites.
- Richland Memorial Hospital
- Bull/Confederate, DHEC/DSS
- Sumter/Hampton, Palmetto Health
- Sumter/State House, State House
- Sumter/Pendleton
- Pendleton/Assembly, DNR
- Assembly/Gervais
- Assembly/Washington
- Assembly/Blanding
CAROLINA SHUTTLE (UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, CAMPUS TRANSPORTATION)
The Carolina Shuttle is operated by the University of South Carolina Vehicle Management and Parking Services, within the Division of Administration and Finance. The campus shuttle operates six routes Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 5:45 pm. The Evening Shuttle operates from 5:30pm to 12:30am. The system operates during the Fall and Spring semesters, with limited operation during the summer, reading days, and holidays. The Carolina Shuttle does not run on a set schedule. Buses arrive at designated stops approximately every 15 minutes.
The Carolina Shuttle is free to all USC students, faculty, and staff. Shuttle and parking maps are available at Parking Services, the Askus information desk at the Russell House, and at Vehicle Management. Commuting students are encouraged to park in lots located at the Coliseum, Bates Area, and 1600 Hampton, then ride the Shuttle to central campus. Approximately 35,000 students attend USC during the fall and spring semester. As USC continues to improve facilities and connections across campus, these primary stop locations should consider adequate bicycle, pedestrian, and transit facility needs.
The Campus Shuttle has an operating budget of approximately $1.5M annually. USC has 30 buses in its fleet. While school is in session, 15 peak vehicles are in operation, while 6 vehicles operate during the summer session. Annual ridership for the USC Shuttle service is approximately 212,000 trips, which averages approximately 1,100 trips per day. The cost per student is $24.25 per semester for the Shuttle bus pass.
The USC Shuttle currently uses the NextBus software to display current and live information where the bus is located on the six routes. An example for the Blue Route is: http://www.nextbus.com/googleMap/?a=usc&l=blue. USC Shuttle management has a goal to advance technology for the Shuttle service, which includes:
- Scheduling and dispatch software to improve route efficiencies
- Fuel management system that would upgrade the existing GasBoy software that has been in place for many years
- Maintenance software, compatible with the Fuel Management and the Scheduling software to ensure efficient tracking of required operational and maintenance data
All USC Shuttle vehicles are wheelchair accessible.
INTERCITY SERVICES
Bus:
South Carolina is served by two (2) Class A intercity bus carriers, Greyhound Bus Lines and Southeastern Stages. The city of Columbia and Fort Jackson are stops for both carriers. The intercity bus stop is located at 2015 Gervais Street, near Laurens Street, in downtown Columbia and at Fort Jackson. The downtown bus station should have adequate pedestrian amenities, along with accessible pathways to and from the facility.
Intercity Rail:
Intercity rail transportation, particularly high speed rail service, has a greater potential than intercity bus to significantly impact how South Carolina residents and visitors travel between cities in the future, due to the reduced travel times, level of comfort, and direct service. One key to integration of intercity bus service is to connect patrons to high-speed rail service, which extends the reach of the high speed rail corridor.
Although there is not a funded national program for the actual construction of high-speed rail passenger corridors, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has designated a network of corridors for the development of high-speed rail service in this country. These corridors are generally focused on regional trips that could be competitive with commercial air service from a schedule standpoint. To date, only small amounts of Federal funding have been provided, adequate only for studies. South Carolina is a member of the Southeast High Speed Rail Coalition, along with its neighbors, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Virginia. Two corridors that pass through South Carolina have been adopted as part of the Southeast High Speed Rail Coalition plan. These corridors were added to the Southeast Corridor network designated by the USDOT as future high-speed rail passenger routes.
The provision of a high-speed rail station in Columbia with connections to/from other urban activity centers via rail or bus would be very important for access to and from the Central Midlands region. Although not categorized as intercity passenger rail, the Central Midlands Council of Governments has analyzed at a preliminary level the feasibility and viability of regional commuter rail in several corridors, extending from Columbia to Camden, Newberry and Batesburg-Leesville. The COG also studied the possibility of a connecting rail service to high-speed rail via either Spartanburg or Charlotte.
http://www.sehsr.org/history.html
As the possibility of high-speed rail becomes a reality for the Midlands, appropriate planning of transit route connections, bicycle and pedestrian facilities should be incorporated into the process.
Passenger Rail: Amtrak
The Amtrak passenger rail station is located at 850 Pulaski Street, near College Street, southeast of the downtown area. The Silver Star provides service through Columbia, from New York City, Tampa to Miami, Florida. In 2013, the Columbia station recorded 36,349 boardings and alightings, the third busiest in South Carolina, behind Charleston, and Florence.
The Amtrak station should continue to incorporate bicycle, pedestrian, and transit facilities into future improvements.
COORDINATION OF TRANSIT SERVICES
Over the past 10 years, there has been a strong national emphasis for livable communities that provide a range of transportation choices available to all residents within the community, including transit, walking, and bicycling. The above transit services within Columbia and surrounding areas offer transportation options to residents. Building upon these existing systems is a goal for many agencies in the area.
The state of coordination among the transit providers is present, but limited within the community.
- The COMET has bicycle racks on all buses, which has been a priority for the agency for several years. New buses ordered by The COMET buses will have racks for three bikes.
- USC does not have bike racks on buses, but does have many bicycle racks located on campus to accommodate student and faculty bike riders. Future buses should include bicycle racks on the front of the vehicles to accommodate the high usage of bicycles on campus. USC should continue to provide bicycle racks around campus to accommodate the bicycle mode share.
- The COMET, in coordination with USC, began in August 2014 the Garnet route, which provides service every 20 minutes from the student complexes on Bluff Road to the USC campus. Currently the apartment complexes on Bluff Road provide small shuttle vans for USC students to/from campus. Over the next year, The COMET and USC will continue to work together for future funding of this route.
- The COMET began in August 2014 more frequent service in the core downtown from the Downtown Transit Center to the USC campus. The goal of the reconfiguration of routes is to provide convenient and frequent service to downtown employees, students, and staff.
- Local government agencies involved in the High Speed Rail initiatives continue to recognize the necessary link between bus and rail services for the future.
- The COMET has approximately 900 bus stops located across Columbia. One goal of the agency is to have accessibility at all bus stops. This goal will improve accessibility to pedestrian facilities within the community.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Access to Transit in Columbia
Every transit trip begins with a walking or bicycling trip. Transit users must find one way or another to reach their transit stop and to complete the final leg of their journey to their destination (often referred to as the ‘last mile’). Transit is a critical link in a truly multi-modal network and through providing safe and convenient pedestrian and bicycling access to transit, Columbia can increase safety, accessibility, and attractiveness of all of these modes.
BICYCLE ACCESSIBILITY
High activity transit routes that are linked with existing bicycle facilities and priority corridors for bicycling improvements present the greatest opportunity for encouraging bike-and-bus multi-modal trips. Through the existing conditions analysis of this planning process, the project team identified the following downtown areas as target areas for creating and improving bicycling access to transit:
- USC campus area
- Assembly Street
- Taylor, between Benedict College and Finlay Park
Other areas for priority improvements of bicycling access to The COMET transit services include:
- East: Leesburg Road at Semmes Road
- South: Shop Road and Bluff Road at S. Beltline Blvd
- North: River Drive, east of the Broad River
- North: Columbia College at N. Main and Fairfield Roads
- Northeast: Farrow Road near Wilson Blvd
- Northwest: Broad River Road at Lake Murray Blvd
Providing bicycle parking and on-bus bicycle storage are critical improvements that must occur for bike-and-bus multi-modal trips to be feasible for the average transit user. Bicycle parking needs and recommendations are discussed in section 4 of this chapter and in the Bicycle Parking Plan of this Master Plan. A summary of bike-on-bus needs is included below:
- Bike racks are available on the front of all The COMET buses and bicycles are also allowed onboard. Each month, The COMET has approximately 200 bikes loaded on the bus bike racks. Route 101, Route 15, and Route 16 have the highest use of bicycle rack usage, as reported in March 2014. The Downtown Transit Station does not have existing facilities for bicycle parking; therefore, passengers will secure bicycles on sign posts or along the fence for safety.
- The Carolina Shuttle (USC) fleet currently does not have mounted bicycle racks on buses. All future procured buses should include bicycle racks on the buses. Many bicycle racks and benches are available to USC faculty and students across the campus. Future facility improvements should continue to coordinate bicycle racks and major USC Shuttle bus stops.
Both The COMET and the Carolina Shuttle should invest in 3-mount bicycle racks on buses to meet current demand and to ensure that bike-and-bus multi-modal trips are a consistent and reliable option for transit users. This is identified as a goal within The COMET’s current planning efforts and would positively impact bicycle access to the entire system.
ADA AND PEDESTRIAN ACCESSIBILITY
A number of factors impact pedestrian - and in particular ADA - accessibility to the transit network. The following statistics provide a snapshot of accessibility needs throughout The COMET system, based on The COMET’s most up-to-date field-collected data:
**Boarding & Alighting Areas:** A total of 121 stops, or 14 percent of all stops, need a boarding and alighting (b&al) area. B & A is a basic provision for accessing transit. It not only provides a safe area for waiting away from traffic, but is also a federal mandate for ensuring ADA accessibility of transit. According to the U.S. Access Board, the following dimensions define an accessible B & A area (note that compliance with dimensions is required to the extent construction specifications are within a public entity’s control):
810.2.2 Dimensions. *Bus boarding and alighting areas shall provide a clear length of 96 inches [2440 mm], measured perpendicular to the curb or vehicle roadway edge, and a clear width of 60 inches [1525 mm], measured parallel to the vehicle roadway. Public entities shall ensure that the construction of bus boarding and alighting areas comply with 810.2.2, to the extent the construction specifications are within their control.*
**Sidewalk Access:** 583 existing transit stops have sidewalk access. This equates to approximately 34 percent of transit stops having no sidewalk access. Transit users walking to a transit stop without a sidewalk are often relegated to a drainage ditch or walking within the roadway travel lane. The safety of disabled transit users is further compromised.
**Shelters & Benches:** Only 25 of The COMET transit stops, or 2.8 percent, have a shelter. Approximately 10 percent, or 86, of The COMET’s transit stops have benches.
**Lighting:** A total 385 of The COMET transit stops, or 44 percent, have sufficient lighting (either through street lights of adjacent building lighting). A nearly equivalent number of stops, 43 percent, have no lighting.
EXTERNAL FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION
Lexington County is the neighbor to the west of Richland County and despite having a substantial population, it has limited transit service. Mainly rural and suburban with no urban core, it has a growing retail corridor along the confluence of two main highways that provides the majority of economic investment, mainly in the way of retail stores and service economy jobs. New industrial parks have opened and attracted major employers such as Amazon.com and Nephron Pharmaceuticals. As Lexington County grows, new opportunities for transportation, especially public transit may become more critical.
Lexington County is a primary growth opportunity for The COMET, as it may have ample demand for a future park-and-ride facility into the metro core of the City and has tremendous opportunity to grow rural transportation services.
Both Richland and Lexington counties have extensive rural areas; The COMET’s ability to deliver low-cost and highly flexible transportation services in these areas will be of critical importance over the next five years. The COMET has already deployed pilot flex zones in one rural area and will implement a new flex/fixed route combination in another area, establishing distinct service models that can be used across the Midlands region.
The City straddles the two counties, with only a very small portion of the City in Lexington County.
As the capital city of South Carolina and home to the University of South Carolina, Columbia’s primary employers are health care providers, financial and legal services, economic development, government employers, and education and research facilities. Columbia has repositioned itself as a cultural community over the past five years, working to revitalize its downtown and attract new development. A substantial number of residential developments are underway in the downtown core, which will be supported by new USC housing complexes. The new influx of residents will increase downtown employment and retail and spur increased density for the downtown area. Millennial-age residents are gravitating to downtown due to the low cost of living, proximity to campus and growing availability of downtown activities.
The COMET’s goal for the next 3 years focuses on suburban zones, creating circulators in development areas to move people within defined service areas and connecting to high-capacity corridors. Over the next three years, The COMET will identify park and ride services, which provide an opportunity for bicycle and pedestrian trail coordination.
Transit enhancements are a major emphasis for The COMET and for USC Shuttle services, which includes benches, shelters, trash cans, 3-position bicycle racks on buses, schedule racks throughout the community, transit technology (trackers and fare payment), on-board security systems and general information. USC is currently conducting its Phase 1 Transportation Master Plan that will incorporate the multiple modes of transportation on and off campus.
An additional focus for The COMET is existing Downtown Transit Center, which is leased from the City for a nominal rate. The Transit Center is outfitted with a contractor-staffed information/pass sales desk, public restrooms, a climate controlled waiting area with seating, digital announcement & information boards for customers, and real-time trip arrival information. The Transit Center is one of the key challenge areas for The COMET. It is currently a social gathering place for a variety of non-transit activities.
The Transit Center is also a challenge operationally, as it lacks on-street boarding and alighting space. The facility is on a corner property, surrounded by businesses, parking lots and driveways, making it impossible to load more than a few buses at a single time. As the system grows, The COMET is looking for other sites to accommodate the service. Until a permanent large-scale facility is constructed, this will be the primary transit hub for downtown. The COMET has already begun a transit center location study, partnering with the Central Midland Council of Governments (CMCOG) to conduct an analysis of the downtown core. Step one is identifying the transit service corridors, followed by identifying all attainable property within that area. Second is identifying, from among those properties, all locations that can support a multi-modal center. Third is feasibility analysis: conducting stakeholder meetings and receiving input from neighboring businesses. Finally, a list of prioritized properties, in order of attainability based on support from neighboring businesses and price, will be presented to move forward. The study shall also look at potential park-and-ride locations, as well as satellite transfer points in suburban transit-friendly areas. Each of these sites will consider bicycle and pedestrian access for Columbia residents.
Multimodal Best Practices and Policies
An initial step for developing the transportation network in Columbia for all modes is to have policies in place to support development decisions in the future. Current research also provides best practices used across the country for bicycle and pedestrian access to transit facilities. One such study is the Improvement to Transit access for Cyclists and Pedestrians, Toolkit of Non-Motorized Infrastructure Best Practices, February 2012. The study identifies the following recommendations:
- **Shelter**: Providing a shelter at all transit stops and stations allows commuters protection from sun and from inclement weather. Shelters should be established outside of the pedestrian walking zone and with sufficient room for bus wheelchair lifts to load and unload passengers. If there is not adequate space to install a dedicated shelter, there should be awnings or overhangings on the surrounding buildings for commuters to stand beneath.
- **Seating**: Benches or seats should be provided at all transit stops and stations for commuters to rest while waiting for the bus or train. Elderly and disabled passengers often have difficulty standing for long periods. Seating should be installed within close proximity of transit stops and stations and under the provided shelter if feasible.
- **Wayfinding Signage**: Wayfinding signage at transit stops and stations helps users navigate the area and locate amenities, such as bicycle storage areas and passenger loading zones. Providing passengers with this information improves access to transit by removing barriers of potential users.
- **Bicycle Storage**: Providing bicycle storage at transit stops and stations allows commuters to combine their trips with greater convenience. Short-term bicycle racks are appropriate for bus stops where storage space in the public right-of-way is limited. Long-term storage facilities, such as lockers or enclosed storage rooms, should be provided at train stations in addition to bicycle racks for commuters that require all-day storage. Both short- and long-term parking facilities should be located near loading zones and, when possible, in view of station attendants. Racks cost approximately $200 per rack and lockers cost approximately $2000-$3000 per locker to install.
The following provide examples of effective policies supporting coordination of transit, bicycle and pedestrian modes.
- Promote convenient intermodal connections between all elements of the Columbia transportation network, including a transit system that incorporates easy bike and ped access.
- Promote transportation improvements that support the redevelopment of lower-density, auto-dominated arterials to become more pedestrian and transit compatible urban transportation corridors.
- Promote the development of local street patterns and pedestrian routes that provide access to transit services within convenient walking distance of homes, jobs, schools, stores, and other activity areas.
- Develop a coordinated network of facilities for pedestrians and bicycles which provides effective local mobility, accessibility to transit services and connections to and between centers.
- Support opportunities to redevelop the road system as multimodal public facilities which accommodate the needs of pedestrians, bicycles, transit, automobiles, and trucks.
- Provide opportunities for creation of town centers in urban areas that: (1) serve as focal points for neighborhoods and major activity areas; (2) include a mix of land uses, such as pedestrian-oriented commercial, transit stops, recreation and housing, and (3) encourage transit use, biking and walking through design and land use density.
- Support the transformation of low-density auto-oriented transportation corridors to higher-density mixed-use urban transportation corridors when redevelopment would not detract from centers or compact communities. Corridors that offer potential include those that are located near significant concentrations of residences or employment, and have the potential to support frequent transit service and increased pedestrian activity. Encourage the redevelopment of these arterials through:
- Addition of transit facilities, pedestrian-oriented retail, offices, housing, and public amenities,
- Building design and placement, street improvements, parking standards, and other measures that encourage pedestrian and transit travel, and
- Provision of pedestrian and bicycle connections between transportation corridors and nearby neighborhoods.
As the Midlands region continues to grow over the next decade, providing a viable transportation network for all modes becomes critical. The data included in this report provide guidance for policy and decision makers to improve transportation for all modes, including bicycle, transit and pedestrian connections.
Transportation
APPENDIX G: BIKE SPACE ANALYSIS
Introduction
A critical component of the bikeway network analysis was the use of Alta Planning + Design’s ‘BikeSpace’ model. BikeSpace is an analysis tool that excels at quickly identifying corridors with the greatest potential for striping dedicated bicycle facilities. It does not make recommendations for non-delineated bikeway treatments such as shared lane markings, bicycle boulevards, or signed bike routes. Assuming acceptable minimum widths for each roadway element, the model analyzes a number of roadway characteristics to retrofit bike lanes on each surveyed roadway segment. Factors used in this analysis include:
- Current roadway width
- Raised or painted median
- Number and width of travel lanes
- Presence and number of turn lanes and medians
- Location and utilization of on-street parking
- Presence of roadway shoulder
In some cases, the retrofit is simple and only requires the addition of a bike lane in readily available roadway space. Other corridors may be more challenging and require a tradeoff to stripe bike lanes. Though the model makes recommendations for bike lanes, its outcomes should not be considered a replacement for a striping plan. The model is useful in its ability to clearly illustrate locations where projects can be completed easily and locations where adding bike lanes may be challenging. The decision to narrow or eliminate a travel lane, or remove on-street parking will need to be carefully weighed against the benefits of adding bike lanes. The City of Columbia will need identify the impacts of altering the roadway’s existing condition and, as with any roadway retrofit, conduct careful field analyses and detailed engineering studies prior to striping bike lanes.
Retaining a uniform roadway configuration throughout a corridor can simplify travel for motorists and cyclists alike, creating a safer and more comfortable experience for all users. It is recognized that acceptable street characteristics vary by jurisdiction. For the purposes of the model, acceptable minimum roadway dimensions were based on local practices and set at the following:
- Travel lane width: 11 feet
- Right turn lane width: 10 feet
- Left or Center Turn Lane width: 10 feet
- Parking lane width: 7 feet
- Bike lane minimum width: 5 feet
- Buffered bike lane minimum width: 7 feet
- 1-way cycletrack minimum width: 9 feet
- 2-way cycletrack minimum width: 10 feet
- Threshold ADT for 5 or 4 to 3 lane road diet: 18,000 ADT
BikeSpace Outcomes
Analysis corridors were those corridors where delineated on-street bicycle facilities (bicycle lanes, buffered bike lanes, and cycle tracks) had been recommended as a part of this planning effort. BikeSpace results were used to help determine the near-term feasibility of proposed improvements and were incorporated into project prioritization.
In many instances the BikeSpace model recommends multiple implementation strategies for a given roadway segment. To determine the appropriate treatment, the model organizes its recommendations in order of the most preferred facility type. The order uses the first strategy (below) for a given segment of roadway and is given priority over succeeding strategies. Not all of the below options were possible strategies for all segments, but on many segments multiple strategies could be used to implement bike lanes. Each of the specific treatment recommendations is defined in detail below.
**Bike Lanes Fit Within Existing Roadway Configuration** – In this option, enough surplus road space exists to simply add the bike lane stripes and stencils without impacting the number of lanes or configuration of the roadway. This is by far the most desirable and easily implemented option available.
**Reconfigure Travel Lanes and/or Parking Lanes** – In this option, bike lanes can be added by simply adjusting wide travel lanes or parking lanes within the established minimums presented above. No reduction to the number of travel lanes or available parking is needed.
Candidate for ‘5 to 3’ or ‘4 to 3’ Road Diet – In this option, a reconfiguration of the existing travel lanes may be necessary. In areas with two travel lanes in either direction, it may make sense to remove two travel lanes and use the spare roadway width to stripe a center turn lane and two 5’ bike lanes. On roads with two travel lanes in each direction and a center turn lane, it may make sense to remove two travel lanes and use the spare roadway width to stripe buffered bike lanes or a cycle-track (either one-way or two-way). This treatment may not be appropriate on roads with high ADT.
Add Additional Pavement Width and Stripe Bike Lanes – In this option, it was determined that additional right-of-way was available along the corridor. Where no curbs exist along the segment it may be possible to pave a new roadway shoulder and stripe bike lanes.
Remove On-Street Parking – In this option, on-street parking may be removed on one side of the road. However this on-street parking configuration may currently be utilized in residential or commercial areas. This option is seen as a less desirable option and may only be considered as a last resort in short sections to maintain bike lane continuity. A full parking study should be conducted to determine if excess parking capacity exists before making changes to the roadway configuration.
Bike Lanes Will Not Fit – In this last case, the existing roadway geometry will not allow for the addition of bike lanes. Either a bike route or major reconstruction of the roadway may be necessary for bikeway continuity.
General Outcomes
The project team incorporated the BikeSpace analysis into the recommended bikeway network GIS files provided to the City and utilized this information in prioritizing the recommended bicycle network. This information can also be utilized to help determine an implementation strategy for individual projects, although detailed studies and engineering judgment should always be used in project development. The following table explains how to interpret the BikeSpace data within the recommendations GIS file attribute table. As discussed previously, the table presents all potential implementation strategies. However, these are ranked in terms of ease of implementation from easiest/least expensive to most difficult/most expensive. Therefore it is recommended that the implementation strategy that appears first in the list be the most highly considered.
| GIS Attribute Heading | Attribute Name | Potential Values | Notes |
|-----------------------|----------------|------------------|-------|
| Width_Blk | Is there sufficient width to add bike lanes? | 0 = no, 1 = yes | |
| Need_Blk | Need bike lanes based on volume? | 0 = no, 1 = yes | |
| Restr_Ex_Ln | Restripe existing outside lanes and add bike lanes | 0 = no, 1 = yes | Most preferred implementation strategy (least cost/easiest to implement) |
| Reconfig_Width | Reconfigure lane or parking widths and add bike lanes | 0 = no, 1 = yes | |
| Rd_Dt_Can | Candidate for Road Diet | 0 = no, 1 = yes | Road diets are generally 4 or 5 lane roads reduced to 3 lanes |
| No_Lns_Rem | Number of lanes remaining after road diet | value = number of lanes | |
| Rem_Park | Bike lane implementation would require removal of parking lanes | 0 = no, 1 = yes | |
| Add_Width | Bike lanes will not fit within the existing roadway. Add additional roadway width and stripe bike lanes | 0 = no, 1 = yes | Least preferred implementation strategy (most cost/most difficult to implement) |
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Pedestrian and bicycle access to transit stops is critical to the safety and convenience of transit users in Columbia. Share your thoughts on how to create more transit stops in Columbia that provide safe and comfortable access for pedestrians and bicyclists.
A lack of sidewalks, ADA-accessible features or other key elements of a transit stop can reduce the overall convenience, and overall practicality of using transit.
What would make transit in Columbia more convenient and practical for you?
- Bus shelters
- More frequent stops
- Buses that come more frequently so you don’t wait forever for the next bus
Bus stops and sidewalks to stop
Way they don’t feel safe - walking areas
Smart streets - sidewalks + protected bike lanes
Providence connections to Greenway + major East West North South bike routes
Timeliness! #4 is always late.
Ensuring existing laws w/regard to sharing the road.
Frequent schedules for the walks!
Ready Stop West & Assembly St.
Not frequent than hourly.
Bicycle racks on buses, which feature are critical to being practical, and inviting cities.
Charlotte Airport shuttle every hour w/ wifi/movies
More frequent stops
Signs w/ timetables
APPENDIX H: POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION FUNDING SOURCES
Introduction
This report outlines sources of funding for pedestrian and bicycle projects in Columbia, SC. When considering possible funding sources for the Columbia pedestrian and bicycle network, it is important to consider that not all construction activities will be accomplished with a single funding source. Pedestrian and bicycle funding is administered at all levels of government, federal, state, local and through private sources. The following sections identify potential matching and major funding sources, and the criteria for pedestrian and bicycle projects and programs.
The Implementation Chapter of this Plan provides further guidance regarding the recommended structure for Columbia County’s community-driven efforts to generate volunteer investment and secure local private and public sector funds for implementation.
Federal Funding Sources
Federal funding is typically directed through state agencies to local governments either in the form of grants or direct appropriations, independent from state budgets. Federal funding typically requires a local match of 20%, although there are sometimes exceptions, such as the recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funds, which did not require a match.
The following is a list of possible Federal funding sources that could be used to support construction of many pedestrian and bicycle improvements. Most of these are competitive, and involve the completion of extensive applications with clear documentation of the project need, costs, and benefits. It should be noted that the FHWA encourages the construction of pedestrian and bicycle facilities as an incidental element of larger ongoing projects. Examples include providing paved shoulders on new and reconstructed roads, or building sidewalks, on-street bikeways, trails and marked crosswalks as part of new highways.
The FHWA has recently put together a table that outlines pedestrian and bicycle funding opportunities by improvement type within the US Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration and Federal Highway Funding that is helpful as a reference supplement to this chapter: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/funding_opportunities.cfm
MOVING AHEAD FOR PROGRESS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY (MAP-21)
The largest source of federal funding for bicyclists and pedestrians is the US DOT’s Federal-Aid Highway Program, which Congress has reauthorized roughly every six years since the passage of the Federal-Aid Road Act of 1916. The latest act, Moving Ahead for Progress in the Twenty-First Century (MAP-21) was enacted in July 2012 as Public Law 112-141. The Act replaces the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act – a Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which was valid from August 2005 - June 2012.
MAP-21 authorizes funding for federal surface transportation programs including highways and transit for the 27 month period between July 2012 and September 2014. It is not possible to guarantee the continued availability of any listed MAP-21 programs, or to predict their future funding levels or policy guidance. Nevertheless, many of these programs have been included in some form since the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) in 1991, and thus may continue to provide capital for active transportation projects and programs.
In South Carolina, federal monies are administered through the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). Most, but not all, of these programs are oriented toward transportation versus recreation, with an emphasis on reducing auto trips and providing inter-modal connections. Federal funding is intended for capital improvements and safety and education programs, and projects must relate to the surface transportation system.
There are a number of programs identified within MAP-21 that are applicable to pedestrian and bicycle projects. These programs are discussed below.
More information: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/map21/summaryinfo.cfm
TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES
Transportation Alternatives (TA) is a new funding source under MAP-21 that consolidates three formerly separate programs under SAFETEA-LU: Transportation Enhancements (TE), Safe Routes to School (SRTS), and the Recreational Trails Program (RTP). These funds may be used for a variety of pedestrian, bicycle, and streetscape projects including sidewalks, bikeways, multi-use paths, and rail-trails. TA funds may also be used for selected education and encouragement programming such as Safe Routes to School, despite the fact that TA does not provide a guaranteed set-aside for this activity as SAFETEA-LU did. South Carolina’s Governor did not opt-out of the Recreational Trails Program funds, ensuring that dedicated funds for recreational trails continue to be provided as a subset of TA. MAP-21 provides $85 million nationally for the RTP.
Complete eligibilities for TA include:
1. **Transportation Alternatives** as defined by Section 1103 (a) (29). This category includes the construction, planning, and design of a range of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure including “on-road and off-road trail facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other active forms of transportation, including sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian and bicycle signals, traffic calming techniques, lighting and other safety-related infrastructure, and transportation projects to achieve compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.” Infrastructure projects and systems that provide “Safe Routes for Non-Drivers” is a new eligible activity.
For the complete list of eligible activities, visit: [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/transportation_enhancements/legislation/map21.cfm](http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/transportation_enhancements/legislation/map21.cfm)
2. **Recreational Trails**. TA funds may be used to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both active and motorized recreational trail uses. Examples of trail uses include hiking, bicycling, in-line skating, equestrian use, and other active and motorized uses. These funds are available for both paved and unpaved trails, but may not be used to improve roads for general passenger vehicle use or to provide shoulders or sidewalks along roads.
Recreational Trails Program funds may be used for:
- Maintenance and restoration of existing trails
- Purchase and lease of trail construction and maintenance equipment
- Construction of new trails, including unpaved trails
- Acquisition or easements of property for trails
- State administrative costs related to this program (limited to seven percent of a state’s funds)
- Operation of educational programs to promote safety and environmental protection related to trails (limited to five percent of a state’s funds)
Under MAP-21, dedicated funding for the RTP continues at FY 2009 levels – roughly $85 million annually. South Carolina will receive $1,211,220 in RTP funds per year through FY2014. Grant applications are typically due in April of 2013. More info on administration of the Recreational Trails Program in South Carolina can be found through the following site: [http://www.scprt.com/our-partners/grants/trails.aspx](http://www.scprt.com/our-partners/grants/trails.aspx)
3. **Safe Routes to School**. The purpose of the Safe Routes to Schools eligibility is to promote safe, healthy alternatives to riding the bus or being driven to school. All projects must be within two miles of primary or middle schools (K-8).
Eligible projects may include:
- **Engineering improvements** These physical improvements are designed to reduce potential pedestrian and bicycle conflicts with motor vehicles. Physical improvements may also reduce motor vehicle traffic volumes around schools, establish safer and more accessible crossings, or construct walkways, trails or bikeways. Eligible projects include sidewalk improvements, traffic calming/speed reduction, pedestrian and bicycle crossing improvements, on-street bicycle facilities, off-street pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and secure bicycle parking facilities.
- **Education and Encouragement Efforts**. These programs are designed to teach children safe bicycling and walking skills while educating them about the health benefits, and environmental impacts. Projects and programs may include creation, distribution and implementation of educational materials; safety based field trips; interactive bicycle/pedestrian safety video games, and promotional events and activities (e.g., assemblies, bicycle rodeos, walking school buses).
- **Enforcement Efforts**. These programs aim to ensure that traffic laws near schools are obeyed. Law enforcement activities apply to cyclists, pedestrians and motor vehicles alike. Projects may include development of a crossing guard program, enforcement equipment, photo enforcement, and pedestrian sting operations.
In South Carolina, SRTS projects utilizing the remaining SAFETEA-LU funding require no matching funds by the local implementing agency. However, all SRTS projects moving forward that utilize MAP-21 TA funding require a 20% monetary match.
4. **Planning, designing, or constructing roadways within the right-of-way of former Interstate routes or divided highways**. At the time of writing, detailed guidance from the Federal Highway Administration on this new eligible activity was not available.
Average annual funds available through TA over the life of MAP-21 equal $814 million nationally, which is based on a 2% set-aside of total MAP-21 authorizations. TA apportionments for 2013 and 2014 were slightly around 2.8 million for urbanized areas with populations more than 200,000 people. It is likely that 2015 funding will be substantially less due to a smaller overall apportionment of MAP-21 funding (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/Map21/funding.cfm). State DOTs may elect to transfer up to 50% of TA funds to other highway programs, so the amount listed above represents the maximum potential funding.
TA funds are typically allocated through the planning districts. Columbia’s funding would come through the MPO. TA funds require a 20 percent local match and must be administered by either SCDOT or a qualified Local Public Agency (LPA).
**SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM (GUIDESHARE)**
The Surface Transportation Program (STP) provides states with flexible funds which may be used for a variety of highway, road, bridge, and transit projects. A wide variety of pedestrian and bicycle improvements are eligible, including on-street bicycle facilities, off-street trails, sidewalks, crosswalks, pedestrian and bicycle signals, parking, and other ancillary facilities. Modification of sidewalks to comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is also an eligible activity. Unlike most highway projects, STP-funded pedestrian and bicycle facilities may be located on local and collector roads which are not part of the Federal-aid Highway System. Fifty percent of each state’s STP funds are suballocated geographically by population. These funds are funneled through SCDOT to the MPOs in the state. The remaining 50% may be spent in any area of the state. In South Carolina, STP is known as Guideshare.
In 2014 the total amount of estimated Guideshare funding for COATS is $10,483,916. Total STP funding in 2015 is projected to be 35% less than 2014 levels statewide, so COATS’s allocation will likely drop as well. It should also be noted that these numbers are far behind projected Guideshare funding estimates in the 2009 COATS Long Range Transportation Plan (which estimates $13,860,000 in 2014 and $15,523,200 in 2015).
**SOUTH CAROLINA C FUNDS**
South Carolina has a long-established program that provides funding to counties to administer projects on state and local roads. Funding for this program comes from a portion of State fuel tax revenues. Up to 75% of these funds may be used for projects on local-jurisdiction roadways, with the remainder being utilized on State-jurisdiction roadways. Bikeway and sidewalk improvements as a part of repaving or reconstruction are eligible project types. In FY 2014-2015, Richland County received $3,355,300 for C-fund projects.
More information on the C-fund program can be found here: http://www.scdot.org/doing/cprogram.aspx
**HIGHWAY SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM**
MAP-21 doubles the amount of funding available through the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) relative to SAFETEA-LU. HSIP provides $2.4 billion nationally for projects and programs that help communities achieve significant reductions in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, bikeways, and walkways. Infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects are eligible for HSIP funds. Pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements, enforcement activities, traffic calming projects, and crossing treatments for active transportation users in school zones are examples of eligible projects. All HSIP projects must be consistent with the state’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
Pedestrian and Bicycle strategies identified in the 2014 Draft SHSP include engineering bike lanes, sidewalks and shared-use paths, especially where supported by crash data, educational programs and targeted enforcement.
*Last updated in 2007, the SCDOT SHSP is located here: http://www.scdot.org/inside/pdfs/Multimodal/Road_Map.pdf*
**CONGESTION MITIGATION/AIR QUALITY PROGRAM**
The Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) provides funding for projects and programs in air quality nonattainment and maintenance areas for ozone, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter which reduce transportation related emissions. States with no nonattainment areas such as South Carolina may use their CMAQ funds for any CMAQ or STP eligible project. These federal dollars can be used to build pedestrian and bicycle facilities that reduce travel by automobile. Purely recreational facilities generally are not eligible.
PARTNERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
The Partnership for Sustainable Communities is a joint project of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). The partnership aims to “improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment in communities nationwide.” It is based on five Livability Principles, one of which explicitly addresses the need for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure (“Provide more transportation choices: Develop safe, reliable, and economical transportation choices to decrease household transportation costs, reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote public health”).
It is not a formal agency with a regular annual grant program. Nevertheless, it is an important effort that has already led to some new grant opportunities (including the TIGER grants). Columbia should track Partnership communications and be prepared to respond proactively to announcements of new grant programs.
More information: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/partnership/
RIVERS, TRAILS, AND CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
The Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA) is a National Parks Service (NPS) program providing technical assistance via direct NPS staff involvement to establish and restore greenways, rivers, trails, watersheds and open space. The program only provides planning assistance. Projects are prioritized for assistance based on criteria including conserving significant community resources, fostering cooperation between agencies, serving a large number of users, encouraging public involvement in planning and implementation, and focusing on lasting accomplishments. This program may benefit trail development in Columbia and the region indirectly through technical assistance, particularly for community organizations, but is not be considered a future capital funding source.
More information: http://www.nps.gov/orgs/rtca/apply.htm
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS
The Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program provides money for streetscape revitalization. Federal CDBG grantees may “use Community Development Block Grants funds for activities that include (but are not limited to): acquiring real property; reconstructing or rehabilitating housing and other property; building public facilities and improvements, such as streets, sidewalks, community and senior citizen centers and recreational facilities; paying for planning and administrative expenses, such as costs related to developing a consolidated plan and managing Community Development Block Grants funds; provide public services for youths, seniors, or the disabled; and initiatives such as neighborhood watch programs.”
Trails and greenway projects that enhance accessibility are the best fit for this funding source. CDBG funds could also be used to write an ADA Transition Plans. Columbia currently regularly receives CDBG funds annually for local disbursement – 2014 award amounts totaled $950,277.
More information: www.hud.gov/cdbg
COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION GRANTS
Community Transformation Grants administered through the Center for Disease Control support community-level efforts to reduce chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. Active transportation infrastructure and programs that promote healthy lifestyles are a good fit for this program, particularly if the benefits of such improvements accrue to population groups experiencing the greatest burden of chronic disease.
In past years, SCDHEC has received over $4.5 M annually in grant money from this program and has used it to fund internal position and has administered it to various programs across the state such as Eat Smart Move More!
More info: http://www.cdc.gov/communitytransformation/
LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND (LWCF)
The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) provides grants for planning and acquiring outdoor recreation areas and facilities, including trails. Funds can be used for right-of-way acquisition and construction. The program is administered by the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism as a grant program. Any Trails and Greenways Plan projects located in future parks could benefit from planning and land acquisition funding through the LWCF. Trail corridor acquisition can be funded with LWCF grants as well. This program requires a 50-50 match – applications are due in the spring.
More information: http://www.scprt.com/our-partners/grants/lwcf.aspx
FEDERAL LANDS ACCESS PROGRAM (FLAP)
FLAP is a grant program initiated by the MAP-21 transportation bill that provides funding specifically for access on or to federal lands – this includes bicycle and pedestrian improvements. In Columbia, this could be specifically for projects that connect to Congaree Swamp National Monument Wilderness.
Unless reauthorized, the funding for this program will expire with MAP-21, for more information on this program, refer to the following website: http://www.elf.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/federal-lands-access.aspx
EPA GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT SOURCES
The City of Columbia had a Consent Decree Order and resulting settlement with the EPA in 2013 as a result of sanitary sewer overflow and effluent limit exceedances (http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/columbia-south-carolina-clean-water-act-settlement). As a result of the Order and Settlement, Columbia must assess and rehabilitate its sewer system within 12 years at a total estimated cost of $750 million. This projected work presents opportunities for the City to address
some of its pedestrian and bicycle-infrastructure deficiencies in conjunction with both “green” roadway projects and sanitary sewer system improvements.
The EPA offers a number of grant resources that serve to improve clean water in communities such as the EPA Clean Water State Revolving Fund, EPA Clean Water Act Nonpoint Source Grant and EPA Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Grants. More information on these, and other funding sources can be found through the EPA’s website: http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greenvinfrastructure/gi_funding.cfm
**NEW FREEDOM INITIATIVE**
MAP-21 continues this initiative under Section 5310 – Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities. Section 5310 provides capital and operating costs to provide transportation services and facility improvements that exceed those required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Examples of pedestrian/accessibility projects funded in other communities through the New Freedom Initiative include installing Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS), enhancing transit stops to improve accessibility, and establishing a mobility coordinator position. In 2013 and 2014, over $250 M dollars were available nationwide through this grant program, 60% of this available to urbanized areas with populations over 200,000. Funds granted through this program require a 20% local match.
*More information: http://www.hhs.gov/newfreedom/*
**PILOT TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT PLANNING**
MAP-21 establishes a new pilot program to promote planning for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). This program provides $10 M a year nationally for TOD planning and awards grants on a competitive basis. Planning programs can include efforts that facilitate “multimodal connectivity and accessibility” and “increase access to transit hubs for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.”
**OTHER FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION FUNDING SOURCES FOR PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE, BICYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND BIKE SHARE.**
Most FTA funding can be used to fund pedestrian and bicycle projects “that enhance or are related to public transportation facilities.”
According to the FTA, an FTA grantee may use any of the following programs under Title 49, Chapter 53, of the United States Code to fund capital projects for pedestrian and bicycle access to a public transportation facility:
- Section 5307 Urbanized Area Formula Program;
- Section 5309 New Starts and Small Starts Major Capital Investment Programs;
- Section 5309 Fixed Guideway Modernization Program;
- Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities Discretionary Program;
- Section 5310 Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities Formula Program;
- Section 5311 Non-Urbanized Area Formula Program;
- Section 5311 Public Transportation on Indian Reservations;
- Section 5316 Job Access & Reverse Commute Formula Program;
- Section 5317 New Freedom Program; and,
- Section 5320 Paul S. Sarbanes Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands.
**ADDITIONAL FEDERAL FUNDING**
The landscape of federal funding opportunities for pedestrian and bicycle programs and projects is always changing. A number of Federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency have offered grant programs amenable to pedestrian and bicycle planning and implementation, and may do so again in the future.
*For up-to-date information about grant programs through all federal agencies, see: http://www.grants.gov/*
**CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL GRANT OPPORTUNITIES**
The CDC provides funding opportunities for several different organization and jurisdiction types that can potentially support pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, planning or other support programs. An overview of these different programs and funding cycles can be found here: (http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/features/funding-opportunity-announcements.htm, http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/2014-foa-awards.htm#stateLocal).
As an example of a project type, the YMCA of Greater Cleveland was awarded close to $1M in funding in 2014 to administer funding of a citywide protected bikeway plan and transportation-related Health Impact Assessments, among other projects.
State Funding Sources
The following is a list of possible State funding sources that could be used to support construction of many pedestrian and bicycle improvements in Columbia County.
SOUTH CAROLINA TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE BANK
The South Carolina Transportation Infrastructure Bank (SCTIB) is a statewide revolving loan fund designed in 1997 to assist major transportation projects in excess of $100 million in value. The SCTIB has since approved more than $4.5 billion in financial assistance and is arguably the largest and most active State Infrastructure Bank in the country. SCTIB funded development of the Palmetto Parkway in Aiken County, which included development of a roughly five mile multi-use trail within the parkway’s right of way.
More information: http://sctib.sc.gov/Pages/default.aspx
SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION – CAPITAL PROJECTS
Columbia County should work closely with SCDOT to include pedestrian and bicycle improvements as part of major projects. The two groups should cooperate on a regular basis to identify opportunities for implementation of the Columbia Pedestrian and Bicycle master Plan.
SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION – MAINTENANCE PROGRAM
The South Carolina Department of Transportation carries out a number of road resurfacing maintenance projects annually. There may be opportunities for road restriping to be completed as part of regular roadway maintenance. This will require coordination between the City of Columbia, the SCDOT District Traffic Engineer and the local maintenance office to ensure that the pavement marking design is appropriate and safe for cyclists and drivers.
SOUTH CAROLINA PARKS AND RECREATION DEVELOPMENT FUND (PARD)
The PARD grant program is a state funded non-competitive reimbursable grant program for eligible local governments or special purposes district entities within each county which provide recreational opportunities. The fund requires a 20% cash or in-kind match. The following bullets highlight characteristics of the grant program.
• Monthly grant cycle
• Non-competitive program available to eligible local governmental entities within each county area for development of new public recreation facilities or enhancement/renovations to existing facilities.
• Projects need endorsement of majority weighted vote factor of County Legislative Delegation Members.
• This is an 80-20 match program
• Application Deadline is the 10th of each month
PARD funding is allocated on a county-by-county basis and comes from a portion of the State’s bingo revenues. In 2013, insufficient revenue was generated to fund the PARD program. Richland County has failed to generate sufficient bingo revenue to fund the program in the past several years, but this could change in the future.
More information: http://www.scprt.com/our-partners/grants/pard.aspx
STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
The Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) is SCDOT’s short-term capital improvement program, providing project funding and scheduling information for the department and South Carolina’s metropolitan planning organizations. The program provides guidance for the next six years and is updated every three years. The South Carolina Department of Transportation Commission, as well as the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approve the STIP.
In developing this funding program, SCDOT must verify that the identified projects comply with existing transportation and comprehensive plans. The STIP must fulfill federal planning requirements for a staged, multi-year, statewide, intermodal program of transportation projects. Specific transportation projects are prioritized based on Federal planning requirements and the specific State plans.
More information: http://www.scdot.org/inside/stip.aspx
Local Government Funding Sources
Local funding sources that would support bike facility project construction will most likely be limited but should be explored to support Columbia County active transportation projects.
METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are federally required regional transportation planning organizations. MPOs are responsible for planning and prioritizing all federally funded transportation improvements within an urbanized area.
The Columbia Area Transportation Study (COATS) is the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the City and surrounding urban areas (http://www.centralmidlands.org). MPOs are a partnership between local and state government that makes decisions about transportation planning in urbanized areas and meets planning requirements established by federally authorizing legislation for transportation funding. COATS works cooperatively with SCDOT to develop transportation plans, travel models, transit plans, and pedestrian and bicycle plans. COATS works with the state on funding issues for transportation improvements, project planning issues, and other issues such as environmental and air quality concerns. COATS also works with local governments to coordinate land use and transportation planning.
MPOs maintain a long-range transportation plan (LRTP) and develop a transportation improvement program (TIP) to develop a fiscally constrained program based on the long-range transportation plan and designed to serve the region’s goals while using spending, regulating, operating, management, and financial tools. This Plan recommends that the City and its partners continue to work closely with COATS to ensure pedestrian, bikeways and transit improvement projects recommended in this Plan are listed in the TIP.
GENERAL FUND
The General Fund is often used to pay for maintenance expenses and limited capital improvement projects. Projects identified for reconstruction or re-pavement as part of the Capital Improvements list should also incorporate recommendations for bicycle or pedestrian improvements in order to reduce additional costs. More information on the City of Columbia budget and General Fund can be found here: http://www.columbiasc.net/budget-office/current-prior-budgets
LOCAL BOND MEASURES
Local bond measures, or levies, are usually general obligation bonds for specific projects. Bond measures are typically limited by time based on the debt load of the local government or the project under focus. Funding from bond measures can be used for engineering, design and construction of trails, greenways, and pedestrian and bicycle facilities. A bond issued in Denver, Colorado funded $5 million for trail development and also funded the City’s bike planner for several years. In 2012, voters in Austin, Texas approved a $143 million bond measure to fund a variety of mobility and active transportation projects. A project paid for with a bond measure will need to be repaid through a designated revenue stream such as parking revenues or other user fees.
STORMWATER UTILITY FEES
Stormwater charges are typically based on an estimate of the amount of impervious surface on a user’s property. Impervious surfaces (such as rooftops and paved areas) increase both the amount and rate of stormwater runoff compared to natural conditions. Such surfaces cause runoff that directly or indirectly discharges into public storm drainage facilities and creates a need for stormwater management services. Thus, users with more impervious surface are charged more for stormwater service than users with less impervious surface.
The rates, fees, and charges collected for stormwater management services may not exceed the costs incurred to provide these services. The costs that may be recovered through the stormwater rates, fees, and charges includes any costs necessary to assure that all aspects of stormwater quality and quantity are managed in accordance with federal and state laws, regulations, and rules. Open space may be purchased with stormwater fees, if the property in question is used to mitigate floodwater or filter pollutants.
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CHARGES/DEVELOPER IMPACT FEES
System Development Charges (SDCs), also known as Developer Impact Fees, represent another potential local funding source. SDCs are typically tied to trip generation rates and traffic impacts produced by a proposed project. A developer may reduce the number of trips (and hence impacts and cost) by paying for on- or off-site pedestrian improvements that will encourage residents to walk (or use transit, if available) rather than drive. In-lieu parking fees may be used to help construct new or improved pedestrian facilities. Establishing a clear nexus or connection between the impact fee and the project’s impacts is critical in avoiding a potential lawsuit.
STREET USER FEES
Many cities administer street user fees through residents’ monthly water or other utility bills. The revenue generated by the fee can be used for operations and maintenance of the street system, and priorities would be established by the Public Works Department. Revenue from this fund can be used to maintain on-street pedestrian and bicycle facilities, including routine sweeping of bicycle lanes and other designated bicycle routes.
IN LIEU OF FEES
Developers often dedicate open space or greenways in exchange for waiving fees associated with park and open space allocation requirements in respect to proposed development. These types of requirements are presented within local municipal codes and ordinances.
UTILITY LEASE REVENUE
A method to generate revenues from land leased to utilities for locating utility infrastructure on municipally owned parcels. This can improve capital budgets and support financial interest in property that would not otherwise create revenue for the government.
LOCAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS (LIDS)
Local Improvement Districts (LIDs) are most often used by cities to construct localized projects such as streets, sidewalks or bikeways. Through the LID process, the costs of local improvements are generally spread out among a group of property owners within a specified area. The cost can be allocated based on property frontage or other methods such as traffic trip generation. Based on South Carolina’s Municipal Improvements Act of 1999, LIDs can include a Municipal Improvement District (MID), a County Public Works Improvement District (CPWID) or a Residential Improvement District (RID).
Several cities have successfully used LID funds to make improvements on residential streets and for large scale arterial projects. LIDs formed to finance commercial street development can be “full cost,” in which the property assessments are entirely borne by the property owners.
BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREA OR DISTRICT (BIA OR BID)
Trail development and pedestrian and bicycle improvements can often be included as part of larger efforts aimed at business improvement and retail district beautification. Business Improvement Areas collect levies on businesses in order to fund area wide improvements that benefit businesses and improve access for customers. These districts may include provisions for pedestrian and bicycle improvements, including as wider sidewalks, landscaping and ADA compliance.
SALES TAX
Local governments that choose to exercise a local option sales tax use the tax revenues to provide funding for a wide variety of projects and activities. Columbia has included pedestrian and bicycle projects as part of the county-wide one-cent sales tax addendum. In 2012, Richland County voters passed a 1% sales addendum to fund $1.07 billion in transportation improvements county-wide over the following 22 years. $81 M of this revenue will go towards sidewalks, bike lanes and greenways. This should prove to be a huge boon to walking and bicycling in the region in the coming years.
More Information: http://www.richlandonline.com/Government/TransportationPenny.aspx
PROPERTY TAX
Property taxes generally support a significant portion of a local government’s activities. However, the revenues from property taxes can also be used to pay debt service on general obligation bonds issued to finance open space system acquisitions. Because of limits imposed on tax rates, use of property taxes to fund open space could limit the county’s or municipality’s ability to raise funds for other activities. Property taxes can provide a steady stream of financing while broadly distributing the tax burden. In other parts of the country, this mechanism has been popular with voters as long as the increase is restricted to parks and open space. It should be noted that other public agencies compete vigorously for these funds, and taxpayers are generally concerned about high property tax rates.
EXCISE TAXES
Excise taxes are taxes on specific goods and services. These taxes require special legislation and the use of the funds generated through the tax are limited to specific uses. Examples include lodging, food, and beverage taxes that generate funds for promotion of tourism, and the gas tax that generates revenues for transportation-related activities.
TAX INCREMENT FINANCING (TIF)
Tax Increment Financing is a tool to use future gains in taxes to finance the current improvements that will create those gains. When a public project (e.g., shared use trail) is constructed, surrounding property values generally increase and encourage surrounding development or redevelopment. The increased tax revenues are then dedicated to support the debt created by the original public improvement project. More information on the legal requirements for TIF for Redevelopment Projects can be found here:
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/#3C006.php
Private Sector Funding Sources
Many communities have solicited greenway funding assistance from private foundations and other conservation-minded benefactors. Below are several examples of private funding opportunities available.
BIKES BELONG GRANT PROGRAM
The Bikes Belong Coalition of bicycle suppliers and retailers has awarded $1.2 million and leveraged an additional $470 million since its inception in 1999. The program funds corridor improvements, mountain bike trails, BMX parks, trails, and park access. It is funded by the Bikes Belong Employee Pro Purchase Program.
More information: http://www.bikesbelong.org/grants/
THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was established as a national philanthropy in 1972 and today it is the largest U.S. foundation devoted to improving the health and health care of all Americans. Grant making is concentrated in four areas:
- To assure that all Americans have access to basic health care at a reasonable cost
- To improve care and support for people with chronic health conditions
- To promote healthy communities and lifestyles
- To reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse: tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs
More information: http://www.rwjf.org/applications/
BANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, INC.
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation is one of the largest in the nation. The primary grants program is called Neighborhood Excellence, which seeks to identify critical issues in local communities. Another program that applies to greenways is the Community Development Programs, and specifically the Program Related Investments. This program targets low and moderate income communities and serves to encourage entrepreneurial business development.
More information: http://www.bankofamerica.com/foundation
THE WALMART FOUNDATION
The Walmart Foundation offers a Local, State, and National Giving Program. The Local Giving Program awards grants of $250 to $5,000 through local Walmart and Sam’s Club Stores. Application opportunities are announced annually in February with a final deadline for applications in December. The State Giving Program provides grants of $25,000 to $250,000 to 50c3 nonprofits working within one of five focus areas: Hunger Relief & Nutrition, Education, Environ-mental Sustainability, Women’s Economic Empowerment, or Workforce Development. The program has two application cycles per year: January through March and June through August. The Walmart Foundation’s National Giving Program awards grants of $250,000 and more, but does not accept unsolicited applications.
More information: http://foundation.walmart.com/apply-for-grants
DUKE ENERGY FOUNDATION
Funded by Duke Energy shareholders, this non-profit organization makes charitable grants to selected non-profits or governmental subdivisions. Each annual grant must have:
- An internal Duke Energy business “sponsor”
- A clear business reason for making the contribution
The grant program has three focus areas: Environment and Energy Efficiency, Economic Development, and Community Vitality. Related to this project, the Foundation would support programs that support conservation, training and research around environmental and energy efficiency initiatives.
More information: http://www.duke-energy.com/community/foundation.asp
THE KODAK AMERICAN GREENWAYS PROGRAM
The Conservation Fund’s American Greenways Program has teamed with the Eastman Kodak Corporation and the National Geographic Society to award small grants ($250 to $2,000) to stimulate the planning, design and development of greenways. These grants can be used for activities such as mapping, conducting ecological assessments, surveying land, holding conferences, developing brochures, producing interpretive displays, incorporating land trusts, and building trails. Grants cannot be used for academic research, institutional support, lobbying or political activities.
More information: http://www.conservationfund.org
NATIONAL TRAILS FUND
American Hiking Society created the National Trails Fund in 1998, the only privately supported national grants program providing funding to grassroots organizations working toward establishing, protecting and maintaining foot trails in America. 73 million people enjoy foot trails annually, yet many of our favorite trails need major repairs due to a $200 million backlog of badly needed maintenance. National Trails Fund grants help give local organizations the resources they need to secure access, volunteers, tools and materials to protect America’s cherished public trails. To date, American Hiking has granted more than $240,000 to 56 different trail projects across the U.S. for land acquisition, constituency building campaigns, and traditional trail work projects. Awards range from $500 to $10,000 per project.
Projects the American Hiking Society will consider include:
- Securing trail lands, including acquisition of trails and trail corridors, and the costs associated with acquiring conservation easements.
- Building and maintaining trails which will result in visible and substantial ease of access, improved hiker safety, and/or avoidance of environmental damage.
- Constituency building surrounding specific trail projects - including volunteer recruitment and support.
More information: http://www.americanhiking.org/alliance/fund.html
THE CONSERVATION ALLIANCE
The Conservation Alliance is a non-profit organization of outdoor businesses whose collective annual membership dues support grassroots citizen-action groups and their efforts to protect wild and natural areas. One hundred percent of its member companies’ dues go directly to diverse, local community groups across the nation—groups like Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, The Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the South Yuba River Citizens’ League, RESTORE: The North Woods and the Sinkyone Wilderness Council (a Native American-owned/operated wilderness park). For these groups, who seek to protect the last great wild lands and waterways from resource extraction and commercial development, the Alliance’s grants are substantial in size (about $35,000 each), and have often made the difference between success and defeat. Since its inception in 1989, The Conservation Alliance has contributed $4,775,059 to grassroots environmental groups across the nation, and its member companies are proud of the results. To date the groups funded have saved over 34 million acres of wild lands and 14 dams have been either prevented or removed—all through grassroots community efforts.
The Conservation Alliance is a unique funding source for grassroots environmental groups. It is the only environmental grant maker whose funds come from a potent yet largely untapped constituency for protection of ecosystems – the active transportation outdoor recreation industry and its customers. This industry has great incentive to protect the places in which people use the clothing, hiking boots, tents and backpacks it sells. The industry is also uniquely positioned to educate outdoor enthusiasts about threats to wild places, and engage them to take action. Finally, when it comes to decision-makers, especially those in the Forest Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management, this industry has clout - an important tool that small advocacy groups can wield.
The Conservation Alliance Funding Criteria: The Project should be focused primarily on direct citizen action to protect and enhance our natural resources for recreation. The Alliance does not look for mainstream education or scientific research projects, but rather for active campaigns. All projects should be quantifiable, with specific goals, objectives and action plans and should include a measure for evaluating success. The project should have a good chance for closure or significant measurable results over a fairly short term (one to two years). Funding emphasis may not be on general operating expenses or staff payroll.
More information: http://www.conservationalliance.com/index.m
NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION (NFWF)
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is a private, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization chartered by Congress in 1984. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation sustains, restores, and enhances the Nation’s fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Through leadership conservation investments with public and private partners, the Foundation is dedicated to achieving maximum conservation impact by developing and applying best practices and innovative methods for measurable outcomes.
The Foundation awards matching grants under its Keystone Initiatives to achieve measurable outcomes in the conservation of fish, wildlife, plants and the habitats on which they depend. Awards are made on a competitive basis to eligible grant recipients, including federal, tribal, state, and local governments, educational institutions, and non-profit conservation organizations. Project proposals are received on a year-round, revolving basis with two decision cycles per year. Grants generally range from $50,000-$300,000 and typically require a minimum 2:1 non-federal match.
Funding priorities include bird, fish, marine/coastal, and wildlife and habitat conservation. Other projects that are considered include controlling invasive species, enhancing delivery of ecosystem services in agricultural systems, minimizing the impact on wildlife of emerging energy sources, and developing future conservation leaders and professionals.
More information: http://www.nfwf.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Grants
THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
Land conservation is central to the mission of the Trust for Public Land (TPL). Founded in 1972, the Trust for Public Land is the only national nonprofit working exclusively to protect land for human enjoyment and wellbeing. TPL helps conserve land for recreation and spiritual nourishment and to improve the health and quality of life of American communities. Also, TPL is the leading organization helping agencies and communities identify and create funds for conservation from federal, state, local, and philanthropic sources.
Since 1996, TPL has helped states and communities craft and pass over 382 successful ballot measures, generating $34 billion in new conservation-related funding.
More information: http://www.tpl.org/what-we-do/services/conservation-finance/
COMMUNITY ACTION FOR A RENEWED ENVIRONMENT (CARE)
CARE is a competitive grant program that offers an innovative way for a community to organize and take action to reduce toxic pollution in its local environment. Through CARE, a community creates a partnership that implements solutions to reduce releases of toxic pollutants and minimize people’s exposure to them. By providing financial and technical assistance, EPA helps CARE communities get on the path to a renewed environment. Transportation and “smart-growth” types of projects are eligible. Grants range between $90,000 and $275,000.
More information: http://www.epa.gov/care/
LOCAL TRAIL SPONSORS
A sponsorship program for trail amenities allows smaller donations to be received from both individuals and businesses. Cash donations could be placed into a trust fund to be accessed for certain construction or acquisition projects associated with the greenways and open space system. Some recognition of the donors is appropriate and can be accomplished through the placement of a plaque, the naming of a trail segment, and/or special recognition at an opening ceremony. Types of gifts other than cash could include donations of services, equipment, labor, or reduced costs for supplies.
CORPORATE DONATIONS
Corporate donations are often received in the form of liquid investments (i.e. cash, stock, bonds) and in the form of land. Employers recognize that creating places to bike and walk is one way to build community and attract a quality work force. Bicycling and outdoor recreation businesses often support local projects and programs. Municipalities typically create funds to facilitate and simplify a transaction from a corporation’s donation to the given municipality. Donations are mainly received when a widely supported capital improvement program is implemented. Such donations can improve capital budgets and/or projects.
Other Sources
VOLUNTEER WORK AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
Individual volunteers from the community can be brought together with groups of volunteers from church groups, civic groups, scout troops and environmental groups to work on greenway development on special community workdays. Volunteers can also be used for fundraising, maintenance, and programming needs. Local schools or community groups may use the bikeway projects as a project for the year, possibly working with a local designer or engineer. Work parties may be formed to help clear the right-of-way where needed. A local construction company may donate or discount services. A challenge grant program with local businesses may be a good source of local funding, where corporations ‘adopt’ a bikeway and help construct and maintain the facility.
PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS
Private individual donations can come in the form of liquid investments (i.e. cash, stock, bonds) or land. Municipalities typically create funds to facilitate and simplify a transaction from an individual’s donation to the given municipality. Donations are mainly received when a widely supported capital improvement program is implemented. Such donations can improve capital budgets and/or projects.
FUNDRAISING / CAMPAIGN DRIVES
Organizations and individuals can participate in a fundraiser or a campaign drive. It is essential to market the purpose of a fundraiser to rally support and financial backing. Oftentimes fundraising satisfies the need for public awareness, public education, and financial support.
LAND TRUST ACQUISITION AND DONATION
Land trusts are held by a third party other than the primary holder and the beneficiaries. This land is oftentimes held in a corporation for facilitating the transfer between two parties. For conservation purposes, land is often held in a land trust and received through a land trust. A land trust typically has a specific purpose such as conservation and is used so land will be preserved as the primary holder had originally intended.
ADOPT-A-TRAIL PROGRAM
A challenge grant program with local businesses may be a good source of local funding, where corporations ‘adopt’ a trail and help maintain the facility. Foundation grants, volunteer work, and donations of in-kind services, equipment, labor or materials are other sources of support that can play a supporting role in gathering resources to design and build new pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
Residents and other community members are excellent resources for garnering support and enthusiasm for a trail, and Columbia County should work with volunteers to substantially reduce implementation and maintenance costs. Local schools, community groups, or a group of dedicated neighbors may use the project as a goal for the year, possibly working with a local designer or engineer. Work parties can be formed to help clear the right-of-way for a new trail or maintain existing facilities where needed.
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Do you throw away food scraps or bags of grass clippings? While they may be trash to you now, after reading this guide you’ll learn how those leftovers could be saving you money by using them in compost piles!
Composting is the natural transformation of decomposed organic matter into rich, fertile soil. In its completed form, compost looks and feels very much like the soil you might find on your own property but it’s rich in nutrients that plants, trees and grass need to grow.
The actual process of composting is relatively simple; you can do it yourself with a minimum amount of equipment. You’ll also be using ingredients you probably already have around your property that would otherwise be discarded. This means that effective composting doesn’t require a major financial investment.
This eBook is intended to provide useful, easy-to-follow information on how to make compost. Use it as a roadmap to learn how to build a DIY compost bin, start a compost pile, and how to avoid the common composter pitfalls.
Different Types of Composting?
Composting can be classified into several different types based on the materials that are used to prepare the compost and the methods employed to complete the process. These types include:
**BACKYARD COMPOSTING**
This form of composting makes use of a mixture consisting of two types of materials: carbon-rich “browns,” which can include items that may already be readily available in your yard such as leaves, dead flowers, and straw; and nitrogen-rich “greens,” which can include grass clippings, plant-based kitchen waste, food scraps and the manure from herbivorous barnyard animals. Avoid using manure that is produced by meat-eating animals such as dogs and cats.
**WORM COMPOSTING**
Apartment dwellers and other individuals who do not have a sizeable yard can make use of worm composting, also known as vermicomposting. This method involves setting up a bin containing worms and shredded bits of newspaper. Raw fruit and vegetable scraps are placed in the bin and consumed by the worms. These materials become compost as they are passed through the worms’ bodies.
**GRASS-CYLING**
This composting method involves allowing grass clippings to remain on the lawn after mowing. As the clippings decompose, they become nitrogen-rich green compost.
Composting can be further categorized as active (hot) or passive (cold). Active composting is a relatively high-maintenance process that requires regular turning of the compost pile. However, this method tends to yield the fastest results. Passive composting involves placing the materials into a compost bin and leaving it alone. The periodic adding of materials to the pile is the only maintenance required.
10 Benefits of Composting
Composting can be a lot of work, so why put up with all the fuss? The answer is simple: composting can offer a number of valuable benefits for your garden, lawn and the environment in general. It can also lead to better health for you and your family. A few of the many composting benefits include:
- **Improved soil moisture retention** — Organic compost can increase the soil’s ability to retain moisture, which can greatly improve your gardening results. You may also need to water your soil less frequently.
- **Added nutrients to the soil** — You’ll be adding much-needed nutrients that will improve overall soil health. The nutrients are released slowly over a period of time, allowing your plants to make full use of them.
- **Reduced waste in landfills** — Did you know that approximately one-third of the materials that end up in North American landfills are actually compostable? By making composting a part of your organic gardening practices, you’ll help to relieve the burden placed on our limited landfill space.
- **Reduced pollutants** — Limiting waste in landfills decreases the amount of harmful methane that’s released into our environment. Organic compost also helps prevent other environmental concerns such as embankment erosion and turf loss.
- **Beneficial microorganisms** — Compost contains microscopic organisms that help to aerate the soil and ward off many types of plant diseases.
- **No need for chemical fertilizers** — A cornerstone of organic gardeners and farmers is avoiding the use of any products containing man-made chemicals. Compost serves as an effective natural fertilizer that can eliminate the need for any chemical-based products.
- **Pest control** — Soil containing organic materials include natural “checks” that make it less hospitable to harmful insects than more “sterile” soil. This can reduce your dependency on pest control products to protect your plants.
- **Less contaminated soil** — Organic compost can absorb harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may already be in your soil. Examples of VOCs include heating fuels, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and explosives. This can significantly improve overall plant health.
- **Health benefits** — As composting can reduce your dependency on chemical fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides and insecticides, you’ll also avoid introducing these potentially harmful substances into your family’s food supply. By improving soil health, composting will increase the nutrient value of your fruits and vegetables.
- **The “natural way”** — By getting your kids involved in the composting process at an early age, you’ll be able to teach them valuable life lessons regarding organic growing and natural living.
What Materials Can Be Composted?
Using the right ingredients is essential for ensuring that your compost is truly organic. When choosing your composting materials, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is it biodegradable?
- Is it free of chemicals or harmful toxins?
- Was it cultivated from a chemical-free lawn that doesn’t contain synthetic pesticides or herbicides?
If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” then you shouldn’t include the ingredient in your compost.
A large number of organic materials commonly found in a home or around a property contain carbon or nitrogen, making them amenable to the composting process.
Here are the most popular materials to add to your compost pile:
How to Make Your Own Compost
Ready-made compost can be purchased at commercial greenhouses, home & garden centers, landscape supply depots, from farmers or even from commercial compost “manufacturers.” However, you can’t always be sure of what you’re getting or whether the compost is truly organic. You’ll also have to bear the additional expense, and you won’t enjoy the satisfaction that comes from making your own organic compost.
Assuming you have access to some of the ingredients listed earlier, you can save money and help the environment by learning how to make your own organic compost. Let’s take a closer look at how to make active backyard compost.
How to Start a Compost Pile
Backyard compost typically requires constructing a pile of material, so you’ll need a place to build and store it. Choose a flat, well-drained area that receives ample sunshine throughout the year. If you live in an extremely hot, dry region, a shady spot is preferable, as it will prevent the compost from drying out. Pick a spot that is over lawn or soil, as this will give earthworms and beneficial decomposing microorganisms easy access to the pile.
USING A COMPOST BIN
Another option is to use a compost bin. A bin is a simple structure that surrounds your compost and helps you keep your pile organized and neat, while preventing nosy neighborhood animals from getting in. It can also improve heat and moisture retention. You can purchase a compost bin or build your own using materials you might already have around your property. Typical compost bin types include:
Stationary — A stationary bin can consist of a cage made from wire fencing, wood or another sturdy material that provides sufficient ventilation. The bin is enclosed on the sides and top, and open on the bottom to allow the compost pile to maintain contact with the ground.
Rotating — Rotating bins provide the additional benefit of easy material turning, which is an important component of the active composting process. A variation of the rotating bin is the tumbler, which is enclosed on all sides. The bin is suspended above the ground on a frame, which allows it to be manually rotated. The tumbling action turns the compost, while generating heat and providing an infusion of oxygen. This can significantly decrease composting times.
Tumbling bins are available in various sizes, allowing you to choose the one that is best-suited to the size of your yard, the amount of materials you plan to compost, and the speed in which you wish to complete the composting process.
DIY Compost Bin
If you’re handy or don’t want to incur the cost of purchasing a bin, you can construct your own. A DIY compost bin can range from basic to elaborate. Here’s an example of how to build a simple stationary wooden compost bin:
**MATERIAL** - Seven lengths of 2 x 6 lumber, each cut to 3’ in length; four lengths of 2 x 2 lumber, each cut to 3’ in length; 28 galvanized nails, 2 ¾” long.
**ASSEMBLY** - Sharpen one end of each of the 2 x 2 pieces, which will enable them to serve as stakes. Nail each of the 2 x 6 boards to the 2 x 2s, making sure you leave gaps between the boards to allow for filtration. Install the assembled bin by driving the stakes into the ground.
How to Compost One Layer at a Time
Once you have selected your site and placed your bin, if applicable, you’re ready to begin building your compost pile. Your compost should include roughly equal amounts of green (nitrogen-rich) and brown (carbon-rich) materials. To get the most from your compost pile, use Safer Brand Ringer® Compost Plus Organic Compost Starter. This organic compost starter contains microorganisms that can boost the composting cycle and reduce your overall composting time. This natural product targets both green materials such as grass clippings and brown materials such as wood chips and dead leaves.
A layered approach is best when building your compost pile. Begin by spreading an approximately six-inch-thick layer of brown material to serve as the base, and then add a layer of green material on top. Add a thin layer of Compost Plus followed by another layer of brown material. Moisten your accumulation of materials by adding water. Your pile should be damp, but not completely soaked through.
Continue alternating layers until your pile reaches three feet in height, maintaining a ratio of roughly three parts brown material to one part green. Don’t make your pile too big or pack down the material too tightly. It needs room to drain and breathe. If you don’t have enough materials on hand to reach the three-foot level, just do the best with what you have. You can always add more ingredients as they become available. Add fresh grass clippings each time you mow your lawn and toss your food scraps onto the pile instead of throwing them out.
A key difference between active and passive composting is that active composting requires a little extra effort throughout the process. You’ll need to periodically turn the pile. Insert a pitchfork or shovel into the center of the pile and move the material to the outside, while moving the outer ingredients to the middle. Turning the pile will hasten the decomposition process by causing the microorganisms to feed on the ingredients.
Turning the pile every 7 to 10 days will shave several months off the decomposition time. You’ll also need to keep the pile moist – think of a damp sponge as the appropriate level of moisture. Your compost should be ready in about three months, depending on the size of the pile, how often you turn it and temperature. Passive composting could take a year or two to decompose.
When you insert your pitchfork or shovel into the center of the pile on a chilly day, you’ll probably notice steam rising into the air. This is a common characteristic of active or “hot” composting. This indicates that the pile is heating up and the decomposition process is moving forward. You’ll be able to tell that your compost is ready to use when all of the ingredients are no longer identifiable. The finished product will be dark brown in color and feel crumbly to the touch.
**TURNING THE PILE EVERY 7 TO 10 DAYS WILL SHAVE SEVERAL MONTHS OFF THE DECOMPOSITION TIME.**
**TIPS TO CREATE GREAT COMPOST**
There are a number of obstacles that could prevent you from having the compost pile you desire. Let’s take a look at some of the more common composting issues and how to avoid them:
**Insect Infestation** — While insects such as earthworms can contribute to a healthy compost pile, there are also certain flying pests that can feed on compost ingredients. In particular, fruit flies can be attracted to exposed fruit and vegetable matter. Keep fruit flies away by covering food scraps with grass clippings whenever you add them to your pile.
**Ammonia Smell** — Healthy compost should have an earthy aroma. If you detect an ammonia smell coming from your pile, it could be a sign that you’re not using enough brown ingredients. Try adding more carbon-rich materials such as leaves or straw. Adding lime or calcium can also neutralize any unpleasant odors.
Soggy Compost — Excess moisture is a common composting issue during winter and early spring. A wet, soggy compost pile will take longer to decompose. Combining brown materials and adding more carbon-rich materials can usually remedy this problem. If you’re using a compost bin, make sure that a drainage channel has been provided to allow excess moisture to drain properly.
Clumping — Materials such as leaves and grass clippings tend to clump when wet, which could slow the composting process. Eliminate clumping by separating these materials before adding them to your pile. Another option is to place them along the outer edge of the pile or bin until they dry, and then mix them in with the rest of the materials.
Critter Invasions — Some animals, especially curious raccoons, will be attracted to your compost pile. If you have a heavy raccoon population in your area, you might have to resort to using a covered compost bin to keep them out. If you prefer to keep your pile uncovered, consider applying an organic pest control product around your pile.
Dry Center — While turning your compost, you might notice that the center is excessively dry. This can be a sign that you’re not watering it frequently enough. You may need to water each time you aerate to ensure appropriate dampness throughout.
How to Use Compost
In addition to knowing how to make organic compost, here are a few ideas of how to use compost in your garden and lawn.
Seed booster — Kick-start your seeds by creating a mixture of two parts soilless seed mix with one part compost. This will supply your seeds with a steady stream of nutrients, without having to apply a synthetic fertilizing product.
Planting — Make organic compost a part of your planting preparation process. Adding compost with soil in each planting hole will provide essential nutrients to your young plants. It will also enable the timely release of moisture to prevent plant roots from dehydrating.
Bed turning — Add a four-inch layer of compost when turning over a new planting bed for the first time. This introduces additional organic matter that has already passed through the initial stages of breaking down. The compost is already in a form that can be easily absorbed by the plants’ root system.
Season-long protection against pathogens — Compost contains beneficial microbes that will often attack and eliminate the pathogens that lead to plant disease. You can activate these microbes by using a rake to scratch a half-inch depression into the soil and add a top layer of compost. Do this approximately every 3-4 weeks during the growing season.
Mulching trees and shrubbery — Compost can be used as mulch that is placed around your trees and shrubs. The compost will improve soil condition in these less-tended areas, while also increasing moisture retention.
Lawn dressing — Applying a layer of compost across the top of a lawn with a clay-based soil will increase soil porosity, which will aid drainage. If your lawn has sand-based soil, compost can increase water retention. You can also apply compost on lawn problem areas to facilitate new grass growth.
Organic liquid fertilizer — Steeping compost in a bucket of water for several days will yield a concoction known as “compost tea.” This is a mild organic fertilizer that can work wonders on the health of the soil in your garden or flower bed.
Potting mix — You can use fully decomposed compost as a potting mix for your smaller container plants. This will help to provide a healthy balance between moisture retention and drainage. For best results, combine the compost with sand, perlite or vermiculite.
What About Using Unfinished Compost?
Using unfinished compost in gardens or flower beds is generally not recommended. This is because unfinished mulch still contains living microorganisms that are likely to compete with the plant roots for nitrogen. This can inhibit growth or cause the plant to yellow. If using unfinished compost around plants, consider adding a nitrogen-based organic fertilizer to the soil. Unfinished compost can be used safely as mulch for lawns and around trees and shrubs.
Get Started on Your Organic Compost Pile
Now that you have an understanding of how to start a compost pile, you can begin reaping the benefits of your own organic compost! As you gain experience, you’ll probably develop your own composting process using your favorite ingredients. Remember to think of composting as a form of recycling that can also be an important component of a healthy, organic lifestyle.
To learn more about soil & how it can positively affect your gardening, download our FREE eBook!
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Social Influences on Children's Option Valuations
Laura Pape Hennefield
Washington University in St. Louis
Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds
Part of the Psychology Commons
Recommended Citation
Hennefield, Laura Pape, "Social Influences on Children's Option Valuations" (2015). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 467.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/467
This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Arts & Sciences at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact firstname.lastname@example.org.
Social Influences on Children’s Option Valuations
by
Laura Pape Hennefield
A dissertation presented to the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences of Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
May 2015
St. Louis, Missouri
© 2015, Laura Hennefield
# Table of Contents
List of Figures .................................................................................................................. iii
Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... iv
Abstract ............................................................................................................................ vi
Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Body of Introduction ................................................................................................. 1
1.2 References ............................................................................................................... 12
Chapter 2: Peer influence on young children’s preferences ........................................... 15
2.1 Body of Manuscript ................................................................................................. 15
2.2 References ............................................................................................................... 29
Chapter 3: The influence of peers on 3-year-old children’s object valuations ............... 32
3.1 Body of Manuscript ................................................................................................. 32
3.2 References ............................................................................................................... 75
Chapter 4: Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 81
4.1 Body of Conclusion ................................................................................................. 81
4.2 References ............................................................................................................... 89
List of Figures
Figure 2.1. The swirl and snowflake designs that were printed in blue ink on the stickers.................................................................10
Figure 2.2. This figure shows the proportion of children in the Experimental and Baseline Conditions who kept different quantities of resources, an equal quantity of resources, or all resources between two rounds of the Dictator Game. Marginally more children in the Experimental Condition distributed different quantities of stickers than children in the Baseline Condition. Critically, In the Experimental Condition, significantly more children kept more stickers their peers liked than stickers their peers disliked.......................................................11
Figure 3.1. The array from which children selected their favorite and least-favorite stickers. The stickers, from left to right, depicted a basketball, butterfly, cactus, teapot, dinosaur, and chair.................................................................10
Figure 3.2. A depiction of the cubbies used in the Reciprocity Task. The gift was always placed in one of the top two cubbies, and contrasted with the other top cubby that belonged to a child who did not leave a gift...........................................10
Figure 3.3. A depiction of the puppets and set-up used in the Merit Task. One puppet always cleaned up all of the blocks by putting them into the box; the other puppet never cleaned up any blocks.................................................................10
Figure 3.4. In Study 1, children gave their favorite sticker to the prosocial agent more often than would be expected by chance in both the Reciprocity and Merit Tasks......10
Figure 3.5. The three designs (swirl, star, snowflake) that were printed on circular stickers in blue ink.............................................................................10
Figure 3.6. In the Positive Condition girls gave the liked sticker to the prosocial agents more often than would be expected by chance. In the Negative Condition both girls and boys gave the disliked sticker to the prosocial agent significantly less than would be expected by chance.................................................................10
Figure 3.7. This figure depicts the frequencies of children choosing the liked, neutral, or disliked sticker for themselves (Self Question) and a new child (Other Question).................................................................10
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I want to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Lori Markson. Lori has provided unwavering support throughout my graduate career, always expected the best from me, and constantly challenged me to be a better scientist. She helped me create opportunities to succeed, taught me to accept rejection as part of being an academic, and her unyielding enthusiasm for developmental research has been inspirational throughout my graduate career. I look forward to our continued collaboration and friendship.
I also want to thank Janet Duchek for her consistent encouragement and guidance. Jan has been instrumental to my growth as a scholar and a teacher. Jan has a reputation for being both tough and fair in the classroom, which is a combination of qualities I highly admire. It was a privilege to witness her teaching style firsthand, and through the teaching opportunities she provided me with, and her invaluable feedback, I have begun to learn how to cultivate those qualities in my own teaching.
Many thanks to my core dissertation committee, Todd Braver and Julie Bugg, for their guidance and thoughtful feedback throughout this project, and Camillo Padoa-Schioppa for his helpful insight and suggestions. I also thank Pascal Boyer for his consistent enthusiasm toward my research, and his perspective and encouragement to view my research through an evolutionary lens. Thanks also to Daniel Povinelli for his insightful seminar on comparative cognition and numerous scientific discussions. In a somewhat paradoxical way, the insight I have gained from Danny’s systematic approach to research has made me less cynical and more confident in my own abilities to conduct sound and meaningful research.
The members of Cognition and Development Lab have also been a tremendous support. My graduate studies would not have been as productive – or enjoyable – without each of them. Casey Sullivan welcomed me to the lab, spent countless hours listening to me devise my early
research projects, taught me about perseverance, and the joys of writing at local coffee shops. Narges Afshordi taught me that it’s possible to be both kind and stubborn at the same time, and I have always admired her for that. Grace Hwang brought new energy and ideas into the lab, has patiently served as a sounding board for much of the work in this dissertation, and is an awesome conference travel partner. Natasha Marrus introduced me to the clinical side of psychology, and we have had many frank conversations about life and science and everything in between. I cannot begin to express how integral each of these individuals have been in my graduate journey, and want to thank each of them for their support and friendship.
I also want to thank my friends and family for their constant love and support. Melissa Kasten, Britten Rollo, and Jessica Molina keep me grounded in life outside of academia. My brother, Andrew Hennefield, has always been there for me, and his excitement toward my plans and ideas is highly motivational. Garett Johnson has been a significant source of support over the last year, always ready to celebrate the good times and put life in perspective. Jonathan Jackson, with his unrelenting optimism toward my work and goals, had become a close friend and valued colleague. Dustin Martinez, a constant source of support, is always willing to apply his deep and oddly specific knowledge of philosophy of science and literary criticism to my ideas, which makes for some very interesting dinner conversations. I would also be remiss if I did not thank him for proofing many (many!) drafts of papers and grants I have written in recent years.
Finally, I thank my parents, Susan and James Hennefield, who raised me with an appreciation of science, nature, education, and curiosity. None of this would have been possible without their love, encouragement, and unwavering support.
Laura Hennefield
Washington University in St. Louis
May 2015
Children use a variety of strategies to determine the relative value of the objects they encounter, ranging from simple heuristics to the integration of information from multiple sources. Do children also incorporate social information – specifically, information pertaining to others’ preferences – into their object valuations? Valuation is an important component of economic exchange, and is key to assessing how resources are fairly distributed or favors reciprocated. As humans often need to make critical decisions with limited information, garnering information about value via social sources might be an adaptive strategy. This dissertation has two primary goals: (1) to develop methodology to assess value discrimination in young children, and (2) to investigate how young children’s resource valuations – and subsequent preferences – might be influenced by the preferences of their peers. These goals were realized across four empirical studies. The study presented in Chapter 2 used an established resource distribution methodology, the Dictator Game, to test whether 4-year-old children’s preferences were influenced by the preferences of their peers. Children observed, via video, four peers sequentially display the same preference for one of two stickers. Each peer expressed liking one sticker and disliking the other. Subsequently, in the Dictator Game, children kept more stickers their peers liked than stickers their peers disliked, suggesting that children extracted informational content about the value of
the resources from their peers and used that to guide their own preferences. The studies presented in Chapter 3 aimed to clarify these findings, extend this research to younger children, and develop new resource distribution tasks to assess value discrimination. Three studies investigated whether 3-year-old children differentially distribute two resources (stickers) based on an *a priori* preference for one of the resources (Study 1), use peers’ preferences (e.g., their likes and dislikes) to inform their valuations and subsequent resource distribution when children do not have an *a priori* preference for a resource (Study 2), and incorporate peers’ preferences into their own choices (Study 3). The results suggest that young children used their *a priori*, explicitly stated, preferences to differentially distribute the resources, giving their favorite option to a prosocial agent who was presumably more deserving than the other agent. Further, after viewing four peers express a consistent preference for one option over another, children appeared to devalue the option their peers disliked, as they systematically avoided selecting it for a prosocial agent, a new child, and themselves. Interestingly, in the resource distribution tasks, girls, but not boys, appeared to increase their value of the option their peers liked, as they gave more liked than neutral (non-valenced) resources to the prosocial agents. Finally, children chose equally between the liked and neutral resources as their own favorite, while avoiding the disliked resources. These findings suggest that children’s resource valuations are informed by the preferences of their peers. Further, it is possible that subjective negative information (e.g., others’ dislikes) plays a privileged role in influencing children’s choice behavior. These findings are discussed in the context of a negativity bias, and several explanations are considered to explain the gender difference. Together, the studies provide new insight into children’s early economic reasoning, and highlight how peer preferences influence children’s developing valuations.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Children use a variety of strategies to determine the relative value of options they encounter, ranging from simple heuristics to the integration of information from multiple sources. Do children also incorporate social information – specifically, information acquired via observing others’ preferences – into their option valuations? Valuation is an important component of economic exchange, and is key to assessing how resources are fairly distributed or favors reciprocated. That even young children appear to have some understanding of both fairness (e.g., LoBue, Nishida, Chiong, DeLoache, & Haidt, 2009; Blake & McAuliffe, 2011; Geraci & Surian, 2011; Baumard, Mascaro, & Chevallier, 2012; Sloane, Baillargeon, & Premack, 2012; Sommerville, Schmidt, Yun, & Burns, 2013) and reciprocity (e.g., Lucas, Wagner, & Chow, 2008; Olson & Spelke, 2008; Engelmann, Over, Herrmann, & Tomasello, 2013; House, Henrich, Sarnecka, & Silk, 2013; Warneken & Tomasello, 2013) suggests that an ability to assign value to options is present from a young age. Further, as humans often need to make critical decisions with limited information, garnering information about value via social sources might be an adaptive strategy. Previous studies indicate that young children are highly motivated to attend to and learn from the actions of others. Whether this includes learning about the value of options via observing others’ preferences remains unknown.
Value, for the present purpose, is defined as the relative importance, usefulness, or worth of an option (e.g., a good or service). Value discrimination is a comparison of two or more options that vary on multiple dimensions; economic choice is the decision that results from such comparison. Thus, values, as such, are computed at the time a choice is made, based on multiple dimensions, including attributes of the option, quantity, temporal availability, and current motivational state (e.g., Padoa-Schioppa, 2011). This research has two primary goals: (1) to
develop methodology to assess value discrimination in young children, and (2) to investigate whether one particular type of social information – other children’s preferences – factors into the relative subjective value that children assign to options.
This work focused on the preferences of other children for two reasons. First, there is substantial evidence that children are not indiscriminate learners – they consider factors such as past reliability (e.g., Birch, Vauthier, & Bloom, 2008; Jaswal & Neely, 2006; Koenig & Harris, 2005), expertise (Keil, Stein, Webb, Billings, & Rozenblit, 2008), consensus with a majority (Corriveau, Fusaro, & Harris, 2009), and even group membership (Kinzler, Corriveau, & Harris, 2010), in determining from whom to learn. Further, children are also able to consider the content of the material, for example, whether they need information about toys or food, when determining whether a child or an adult is a better source of information (VanderBorght & Jaswal, 2009). Thus, children might selectively learn from the preferences, and in particular the object preferences, of their peers over those of an adult.
Second, peers are critical to the fabric of young children’s social environment. Preschool children form complex social networks, which include strong reciprocal friendships with a limited number of peers, relationships with friends of friends, and hierarchies of popularity (Schaefer, Light, Fabes, Hanish, & Martin, 2010). There is also emerging evidence that children engage in behaviors that strengthen social connections and group membership, such as conformity (Haun & Tomasello, 2011) and reputation management (Engelmann, Herrmann, & Tomasello, 2012; Leimgruber, Shaw, Santos, & Olson, 2012; Engelmann et al., 2013). Research on children’s learning in social contexts has primarily focused on factual information that children learn from adults (e.g., Sobel & Kushnir, 2013). However, as peers comprise an essential component of children’s social networks, understanding the contexts and type of
information that children might learn from peers is crucial to a comprehensive understanding of social cognitive development. The present research aims to address this gap and provide insight into one context – preferences – in which children might learn from their peers.
This dissertation is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction and discusses several pertinent methodological considerations. Chapters 2 and 3 are presented as empirical manuscripts. The studies in Chapter 2 use an established resource distribution task, the Dictator Game, to assess whether 4-year-old children’s preferences are influenced by the preferences of their peers. The studies in Chapter 3 introduce two new resources distribution tasks adapted from the fairness and prosociality literature to assess value discrimination in 3-year-old children. The first of three studies uses this value discrimination methodology to assess whether children differentially distribute two resources (stickers) based on an a priori preference for one of the resources. The second study uses this methodology to test whether children utilize information garnered from their peers’ preferences (e.g., their likes and dislikes) to inform their valuations of the resources. The third study investigates whether children incorporate peers’ preferences into their own choices. Chapter 4 provides a synthesis of this work, insight into future directions, and general conclusions.
**Overview of Value Discrimination Methodologies**
If young children assign values to options, and if this value is potentially influenced by other’s preferences, a key question concerns *how* to elicit these value judgments. There is a long history of eliciting value judgments from adults in cognitive and evolutionary psychology, though most traditional adult valuation methodologies are not feasible to use with children. Many tasks have complicated instructions that require advanced verbal comprehension and task demands that are too complex for young children. One seemingly straightforward approach to
assessing value in adults, asking which option someone would pay more money for, becomes substantially more complicated to extend to young children because of their tenuous grasp of the symbolic nature of money or tokens. Another common methodological approach utilizes temporal discounting, which assesses option value as a function of availability at particular points in time (e.g., one smaller reward now versus a larger reward later; see Schultz, 2010, for a review). However, temporal discounting tasks are complex, sensitive to individual differences in self-control and cognitive control, and findings from studies with children are sparse and inconsistent (see Scheres, Tontsch, Thoeny, & Sumiya, 2014, for a review). Nevertheless, there is one methodological approach, resource distribution, which is widely utilized in the extant adult literature and also holds promise for use in value discrimination in children.
Resource distribution tasks have become increasingly popular in developmental research as a means of investigating fairness and prosocial behavior in young children. One task in particular, the Dictator Game (DG), has been used with children between 3 to 9 years of age to test questions pertaining to altruism and fairness (Aguilar-Pardo, Martínez-Arias, & Colmenares, 2013; Benenson, Pascoe, & Radmore, 2007; Chen, Zhu, & Chen, 2013; Kogut, 2012; Lucas, Wagner, & Chow, 2008), moral emotions such as guilt and sympathy (Gummerum, Hanoch, Keller, Parsons, & Hummel, 2010; Ongley & Malti, 2014), and ownership and group membership (Benozio & Diesendruck, 2015). Further, in one of the only studies to directly assess value discrimination in young children, Blake and Rand (2010) used the DG to test whether children’s own preferences for resources influenced their distribution of those resources.
In the DG participants are given a finite set of resources to distribute between themselves and another individual (the recipient). A utilitarian model would predict that the rational course of action to maximize personal gains is to keep all of the resources for oneself. However, there is
robust evidence to the contrary; a meta-analysis of more than 100 published manuscripts revealed that adults in the DG distribute an average of 25-35% of the resources to the recipient (Engel, 2011). Similar findings have been reported in children (e.g., Blake & Rand, 2010; Gummerum et al., 2010; Ongley & Malti, 2014), however, one developmental trend has emerged. Younger children tend to keep more resources than older children (Benenson et al., 2007), and specifically, younger children keep *all* of the resources more frequently than older children (Blake & Rand; Gummerum et al.; Ongley & Malti). However, whether younger children keep all of the resources due to increased levels of selfishness, task demands, and/or because they value the resources more highly than older children remains unknown.
Blake and Rand (2010) used the DG to investigate 3- to 6-year-old children’s distribution patterns for resources that (ostensibly) differed in value. Children first identified their favorite and least-favorite stickers, and were then given either 10 of their favorite or 10 of their least-favorite stickers to distribute between themselves and another child. They found that children gave fewer of their favorite stickers to the other child, suggesting they assigned a higher value to their favorites stickers and found giving them away to be more costly. In contrast, children gave significantly more of their least-favorite stickers, indicating a willingness to share provided the cost was not too high. Further, Blake and Rand found that a majority of 4-year-old children distributed at least one sticker, and the proportion of favorite and least-favorite stickers those children distributed did not differ from older children. Thus, these findings suggest the DG is a potentially feasible measure for assessing value discrimination in 4-year-old children.
Importantly, if the DG can be used to assess value discrimination between resources for which children hold an *a priori* preference, then it can presumably also be used to assess whether children’s resource valuation *changes* as a function of an experimental manipulation. The study
presented in Chapter 2 uses the DG to assess whether 4-year-old children differentially distribute resources for which they observed *other children* like or dislike. Children completed two rounds of the DG; one round with 10 stickers their peers liked and one round with 10 stickers their peers disliked. If peers’ preferences influenced children’s own preferences, it was expected that children would keep more of the stickers their peers liked than stickers their peers disliked.
The DG paradigm was chosen for the present research because it was previously used to test value discrimination in children. However, it has several significant limitations. The first limitation is that it tests value discrimination via preferences, with the assumption that children prefer resources of higher value and thus will opt to keep more of those resources for themselves. Whereas preferences are likely to *reflect* the underlying value assigned to options, assessing value discrimination via preferences might incidentally test a multitude of factors beyond value acquisition via peers’ preferences. For children’s preferences to be influenced by the preferences of their peers, children must first recognize that their peers’ preferences (their likes and dislikes) provide meaningful information about the values of the options. Then children must factor that value information into their own subjective valuations, as one of the many dimensions that comprise value. If these other dimensions factor heavily into children’s preferences, that could substantially reduce any weight children place on the information provided via peers, making their influence difficult to detect in an experimental manipulation.
A second limitation of the DG concerns its usefulness to capture fine-grained discriminations between value judgments. Allotting 10 resources to children to distribute in each of two rounds of the DG could result in a myriad of outcomes. Thus, this method has the *potential* to capture large differences in resource valuation. For example, if children tended to keep all 10 stickers their peers liked and give away all 10 stickers their peers disliked, that would
provide strong evidence that children were using others’ preferences to inform their behavior. However, the DG allows children to keep all, half, or none of the resources in each round, and between rounds children can keep equivalent quantities of resources. Each of these outcomes is problematic from the perspective of trying to evaluate value discrimination. Previous research already indicates that young children often keep all of the resources for themselves (e.g., Benenson et al., 2007; Blake and Rand, 2010). Thus, it is possible that children could assign a higher value to one of the two options, yet still keep all of them. Furthermore, *any* equal distribution within or between rounds will suffer that same difficulty with interpretation. Thus, whereas assessing children’s distribution patterns when they are given the freedom to distribute multiple resources in multiple ways could indicate that children strongly favor one resource over the other, it is also possible that children could distribute resources in such a way (i.e., equal distributions) that cannot provide information about their resource valuation.
A third limitation pertains to the feasibility of using the DG with children under 4 years of age. When Blake and Rand (2010) assessed distribution patterns between children’s favorite and least-favorite sticker, they found no age differences in the pattern of distribution among those children who distributed at least one sticker. However, fewer than 50% of the 3-year-old children they tested distributed at least one sticker, whereas more than 75% of the 6-year-old children distributed at least one sticker. Thus, whereas the DG might be a feasible resource distribution method to use with older children, the lack of variability in younger children’s responses makes it problematic to use this task with 3-year-old children.
Finally, in the DG, children must contend with competing desires to keep resources for themselves and behave prosocially by giving resources to the recipient. Whereas these competing demands are a key function of the DG as a method of assessing fairness and prosocial
behavior, they are not necessary to assess value discrimination. Indeed, these demands might serve to add substantial noise, rendering the DG ill suited as a measure of value discrimination. Thus, despite the benefits of using an established methodology, the limitations of the DG also indicate a need to develop additional measures to assess value discrimination in young children. Ideally, these tasks would have reduced task demands, a reduced range of potential responses, be appropriate for children younger than 4 years of age, and assess value in a way that does not necessarily invoke children’s preferences.
There are several measures that meet some of the aforementioned criteria. One measure is to ask children which options they would choose for themselves, either to play with temporarily or to keep. Another would be to assess which options they would work harder, faster, or expend more energy on to acquire. However, both of these methodologies are based on the assumption that children will necessarily want to acquire resources of higher value for themselves. Whereas this is presumed to generally be true, it is also possible that children can understand the generally agreed upon value of an option without necessarily desiring that option for themselves. In contrast, there is one resource distribution methodology – having children distribute resources to others – that eliminates children’s own desires to acquire the resources from their decision-making processes. Further, this method could be simplified to children distributing two resources between two agents. This would serve to reduce task demands, the potential range of responses, and be appropriate for testing value discrimination in 3-year-old children.
In recent years, several resource distribution tasks designed to assess fairness and prosociality in children younger than 4 years of age have been developed. The general findings from these studies are that young children, in the absence of other information, expect that a set quantity of identical resources will be distributed equally between recipients (e.g., Geraci &
Similar findings have emerged from behavioral studies. When children are given the opportunity to distribute even quantities of resources, they tend to divide the resources equally between the recipients (e.g., Kenward & Dahl, 2011; Olson & Spelke, 2008). Further, there are several studies in which researchers manipulated both the quantity of resources to be distributed and characteristics of the recipients. These studies are based on two assumptions: (1) that a larger quantity is more valuable than a smaller quantity, and (2) that children will differentially choose to reward a prosocial agent over one who was not prosocial (or, conversely, punish the agent who was not prosocial). Kenward and Dahl found that 4.5-year-old children gave more biscuits to a puppet who helped an agent than to one who hindered that agent when the children were allotted an odd number of biscuits to distribute. Children justified their actions with statements about the prosocial and antisocial behaviors of each puppet, suggesting they chose to reward the prosocial puppet with more biscuits and/or punish the antisocial puppet with fewer biscuits. In a similar merit-based task, Baumard, Mascaro, and Chevallier (2012) found that 3- and 4-year-old children opted to give a bigger cookie to a person who worked harder to bake the cookies and a smaller cookie to a person who did not work as hard. Here, the researchers operated under the assumption that children would find the bigger cookie to be of higher value, and concluded that children used the larger cookie to reward the person who worked harder. Together, these findings suggest that children can use resource value, as indicated by resource quantity, to differentially distribute resources between two agents. Specifically, children appear to use resource value to reward prosocial agents and/or punish non-prosocial agents. Thus, it might be possible to employ these types of tasks to assess value discrimination in circumstances in which the resources do not differ in quantity, but instead differ on some other dimension of value.
The studies presented in Chapter 3 use methods adapted from the fairness and prosociality literature to test children’s resource distribution across two independent value discrimination tasks. The methods are based on the assumption that children will use resource value to reward prosocial agents and/or punish non-prosocial agents. In each task, children viewed one agent who behaved in a prosocial manner (e.g., gave a gift, cleaned up blocks), and is thus potentially deserving of a higher-valued reward; the other agent did not behave prosocially (e.g., did not give a gift, did not clean up blocks). Then children distributed two resources between the two agents.
The first study in Chapter 3 directly tests the assumption that children would distribute an (ostensibly) higher-valued resource to a prosocial agent by investigating how 3-year-old children distribute two stickers – their a priori favorite and least-favorite stickers – between the prosocial and non-prosocial agent. If use their subjective value to differentially distribute the stickers, it was expected that children would distribute their favorite – higher-valued – sticker to the prosocial agent in both tasks. The second study investigates whether 3-year-old children differentially distribute stickers they observed *other children* like or dislike. If other children’s preferences influenced children’s valuations of the stickers, it was expected that children would differentially distribute the sticker liked by other children to the prosocial agent, and the sticker disliked by other children to the non-prosocial agent. Crucially, in these tasks, children distributed either the liked sticker *or* the disliked sticker (each contrasted with a new, neutral sticker). By not directly contrasting the liked and disliked stickers, it is possible to assess whether children might increase their valuation of the liked sticker, decrease their valuation of the disliked sticker, or both. The third study in Chapter 3 investigates whether other children’s preferences influence children’s own preferences. After children observed which stickers their
peers liked and disliked, children were directly asked which sticker they prefer. Children were also asked which sticker they thought a new child would prefer. This direct approach was designed to complement the indirect measures implemented in the first two studies. Together, these studies provide new insight into 3-year-old children’s economic reasoning and highlight several ways in which the preferences of peers influence children’s developing valuations.
The studies that comprise this dissertation aimed to establish new methodologies for assessing value discrimination in preschool-aged children, and used these methodologies to determine whether children assign stable relative to objects and whether their valuations of objects can be influenced by their peers preferences. The work in this dissertation was conceived of and carried out by Laura Hennefield. Chapters 2 and 3 are presented as empirical manuscripts, which will be revised for publication with Laura Hennefield as the first author and Lori Markson as the second author. Laura Hennefield generated the theoretical questions of interest, determined the experimental design, conducted all data collection and analyses, and wrote up the findings. Lori Markson was involved in discussions of this project at every level, from the theoretical underpinnings to methodological design and data analyses, offered invaluable advice, and provided feedback on written drafts of the manuscripts.
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Chapter 2: Peer influence on young children’s preferences
We care deeply about what others think about us. Our propensity to create and strengthen social connections leads to behaviors that facilitate social bonding and group membership. At the same time, we use others’ actions and behaviors as a source of information from which to learn about the world. Even very young children are highly motivated to attend to and learn from the actions of others – but children are not indiscriminate social learners. Instead, they consider factors such as past accuracy (e.g., Birch, Vauthier, & Bloom, 2008; Jaswal & Neely, 2006; Koenig & Harris, 2005) expertise (e.g., Keil, Stein, Webb, Billings, & Rozenblit, 2008), and intention (e.g., Butler & Markman, 2012), when determining from whom to learn. The present research investigated whether one particular type of social information – other’s preferences – influences preschoolers’ own developing preferences.
The motivation to attend to and learn from the social world might be unique to humans and confer significant adaptive advantages. Learning from others’ preferences might be one such adaptive strategy, as children often have to make critical decisions with limited information. Preference expression, via such modes as choice behavior and explicitly stating likes or dislikes, is common behavior that children frequently observe others’ performing, and thus could be used to acquire information. This information could be specific to others’ idiosyncratic likes and dislikes, but it could also convey information about the generally agreed upon value about the options. If so, children might incorporate information gleaned from observing others’ preferences into their own valuation of those options and subsequent preferences.
One particularly well-suited strategy to both acquire culturally transmitted information and strengthen social bonds is to copy a consensus or the majority. There is emerging evidence that, in the absence of prior knowledge, children expect that a majority (3+ individuals) is more
likely to be correct than a minority (van Leeuwen & Haun, 2013). For example, when faced with a group of adults labeling the same object, 3-year-old children tend to side with the majority over a lone dissenter, even developing distrust of the dissenter (Corriveau, Fusaro, & Harris, 2009). Even 2-year-old children are more likely to copy the functional strategy used by a majority of peers in a food-retrieval task than one used by a single peer (Haun, Rekers, & Tomasello, 2012). Thus, in situations where there is at least one objectively correct response, children seem to learn from the statistical prevalence of others’ actions and align their behavior with that of the majority.
Preferences, in contrast, are subjective; there is no objectively right or wrong answer to a question such as, “Which is your favorite sticker?” Thus, an intriguing question is whether young children also incorporate the preferences of a majority into their own preferences. On one hand, the subjectivity of preferences might render it socially acceptable to hold and maintain a preference that is different from the majority. On the other hand, subjective information might be more malleable than objective information, and thus social influences might be stronger for preference information than objective information. Further, it is plausible that children are more likely to be influenced by other children – their peers – with regard to subjective information. There is evidence that children are able to consider the content of the material, for example, whether they need information about toys or food, when determining whether a child or an adult is a better source of information (VanderBorght & Jaswal, 2009). There is also emerging evidence that children engage in behaviors that strengthen social connections and group membership with peers, such as conformity (Haun & Tomasello, 2011) and reputation management (Engelmann, Herrmann, & Tomasello, 2012; Leimgruber, Shaw, Santos, & Olson, 2012). Thus, in contrast to utilizing adults’ general expertise and authority to acquire factual information, children might selectively learn from the preferences of their peers over those of an
adult, especially in circumstances where similarity to their peers, friendship, and potential for future social interactions, might factor into children’s learning.
Children frequently encounter situations in which others express their preferences, and appear sensitive to preferences from a young age. By 18 months children understand that preferences are subjective (Graham, Stock, & Henderson, 2006; Repacholi & Gopnik, 1997), and by 3 years recognize when others share their preferences (Fawcett & Markson, 2010). Further, there is emerging evidence that young children use others’ preferences to acquire information about the relative value of options. When given the choice between two options, toddlers choose to play with the same objects others have demonstrated a preference for (Fawcett & Markson, 2009), and preschoolers pick toys and activities that were preferred by children over adults and by individuals of the same gender as themselves (Shutts, Banaji, & Spelke, 2009). Preschoolers also avoid options that an adult does not choose, suggesting they devalue those options (Hennefield & Markson, in press). However, it is not yet known if children incorporate information acquired via their peers’ preferences into their own valuation of options and subsequent preferences.
One recent study found that young children use their own a priori explicitly stated preferences to guide their option valuations when distributing resources. Blake and Rand (2010) investigated 3- to 6-year-old children’s distribution patterns for resources of high- and low-value to the child. Using a Dictator Game (DG) paradigm, children identified their favorite and least-favorite stickers, and were then given either 10 of their favorite or 10 of their least-favorite stickers to distribute between themselves and another child. Children gave fewer of their favorite stickers to the other child, suggesting they assigned a higher value to their favorites stickers and found giving them away to be more costly. In contrast, children gave significantly more of their
least-favorite stickers, indicating a willingness to share provided the cost was not too high.
Resource distribution tasks such as the DG have become increasingly popular in developmental research as a means of investigating fairness and prosocial behavior in young children (Aguilar-Pardo, Martínez-Arias, & Colmenares, 2013; Benenson, Pascoe, & Radmore, 2007; Benozio & Diesendruck, 2015; Blake & Rand, 2010; Chen, Zhu, & Chen, 2013; Gummerum, Hanoch, Keller, Parsons, & Hummel, 2010; Kogut, 2012; Lucas, Wagner, & Chow, 2008; Ongley & Malti, 2014). Though several studies used candy as the resources (Aguilar-Pardo et al.; Kogut), most studies have used stickers, as stickers are thought to be highly valued by children (Benenson et al.). Similar to the distribution patterns reported in the extant adult literature (see Engel, 2011, for a review), one general finding is that children tend to keep 65-75% of the resources for themselves. However, younger children tend to keep more resources than older children (e.g. Benenson et al.), and specifically, younger children keep all of the resources more frequently than older children (Blake & Rand; Gummerum et al.; Ongley & Malti). When assessing distribution patterns for children’s favorite and least-favorite stickers, Blake and Rand found that a majority of 4-year-old children distributed at least one sticker, and the proportion of favorite and least-favorite stickers those children distributed did not differ from older children. This finding suggests that the DG is a feasible measure for assessing value discrimination in 4-year-old children.
The present study employed the DG to test whether 4-year-old children differentially distribute two different resources – one their peers liked and one their peers disliked. Children watched a video in which 2 boys and 2 girls sequentially demonstrate the same preferences; each liked one specific sticker (liked sticker) and disliked the other (disliked sticker). Then children played two rounds of the DG; one round with 10 liked stickers and one with 10 disliked stickers.
If peers’ preferences influence children’s own preferences, it was expected that children would keep more liked than disliked stickers. Further, that finding would suggest that children are extracting informational content about the value of the stickers from their peers and using that to guide their own preferences. However, if children do not extract informational content from their peers’ preferences, or it does not influence their own preferences, then children would not be expected to differentially distribute the liked and disliked stickers.
**Method**
**Participants.** Seventy-two 4-year-old children participated in either the Experimental (N = 48, M = 4;7, Range = 4;0–5;0, 24 girls) or Baseline Condition (N = 24, M = 4;7, Range = 4;1–5;0, 12 girls). One child was replaced for failing to understand the study instructions. Children were recruited from a database of families who had expressed interest in participating in developmental research, and were tested in a university laboratory. The majority of children were white and from middle-class backgrounds.
**Materials.** Square stickers, 22mm x 22mm, were printed with one of two blue designs on a white background. The designs, a swirl and snowflake, were chosen to be equally interesting to children, yet distinct (see Figure 2.1). Materials for each child consisted of 20 stickers (10 swirl and 10 snowflake), a felt board with a circle drawn in the middle, four envelopes, and a privacy screen to shield the child from the experimenter during test.
*Figure 2.1. The swirl and snowflake designs that were printed in blue ink on the stickers.*
Social Influence Manipulation (SIM): Short video clips (each 11.6 s) in which four actors (children from the community, not professional actors) demonstrated that they liked one sticker and disliked another sticker. The actors were two boys and two girls of roughly the same age as the participants. Each actor picked up each sticker in turn and examined it while expressing their preference. They demonstrated *liking* by saying in an excited tone, “Oh, cool, I really like this one!” and *disliking* by saying in a negative tone, “Oh, no, I don’t like this one”. The “stickers” in the actors’ hands were actually blank squares of paper, but children could not tell this from watching the video. As the actor was expressing their first preference, a picture of the sticker they were “looking at” appeared onscreen, to the right of the actor, and remained visible for 4 seconds while they spoke. Then that picture disappeared, a picture of the second sticker appeared onscreen to the left of the actor, and again remained visible for 4 seconds while they expressed the complementary preference. Thus, the same preference expressions (i.e., each instance of a preference being expressed) were counterbalanced to pair with each specific sticker, and all children viewed all of the same preference expressions. This ensured that the actors own preferences could not influence their preference expressions. This method also had the added benefit of equating the length of time allotted to each preference expression in the video. The order in which the actors appeared on screen was counterbalanced with the constraint that two actors of the same gender did not appear in succession.
**Procedure.** Children in the Experimental Condition watched the SIM and then played the DG; children in the Baseline Condition only played the DG. All children played two rounds of the DG, one round with each sticker design (order counter-balanced). The Baseline Condition was included to test for differences between children who had watched the SIM and those who had not. To begin the DG, the child was seated across a table from the experimenter with the felt
board in front of them. The experimenter placed 10 stickers (10 swirls or 10 snowflakes) in a circle on the board, and told the child that all the stickers belonged to the child and they were going to play a game with them. She placed one envelope on the right side of the board and said, “Any stickers you want to keep to take home should go in this envelope”. Then she placed another envelope on the left side of the board and said, “Tomorrow there is another girl/boy coming here to play. She/He is just like you. Any stickers you want to leave for her/him should go in this envelope”. The gender of the other child was matched to the child’s own gender. Then the experimenter pointed to the privacy screen and told the child that when the screen was on the table no one could see which envelopes they put the stickers into. She verified that the child remembered the purpose of each envelope and the screen; if they did not remember she reminded them and asked again. Then she placed the screen on the table between herself and the game board and told the child to “Go ahead and put all the stickers away”.
After the child signaled they were done, the experimenter again verified that the child remembered to whom each envelope belonged. One child failed this identification and was replaced. Then the child placed their envelope under their chair for later, placed the envelope for the other child in a large stack of envelopes for anonymity, and played the second round with 10 stickers of the other design. The only difference between the two rounds was that in the second round the child was told that the child they could leave stickers for was different from the child in the first round (e.g., “another girl/boy is coming tomorrow”). Finally, in the Experimental Condition, after completing both rounds of the DG, the experimenter placed one sticker of each design in front of the child and asked them to identify which sticker the kids in the video had liked. All children responded correctly.
Results
If children incorporated the preferences expressed by their peers (in the video) into their own preferences, then in the Experimental Condition it was expected that children would keep more liked stickers than disliked stickers. The findings support this hypothesis (see Figure 2.2).
Figure 2.2. This figure shows the proportion of children in the Experimental and Baseline Conditions who kept different quantities of resources, an equal quantity of resources, or all resources between two rounds of the Dictator Game. Marginally more children in the Experimental Condition distributed different quantities of stickers than children in the Baseline Condition. Critically, In the Experimental Condition, significantly more children kept more stickers their peers liked than stickers their peers disliked.
Of the 48 children in the Experimental Condition, 21 children kept more liked than disliked stickers whereas only 7 children kept more disliked than liked stickers. This distribution is significantly different from what would be expected by chance, $\chi^2$ (1, $N = 28$) = 7, $p = .008$. In addition, 14 children kept an equal number of liked and disliked stickers, and 6 children kept all of the stickers. If a category for the 14 children who kept an equal number of stickers is added to the above analysis, the distribution remains significantly different from chance, $\chi^2$ (2, $N = 42$) =
It is unclear how to classify the 6 children who kept all of the stickers. Indeed, some researchers differentiate between prosocial (distributing at least one) and non-prosocial (keeping all) children, and exclude those non-prosocial children from subsequent analyses (e.g., Blake & Rand, 2010; Kogut, 2012). Whereas it is possible that some children are not inclined to give regardless of the value of the resources, it is also possible that these 6 children did *not* differentially value the two stickers, or that keeping all the stickers masked any differentiation they did make. However, even if these 6 children are conservatively added to the 14 children who kept an equal number of stickers, the distribution remains significantly different from chance, $\chi^2$ (2, $N = 48$) = 7.625, $p = .022$. There were no significant differences or interactions with regard to resource distribution as a function of round order. Overall, these analyses indicate that children were influenced by their peers’ preferences such that more children systematically kept more of the stickers their peers liked than those they disliked, and this finding persists even when conservatively including all children (that is, those who did not distribute *any* stickers) in the analyses.
Of the 24 children in the Baseline Condition, only 8 children kept a different number of stickers between the two rounds, 10 children kept an equal number, and 6 children kept all the stickers. Further analyses revealed that children’s distribution patterns in the Experimental Condition differed from their distribution patterns in the Baseline Condition. For both conditions, the number of children who kept a *different* quantity of stickers across both rounds was calculated (Experimental = 28; Baseline = 8) and compared to the number of children who kept an *equal* quantity (or all) stickers across both rounds (Experimental = 20, Baseline = 16). These distributions are marginally different from each other, Fisher’s Exact $p = .079$, which suggests that children in the Experimental Condition who viewed the SIM were more likely to distribute
different quantities of stickers in the two subsequent rounds of the DG than children in the Baseline Condition who had not viewed the SIM. More convincingly, in the Baseline Condition, all 8 children who kept a different quantity of stickers kept more in the second round than the first round. However, in the Experimental Condition, 14 children kept more stickers in the *first* round (67%; 11 were children who distributed the liked-stickers first). That finding suggests that the SIM overrode children’s tendencies to keep more stickers as the game progressed.
There were no gender differences in either the Experimental or Baseline Condition, nor were there differences in either condition as a function of sticker type. Interestingly, whereas there is clear evidence that children differentiated between the liked and disliked stickers in their distribution patterns, this difference is only weakly reflected in the mean number of stickers they kept. Children, on average, kept 6.5 liked stickers and 6.1 disliked stickers, $t(1) = 1.538, p = .131$. In the Baseline Condition children kept an average of 6.75 stickers, which is not significantly different from either the liked or disliked stickers. Further, the modal number of stickers kept in *all* conditions was 5 (31.25% of all distributions), indicating that many children in the present sample possessed a strong desire to distribute resources equally. This preference for equal distribution is commonly found in third party resource distribution tasks where children divide resources between two recipients (e.g., Kenward & Dahl, 2011; Olson & Spelke, 2008), but this preference is often less robust in the DG (e.g., Benenson et al., 2007; Blake & Rand, 2010). Thus, the main finding that more children kept more of the liked than disliked stickers is especially notable because it indicates that peers’ preferences play a significant yet subtle role in influencing children’s behavior.
**General Discussion**
The goal of the present research was to investigate whether peers’ preferences influence
4-year-old children’s own preferences. After viewing four peers express the same preference for one of two stickers, more children subsequently kept more of the stickers their peers liked than the stickers their peers disliked. This pattern was not due to children holding an *a priori* preference for one of the stickers or an artifact of playing multiple rounds of the dictator game. Thus, the findings indicate that children’s resource distribution behavior was significantly affected by the preferences of their peers.
One way in which peers’ preferences might influence children’s own preferences is by affecting the underlying value children assign to the options. Value, for the present purposes, is defined as the relative importance, usefulness, or worth of an option (e.g., a good or service). There is substantial evidence that, rather than being a fixed attribute, values are computed at the time a choice is made, based on multiple parameters such as characteristics of the option, quantity, temporal availability, and current motivational state of the individual (e.g., Padoa-Schioppa, 2011). Thus, it is plausible that children in the present study used their peers’ preferences to increase their relative valuation of the liked sticker and/or decrease their relative valuation of the disliked sticker. In this account, children’s valuations for the options were influenced by their peers’ preferences, and children subsequently used these value judgments to inform their own preferences.
If children’s option valuations were influenced by their peers that raises several questions for further consideration. The first question concerns whether children increased their relative valuation of the option their peers liked, decreased their valuation of the option their peers disliked, or both. The DG could have potentially offered insight into this question if children’s distribution patterns for the liked or disliked stickers differed significantly from either the Baseline Condition or norms typically reported in the literature. However, given that the
differences in children’s distribution patterns were only weakly reflected in the mean number of stickers they kept, it is not clear that the patterns observed in the present study fully captured children’s value discrimination. Potential distinctions between liked and disliked information are important, however, because there is considerable evidence that both adults and children use positive and negative information in substantially different ways to reason about the world. In particular, this difference manifests in a negativity bias in which negative information is learned and used to a greater degree than positive information (see Vaish, Grossmann, & Woodward, 2008, for a review). Thus, if the negativity bias extends to preference information, it would be expected that children would devalue the option their peers disliked to a greater extent than they increase their valuation of the option their peers liked. However, if children consider subjective assessments of the options to be accurate and reliable indicators of the value of the options, they might both devalue options others disliked \textit{and} increase their valuation for options others liked. Further, the \textit{contrast} between the two types of preference expressions might serve to highlight differences between the two options and facilitate or compound value differentiation.
A second question concerns the consistency and quantity of the information children might need in order to acquire value information from observing others’ preferences. In the present study, the information children received about their peers’ preferences was consistent across four peers. There is substantial evidence that young children are able to use statistical information to inform their learning, and this extends to using statistical information to infer others’ preferences (Kushnir, Xu, & Wellman, 2010; Ma & Xu, 2011). However, whether children attended to the internal consistency of the preference information (i.e., within-individual consistency) or the proportion of individuals who expressed a particular preference (i.e., between-individual consistency) is not known. Further, classic work on social influence and
conformity has found a minimum of three informants necessary to elicit conformist behavior in adults (e.g., Asch, 1956). Four informants were used in the present study to equate gender, however it is unclear whether children *needed* to view four different peers in order to be influenced by their preferences. One possibility is that, because the peers were strangers, children might have attended to the quantity and consistency of the preferences to a greater degree than they would if the peers were familiar and known to the child. Future studies are needed to clarify the impact of informant attributes on children’s option valuations and preferences.
Alternatively, children’s responses in the present study could have been driven by the social dynamics of the experimental context. Peers’ preferences might influence children’s understanding of what *other* children value, and children could have used this information to infer how they *should* respond. There is some evidence that 4-year-old children will publically conform to their peers, even when they know their peers are wrong (Haun & Tomasello, 2011), and that 5-year-old children strategically manage their reputations, sharing more with recipients who could reciprocate later, and when being observed by ingroup over outgroup members (Engelmann, Over, Herrmann, & Tomasello, 2013). Thus, it is possible that children used the most salient information afforded to them in this experiment, the SIM, to figure out how to most appropriately distribute the resources. It is also possible that children considered the disliked stickers to undesirable, and thus considered *not* giving them away to be prosocial behavior. Whereas the present study cannot definitively rule out these possibilities, neither explanation would predict the specific distribution pattern that was found. If children’s responses were solely or primarily guided by reputational concerns, then differences in children’s distribution of the liked and disliked stickers most likely would have been *more* pronounced than they were. Further, if children believed the disliked stickers to be truly undesirable to others, then children
might have been expected to have kept *more* disliked than liked stickers, as they would not benefit from giving the disliked stickers away. Thus, whereas children might have *considered* their reputation and preferences of the recipient when determining how many resources to distribute, it is unlikely those factors fully account for the pattern of results obtained in this study.
There is a wealth of timely and pertinent information available via the social domain, and strategically extracting and utilizing such information could yield adaptive advantages. The present research indicates that young children can use social information – specifically, peers’ preferences – to inform their relative valuation of options and subsequent preferences. Research on children’s learning in social contexts has primarily focused on the factual information that children learn from adults (e.g., Sobel & Kushnir, 2013). However, peers comprise an essential component of children’s social networks, and understanding the contexts and type of information that children might learn from their peers is crucial to a comprehensive understanding of social cognitive development. This study offers a first look at the influence of peers on young children’s developing preferences, and the findings suggest that, indeed, children do consider their peers’ preferences to provide value-laden information. Further, whereas peers’ preferences might denote the generally agreed upon value of the options, it is also possible that their preferences inform children of culture-specific valuations. Thus, acquiring information about the value of options via social contexts might also serve to facilitate the cultural transmission of information and strengthen social connections.
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Chapter 3: The influence of peers on 3-year-old children’s object valuations
Children frequently need to choose between options for which they know very little about – for example, deciding which toy to play with or which food to eat. Other individuals often have to make those very same decisions. Thus, observing others’ preferences might be a particularly adaptive strategy for acquiring information about those options. This information could be specific to others’ idiosyncratic likes and dislikes, but it could also convey information about the generally agreed upon value of the options. If so, children might incorporate information gleaned from observing others’ preference into their own subjective valuation of those options.
Value, for the present purpose, is defined as the relative importance, usefulness, or worth of an option (e.g., a good or service). Value discrimination is a comparison of two or more options that vary on multiple dimensions; economic choice is the decision that results from such comparison. Thus, values, as such, are computed at the time a choice is made, based on multiple dimensions, including attributes of the option, quantity, temporal availability, and current motivational state (e.g., Padoa-Schioppa, 2011). The primary goal for the present research was to assess whether one particular type of social information – the preferences of other children – factors into the relative subjective value that children assign to options.
We focused on the preferences of children for two reasons. First, there is substantial evidence that children are not indiscriminate learners – they consider factors such as past reliability (e.g., Birch, Vauthier, & Bloom, 2008; Jaswal & Neely, 2006; Koenig & Harris, 2005), expertise (e.g., Keil, Stein, Webb, Billings, & Rozenblit, 2008), consensus with a majority (Corriveau, Fusaro, & Harris, 2009), and even group membership (Kinzler, Corriveau, & Harris, 2010), in determining from whom to learn. Further, children are also able to consider the content of the material, for example, whether they need information about toys or food, when
determining whether a child or an adult is a better source of information (VanderBorght & Jaswal, 2009). Thus, children might selectively learn from the object preferences of their peers over those of an adult. Second, peers are critical to the fabric of young children’s social environment. Preschool children form complex social networks, which include strong reciprocal friendships with a limited number of peers, relationships with friends of friends, and hierarchies of popularity (Schaefer, Light, Fabes, Hanish, & Martin, 2010). There is also emerging evidence that children engage in behaviors that strengthen social connections and group membership, such as conformity (Haun & Tomasello, 2011) and reputation management (Engelmann, Herrmann, & Tomasello, 2012; Leimgruber, Shaw, Santos, & Olson, 2012; Engelmann, Over, Herrmann, & Tomasello, 2013). Research on children’s learning in social contexts has primarily focused on factual information that children learn from adults (e.g., Sobel & Kushnir, 2013). However, as peers comprise an essential component of children’s social networks, understanding the contexts and type of information that children might learn from peers is crucial to a comprehensive understanding of social cognitive development. The present research aims to address this gap and provide insight into one context, preference, in which children might learn from their peers.
The goal of this introduction is to provide an overview of two disparate literatures: children’s economic understanding and social influence on children’s preferences. Recent research demonstrates that 4-year-old children can use their own *a priori* explicitly stated preferences to guide their option valuations when distributing resources between themselves and another child (Blake & Rand, 2010). The present work introduces two resources distribution tasks adapted from the fairness and prosociality literature to assess value discrimination in 3-year-old children. In the first of three studies, we assessed whether children differentially distribute two resources (stickers) based on an *a priori* preference for one of the resources.
Specifically, we tested whether children would use resource value to systematically reward a prosocial agent and/or punish a non-prosocial agent (Study 1). Using the resource distribution methodology devised for Study 1, we then investigated whether children utilize information garnered from their peers’ preferences (e.g., their likes and dislikes) to inform their valuations of the resources (Study 2). Finally, I contrasted the indirect value assessment methodology from Studies 1 and 2 with a more direct approach, and also tested whether children’s own preferences were influenced by their peers’ preferences (Study 3). Together, these studies provide new insight into children’s early economic reasoning, and highlight key ways in which social information influences children’s developing valuations.
**Children’s Economic Understanding**
Historically, economic understanding has been thought to arise rather late in development, as children do not appear to have a firm grasp of concepts such as money, supply and demand, and price until the late elementary school or adolescent years (e.g., Berti & Bombi, 1981; Siegler & Thompson, 1998). In one early study, Burris (1983) conducted interviews with 4- to 12-year-old children in which they were presented with pairs of objects and asked which would cost more. Four- to 5-year-old children tended to base their evaluations on physical characteristics, such as asserting that a diamond does not cost much “because it’s so tiny”. Seven-year-old children often gave responses that included a functional component, such as a wristwatch costs more than a book “because you can tell time on a watch, but a book you can just read”. By 11-years of age, children frequently responded by offering accounts of production, such as shoes costing more than candy because “candy is easier to make, but a pair of shoes takes a pretty long time”. Another study found that most 9-year-old children understood components of economic exchange to include profit seeking, acquiring goods inexpensively, and
outcompeting other sellers, whereas 5-year-old children did not (Thompson & Siegler, 2000). Notably, a majority of this early research focused heavily on children’s understanding of adults’ concepts of economics, rather than components that might underlie intuitive economic understanding.
Intuitive economics refers to the representations and mechanisms underlying core knowledge of economic value and exchange (Lucas, Wagner, & Chow, 2008). Whereas significant attention has been given to infants and young children’s intuitions regarding areas such as physics (e.g., Baillargeon, 2004; Spelke, Breinlinger, Macomber, & Jacobson, 1992), agency (e.g., Gergely, Nádasdy, Csibra, & Biró, 1995; Woodward, 1998), and number (e.g., Feigenson, Dehaene, & Spelke, 2004; Sarnecka & Carey, 2008), little research has explored questions regarding intuitive economics. Whether the same concepts and mechanisms that underlie intuitive economics are used later in development to inform adults’ economic understanding has also not been explored. However, it is likely that at least one fundamental component of economic understanding, that of economic valuation, is both present early, and maintains a central role in economic understanding throughout development.
There are several simple heuristics that infants might use to assign differential value to options prior to acquiring, or in addition to utilizing, more complex strategies. One such heuristic is a quantitative “more-is-more” heuristic in which a larger quantity of a given item is considered more valuable than a smaller quantity of that same item. In a study designed to investigate numerical representation, Feigenson, Carey, and Hauser (2002) tested 10 and 12-month-old infants choices between different quantities of the same item. Infants viewed different quantities of crackers (e.g., 1-vs-2, 2-vs-3, 3-vs-6) being placed in opaque containers and were then encouraged to choose one container. Infants reliably chose the container with the largest quantity
in the 1-vs-2 and 2-vs-3 conditions, suggesting that infants are able to represent these smaller quantities and make value judgments about them. In a follow-up condition, infants were presented with one huge cracker vs two much smaller crackers, and one large cracker vs two smaller crackers that together equaled the size of the larger cracker. In the former, infants chose the huge cracker over the two small crackers – opting for the container with the largest overall mass of cracker, and in the latter infants chose equally between the options. These findings offer preliminary evidence that infants engage in economic valuation. Further, infants do not appear to employ a straightforward numerical “more-is-more” heuristic when comparing discrete quantities of items, but rather evaluate the total mass of the items they are choosing between when deciding which option is greater in quantity.
The extant literature on fairness and prosociality in early childhood also offers evidence that infants and young children engage in economic valuation. Economic valuation is crucial for understanding fairness and reciprocity. Without knowing the value of a resource, one is limited in the ways they are able to assess whether resources were distributed fairly or whether someone has adequately reciprocated a favor, and infants appear to have some understanding of both of those concepts from an early age. Sommerville and colleagues (Sommerville, Schmidt, Yun, & Burns, 2013) investigated whether infants have a functional understanding of fairness via equal distribution of objects in third-party tasks. The researchers found that 15-month-old infants looked longer, potentially indicating surprise, when resources were distributed unequally between two adults compared to when they were distributed equally. Similarly, Sloane, Baillargeon, and Premack (2012) demonstrated that 19-month-old infants seemed to expect an experimenter to allocate two items equally between two individuals, but not between two inanimate objects. Further, by 3 years of age children get upset when they receive less of a
resource than someone else and will attempt to correct the situation (LoBue, Nishida, Chiong, DeLoache, & Haidt, 2009). These findings indicate that infants and young children expect and desire resources to be distributed equally between recipients.
Several recent studies have also investigated young children’s resource distribution in contexts in which children might *not* consider distributions of equal quantities to be fair. For example, Kenward and Dahl (2011) found that 4.5-year-old children gave more biscuits to a puppet who helped an agent than to one who hindered that agent. The preschoolers justified their actions with statements about the prosocial and antisocial behaviors of each puppet, suggesting they chose to reward the prosocial puppet with more biscuits and/or punish the antisocial puppet with fewer biscuits. Kanngiesser and Warneken (2012) had children work with a puppet to complete a task, and contrasted conditions in which either the puppet worked harder, or the child worked harder. In a subsequent distribution task, both 3- and 5-year-old children kept more stickers for themselves when they worked harder, and shared more when the puppet worked harder. This finding provides additional support for the claim that children viewed the resources as having value and used this value to reward the puppet in the condition where the puppet worked harder. In a similar merit-based task, Baumard, Mascaro, and Chevallier (2012) found that 3- and 4-year-old children opted to give a bigger cookie to an agent who worked harder to bake the cookies and a smaller cookie to an agent who did not work as hard. Here, the researchers operated under the assumption that children would find the bigger cookie to be of higher value, and concluded that children used the larger cookie to reward the agent who worked harder. Regarding reciprocity, 3-year-old children prefer to share resources with people who have shared with them (direct reciprocity) and people who have shared with others (indirect reciprocity; Olson & Spelke, 2008). Together, these findings support the hypothesis that young
children engage in intuitive economic valuation. They appear to understand that the total value of a larger quantity of a given resource is different from a smaller quantity of that same resource, and that resource value can be used to reward prosocial behaviors such as sharing and hard work.
Finally, in an extensive cross-cultural study on children’s fairness in resource distribution, Rochat et al. (2009) examined how children from seven different cultures shared small collections of items. Some collections contained all the same basic items and some collections included “special” items thought to be highly desirable to children (e.g., bigger and more brightly colored candies and stickers), and thus of higher value. Whereas there was some cultural variation, researchers found that across all samples, 3-year-old children tended to keep a larger quantity of items for themselves than they gave to others, and also kept more of the highly valued items for themselves. Further, when asked to divide the items into two collections, and told that the experimenter would select a collection first leaving the child with the non-selected collection, children overwhelmingly divided the items equally between the collections. Together, these findings provide additional evidence that young children assign value options, they can use value to create equal or unequal distributions depending on the context, they prefer higher-valued options for themselves, and that, cross-culturally, children use quantity – number and size – in their value assessments.
Whereas heuristics might play an important role in infants’ early economic valuation, and possibly offer stable evolutionary strategies (e.g., van Leeuwen & Haun, 2013), simple computations are not likely adequate to explain complex economic valuations. Thus, it is also crucial to consider how additional information, such as context, might be incorporated into value judgments. For example, the manner in which a choice is framed (Tversky & Kahnemann, 1981) and the options that the choice is being evaluated against (Hsee, 1998) are two factors that
influence the values adults assign to options. Thus, it is clear that value is not a set property affixed to specific options, but rather operates in relation to other options in the broader context in which one is making such an evaluation. As the social environment is a salient component of context, it is likely that individuals would use information provided from the social environment to inform their valuations. Social information might be employed via heuristics (e.g., broadly applying strategies such as “copy-the-majority”), or via a more thorough consideration of the social context (e.g., considering the type of information, attributes of the source providing the information, etc.). The possibility that children use social information to inform their developing preferences will be considered in detail in the following section.
**Social Influences on Children’s Preferences**
The motivation to attend to and learn from the social world might be unique to humans and confer significant adaptive advantages. Learning from others’ preferences might be one such adaptive strategy, as children often have to make critical decisions with limited information. Preference expression, via such modes as choice behavior and explicitly stating likes or dislikes, is common behavior that children frequently observe others’ performing, and could thus be used to acquire information. This information could be specific to others’ idiosyncratic likes and dislikes, but it could also convey information about the generally agreed upon value of the options. If so, children might incorporate information gleaned from observing others’ preferences into their own valuation of those options.
There are several requisite skills children must possess to acquire value information via observation of other’s preferences. First, children must be motivated to seek out and attend to information from the social world. Without motivation to learn from the social world, there is no reason to posit that children would garner information from other’s behavior and preferences.
Second, children must accurately understand others’ choices or evaluations (e.g., stating that they like an option) to reflect their underlying preferences. They need to understand and recognize preferences as such to infer that someone is expressing reliable and meaningful information, rather than exhibiting random or unintentional behavior.
Young children are highly motivated to attend to the behaviors and actions of others (e.g., Herrmann, Hernandez-Lloreda, Call, Hare, & Tomasello, 2010). Sensitivity to communicative cues, and motivation to learn from others, are hallmarks of human cognition (Csibra & Gergely, 2009; Herrmann et al.). Numerous studies have demonstrated the ease with which children use social cues to learn words (e.g., Baldwin et al., 1996), determine which objects in their environment to explore (e.g., Mumme, Fernald, & Herrera, 1996), and choose who to interact with (e.g., Feinman & Lewis, 1983). These social cues generally consist of eye gaze, pointing, and emotional utterances. Importantly, young children initiate these social exchanges spontaneously and across a myriad of contexts, which is indicative of their motivation to learn from the world around them. Tomasello and colleagues (Tomasello, Carpenter, Call, Behne, & Moll, 2005) have even argued that this motivation to attend to, share with, and understand the intentions of others comprise an essential component of children’s social reasoning and learning.
A multitude of findings in the extant literature highlight young children’s sensitivity to preferences. Eighteen-month-old infants understand that other’s preferences are subjective and can differ from their own (Repacholi & Gopnik, 1997). Nineteen-month-old infants understand that preferences differ across individuals, expecting that individuals should use the same names for things but do not necessarily share the same preference for those things (Graham, Stock, & Henderson, 2006). Toddlers also use adults’ non-random sampling (i.e., intentional choice) behavior as a cue for their preference (Kushnir, Xu, & Wellman, 2010), even when that
preference is different from the toddlers’ own preference (Ma & Xu, 2011). Further, 2-year-old children recognize when others share their preferences (Fawcett & Markson, 2010a), and 3-year-old children prefer to play with children who share their preferences (Fawcett & Markson, 2010b). Three-year-old children also choose toys and activities that were preferred by other children over adults, and by individuals of the same gender as themselves (Shutts, Banaji, & Spelke, 2009). In addition, Hennefield and Markson (in press) demonstrated that 4-year-old children were influenced by an adults’ preference behavior only when given clear evidence that the adult made an informed decision, rather than a blind choice between two options. Together, these studies demonstrate that young children understand that others’ can hold a preference that is different from their own, and can use statistical information and choice behavior to infer others’ preferences.
There is also recent evidence to suggest children can incorporate information obtained via others preferences into their own object choices. In one study, 18-month-old infants chose to play with the same objects for which adults had demonstrated a preference (Fawcett & Markson, 2009). Another study found that when 4-year-old children observed an adult choose between two objects, children attended to the object that was *not* chosen, and avoided selecting that object for themselves. This suggests children devalue options others do not select (Hennefield & Markson, in press). Together, these findings provide initial support for the hypothesis that children use other’s preferences to inform their option valuations.
If preferences convey value information, important questions arise concerning the nature of that information. The present work will focus on the contrasts between options that have been *liked* relative to another option, *disliked* relative to another option, and *neutral* – i.e., no preference information expressed toward that option. These contrasts are important because it is
plausible that children think about *liking* in a positive manner, and *disliking* in a negative manner, and might consider these two types of information to be substantially different. There is considerable evidence that adults use positive and negative information in different ways to reason about the world. In particular, this difference appears to manifest in a negativity bias in which negative information is learned and used to a greater degree than positive information. More recent research has extended these broad findings to children, with a majority of research focusing on a negativity bias in the context of social referencing (see Vaish, Grossmann, & Woodward, 2008, for a review). For example, Mumme et al. (1996) had mothers provide infants with positive (happy), neutral, or negative (fearful) emotional information about ambiguous toys. Infants were subsequently less likely to explore toys their mother was fearful toward than toys she was happy or neutral toward. Because there was no difference in infants’ explorations of the happy and neutral toys, that suggests that negative information was treated differently from the other information.
It is important to consider the potential impact of a negativity bias on option valuation, because it might be the case that children attend to or incorporate information differently depending on the valence of that information. There are clear evolutionary advantages for a bias to avoid options that others have shown fear or disgust toward, as people tend to show those negative expressions towards things that are potentially harmful or lethal. In contrast, because preferences are subjective, they might not invoke the same vigilance and avoidance reactions that typically characterize the negativity bias. Thus, children might devalue options others disliked and increase their valuation for options others liked if they consider others’ subjective assessments of the options to be accurate and reliable indicators of the valuation of the options. Crucially, in the absence of other information, all preferences have the *potential* to provide value
information about options and might guide children’s own valuations.
In one of the only studies to directly examine children’s preexisting preferences on their valuations, Blake and Rand (2010) investigated 3- to 6-year old children’s distribution patterns for resources of high and low value to the child. Using a Dictator Game (DG) paradigm, children identified their favorite and least-favorite stickers from a set of four stickers, and then were given either 10 of their favorite or 10 of their least-favorite stickers to distribute between themselves and another child. Children gave fewer of their favorite stickers to the other child (compared to their least-favorite stickers), suggesting they assigned a higher value to their favorites stickers, and found giving them away to be more costly. In contrast, children shared significantly more of their least-favorite stickers, suggesting a willingness to share provided the cost was not too high.
The findings by Blake and Rand (2010) offer support for the current hypothesis that children use resource value to differentially distribute options. However, whereas Blake and Rand found no age differences in the pattern of distribution among those children who distributed at least one sticker, less than 50% of the 3-year-old children they tested distributed at least one sticker across all of their tasks. In contrast, more than 75% of the 6-year-old children they tested distributed at least one sticker. Thus, whereas the DG might be a feasible resource distribution method to use with older children, the lack of variability in younger children’s responses makes it problematic to use this task with that age population. Further, in the DG children have to contend with competing desires to keep resources for themselves and behave prosocially by giving resources to the recipient. Whereas these competing demands are a key function of the DG as a method of assessing fairness and prosocial behavior, they are not necessary to assess value discrimination. Indeed, these demands might serve to add substantial noise, rendering the DG ill suited as a measure of value discrimination. Additional factors such
as social norms about sharing and whether the child believes there is the potential for future reciprocity might also factor into children’s decisions about how many resources to distribute in the DG.
One goal of the present research was to develop a method for assessing value discrimination that minimizes the aforementioned task demands \textit{and} is appropriate to use with 3-year-old children. To accomplish this, two resource distribution tasks were adapted from the fairness and prosociality literature (e.g., Baumard et al., 2012; Sloane et al., 2012; Olson & Spelke, 2008). In these tasks, children distribute two resources between two agents. These tasks are based on the assumption that children use resource value to reward prosocial agents and/or punish non-prosocial agents. In each task, one agent behaves in a prosocial manner (e.g., gives a gift, cleans up blocks), and is thus potentially deserving of a higher-valued reward. Importantly, this method eliminates children’s own acquisition of the resources from their decision-making processes. Further, as children must share one resource with each agent, they do not have to decide whether or how much to share; thus their decision is simplified to deciding which resource to give to which agent. Study 1 directly tests the assumption that children distribute (ostensibly) higher-valued resources to prosocial agents by investigating how 3-year-old children distribute two stickers – their a priori favorite and least-favorite stickers – between a prosocial and non-prosocial agent. Study 2 utilizes the same resource distribution methodology from Study 1 to test whether children differentially distribute, and thus potentially differentially value, stickers they have observed other children like and dislike. Study 3 takes a direct approach, with children explicitly asked to identify which resource they liked best, and which they thought another child would like best. This direct methodology was designed to complement the indirect measures implemented in the first two studies.
Study 1
Study 1 investigated whether preschoolers assign relative and stable values to objects for which they have a priori preferences, and, if so, whether they are able to demonstrate those consistent valuations in multiple contexts. Specifically, we tested whether children would distribute objects of higher value to agents who acted prosocially and were thus more deserving of greater reward. Two independent tasks were developed to test whether 3-year-old children would differentially distribute their favorite of two stickers to: (1) Reciprocity Task – a child who had given the participant a gift, versus a child who did not give them a gift; (2) Merit Task – a child-like puppet who cleaned up all the toys, versus one who did not clean up any toys.
Children prefer to share resources with individuals who have previously shared with them (Olson & Spelke, 2008), and expect individuals who worked harder to receive more resources than those who worked less (Baumard et al., 2012; Sloane et al., 2012). Thus, if children assign differential value to the stickers, it was expected that children would distribute their favorite (ostensibly higher-valued) sticker to the prosocial agent in both tasks.
Method
Participants. Twenty-four 3-year-old children ($M = 3;8$, Range $= 3;0–3;11$, 9 girls) participated in a single testing session. One child was replaced for failing to complete the Reciprocity Task. Children were recruited from a database of families who had expressed interest in participating in developmental research, and were tested in a university laboratory. The majority of children were white and from middle-class backgrounds.
Materials. An initial sticker array consisted of six stickers that were roughly the same size but differed on a variety of characteristics (see Figure 3.1). Some stickers were sparkly or metallic, some were stereotypically gender-oriented (e.g., a basketball and a pink butterfly), and
some were plain and common (e.g., a brown chair). This variety of stickers was chosen to appeal to a range of children’s tastes, and also to provide salient properties for children to consider when assessing the stickers.
Figure 3.1. The array from which children selected their favorite and least-favorite stickers. The stickers, from left to right, depicted a basketball, butterfly, cactus, teapot, dinosaur, and chair.
Reciprocity Task: Cardboard cubes were stacked together to form six cubbies. Each cubby contained a nametag and several identical small toys. The names on the top two cubbies were changed throughout the study to match the gender of the participant (girl names: Holly/Jane; boy names: Brian/Kyle). A gift box, tied with a ribbon and bow to look like a prototypical present, was placed in one of the top two cubbies (see Figure 3.2). A small chunky crayon was inside the gift box, and made a rattling noise when the box was shaken. The location of the gift box was counterbalanced across participants. Stickers were presented in bags to allow each child the opportunity to choose which sticker to distribute first.
Merit Task: Materials included a puppet-show stage, four puppets (two girl-puppets and two boy-puppets), 13 colorful blocks, and a clear plastic box to contain the blocks. Puppet gender was matched to the gender of the participant, thus each child only saw one pair of puppets. One puppet of each gender was blonde with blue eyes and wore a purple shirt; the other had black hair, brown eyes, and wore a light blue shirt (see Figure 3.3). The different hair, eyes, and shirt colors were chosen to help children easily differentiate the two puppets.
Figure 3.2. A depiction of the cubbies used in the Reciprocity Task. The gift was always placed in one of the top two cubbies, and contrasted with the other top cubby that belonged to a child who did not leave a gift.
Figure 3.3. A depiction of the puppets and set-up used in the Merit Task. One puppet always cleaned up all of the blocks by putting them into the box; the other puppet never cleaned up any blocks.
Design & Procedure. To begin the sticker assessment, the experimenter held up a small bag that contained the stickers, peered inside, and told the child that some of the stickers were really cool and fun and some were boring and not as nice. Then she dumped the stickers out of the bag, turned them all face up, asked, “Which sticker do you like the best?” and encouraged the child to select one. This sticker was set aside and became the “liked” sticker for all subsequent tasks in Study 1. Then the experimenter asked, “Which sticker do you like the least / not as much as the others?” and encouraged the child to select one. This sticker became the “disliked” sticker for the remaining tasks. After selecting the liked and disliked stickers, the experimenter placed those two stickers in front of the child and asked them to again identify their favorite and least-favorite stickers. All children’s responses were consistent with their initial preferences.
Reciprocity Task: The child stood on a marker 2’ in front of the cubbies. The experimenter stood to the left of the cubbies and told the child that, “These cubbies belong to kids that played here yesterday. This cubby is Jane’s [points to cubby with gift] and this cubby is Holly’s [points to empty cubby]. We told Jane and Holly that you were coming to play today and Jane left you a present! She left this gift for you [picks up box, shakes it, and shows it to child]. We’re playing our game now, but when we’re done you can open it up and see what Jane gave you [puts gift out of child’s sight, and stands directly behind the child]. Here are two stickers [hands participant a bag containing their most and least-favorite stickers]. You can give one sticker to Jane [points to Jane’s cubby] and one sticker to Holly [points to Holly’s cubby], and you get to pick who gets each sticker. You can put their stickers in their cubbies. Go ahead.” If the child hesitated, the experimenter reminded the child to put one sticker in each top cubby. Responses were coded for which cubby the child placed each sticker in.
Merit Task: The child was seated in front of a puppet-show stage. In the middle of the stage was a clear plastic box, surrounded by colorful blocks. The two puppets were seated behind the blocks. The child was told that, “these boys/girls were playing with these blocks and now it is time for them to clean up and put all the blocks back in the box”. Then one of the puppets (the helper) proceeded to put all of the blocks in the box while the other puppet occasionally picked up a block, played with it, and placed it back down on the table. This puppet never put any blocks in the box. Which puppet performed each role, and the side (left/right) where each role was performed, was counterbalanced. There were 13 blocks, and the puppet show lasted approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds. After the helper put the final block in the box, the experimenter took the box away and said, “All the blocks are cleaned up. Now you have a special job. You get to give one sticker to each of the puppets. You decide who should get each
sticker.” Then the experimenter handed the child the bag containing their favorite and least-favorite stickers. The puppets remained stationary until both stickers were distributed. Responses were coded for which sticker children handed (or placed in front of) each puppet.
**Memory Verification:** After each child completed the Reciprocity Task, the experimenter asked, “Do you remember who left you this gift? Can you point to the cubby it was in?” After the Merit Task, the experimenter asked, “Do you remember which puppet cleaned up all the blocks?” These questions were asked to verify that children, in general, comprehended and remembered the manipulation. Children responded correctly on 94% of the trials, indicating a high level of understanding and memory for the manipulations.
**Preference Verification:** After both tasks were completed, the experimenter placed the liked and disliked stickers in front of the child and asked, “Which sticker is your favorite?” This question was used to verify that the child’s preference did not shift over the course of the study.
**Results and Discussion**
To test whether children systematically distributed their favorite sticker to the prosocial agents, children’s responses were coded for whether they distributed their favorite (1) or least-favorite (0) sticker the prosocial agent in each task. Overall, children gave their favorite sticker to the prosocial agent significantly more often than would be expected by chance ($M = 1.42$, $SD = .65$), $t(1, 23) = 3.122$, $p = .005$ (see Figure 3.4). There were no differences in distribution patterns with regard to task or gender.
In the Reciprocity Task, 17 of 24 children gave their favorite sticker to the agent who left them the gift, binomial probability, $p = .032$. In the Merit Task, 17 of 24 children gave their favorite sticker to the agent who cleaned up all the blocks, binomial probability, $p = .032$. Across both the Reciprocity and Merit Tasks, 12 children gave their favorite sticker to the prosocial
agent in both tasks, 10 children gave their favorite sticker to the prosocial agent in one task, and 2 children never gave their favorite sticker to the prosocial agent. These frequencies are significantly different, $\chi^2 (2, N = 24) = 7, p = .03$.
*Figure 3.4.* In Study 1, children gave their favorite sticker to the prosocial agent more often than would be expected by chance in both the Reciprocity and Merit Tasks.
Two children did not answer the memory question correctly for the Reciprocity question, and one child did not answer the memory question correctly for the Merit question. The purpose of the memory questions was to verify that, in general, children understood and remembered the experimental manipulations. Thus, after verifying that their exclusion did not significantly alter the findings, the children who responded incorrectly were conservatively included in the analyses. Further, one child changed their mind and declared the disliked sticker their favorite
during the final preference verification. It is less clear how to handle this child’s data, as it is possible that the child’s preferences shifted over the course of the study. However, it is equally possible that they were simply inattentive by the time the question was asked at the conclusion of the study. As no other child changed their mind, it does not appear that changing a preference is something that commonly happens over the course of this study. Thus, after verifying that this child’s exclusion did not significantly alter the findings, and this child was included in the analyses.
The goal of Study 1 was to determine whether children assign consistent values to options for which they have a priori preferences. The findings support this hypothesis. Children gave their favorite stickers to the prosocial agents more often than would be expected by chance, indicating they used their a priori preferences, or valuations, to guide their distribution choices. Further, the lack of a difference between performance on the Reciprocity and Merit Tasks suggests that children exhibit these valuations across multiple contexts and situations. Importantly, in these tasks, the basic heuristics discussed earlier were not available (e.g., “more is more” could not be used because quantity was held constant). This study corroborates Blake and Rand’s (2010) finding that children’s a priori preferences influence their option valuations. Study 2 adapts this methodology to test whether social influences – specifically *other children’s preferences* – influence children’s option valuation in situations in which they do not hold an a priori preference for one of the options.
**Study 2**
Study 2 used the value discrimination tasks developed for Study 1 to investigate whether children incorporate information gleaned from observing others’ preferences into their valuation of resources. Children watched a video in which four children (2 boys, 2 girls) displayed a
preference for one of two stickers. These peer actors sequentially demonstrated the same preferences; each liked one specific sticker (liked sticker) and disliked the other (disliked sticker). After viewing the video, each child was given two stickers to distribute: *either* the liked sticker and a neutral sticker (Positive Condition) *or* the disliked sticker and neutral sticker (Negative Condition) in the Reciprocity and Merit Tasks. If children incorporate preference information into their object valuations, it was predicted that they would give the liked sticker (over the neutral sticker) to the prosocial agents in the Positive Condition, and would give the neutral sticker (over the disliked sticker) to the prosocial agents in the Negative Condition.
**Methods**
**Participants.** Forty-eight 3-year-old children ($M = 3;5$, Range = $3;1–3;11$, 24 girls) participated in a single testing session. Four children were replaced for parental interference (1), failure to complete the reciprocity task (1), and failure to pass the video familiarization by matching the stickers from the video to physical copies of the stickers (2). Children were recruited from the same population as Study 1, but had not participated in Study 1.
**Materials.** Three stickers were used. These stickers were 3.8cm diameter circles and consisted of a blue design on a white background. The designs – a star, swirl, and snowflake pattern – were chosen to be equally interesting to children, yet distinct (see Figure 3.5). Whether the swirl or snowflake was the liked or disliked sticker was counterbalanced; the star was always the neutral sticker.
*Figure 3.5.* The three designs (swirl, star, snowflake) that were printed on circular stickers in blue ink.
Social Influence Manipulation (SIM): Short video clips (each 11.6 s) in which four actors demonstrated that they liked one sticker and disliked another sticker. The third sticker – the neutral sticker – did not appear in the video. The actors were two boys and two girls of roughly the same age as the participants. Each actor picked up each sticker in turn and examined it while expressing their preference. They demonstrated *liking* by saying in an excited tone, “Oh, cool, I really like this one!” and *disliking* by saying in a negative tone, “Oh, no, I don’t like this one”. The “stickers” in the actors’ hands were actually blank squares of paper, but children could not tell this from watching the video. As the actor was expressing their first preference, a picture of the sticker they were “looking at” appeared onscreen, to the right of the actor, and remained visible for 4 seconds while they spoke. Then that picture disappeared, a picture of the second sticker appeared onscreen to the left of the actor, and again remained visible for 4 seconds while they expressed the complementary preference. Thus, the same preference expressions (i.e., each instance of a preference being expressed) were counterbalanced to pair with each specific sticker, and all children viewed all of the same preference expressions. This ensured that the actors own preferences could not influence their preference expression, and this method had the added benefit of equating the length of time allotted to each preference expression in the video. The order the actors appeared on screen was also counterbalanced with the constraint that two actors of the same gender did not appear in succession.
Materials for the Reciprocity and Merit Tasks were the same as those from Study 1.
**Design & Procedure.** Children were randomly assigned to either the Positive or Negative Condition. The procedure largely followed that of Study 1, with the exception that the SIM replaced children’s own sticker assessment. Each child watched the SIM on a laptop computer. After each clip of the actor demonstrating their preference, the experimenter placed
two physical stickers in front of the child. Children in the Positive Condition were presented with the liked sticker (from the video) and the neutral sticker (not in the video) and were asked which sticker the actor liked. Children in the Negative Condition were presented with the disliked sticker and the neutral sticker and were asked which sticker the actor did not like. If a child responded incorrectly, the experiment gently corrected them by saying, “Actually, they said they liked/did not like this one”, while pointing to the appropriate sticker.
This type of adult-guided interaction for information presented on video has been shown to facilitate children’s abilities to learn via video (Strouse, O’Doherty, & Troseth, 2013). There is ample evidence that toddlers have more difficulty learning information when it is presented via video than when that same information is presented live (e.g., Troseth, Saylor, & Archer, 2006), and by two and a half years of age that difference is lessened, but does not entirely disappear (Troseth & DeLoache, 1998). However, recent research provides evidence that preschool children learn more efficiently from video when they watch with their parents and their parents periodically pause, ask questions, and have children describe parts of the video (Strouse et al.). Following the experimenter-guided familiarization described above, only two children failed to correctly identify the correct sticker after all four video clips, and were subsequently excluded from analyses and replaced. The remaining children all correctly answered the last two questions, with the majority responding correctly throughout the familiarization.
After watching the SIM, each child completed the Reciprocity and Merit Tasks following the procedure outlined in Study 1. Children in the Positive Condition distributed the liked and neutral stickers, whereas those in the Negative Condition distributed the disliked and neutral stickers.
Results & Discussion
To test whether children systematically distributed the two stickers as a function of the information presented in the SIM, we coded which stickers children gave to the prosocial agents. In the Positive Condition (N = 24), we coded whether children gave the liked (1) or the neutral (0) sticker to the prosocial agents across the two tasks. In the Negative Condition (N = 24), we coded whether children gave the disliked (1) or the neutral (0) sticker to the prosocial agents across the two tasks. If children incorporated the preferences of their peers into their object valuations, then in the Positive Condition children should give more valenced (liked) than neutral stickers to the prosocial agents. In contrast, in the Negative Condition, children should give fewer valenced (disliked) than neutral stickers to the prosocial agents. A 2 (Task: Reciprocity/Merit) x 2 (Condition: Positive/Negative) x 2 (Gender: Girls/Boys) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted with task as the within-subjects factor and condition and gender as between-subjects factors. The ANOVA revealed no differences between the two tasks, nor an interaction between task and condition; thus, the tasks were collapsed together for the remainder of the analyses. Tests of between-subjects effects revealed a main effect of condition, such that children in the Positive Condition gave significantly more valenced stickers to the prosocial agent ($M = 1.17, SD = .76$) than children in the Negative Condition ($M = .37, SD = .57$), $F(1, 44) = 21.011, p < .001$. There was also a significant interaction between condition and gender, $F(1, 44) = 13.095, p = .001$. The nature of this interaction, and differences between the Positive and Negative Condition, are explored in the following analyses.
In the Positive Condition, an initial analysis indicated that children did not distribute the stickers differentially between the two agents, $t(1, 23) = 1.072 \ p = .295$. However, a one-way ANOVA revealed a main effect of gender such that girls ($M = 1.58, SD = .51$) distributed more
liked stickers to the prosocial agents than boys ($M = .75, SD = .75$), $F(2, 22) = 10, p = .005$. This finding suggests that girls, but not boys, were sensitive to the information conveyed via their peers’ expressions of liking, and used that information to systematically distribute the liked sticker to the more deserving agents.
In the Negative Condition, children gave the *disliked* sticker to the prosocial agents significantly *less* often than would be expected by chance, $t(1, 23) = 5.32, p < .001$. A one-way ANOVA revealed a marginal effect of gender such that girls ($M = .17, SD = .39$) distributed marginally fewer disliked stickers to the prosocial agents than boys ($M = .58, SD = .67$), $F(2, 22) = 3.48, p = .075$ (*see Figure 3.6*). To further clarify the nature of children’s distribution patterns in the Negative Condition, we calculated that 16 children never gave the disliked sticker to a prosocial agent, 7 children gave the disliked sticker to a prosocial agent in one task, and 1 child gave the disliked sticker to the prosocial agents in both tasks. These frequencies were significantly different, $\chi^2 (2, N = 24) = 14.25, p < .001$. Together, these findings suggest that both girls *and* boys were sensitive to the negative information conveyed via their peers’ expressions of dislike, and used that information to systematically *avoid* distributing the disliked sticker to the more deserving agents, instead giving them the neutral sticker. Further, girls used this information to a marginally greater extent than did boys.
For the memory verification questions, children responded correctly on 96% of the trials, indicating a high level of understanding and memory for the manipulations. In the Positive Condition, two children did not correctly answer the Reciprocity verification question; all children correctly answered the Merit verification question. In the Negative Condition, one child did not correctly answer the Reciprocity verification question, and one child did not correctly answer the Merit verification question. After verifying that their exclusion does not significantly
alter the findings, these children were conservatively included in the analyses.
Figure 3.6. In the Positive Condition girls gave the liked sticker to the prosocial agents more often than would be expected by chance. In the Negative Condition both girls and boys gave the disliked sticker to the prosocial agent significantly less than would be expected by chance.
After completing the resource distribution tasks, all children were shown the liked and disliked stickers and asked to identify their favorite. In the Positive Condition, 13 children chose the liked sticker as their favorite sticker, and 11 children chose the neutral sticker as their favorite. This distribution is not significantly different from chance, binomial probability $p = .419$, and there were no gender differences. In the Negative Condition, 6 children chose the disliked sticker as their favorite sticker and 18 children chose the neutral sticker as their favorite.
This distribution is significantly different from chance, binomial probability $p = .011$, and again there were no gender differences. This provides additional evidence that children’s valuations of the stickers were influenced largely by their peers dislikes.
Together, these findings suggest that 3-year-old children used information provided by their peers, presented via video, to inform their valuations of options. Children devalued the stickers their peers disliked, as demonstrated by their reluctance to give those stickers to the prosocial agents. Children’s devaluation of the disliked stickers was also evidenced in their choice of the neutral sticker over the disliked sticker as their own favorite. However, only girls increased their valuation of the liked stickers relative to the neutral stickers, and this valuation was only evidenced in the resource distribution tasks. This gender difference was not predicted, but accords with gender differences found in some other resource distribution tasks (e.g., Blake & Rand, 2010; Dunham, Baron, & Carey, 2011).
There are four plausible explanations for this gender effect. The first is that girls are more sensitive to the social information – other children’s preferences – than boys. Thus, either girls remembered the information from the video better, or utilized it more readily, in the distribution tasks. The second explanation is that both boys and girls are equally sensitive to the social information, but girls were more motivated than boys to provide the prosocial agent with the higher-valued option. The third explanation is that girls are more motivated to produce socially desirable responses than boys. The fourth explanation is that the gender of the agents drove the gender effect, rather than the gender of the participants. Each of these possibilities will be considered more in depth in the general discussion.
The differences between the Positive and Negative Conditions also suggest that boys, and perhaps girls, considered their peers likes and dislikes as substantially different types of
information. If so, this would provide evidence that the negativity bias extends beyond social-emotional (e.g., Mumme et al., 1996) and highly arousing threatening stimuli (e.g., LoBue, 2014), to subjective preference information. Children’s systematic reluctance to choose the disliked sticker as their favorite, but willingness to choose equally between the liked and neutral stickers, provides additional support for the hypothesis that negative information plays a privileged role in influencing children’s behavior. However, in Study 2, children were always asked to choose their own favorite sticker after completing the two resource distribution tasks. This was done to prevent their explicit choice from potentially influencing their subsequent resource distribution, however, it is also possible that how children distributed the resources influenced their selection of their favorite sticker. Thus, Study 3 was designed to assess children’s own preferences directly after viewing the SIM. Further, children were also directly asked which sticker they thought another child would like best, as a contrast to the implicit measure used in Study 2.
**Study 3**
In Study 3 children viewed the same SIM videos from Study 2, and were shown all three stickers (liked, neutral and disliked) during the experimenter-guided familiarization. Then children were directly asked, in counterbalanced order, which sticker they liked best (Self Question), and which sticker they thought another child would like best (Other Question). In Study 2, children were deliberately not asked to express a preference for one of the stickers until after the resource distribution tasks were completed. This was done to avoid facilitating or strengthening children’s own preferences for one of the options through their choice behavior. However, as the preference question was asked last in Study 2, it is unclear whether children’s responses in that measure might have been affected by first completing the resource distribution
tasks. Thus, Study 3 provides a straightforward test of whether children’s own choices were influenced by the SIM. Children were also directly asked which sticker another gender-matched child would like as an additional measure of social influence. Further, in Study 3 children were presented with all three stickers to choose between for each question.
**Participants.** Twenty-four 3-year-old children ($M = 3;4$, Range = $3;1–4;0$, 13 girls) participated in a single testing session. One child was replaced for failure to pass the video familiarization by matching the stickers from the video to physical copies of the stickers. Children were recruited from the same population as Studies 1 and 2, but had not participated in either of those studies.
**Materials.** The same three stickers and SIM from Study 2 were used, however which specific sticker was the liked, disliked, and neutral sticker was fully counterbalanced. Two photographs, one of a preschool-aged boy and one of a preschool-aged girl, were used for the Other Question.
**Design & Procedure.** Each child watched the SIM on a laptop computer. To ensure understanding, after the first video clip the experimenter showed each child two physical stickers, the liked and disliked stickers from the video, and asked them which sticker the actor liked and did not like (order randomized). After the remaining three video clips, the experimenter presented each child with all three stickers, and asked which sticker the actor liked, disliked, and which was not in the video (order randomized). As in Study 2, if the child responded incorrectly the experimenter gently corrected them. One child failed to correctly identify the correct sticker after all four video clips and was subsequently excluded from analyses and replaced.
After the SIM, the experimenter asked both the Self and Other Questions (order counterbalanced). She asked the Self Question by placing all three stickers in front of the child
and asking, “Now you tell me, which do you like the best”. She asked the Other Question by showing a gender-matched child on the laptop, and explaining that this child had never seen these stickers before. Then she placed all three stickers in front of the child and asked, “Now you tell me, which do you think he/she would like best?”
Results & Discussion
To test whether children chose the liked stickers (or avoided the disliked stickers) for themselves and a new child, children’s responses were coded for which sticker they first chose (via pointing or picking up) after being asked each question. For the Self Question, of the 24 children, 13 children chose the liked sticker, 8 chose the neutral sticker, and 3 chose the disliked sticker. These frequencies are significantly different, $\chi^2$ (2, $N = 24$) = 6.25, $p = .044$. Planned comparisons revealed that children selected the liked sticker more frequently than the disliked sticker, binomial probability, $p = .011$. However, there were no overall difference between children’s selection of the liked and neutral stickers, or the neutral and disliked stickers. These findings suggest that children systematically avoided selecting the disliked sticker for themselves, yet considered both the liked and the neutral sticker to be equally acceptable candidates to select, and chose equally between them.
For the Other Question, of the same 24 children, 17 children chose the liked sticker as the other child’s favorite, 6 chose the neutral sticker, and 1 chose the disliked sticker. These frequencies are significantly different, $\chi^2$ (2, $N = 24$) = 16.75, $p < .001$. Planned comparisons revealed that children selected the liked sticker more frequently than the disliked sticker, binomial probability, $p < .001$, and the neutral sticker marginally more frequently than the disliked sticker, binomial probability $p = .062$. Children also selected the liked sticker more frequently than the neutral sticker, binomial probability, $p = .017$ (see Figure 3.7). These findings
suggest that children systematically chose the liked sticker for the other child, and avoided selecting the disliked sticker. However, even though children selected the liked sticker more than the neutral sticker, they also selected the neutral sticker marginally more than the disliked sticker. Thus, not all children simply matched the preferences expressed in the video to the new child’s preferences.
Figure 3.7. This figure depicts the frequencies of children choosing the liked, neutral, or disliked sticker for themselves (Self Question) and a new child (Other Question).
The overall pattern of children’s responses did not significantly differ across the two questions, chi square $\chi^2$ (2, $N = 24$) = 3.06, $p = .216$. However, 10 of the 24 children gave a different response to each question, which suggests that children did not consider the questions to be the same and/or did not simply repeat their first response for the second question. Importantly, there were no effects of question order on responses, nor were there any effects of gender. However, because all children overwhelmingly chose the liked or neutral stickers, those strong findings could be masking more subtle effects of gender. Taken together, the findings of these three studies suggest that children used their peers’ preferences as a source of information.
to guide their valuations of the stickers. The results also provide support for the claim that negative information plays a privileged role in children’s choice behavior.
**General Discussion**
The present findings demonstrate that 3-year-old children assign relative and stable values to two discrete options, and use this value to systematically reward prosocial and/or punish non-prosocial agents. Further, children appear to incorporate information gleaned from observing others’ preference into their own valuations of options. After viewing four peers express consistent preferences for one option over another, children appear to *devalue* the option their peers disliked, as they systematically avoided selecting it for a prosocial agent, a new child, and themselves. This indicates that children might utilize negative preference information (disliking) in a substantially different way from positive preference information (liking), such as privileging the role of negative information. However, in the resource distribution tasks, girls appeared to also increase their value of the option their peers liked, as they gave more liked than neutral stickers to the prosocial agents. This potentially indicates that girls are more influenced by the social information conveyed by their peers, more motivated to differentially distribute the options, and/or more sensitive to the social context of the experiment. Finally, boys and girls chose equally between the liked and neutral options as their own favorites, while avoiding the disliked options. This finding provides additional evidence that children incorporated their peers’ dislikes into their valuations to a greater degree than their peers’ likes. The potential role of a negativity bias, explanations for the gender difference, and the relationship between selecting options for others versus oneself will be considered in detail.
In Study 1, children systematically distributed their favorite (ostensibly higher-valued) sticker to the prosocial agents and their least-favorite (lower-valued) sticker to the non-prosocial
agents. However, because children only had two stickers and two choices of agents, it is not possible to determine whether children chose to distribute the higher-valued sticker to the prosocial agent (thus, by default distributing the lower-valued sticker to the non-prosocial agent), the lower-valued sticker to the non-prosocial agent (thus, by default distributing the higher-valued sticker to the prosocial agent), or a combination of both. However, Studies 2 and 3 included a third, non-valenced (i.e., neutral), option in an attempt to disentangle the relative influence of positively and negatively valenced preference information on children’s valuations.
In Study 2, in the Negative Condition both boys and girls distributed more neutral stickers to the prosocial agents (and, thus, more disliked stickers to the non-prosocial agents). In the Positive Condition boys did *not* distribute more liked stickers to the prosocial agents than neutral stickers. This suggests that boys devalued the disliked sticker relative to the neutral sticker *more than* they increased their valuation of the liked sticker relative to the neutral sticker. In Study 3, both boys and girls selected the disliked sticker significantly less frequently than either the liked or neutral sticker for both a new child and themselves. One explanation for this pattern of findings is that stickers – including the neutral sticker – are already highly valued by children. Indeed, stickers were intentionally chosen for the stimuli *because* most children find them desirable. Arguably, *most* options that individuals have to choose between have some value, and to that end using stickers contributes to the ecological validity of this research. Thus, it might not be the case that children differentially incorporated the liked and disliked information into their valuations, but rather that the value added by their peers’ expression of liking did not (or could not) substantially increase the value of that option over that of the neutral option.
Another possibility is that children privileged the role of the disliked – negative –
information in their valuations. It has been posited that a negativity bias, characterized by attending to, remembering, and learning from negative information to a greater degree than other information, is present early in development and guides children’s behavior and learning (see Vaish et al., 2008, for a review). However, the types of negative information typically cited in discussions of the negativity bias are fear (e.g., Hertenstein & Campos, 2001; Mumme et al., 1996; Mumme & Fernald, 2003) and disgust (e.g., Carver & Vaccaro, 2007; Hornik, Risenhoover, & Gunnar, 1987; Moses, Baldwin, Rosicky, & Tidball, 2001). This fits with an evolutionary account, as individuals typically express fear and disgust when there is the potential for harm to occur, and the avoidance of harm offers clear adaptive advantages. For example, expressing fear could prevent someone from getting too close to the edge of a cliff, and expressing disgust could keep them from consuming spoiled food; two universal dangers.
Preferences, in contrast, are inherently more subjective. As such, options that one individual likes might be disliked by another, and vice versa. Thus, it seems unlikely that children would explicitly equate an expression of dislike with one of danger. However, it is possible that children process both types of negative information similarly, and therefore treat disliked information *as if* it was harmful.
Children’s expectations might also drive them to privilege disliked information. People are generally positive toward the world around them, and most options – those things they interact with in daily life – contain value. Further, when people encounter options they dislike, a common course of action is to ignore or avoid them, rather than overtly express dislike. In contrast, because individuals often interact with the things they prefer, they have many more opportunities to express explicit liking. For example, if someone orders a cone at a local ice cream shop, they are likely to choose a flavor they have tried before and know they like or one
that is similar to other flavors they know they like. Subsequently, when they remark on their choice, their comments are almost always positive; it would be rare to end up with an ice cream flavor they did not like. Thus, it is possible that children in the present studies were more sensitive to the explicitly disliked information because it was unexpected, and thus weighted it more heavily in their option valuations than the liked information. Importantly, these explanations for why children prioritized the disliked information are not mutually exclusive, and might all contribute to the current pattern of results. Further, the differences between liked and disliked information do not detract from the more general finding that, at least in some circumstances, children are influenced by their peers’ preferences.
One somewhat unexpected finding was that girls, in the resource distribution tasks (Study 2), distributed more liked than neutral stickers to the prosocial agents. In contrast, when choosing another child’s favorite sticker (Study 3), both girls \textit{and} boys selected more liked than neutral stickers. Together, those findings suggest that both girls and boys learned \textit{something} about the value of the options their peers liked. However, girls incorporated that information into their resource distribution whereas boys did not. There are several possible explanations for these findings.
One explanation is that girls are more sensitive to social information than boys, and subsequently retain and/or integrate all social information into their behavior to a greater extent than boys. This explanation accounts for girls’ use of the liked information throughout all the tasks, and boys use of the liked information only in Study 3. In Study 3, there was minimal lag time between when children viewed the videos and selected the stickers, and both events occurred at the same location, with little change in complexity of the environment. In contrast, in Study 2, after viewing the video, children completed the Reciprocity and Merit Tasks in two
separate locations. These changes increased the length of time children needed to retain the information in order to utilize it, and the complexity of the environment in which children were making their decisions. If boys are less sensitive to social information, *and* if the liked information was less salient than the disliked information, than boys many not have retained or considered that information to the same extent as girls. There is some indirect evidence from research on autobiographical memory in children that supports this explanation. Specifically, when retelling events, young girls talk considerably more about the social context (e.g., other people, relationships), and less about themselves, than boys (Buckner & Fivush, 1998; 2000; Tougu, Tulviste, & Suits, 2014). Whereas these studies do not disentangle children’s memory for the events from their choice of information to retell, they do suggest that girls utilize social information to a greater degree than boys when considering past events – and this might extend to an increased sensitivity for their peers’ preferences.
Alternatively, if boys and girls are equivalently sensitive to their peers’ preferences, there are three additional explanations that could account for the gender differences observed in the present research. Two pertain to the differences between how girls and boys might act in social contexts. The first is that girls are more prosocial than boys, and the second is that girls are more motivated to produce socially desirable responses. The former hinges on the prosocial element of the resource distribution tasks – the act of giving the resources to the agents – that was not present when children were asked to select which of two stickers they thought another child would like. In such an account, girls are more *intrinsically* motivated than boys to behave in a helpful or prosocial manner, and this extends to differentially distributing the liked and neutral resources (presumably to reward the prosocial agents). In contrast, the latter explanation, social desirability, hinges on external motivations to differentially distribute the resources. In this
account, girls are more *extrinsically* motivated than boys to provide the response the experimenter would find most appropriate or expected, and this extends to giving the liked sticker to the prosocial agents.
There is mixed evidence to support the possibility that girls are more prosocial than boys. When gender differences have been observed in behavioral economics tasks, the reliable direction of this effect is females opting for more equitable distributions than males (e.g., Andreoni & Versterlund, 2001; Gummerum, Keller, Takezawa, & Mata, 2008; Murnigham & Saxon, 1998), though many studies do not find any gender differences (e.g., Gummerum, Hanoch, Keller, Parsons, Hummel, 2010; Hennefield & Markson, in prep.). In research most similar to the present work, Blake and Rand (2010) found that more girls than boys distributed at least one sticker in a DG task. However, of those children who distributed at least one sticker, there were no gender differences in children’s distribution patterns for their favorite and least-favorite stickers. Blake and Rand consider this finding as evidence for greater prosocial behavior in girls, as distributing *any* resources in the DG is a departure from a rational utilitarian approach to maximizing gains. Similarly, Benozio and Diesendruck (2015) found that girls distributed more resources to out-group members than boys, which the researchers characterize as boys’ strategic protection of resources for the good of their in-group. However, unlike the DG, the present resource distribution tasks were set up in such a way that *all* children were required to be prosocial (i.e., they were required to give one sticker to each of the agents). Further, there were no direct costs to children in terms of resource distribution, as children were not permitted to keep the any resources for themselves. Thus, from a strategic standpoint, it would seem that *all* children should have factored their peers’ likes into their resource distribution, as the potential benefits (e.g., currying the most favor with the most prosocial agent), would seem to outweigh
the potential costs (e.g., cognitive resources to remember/use the liked information). In that light, attributing the gender differences found in the present work to increased prosociality in girls is not the most parsimonious explanation.
It is also unlikely that 3-year-old girl’s responses were driven by an extrinsic desire to produce socially desirable responses. There is emerging evidence that by 5 years of age children begin to strategically manage their reputations. Five-year-old children share slightly more resources when they are being watched by a peer than when they are alone (Engelmann et al., 2012), when the recipient is aware of the quantity of options the child could distribute (Leimgruber et al., 2012), and when they are being watched by someone who could reciprocate later as well as an ingroup versus an outgroup member (Engelmann et al., 2013). In addition, 4-year-old children will publically, but not privately, conform to their peers, even when they know their peers are wrong (Haun & Tomasello, 2011). Thus, by the late preschool years, children appear to begin to manage their reputations. However, none of the aforementioned studies found differences in reputation management between girls and boys, nor is there any direct evidence to suggest that 3-year-old children engage in reputation management.
One final possibility is that the gender of the *agents* drove the gender effect, rather than (or in addition to) the gender of the participants. For example, it is possible that participants believed that girl-agents, but not boy-agents, would desire the liked stickers over the neutral stickers, or that prosocial girl-agents would be more likely than prosocial boy-agents to reciprocate in the future. As the gender of the participants was matched to the gender of the agents, the present study cannot offer insight into the likelihood of this account. However, there is some evidence from the extant literature to support this possibility. In particular, one study found robust evidence that children demonstrated an explicit preference for children of their own
gender, and this preference was almost entirely driven by girls’ preferences for other girls. In a subsequent resource distribution task, the researchers again found effects of gender such that girls gave more resources to other girls than boys, but boys did not favor other boys over girls (Dunham et al., 2011). Thus, in the present study girls might have been more motivated to differentially reward other *girls*, but might not necessarily show that same distribution pattern if they were distributing resources to boys.
The mixed findings from the extant literature provide marginal support for each of these explanations and raise the possibility that the gender differences observed in Study 3 are not the result of single straightforward cause. However, girls’ early understanding of gender norms might contribute to an increased sensitivity to social information, and potentially to increased prosocial behavior and consideration of the gender of the agents. Attending to others, demonstrating sensitivity to their needs, behaving prosocially, and promoting equality over conflict, are all more stereotypically associated with females than males. Thus, girls’ behavior might be due to their internalization these gender norms, or external pressures to produce socially desirable actions. Some ways in which future studies could attempt to resolve these questions include uncoupling children’s gender from that of the recipient and directly testing for gender differences in children’s processing (e.g., attention, memory, etc.) of social information.
One final issue to consider is the relationship between selecting options for others versus selecting options for oneself. In Study 2, after completing the resource distribution tasks, children selected one of the two stickers as their favorite. In the Positive Condition, an equivalent number of children chose the liked and neutral stickers as their favorite. In the Negative Condition, a majority of children chose the neutral sticker as their favorite, systematically rejecting the disliked sticker. Similarly, in Study 3, children robustly chose the liked and neutral
stickers over the disliked stickers, with no differences found between the number of children who chose the liked and neutral stickers. In contrast, a majority of children chose the liked sticker *over* the neutral sticker as a new child’s favorite. This finding fits with the account that values are computed at the time a choice is made, based on multiple dimensions of those options. When determining the preference of a new child, children had limited information to use in their valuation. Whereas the available information was not solely limited to their peers’ preferences (i.e., children had information about the other child’s gender, appearance, etc.), they arguably had little information to use to determine which option that child would find more valuable, and thus more heavily weighted the information they did have – their peers’ preferences. In contrast, children had substantially more information to factor into their determination of their own favorite (e.g., their own gender, personal shape or color preferences, past experiences with similar options, etc.) – and thus their peers’ preferences were weighted less heavily into their valuation. Alternative explanations, such as attributing children’s distribution patterns to the social dynamics of the experimental context (e.g., social desirability), rather than a change in their valuations of the options, cannot be definitively ruled out. However, they are highly unlikely given the systematic differences between children’s overall consideration of the liked and disliked stickers, differences in responses between choosing stickers for oneself and another child, and the corroborative findings between Studies 2 and 3.
In the present studies, the information children received about their peers’ preferences was consistent across all four peers. This raises two limitations and potential directions for future research. The first concerns the consistency of the information. There is substantial evidence that young children are able to use statistical information to inform their learning, and this extends to using statistical information to infer others’ preferences (Kushnir, Xu, & Wellman, 2010; Ma &
However, whether children attended to the internal consistency of the preference information (i.e., within-individual consistency) or the proportion of individuals who expressed a particular preference (i.e., between-individual consistency) is not known. For example, if children observed four peers express consistent preferences for liking option-A and disliking option-B, and then a fifth peer expressed disliking option-A and liking option-B, would observing that fifth person’s preference (i.e., the opposite preference) serve to increase children’s valuations of option-B relative to viewing consistent negative information toward option-B? It is possible that children equally weight each instance of a peers’ preference expression, and would thus marginally increase their valuation for option-B. In contrast, children might consider the preferences expressions as one event, adopt the preferences of the majority and disregard the minority, and thus not change their valuation of option-B. Furthermore, if a negativity bias is driving children’s devaluation of the disliked option, the absolute number of disliked expressions might not matter, but the consistency of the information could play a crucial role. If the negativity bias serves a fundamental protective function (i.e., to prevent individuals from interacting with objects or food that is potentially harmful), then observing even one instance of that disliked option being liked might substantially reduce or eliminate the negativity bias. If so, observing one peer like option-B might result in children substantially increasing their valuation for option-B relative to receiving consistent negative information about it. Answering this question is important to characterizing the types of information and contexts in which children are influenced by their peers’ preferences.
Similarly, classic work on social influence and conformity has found a minimum of three informants necessary to elicit conformist behavior in adults (e.g., Asch, 1956). Four informants were used in the present study to equate gender, however it is unclear whether children needed to
view four different peers in order to be influenced by their preferences. One possibility is that, because the peers were strangers, children might have attended to the quantity and consistency of the preference expressions to a greater degree than they would if the peers were familiar. Future studies are needed to clarify the impact of informant attributes on children’s option valuations and preferences.
One final point pertains to the medium in which children were exposed to their peers’ preferences. These studies are the first to demonstrate that, not only are 3-year-old children’s valuations are influenced by their peers preferences, but also that they are influenced when those preferences are presented via video. Young children often have more difficulty learning information from video than when that same information is presented live (e.g., Troseth et al., 2006; Troseth & DeLoache, 1998). Thus, it is likely that the current findings underestimate the extent to which children might incorporate their peers’ preferences into their valuations. In a richer and more ecologically valid environment – such as observing a friend express a preference – children’s valuations might be influenced by substantially less information.
There is a wealth of timely and pertinent information available via the social domain, and strategically extracting and utilizing such information could yield adaptive advantages. The present research indicates that young children can use social information – specifically, peers’ preferences – to inform their relative valuation of options and subsequent preferences. Not only do 3-year-old children assign relative and consistent valuations to options for which they have an a priori preference, but they can use these valuations to systematically reward a prosocial agent and/or punish a non-prosocial agent. Further, after viewing four peers express a consistent preference for one option over another, children appear to devalue the option their peers disliked, as they systematically avoid selecting it for a prosocial agent, a new child, and themselves.
Interestingly, in certain contexts, girls appear to increase their value of the option their peers liked, whereas boys do not. This suggests that girls might be more sensitive to social information and social context than boys. It is possible that girls attend to and retain information acquired via observing their peers’ preferences to a greater extent than boys, and utilize this information in relevant social contexts, such as distributing resources to others. Finally, children (boys \textit{and} girls) chose equally between liked and neutral resources as their own favorite, while avoiding disliked resources. Taken together, the present findings suggest that children’s object valuations are informed by the preferences of their peers. Further, subjective negative information (e.g., others’ dislikes) appears to play a privileged role in influencing children’s choice behavior.
Together, these studies provide new insight into children’s early economic reasoning, and highlight the role of other’s preferences on children’s developing valuations.
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Chapter 4: Conclusion
This research had two primary goals: (1) to develop methodology to assess value discrimination in young children, and (2) to investigate how young children’s option valuations – and subsequent preferences – might be influenced by the preferences of their peers. These goals were realized across four empirical studies. The study presented in Chapter 2 used an established resource distribution methodology, the Dictator Game (DG), to test whether 4-year-old children’s preferences were influenced by the preferences of their peers. Children observed, via video, four peers display the same preference for one of two stickers. Each peer expressed liking one sticker and disliking the other. Then children completed two rounds the DG; one with each sticker type. If their peers’ preferences influenced children’s own preferences, we expected children to keep more liked than disliked stickers for themselves. Indeed, more children kept more liked than disliked stickers, indicating their distribution patterns were influenced by their peers’ preferences. This finding also suggests that children extracted informational content about the value of the stickers from their peers and used that to guide their own preferences. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first study to provide evidence that 4-year-old children’s preferences are influenced by the preferences of their peers. However, these findings also raise questions for future research and highlight several limitations of using the DG to assess value discrimination in young children.
The problems with using the DG as a method for testing questions concerning value discrimination can be attributed to two factors: too much freedom in how the resources can be distributed, and children factoring their own desires for the resources into their decision making processes. Whereas these are key functions of the DG as a method of assessing fairness and prosocial behavior, they are not necessary to assess value discrimination, and might produce
substantial noise when used in that manner. These concerns become further amplified when comparing children’s distribution patterns across multiple rounds of the DG. Thus, the two subsequent value discrimination tasks developed for the studies presented in Chapter 3 eliminated these concerns. These new resource distribution tasks were predicated on the assumption that children would use the value of a resource as a means of rewarding prosocial agents and/or punishing non-prosocial agents. Thus, children learned about the prosociality of two agents (one who was prosocial, one who was not prosocial) and then distributed one resource to each agent. Once children had selected one resource to distribute to one agent, they had no choice but to give the complementary resource to the other agent. Further, because of these reduced task demands, this method allowed testing these questions in 3-year-old children.
The first of three studies presented in Chapter 3 aimed to test the assumption that, when distributing one higher-valued resource and one lower-valued resource distribute between a prosocial and a non-prosocial agent, children would systematically distribute the higher-valued resource to the prosocial agent. Previous research demonstrated that children use quantity (i.e., number and size) to distribute resources of higher value (i.e., more instances or a larger instance) to a prosocial agent (e.g., Kenward & Dahl, 2011; Baumard, Mascaro, & Chevallier, 2012). However, one goal of the present research was to assess whether children would distribute two resources that differed on some dimension *other than* and *unrelated to* quantity. This research thus adopted the same assumption as Blake and Rand (2010) – that children’s preferences reflect the underlying value they assign to resources. Prior to partaking in the resource distribution tasks, 3-year-old children selected their favorite (ostensibly higher-value) and least-favorite (ostensibly lower-value) sticker from an array of stickers. Children were then given those two stickers to distribute in two tasks. In each task, children were instructed to give one sticker to an
agent who behaved prosocially (i.e., gave them a gift, cleaned up blocks) and one to an agent who was not prosocial (i.e., did not give them a gift, did not clean up blocks). Children reliably distributed their favorite sticker to the prosocial agent, suggesting that 3-year-old children assign relative and stable value to options, and they are able to use the value of a resource to systematically reward prosocial and/or punish non-prosocial agents. This study is the first, to my knowledge, to demonstrate that children as young as 3 years of age assign relative value to resources that is not predicated on quantity. Further, this study also introduces two new value discrimination tasks that could potentially be used to assess whether children’s resource valuation changes as a function of an experimental manipulation.
The second study presented in Chapter 3 aimed to test whether observing other children’s resource preferences would influence 3-year-old children’s valuations of those resources. As in the DG study from Chapter 2, children viewed four peers sequentially display the same preference for one of two stickers (liking one and disliking the other). Children were then given either the liked sticker and a neutral sticker (Positive Condition) or the disliked sticker and neutral sticker (Negative Condition) to distribute in the same two tasks as the previous study. If children incorporated preference information into their object valuations, it was predicted that they would give the liked sticker (over the neutral sticker) to the prosocial agents in the Positive Condition, and would give the neutral sticker (over the disliked sticker) to the prosocial agents in the Negative Condition. In the Positive Condition, girls gave the liked sticker to the prosocial agents more often than would be expected by chance. In the Negative Condition both girls and boys gave the disliked sticker to the prosocial agent significantly less often than would be expected by chance. These findings indicate that children incorporated information gleaned from observing their peers preferences into their own valuation of options. Specifically, both girls and
boys avoided giving the disliked sticker to the prosocial agents, suggesting they devalued that sticker relative to the neutral sticker. Further girls, but not boys, appeared to increase their valuation of the liked sticker relative to the neutral sticker, as they reliably gave the liked sticker to the prosocial agents.
The third study in Chapter 3 directly tested whether children thought a new child would prefer a sticker that was liked by peers over one that was disliked. This study also aimed to test whether 3-year-old children’s own preferences were influenced by those of their peers. After viewing their peers’ preferences, children were presented with all three stickers – the sticker their peers had liked, the sticker they disliked, and a new, neutral sticker. When asked which sticker a new gender-matched child would like, children reliably chose the liked sticker over the disliked and neutral sticker. In contrast, when asked which sticker they liked best, children selected equally between the liked and neutral sticker and reliably avoided the disliked sticker. These findings provide additional evidence that children incorporated their peers’ dislikes into their valuations to a greater degree than their peers’ likes. Further, these findings also suggest that children differentially weighted the influence of their peers’ preferences in their valuations depending on the context in which the valuation occurred. When children were asked to determine the preference of a new child, they had limited information to use in their valuation. Thus, their peers’ preferences, as one salient piece of information, were heavily weighted in their valuation. In contrast, when children determined their own preference for one of the stickers, they had substantially more information (e.g., their own gender, personal shape or color preferences, past experiences with similar options, etc.) to factor into their preference – and thus their peers’ preferences were weighted less heavily in their valuation. This might have served to further lessen the value differences between the liked and neutral options; however, children still
avoided choosing the disliked sticker for themselves, indicating that the disliked information was weighted more heavily than the liked information.
That children’s valuations are influenced by their peers is a notable and novel contribution to the burgeoning literature on children’s learning from others. In the present studies, it is also possible, in addition to acquiring information, that children also incorporated their peers’ preferences into their own preferences for social benefits (e.g., peer support, friendship, access to group resources, etc.). Attending to and learning from others’ preferences, thus, might be a strategic way in which children combine knowledge acquisition with strengthening social bonds. In acquiring value information via the observation of peers’ preferences, children can learn about generally agreed upon, potentially culture-specific, values. Further, adopting the preferences of peers can potentially demonstrate similarity and belonging, indicate trustworthiness as a social partner, and serve as a bid to peers for social engagement.
The recent findings that 4-year-old children will occasionally conform publically (out loud) after hearing a majority of peers offer an incorrect response, yet can privately (via pointing) indicate the correct response (Haun & Tomasello, 2011) suggests that young children can engage in acts ostensibly solely for social benefits. These findings are consequential because they demonstrate that children, like adults (e.g., Asch, 1956), will, at least in certain circumstances, prioritize conforming to a majority over providing factually correct information, and not incorporate information from the majority into their own knowledge. However, circumstances in which those demands conflict are arguably rare. People generally behave in appropriate, adaptive ways, and thus, garnering information from others preferences might be an adaptive strategy. The present studies point to at least one circumstance in which children might use peers’ assertions for informational and social benefits.
If children gain social benefits from adopting the preferences of their peers, an important question raised by the present findings is whether children’s option valuations would also be influenced by adults’ preferences, or if they are specifically sensitive to the preferences of their peers. One important, and compelling, reason for assessing the influence of peers’ preferences was to determine whether children considered their peers a good source of information from which to learn the value of resources. A second reason was to determine whether children would utilize information that was presented from a non-authoritative source. Thus, if children do acquire value information from adults’ preferences it might not be for the same reasons as when they acquire that value information from children. Further, it is also plausible that, like learning objective information (e.g., VanderBorght & Jaswal, 2009; Rakoczy, Hamann, Warneken, & Tomasello, 2010), children consider the content or domain of the information when deciding from whom to learn. For example, children acquire information about the value of stickers from peers, and this might extend to other child-focused content such as toys and games. In contrast, children might turn to adults to acquire information about the value of adult-focused content.
Children might also consider the social context, and make a more nuanced assessment between peers and adults. For example, children might differentially adopt the preferences of new peers as a bid for friendship, especially in situations in which they are likely to encounter that peer again. In contrast, children might not adopt the preferences of a new adult as readily, because they are not angling for social benefits, and instead use familiarity or cues to expertise in considering whether to learn from adults’ preferences. Further, in the present studies children did not (could not) have a preference for one of the options prior to viewing their peers’ preferences. Thus, this research demonstrates that peers’ preferences influenced children’s acquisition of preferences, but does not offer insight into whether peers’ preferences would also have the
capability of changing established preferences. However, if others’ preferences can change established preferences, it might also be the case that the aforementioned motivations (i.e., contexts in which to learn from a peer or an adult) would also factor into whether children’s preexisting preferences changed as a result of observing others’ preferences.
One final question of importance pertains to whether preference acquisition via others’ preferences extends beyond the object domain, to social preferences (e.g., who to interact with or befriend) or ideological values (e.g., what moral, political, and cultural, beliefs to hold). The present studies cannot directly speak to this question; however, there is no a priori reason to believe that learning from other’s preferences is limited to objects. Further, for any meaningful transfer of cultural information (i.e., beyond the initial social benefits and ease of making a quick decision) these influences need to persist over time. Future studies are needed to further clarify from whom children will acquire preference information, the types of information that can be acquired via preferences, and the extent to which that information persists over time.
Social and cognitive processes are inextricably linked; social development relies on cognitive capacities, and cognition develops steeped in the social world. The social world is a rich source of information, and young children are able to use others actions and behavior – including their subjective preferences – to learn about the world. Together, the studies presented in this dissertation provide evidence that young children’s option valuations, and subsequent preferences, are influenced by the preferences of their peers. Corroborative findings from an established resource distribution task (Chapter 2), and two new tasks developed to assess value discrimination in young children (Chapter 3) demonstrate that children extract informational content about the value of options from observing their peers preferences, and use that value to guide their own preferences. Further, subjective negative information (e.g., others’ dislikes)
appears to play a privileged role in influencing children’s choice behavior. Taken together, the present studies provide new insight into children’s early economic reasoning, and highlight the role of other’s preferences on children’s developing object valuations.
References
Asch, S. E. (1956). A minority of one against a unanimous majority. *Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 70*(9), 1–70.
Baumard, N., Mascaro, O., & Chevallier, C. (2012). Preschoolers are able to take merit into account when distributing goods. *Developmental Psychology, 48*(2), 492–498. doi:10.1037/a0026598
Blake, P. R., & Rand, D. G. (2010). Currency value moderates equity preference among young children. *Evolution and Human Behavior, 1*–11. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.06.012
Haun, D. B. M., & Tomasello, M. (2011). Conformity to peer pressure in preschool children. *Child Development, 82*(6), 1759–1767. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01666.x
Kenward, B., & Dahl, M. (2011). Preschoolers distribute scarce resources according to the moral valence of recipients' previous actions. *Developmental Psychology, 47*(4), 1054–1064. doi:10.1037/a0023869
Rakoczy, H., Hamann, K., Warneken, F., & Tomasello, M. (2010). Bigger knows better: Young children selectively learn rule games from adults rather than from peers. *British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 28*(4), 785–798. doi:10.1348/026151009X479178
VanderBorght, M., & Jaswal, V. K. (2009). Who knows best? Preschoolers sometimes prefer child informants over adult informants. *Infant and Child Development, 18*(1), 61–71. doi:10.1002/icd.591 | 751f1f5a-ebaa-4e20-b42b-e0e28e9a81ea | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1467&context=art_sci_etds | 2022-01-27T17:13:55+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320305277.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20220127163150-20220127193150-00267.warc.gz | 483,063,418 | 41,447 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.920623 | eng_Latn | 0.993768 | [
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A Midwinter Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare
“Re-seasoned” by Bonnie J. Monte and Joseph Discher
Directed by Brian B. Crowe
Know-the-Show Audience Guide
researched and written by the Education Department of
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
In this Guide
– The Life of William Shakespeare ................................................................. 2
– Shakespeare’s London .............................................................................. 3
– Shakespeare’s Most Beloved Comedy: An Introduction .......................... 4
– A Change of Season: Thoughts from One of the Adapters ....................... 5
– *A Midwinter Night’s Dream*: A Synopsis .................................................. 7
– Who’s Who in the Play ............................................................................. 9
– Take a Closer Look: Aspects of *Midsummer* ........................................... 10
– Sources and History ................................................................................ 12
– In This Production .................................................................................... 13
– Commentary and Criticism ....................................................................... 14
William Shakespeare, widely recognized as the greatest English dramatist, was born on April 23, 1564. He was the third of eight children born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. Shakespeare’s father was a prominent local merchant, and Shakespeare’s childhood, though little is known about it for certain, appears to have been quite normal. In fact, it seems that the young Shakespeare was allowed considerable leisure time because his writing contains extensive knowledge of hunting and hawking. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer. She was eight years his senior, and the match was considered unconventional.
It is believed that Shakespeare left Stratford-on-Avon and went to London around 1588. By 1592 he was a successful actor and playwright. He wrote approximately 38 plays, two epic poems, and over 150 sonnets. His work was immensely popular, appealing to members of all social spheres including Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. While they were well-liked, Shakespeare’s plays were not considered by his educated contemporaries to be exceptional. By 1608, Shakespeare’s involvement with theatre began to dwindle, and he spent more time at his country home in Stratford. He died in 1616.
Most of Shakespeare’s plays found their first major publication in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death, when two of his fellow actors put the plays together in the *First Folio*. Other early printings of Shakespeare’s plays were called quartos, a printer’s term referring to the format in which the publication was laid out. These quartos and the *First Folio* texts are the sources of all modern printings of Shakespeare’s plays.
**A MAN OF MANY WORDS**
Shakespeare used over 20,000 different words in his plays and poems. Of these, 8.5% (1,700 words) had never been seen in print before Shakespeare used them.
To give you a sense of just how extraordinary this is, consider that the King James Bible uses only 8,000 different words. Homer is credited with using approximately 9,000 different words in his works. Milton is estimated at using 10,000 different words in his works.
London, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, was a bustling urban center filled with a wide variety of people and cultures. Although most life centered around making a living or going to church, the main source of diversion for Londoners was the theatre. It was a form of entertainment accessible to people of all classes. The rich and the poor, the aristocrats and the beggars all met at the theatre. Though often appeasing the church or the monarchy, theatre at this time did experience a freedom that was unknown in previous generations. Evidence of this can be found in the numerous bawdy and pagan references found in Shakespeare’s plays. However, his relative artistic license and freedom of expression made theatre extremely unpopular among certain members of society, and by 1642, the Puritan-led Parliament ordered the indefinite closure of London theatres. The ban lasted until the reign of Charles II (1660-1685), who restored theatre to the status it held in Shakespeare’s day.
The Globe Theatre, the resident playhouse for Shakespeare’s company of actors, was easily accessible to Londoners and an active social center. Actors and performers were also regularly brought to court or to private homes to entertain. Despite their social popularity, actors maintained a relatively low status, sometimes no better than a common beggar or rogue. Most performers were forced to earn a living doing trade work. The aristocracy’s desire for entertainment, however, did spur the development of numerous new theatre pieces. Often a nobleman would become a patron to an artist or company of actors, providing for their financial needs and sheltering them to some degree from official sanctions. In return, the company would adopt the name of the patron. Shakespeare’s acting company was originally named “Lord Chamberlain’s Men” after their patron, Henry Carey, Lord Chamberlain. Later, under the patronage of King James I, they were known as “The King’s Men,” an unprecedented honor at the time.
Despite the flourishing of the arts at this time, London was sometimes a desolate place. Outbreaks of the Black Plague (the bubonic plague) frequently erupted, killing thousands of citizens. Theatres, shops, and the government were all shut down during particularly bad outbreaks in hopes of preventing the spread of the disease. Elizabethans were unaware that the disease was being spread by the flea and rat populations, which well outnumbered the human population of London at that time.
Shakespeare’s Most Beloved Comedy: An Introduction
Considered Shakespeare’s most successful, popular comedy, *A Midsummer Night’s Dream* has something for everyone. From the regal elegance of the Athenian court to the lowbrow antics of the “rude mechanicals”; from the passion-filled plights of the lovers to the mischievous magic of the fairies, *Midsummer* is sure to please almost any audience. It is the most frequently produced Shakespeare play, and some say it is in performance somewhere in the world every day of the year.
In creating this hilarious, silly, and sometimes deeply moving play, Shakespeare pulled situations and ideas from many diverse sources: merging Greek myth, European folklore, and his own firsthand knowledge of English country life into a tightly-woven roller-coaster ride of a play.
At the heart of the play, as in most Elizabethan comedies, are issues of love and marriage. “Midsummer madness” was a colloquial phrase to refer to someone sick with love, and the play can be seen as a celebration of love’s magic (and madness) in many stages: adolescent love, as exemplified by the two pairs of young Athenians; adult love, as seen with Theseus and his bride-to-be, the Amazon queen Hippolyta; and from the perspective of a long-married couple struggling with their less-than-perfect relationship, Oberon and Titania.
As in many of Shakespeare’s plays, there is a movement from chaos, conflict, and danger to a restoration of harmony in the human and natural worlds. At the opening of the play, Hermia is given a choice between marrying a man she does not love, being put to death, or living a life of chastity in a convent. Helena is desperately in love with a man who now refuses her. On a more cosmic scale, the feud between Titania and Oberon over the custody of a human child has turned the weather topsy-turvy. When the fairies begin to intervene in the dilemmas of the humans, this already-troubled world falls further into chaos and disarray. The delusions of love are compounded by the illusions of magic.
But just as the chaos reaches its peak, Shakespeare magically resolves the dilemmas of humans and fairies alike, and returns the world to a state of blissful, primordial harmony. As Puck puts it:
*Jack shall have Jill;
Nought shall go ill;
The man shall have his mare again,
and all shall be well.*
A Change of Season: Thoughts from One of the Adapters
From Joseph Discher’s Director’s Notes on the original 2002 production of *A Midwinter Night’s Dream*:
The first idea for *A Midwinter Night’s Dream* began several years ago, when as part of the NJSF’s* outreach program I was assigned the task of directing *A Midsummer Night’s Dream* at a middle school in Florham Park, New Jersey with a cast of over forty students (more fairies than you could count!). The performance was set for mid-December, and that, along with the fact that I wanted to give the students an ‘in-road’ to getting excited about doing Shakespeare and creating a production, made me decide to change the title. I thought, “It’s a student production, so I can change Shakespeare a little bit – no one will care, and the cast will enjoy creating a holiday atmosphere around the production.” We created a wintry world of hanging frosted tree branches, a couple of fake fir-trees, and a curtain adorned with cut-out paper snowflakes. The cast was costumed in wintry clothing and we changed almost no text – our outreach productions were to be under an hour in length, making it unnecessary. The first *Midwinter* was basically an abridged Shakespeare play in winter coats. But many found the production charming, and it worked well on many levels: the kids were very connected to the fun of the winter idea, the adults identified with the simple beauty and nostalgia of the wintry scenes, the story and the different character groups fit well into the world (mortals susceptible to winter’s cold and fairies who were not), and most importantly, the concept created a new perspective on many aspects of a very familiar play without sublimating its style or Shakespeare’s intent.
When discussing ideas for the 2002 GRAND MAGIC season, NJSF’s artistic director, Bonnie Monte brought up the idea of doing a bona-fide adaptation of *Midwinter*, because she felt it would fit in well with the season’s theme, make a holiday show appropriate for the whole family, and fit NJSF’s mission for innovative classic theatre. To our knowledge, no such adaptation has been done. I was eager to continue exploring the play as it might exist in a ‘winter wonderland’, and we set to work creating the adaptation. Delving into Shakespeare’s text, we found the task of adapting the play to be both more difficult than we had thought in some ways and easier than we had imagined in others.
Of the over 2,100 lines in Shakespeare’s text, less than 100 lines have been changed. Painstaking effort was taken to remain true to the meter of Shakespeare’s verse as well as his intent, whether in a scene of poetry or prose. And yet, a great deal of the play that we, as audience members, have heard so many times at a performance of *Dream* seemed, without adaptation, to have new life and meaning against the backdrop of deep winter: Lysander tells Hermia where they will meet and elope. Their past meetings become a fond and distant memory now more keenly longed for:
*Steal for thy father’s house tomorrow night,
And in the wood, a league without the town,
Where I did meet thee once with Helena
To do observance to a morn of May…*
And a journey of ‘seven leagues’ to the widow aunt’s house is difficult
enough in fair weather... who would not wish for the ‘faint primrose beds’ on which Helena and Hermia ‘were wont to lie’?
There was a good deal of text, though, that demanded attention if we were to ‘winterize’ the play. Here are a few examples:
**ORIGINAL TEXT**
Tomorrow night, when Phoebe doth behold
Her silver visage in the wat’ry glass,
Decking with liquid pearl the bladed grass...
**REVISED TEXT**
Tomorrow night, when Phoebe doth behold
Her silver visage in the **icy glass**,
Decking with **frosty pearl** the **frozen grass**...
**ORIGINAL TEXT**
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxslips and the nodding violet grows
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.
There sleeps Titania, sometime of the night...
**REVISED TEXT**
I know a bank where the **winter wind sighs**,
Where **hellebore**, the Christmas rose grows nigh.
Quite over-canopied with **hanging beads of ice**,
Where sprites sweet dreams with music do entice.
There sleeps Titania, sometime of the night...
...The fairies of *Midwinter* were winter fairies as connected to nature as Shakespeare’s originals. Ironically, the fairies of *Midwinter* are not affected by the cold as much as they are part of it, but their scenes were most textually affected.
*A Midsummer Night’s Dream* may be Shakespeare’s most popular play, or at least his most often performed one, and perhaps our intimate familiarity with it is also what made us feel it was ready for a new perspective. When discussing the production and the adaptation, people reacted with great excitement about the idea of a new look at the play, making the adaptation seem increasingly appropriate. But inevitably, the question would arise, “How are you going to deal with the summer references? It’s *A Midsummer Night’s Dream*.” Some of my answers have been shown above, but the best answer is to say that this is not a play about summer, nor does its story rely on the summer for relevance. The summer is a vehicle for the passionate madness that ensues throughout the play, but it is easily translated to another time of year associated with revelry, folly, and misrule – Twelfth Night, or the feast of the Epiphany. Indeed, many of the characters in *Midwinter* will have their own epiphanies. But most importantly, beyond any season, time, or place, this is a play about the mysterious and transformative power of love, as well as its near magical qualities. Helena says it best:
*Things base and vile holding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity.*
*When the original production was developed, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey was known as the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival (NJSF).*
The story of *A Midwinter Night’s Dream* may be best explained by dividing it into its three basic units: the Royals and Lovers, the Mechanicals, and the Fairies.
**THE ROYALS AND THE LOVERS:**
As Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta prepare for their wedding, Egeus, a nobleman of the town, comes before them to seek assistance with his disobedient daughter, Hermia. Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius, but she wants to marry Lysander. According to the law of Athens, she must marry the man her father chooses or die. Theseus acknowledges that Egeus has the law on his side, but offers Hermia the alternate choice of becoming a nun. Lysander and Hermia decide to run away so they can marry far from Athens. Before they leave, they see Helena, Hermia’s best friend, and tell her of their plans. Helena is in love with Demetrius and, in hopes of proving her loyalty to him, tells him of Hermia’s escape. As Lysander and Hermia travel through the woods the following night, Demetrius attempts to track them down with the love-sick Helena close in tow. While in the woods, fairies play tricks on the young lovers. Through magic, Demetrius and Lysander both suddenly fall madly in love with Helena. This confusion leads to a quarrel, which Oberon, King of the Fairies, resolves—he then has his mischievous henchman, Puck, restore the relationships to their rightful state: Demetrius is in love with Helena, and Lysander is in love with Hermia. When they wake the next morning, the Duke overrides the law, and decides to allow Lysander and Hermia to marry. Demetrius, transformed by the evening in the woods, proclaims his renewed love for Helena. They joyously return to Athens and are married alongside Theseus and Hippolyta.
**THE MECHANICALS:**
Several of the workers of Athens have decided to perform a play for the Duke on his wedding day. Peter Quince, a local carpenter, gathers the five craftsmen thought best skilled to perform the play; Nick Bottom, Francis Flute, Robin Starveling, Tom Snout, and Snug. Bottom, a weaver with great aspirations to be an actor, is cast as Pyramus, a noble young man. Flute, a young man with a high voice, is cast as Thisbe, the lady that Pyramus loves. The group decides to rehearse at night in the woods outside town so that they won’t be disturbed. When they meet to rehearse, they too are subjected to fairy pranks. Puck replaces Bottom’s head with that of a donkey. This sight frightens the other craftsmen so badly that they run home.
**ARTISTIC LICENSE: THESEUS AND HIPPOLYTA**
Theseus is thought to have been an actual historical ruler of Athens around 1230 BCE. Most of the information about him comes only from legend, which presents him as a great warrior and conqueror, as well as a recreational seducer of women. One of the stories about him tells of his conquest of the Amazons, a tribe of fierce women warriors, and his capture of their queen, Antiope.
Eventually, Theseus persuaded his captive to marry him, and she bore him a son, Hippolytus. For this reason, Antiope is also referred to as Hippolyta (the feminine form of her son’s name). The marriage did not have the happy ending that Shakespeare implies. The Amazons mounted an attack on Athens, and Antiope/Hippolyta died in the battle, fighting at her husband’s side against her own people.
YOU ARE YOUR WORK
In creating each of the Mechanicals, Shakespeare took their occupation well into account. Their vocations are even represented in their names.
**BOTTOM**, the weaver: A “bottom,” among other things, is a skein of yarn or thread used by weavers.
**QUINCE**, the carpenter: “Quinces” or “quines” are blocks of wood used by carpenters when building.
**FLUTE** is a bellows mender: A bellows has a fluted shape, and was used to compress air to stoke a fire or to produce sound (as in a church organ).
**SNOUT**, the tinker: The spout of a kettle (a common item that a tinker/metal worker would be asked to repair) was often called a “snout” in Shakespeare’s time.
**SNUG**, is a joiner: The wood that he would join, if he was successful at his craft, should fit snugly.
**STARVELING**, a tailor: In Shakespeare’s time, tailors were usually depicted as abjectly poor and thus, rail-thin from hunger — in other words, “starvelings.”
to Athens, leaving Bottom alone in the forest. Titania, who has been sleeping nearby, awakes and, through a spell cast by Oberon, falls madly in love with the donkey-headed Bottom. Later, when Titania and Bottom are released from the fairy spells, Bottom believes that he has simply had a wonderful dream and rushes off to find his friends. Reunited once again, the Mechanicals hurry off to the palace and perform their play, *Pyramus and Thisbe*, for the Duke and Duchess.
**THE FAIRIES:**
When the play begins, Titania and Oberon, Queen and King of the Fairies, are feuding because Titania refuses to give Oberon a child left in her care. Oberon, furious that Titania will not give him the boy, uses a magical flower to place a spell on her. The spell will make the Fairy Queen fall in love with the first creature that she sees when she wakes, no matter how hideous it might be. When she awakes, the first creature she sees is Nick Bottom, a mortal on whom Puck has placed a donkey’s head. She falls madly in love with the transformed man, and orders her fairies to wait on her new love, feeding and entertaining him. Before releasing her from his spell, Oberon takes custody of the boy. No longer fighting, Titania and Oberon then go with the rest of the fairies to celebrate Duke Theseus’ wedding day.
**WHAT’S IN A NAME?**
The name “Titania” in reference to the Fairy Queen was not used prior to Shakespeare’s *Midsummer*. In the writings of the ancient Greek poet Ovid, Titania is used as a name for the moon. Shakespeare may have intended to present his Fairy Queen as an incarnation of the classical moon goddess, Phoebe.
Oberon, on the other hand, was a well-known character from folklore and medieval literature. French authors even went so far as to explain his lineage, stating that he was the son of the Roman conqueror Julius Caesar and Morgan le Fay, the powerful half-fairy queen of Arthurian legend.
**ARTISTIC LICENSE: THE MECHANICALS**
“These laborers have none of the aura of Athenian aristocrat about them; indeed, they are in every respect, even down to their names, comic Englishmen. This sort of thing is true in all of Shakespeare’s plays. Of whatever nationality or historical period the main characters are represented as being, the lower classes are always portrayed as Englishmen of Shakespeare’s own time.”
Isaac Asimov
*Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare*
Who’s Who in the Play
THE ATHENIAN NOBLES
THESEUS– Duke of Athens, and betrothed to Hippolyta.
HIPPOLYTA– Queen of the Amazons, defeated by Theseus, and now soon to be his bride.
PHILOSTRATE– The principal servant to Theseus and the court.
EGEUS– A noble Athenian and father to Hermia.
HERMIA– A young woman of Athens who falls in love with Lysander against her father’s wishes.
LYSANDER– A young man of Athens who is in love with Hermia; he plots their escape from Athens.
DEMETRIUS– A young man of Athens who has been chosen by Egeus to marry his daughter. Previously, he had a relationship with Helena.
HELENA– A young woman of Athens and closest friend to Hermia. She is in love with Demetrius.
THE MECHANICALS
PETER QUINCE– A carpenter of Athens, and the self-appointed director of the Mechanicals’ play.
NICK BOTTOM– A weaver with aspirations of being a great actor. He is cast as Pyramus in the Mechanicals’ play.
FRANCIS FLUTE– A bellows-mender, who is cast as the fair Thisbe in the play, despite his protest against playing a woman.
TOM SNOUT– A tinker, or mender of household items made of tin
ROBIN STARVELING– a tailor
SNUG– A joiner, or a builder of furniture
THE FAIRY KINGDOM
OBERON– The king of the fairies
TITANIA– The queen of the fairies
PUCK– Also known as Robin Goodfellow, he is the prankster henchman of Oberon.
FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET
Puck proclaims that he’ll “put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes.” To do so, he would need to travel over 37,500 miles per hour. That’s just over 10 miles per second. In comparison, astronauts orbit the earth in about 90 minutes. Puck is moving more than twice as fast.
THE FAIRIES– Creatures serving Titania.
THE CHANGELING CHILD– A child born to one of Titania’s priestesses, who is taken up and cared for by the fairy queen, to the great consternation of her king.
Take a Closer Look
Aspects of Shakespeare’s Midsummer
TRANSFORMATIONS:
Things base and vile, holding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act I, scene i
“Love transforms ordinary people into rare and perfect beings. When we fall in love, we suspend reason and overlook the flaws of our beloved.”
Laurie Rozakis
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Shakespeare
Transformations, whether induced by magic or inspired by love, abound in *Midsummer*. There are the obvious transformations, such as Puck’s prank on Bottom and the effects of the love charms cast on Lysander, Demetrius, and Titania, but there are also subtler and more profound changes that the characters experience during their night in the forest.
Helena enters the woods lonely, dejected and self-pitying, then finds herself suddenly the object of two men’s affection. Through this experience, she becomes aware of how unattractive such an excessive (and obsessive) affection can be—one of the factors that has made her undesirable to Demetrius. In confronting Demetrius, Lysander and Hermia, she seems to find a personal strength and inner beauty that she seemed unaware of before entering the woods.
Lysander and Hermia flee Athens in hopes of finding a “happily-ever-after” life somewhere else. Their bright-eyed naiveté makes them ill-prepared for the challenges they must face as they begin their life together, even a challenge as seemingly simple as a walk in the woods. Their experience in the forest gives them a taste of worldly pain and tests the strength of their love. In the end, they awake as a more mature couple, one possibly more ready to face the real world together as adults.
Several other characters experience similar transformations. Demetrius, a selfish, “disdainful youth” at the beginning of the play, awakes from the “dream” with a voice of quiet maturity and responsibility. Theseus, who in Athens has insisted on the letter of the law, has a change of heart in the woods and allows love to take its course. Even the self-absorbed actor, Bottom, seems quieter and more awe-struck when he awakes, more aware of the world around him.
NIGHTTIME IN SHAKESPEARE’S DAY
The Elizabethans believed that night was the time of spirits and demons. Though many contemporary thinkers would scoff at such a notion, one must consider what nighttime was like for the Elizabethans. In pre-modern times, the night lacked the artificial glow that chases away complete darkness today. Only the moon, stars, scattered lanterns, and candles illuminated the Elizabethan night.
In the dim flicker of these limited light sources, it is easy to imagine supernatural encounters. A dead tree jostled in a breeze can be transformed into a hideous monster, a darting bird can become a fleeing spirit. Because these sights were never seen in the bright daytime, Elizabethans believed that ghosts held domain over the night, and the first signs of the dawn (such as the crowing rooster) chased evil spirits away.
Shakespeare’s use of transformations in *Midsummer* guides the audience not only through a series of playful hijinks, but also down a road of personal enlightenment for the characters and, through them, for us.
**FAIRY EVOLUTION 101:**
The Elizabethans had a very different image of fairies than we do today. When modern audiences picture fairies in their minds (under the influence of the Victorians and especially J.M. Barrie’s *Peter Pan*), they most often see tiny winged creatures, glowing with magic, but frail, beautiful, and kind to humans. This was far from the Elizabethan idea of the Fairy Kingdom, although Shakespeare’s play itself played a significant role in creating a more romantic and benevolent image of fairies.
For centuries, fairies were a source of fear and anxiety for many communities. These beings were believed to be forces of nature; fiendish creatures that were sometimes seen as little different than the demons of hell. Fairies were blamed for all kinds of mishaps, from a freak storm that destroyed the crops to a “spooked” horse that threw its rider. At best, their behavior towards humans was prankish, at its worst, malicious and frightening, such as the belief that fairies would steal human babies away by night and replace them with grotesque “changelings.”
The Elizabethan fairies evolved from several traditions: Celtic tales of nature spirits and “little people”; Germanic legends of kobolds, gnomes, and dwarves; and the Greco-Roman myths about satyrs, fauns, and nymphs. These remnants of pre-Christian mythologies survived particularly in folktales and oral traditions, but the belief in them, especially in the countryside (such as in Shakespeare’s native Stratford) was often real and intense.
Elizabethans had a number of methods for warding off the wrath of fairies: farmers would leave a small amount of fruit or grain unpicked in their fields; others would leave a saucer of cream or a slice of bread out at night. These food offerings were supposed to help placate hungry fairies. Various plants, metals, and symbols were also supposed to provide protection from fairy magic.
We have William Shakespeare to thank, in part, for the “cute” depiction of fairies today. For *Midsummer*, he invented a completely new type of fairy. Titania’s attendants (Peasblossom, Moth, Mustardseed, and Cobweb) are depicted as tiny, almost insect-like sprites associated with flowers, music, and dancing. The *Midsummer* fairies may be mischievous, but they intend no real harm to the humans they encounter. Indeed, the intervention of the fairies ultimately restores peace, love, and harmony in the human world of the play.
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**WHAT’S IN A NAME?**
Oberon’s pranking henchman had a lively and dark existence in folk lore long before Shakespeare included him in *Dream*.
“Puck” or “pook” originally referred to a mischievous demon, or a wicked man. There is also a mischievous phantom spirit in Irish and Welsh lore known as a Pooka or Puca.
“Robin Goodfellow” was a pre-Elizabethan colloquial reference to the Devil.
Sources and History
Scholars estimate that Shakespeare’s *A Midsummer Night’s Dream* was written between 1595 and 1598, since it is mentioned by Francis Meres in his book *Palladis Tamia*, published at that time. Other evidence that helps to establish the date when the play was written can be found in the play itself: the character of the lion in the play-within-a-play and the wedding celebration provide the clues.
The Mechanicals’ concern over depicting a lion on stage was probably inspired by a pamphlet published in 1594, which described a Scottish feast where plans to bring in a live lion as part of the evening’s entertainment were cancelled when the organizers realized that the ladies would be frightened by the beast.
The elaborateness with which the play is framed around the royal wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta suggests that it was composed for a real-life wedding of great significance, probably at court. Many historians believe that *Midsummer* was first performed at the 1598 wedding of Elizabeth Gray, Queen Elizabeth’s goddaughter, although no record of this has been found.
The sources of *Midsummer* are scattered and diverse, derived from both literature and popular folklore. The love story of Theseus and Hippolyta was told in “The Knight’s Tale” of Chaucer’s *Canterbury Tales*, and more facts about Theseus seem to be drawn from Sir Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch’s *Lives*, which was used as source material for other Shakespeare plays. The tale of Pyramus and Thisbe is one of the stories in Ovid’s *Metamorphoses*.
The fairy world is both literary and traditional in its sources. Tales of goblins and sprites were common in Elizabethan England, and indeed, Shakespeare had probably heard stories of Robin Goodfellow while he was a child in Stratford. Oberon, the King of the Fairies, was a widespread figure in folklore who had already appeared in Spenser’s *Faerie Queene* and in other stage and literary works. Titania and the other fairies seem to
have been invented by Shakespeare from bits and pieces of the beliefs about fairies that were common in his time. The Mechanicals were probably drawn from life—mocking depictions of the “hard-handed” men who made up blue-collar London at the time.
*A Midsummer Night’s Dream* first appeared in print in a quarto edition in 1600, probably printed from Shakespeare’s own manuscript. In 1623, seven years after Shakespeare died, it was reprinted in the *First Folio*, with some editorial changes that seem to have their source in a theatrical manuscript of the play—one that had been used in production.
While it is not known exactly how often this play was performed in Shakespeare’s lifetime, the title page of the 1600 quarto boasts that it had been “sundry times publicly acted.” When Parliament reversed the Puritan ban on theatre, *Midsummer* was one of the first plays to be revived, as a lavish musical spectacle. Samuel Pepys, who attended this 1662 production, was less than impressed, calling it “the most insipid ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life.” Other audiences and directors continued to return to the play however, and it enjoyed a long and varied production history. The opportunity to depict a magical forest often led early directors and designers to pull out all the stops—a production in 19th-century London featured “real rabbits.” Ballets, operas, and artwork based on the play have abounded in England and beyond.
In the 20th century, *Midsummer* began to be adapted to motion pictures. The 1935 Max Reinhardt movie, featured spectacular costumes, flocks of extras, and James Cagney and Olivia De Havilland as Bottom and Titania. More recently, in 1999, director Michael Hoffmann brought together another all-star cast, with Kevin Kline as Bottom and Michelle Pfeiffer as Titania.
In This Production
Scenic renderings by Brian Ruggaber, Scenic Designer, and selected costume renderings by Yao Chen, Costume Designer, for the 2023 Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey production of *A Midwinter Night’s Dream* directed by Brian B. Crowe.
Commentary & Criticism
WE HAVE ALL ENCOUNTERED FAIRIES:
“Every single person goes into the woods at night and encounters fairies. The question depends upon what you think of a fairy. What sinks most productions of *A Midsummer Night’s Dream* is the notion of a fairy as a nineteenth-century silly thing. Anytime you walk in the woods alone, they’re there. Or when you dream. If a voice comes to you and says something you don’t understand... that’s what Shakespeare means by fairy.”
Peter Sellars, director
AN UNDOUBTED MASTERWORK:
“Nothing by Shakespeare before *A Midsummer Night’s Dream* is its equal, and in some respects nothing by him afterward surpasses it. It is his first undoubted masterwork, without flaw, and one of his dozen or so plays of overwhelming originality and power.”
Harold Bloom
*Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human*
THE GREAT BALANCING ACT:
“A *Midsummer Night’s Dream* balances a feather-light series of romantic entanglements with brief but profound meditation on the illogical appeals of love, dreams, and the very poetry of the play itself. And what poetry!”
Brandon Toropov
*Shakespeare for Beginners*
LOVE AND MARRIAGE:
“Love and marriage is the central theme: love aspiring to and consummated in marriage, or to a harmonious partnership within it. Three phases of this love are depicted: its renewal, after a breach, in the long-standing marriage of Oberon and Titania; adult love between mature people in Theseus and Hippolyta; and youthful love with its conflicts and their resolutions, so that stability is reached, in the group of two young men and two girls.”
Harold F. Brooks, editor
*The Arden Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream*
COMEDY V. TRAGEDY:
“Shakespearean comedy raises the same issues as Shakespearean tragedy, only in a different key and, of course, with a different conclusion. The tragic tale of *Romeo & Juliet* becomes comedy in *A Midsummer Night’s Dream*... On one level, you can uncritically accept the comedies, simply enjoying them for their silliness; on another, you can look further and see how Shakespeare uses comic absurdities to suggest profound human values and concerns.”
Norrie Epstein
*The Friendly Shakespeare*
HEAVENLY BODIES
What happens to the fairy king and queen after the play? Well, apparently they reside in the heavens.
A German-English astronomer named William Herschel (famous for his discovery of the planet Uranus in 1781) broke the existing tradition of naming heavenly bodies after the Greek and Roman gods. When he discovered Uranus’ two outermost moons in 1787, he named them Oberon and Titania. | 26a765e8-6fc7-4bd9-a978-54f40e7d341a | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://www.shakespearenj.org/assets/doc/MIDWINTER-KTS-2023-FINAL-7281bcd369.pdf | 2024-02-26T01:58:35+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474649.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20240225234904-20240226024904-00172.warc.gz | 979,678,203 | 7,925 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.940837 | eng_Latn | 0.998041 | [
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The Best Kept Secret
By Emily Rodda
Book Summary:
Beckoning music, gleaming horses, the lure of the carousel. Cecilia says merry-go-rounds are for little kids, but Jo feels there’s something mysterious and not at all childish about the carousel that has appeared overnight in Marley Street. There’s something odd about the beckoning music, something strange about the gleaming horses. And why are certain people able to gain entrance to the carousel while others – try as they will - have to give up and turn away? Jo feels she must try to get in. She must buy a ticket - but will she be leading herself and Cecilia into danger?
Key Learning Areas
Themes
Australian Curriculum:
English
ACELA1478, ACELA1479, ACELA1481, ACELA1482, ACELA1483, ACELT159, ACELT1596, ACELT1599, ACELY1676, ACELY1679, ACELY1680, ACELY1694, ACELY1695
Drama
ACADRM031, ACADRM032, ACADRM033
Visual Art
ACAVAM111, ACAVAM112
Media Arts
ACAMAM059, ACAMAM060
Digital Technologies
ACTDIP012, ACTDIP012
Beckoning music, gleaming horses, the lure of the carousel. Cecilia says merry-go-rounds are for little kids, but Jo feels there’s something mysterious and not at all childish about the carousel that has appeared overnight in Marley Street. There’s something odd about the beckoning music, something strange about the gleaming horses. And why are certain people able to gain entrance to the carousel while others - try as they will - have to give up and turn away? Jo feels she must try to get in. She must buy a ticket - but will she be leading herself and Cecilia into danger?
National Curriculum Learning Areas and Content Descriptions
**English**
Understand how different types of texts vary in use of language choices, depending on their purpose and context (for example, tense and types of sentences) (ACELA1478)
Understand that paragraphs are a key organisational feature of written texts (ACELA1479)
Understand that a clause is a unit of grammar usually containing a subject and a verb and that these need to be in agreement (ACELA1481)
Understand that verbs represent different processes, for example doing, thinking, saying, and relating and that these processes are anchored in time through tense (ACELA1482)
Identify the effect on audiences of techniques, for example shot size, vertical camera angle and lay out in picture books, advertisements and film segments (ACELA1483)
Discuss texts in which characters, events and settings are portrayed in different ways, and speculate on the authors’ reasons (ACELT1594)
Draw connections between personal experiences and the worlds of texts, and share responses with others (ACELT1596)
Discuss how language is used to describe the settings in texts, and explore how the settings shape the events and influence the mood of the narrative (ACELT1599)
Listen to and contribute to conversations and discussions to share information and ideas and negotiate in collaborative situations (ACELY1676)
Read an increasing range of different types of texts by combining contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge, using text processing strategies, for example monitoring, predicting, confirming, rereading, reading on and self-correcting (ACELY1679)
Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to evaluate texts by drawing on a growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features (ACELY1680)
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts containing key information and supporting details for a widening range of audiences, demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features (ACELY1694)
Re-read and edit for meaning by adding, deleting or moving words or word groups to improve content and structure (ACELY1695)
**Drama**
Explore ideas and narrative structures through roles and situations and use empathy in their own improvisations and devised drama (ACADRM031)
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*These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools but they may not be reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale.*
Use voice, body, movement and language to sustain role and relationships and create dramatic action with a sense of time and place (ACADRM032)
Shape and perform dramatic action using narrative structures and tension in devised and scripted drama, including exploration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander drama (ACADRM033)
**Visual Art**
Use materials, techniques and processes to explore visual conventions when making artworks (ACAVAM111)
Present artworks and describe how they have used visual conventions to represent their ideas (ACAVAM112)
**Media Arts**
Use media technologies to create time and space through the manipulation of images, sounds and text to tell stories (ACAMAM059)
Plan, create and present media artworks for specific purposes with awareness of responsible media practice (ACAMAM060)
**Digital Technologies**
Explain how student solutions and existing information systems meet common personal, school or community needs (ACTDIP012)
Themes
Change
There are many instances of change in this book – Jo faces moving house, Mr Angelo and Jo change their outlook on the future, Jo changes her perception about Shark.
Friendship
We could say that Jo and Cecilia are very different people. Find evidence from the passage to support this claim. Yet even though they are quite different, they are good friends. Why do you think this is so?
Integrity
Different people use the opportunity to see seven years into the future differently. How did Mr. Angelo and the man in the brown trousers use their time in the future? How does this give us a glimpse into the type of person they are?
Time Travel
There have been so many books and movies written about time travel. As a class, make a list of all the different books and movies which talk about travel forwards, or backwards, in time. Why do you think time travel is something we are fascinated with? On page 101, Mrs D refers to complications that can arise if the riders remember what they saw when they visited the future. What complications are raised in the books and movies you know? How do they get around these complications? Do you think that time travel will happen in your life time? Why/why not?
Learning Experiences – Chapter Study
Chapter One - Windy Day on Marley Street
Chapter One has an amazing collection of verbs. Make a list of all the interesting verbs you find.
Page 1: walked, skidded, scratching, pushed, thinking, puffing, standing, warned
Page 2: bounced, nodded, gestured, hurried, giggled, sneaked, muttered, imagine, working
Page 3: shrugged, wished, hissed, smothering, bristling, slouched, shaking
Page 4: stared, pounding, robbing, stealing, tinkering, backed, turned, expected, glanced, eating
These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools but they may not be reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale.
Choose five verbs from your list and write a sentence for each verb, in each verb tense. Be sure to underline the verb in each sentence. For example, if you chose the verb ‘walked’ you might write the following sentences;
Past tense: Yesterday, I walked to the shops.
Present tense: I walk to school.
Future tense: I will walk to the bus stop tomorrow morning.
Following are several examples of descriptive language in the first chapter;
Page 2
Excited by the wild weather they screamed and ran around madly like puppies let out for exercise, pretending to jump against the wind, falling hysterically and rolling round in the fallen leaves.
Their shouts bounced against the shop fronts opposite, echoing across the road and making people turn and look.
Page 5
She stared back at home fascinated, feeling like a little bird hypnotized by a snake.
Q. What types of imagery are there in these passages?
Q. Write two similes of your own. You could describe a friend, your teacher, a relative, or even children playing at lunchtime. Think carefully about how they look, sound and move. Use this as a guide to choose what you will liken them to.
Page 4
Cecilia had it all worked out. She’d been like that ever since Jo met her in kindergarten, when she’d had a blonde fringe and short fair plaits, a plump, placid little face and a neat pink suitcase with Holly Hobbie on it. Even then she’d been able to sum up the world and its people without any trouble. People, to Cecilia, were “nice” – that is, like Cecilia and her family – or they were “weird”. It made life very uncomplicated. Jo had always wished that she could be as sure of herself as Cecilia was.
Q. This is a very short description of Jo’s friend Cecilia. Yet, even though it is quite short, we are given a very clear picture of Cecilia’s personality. Paying even closer attention, we can see that some of Cecilia’s personality is described by what she looks like (in that
her look never changes); the adjectives used to describe other aspects about herself, such as her face; and how Cecilia views the word. Why would the author have chosen to describe Cecilia like this, instead of simply telling us what she was like, e.g. that she was opinionated or that she was judgmental? What is achieved by allowing us to infer Cecilia’s personality from what is written about her?
Chapter Two – What’s Happening?
Page 9
She didn’t need this just now. She didn’t want it. Home was one thing that had never changed. That was important, but she couldn’t explain it, somehow …
Page 10
Cecilia would think that she, Jo, was weird too, not wanting to move house. Weird and babyish, wanting to cling on to a life she knew and was sure of, like a fluffy toy. Weird to think that moving away from this house was some sort of step out of the safe circle of childhood, already shrinking too fast for comfort. All those familiar places gone – all those little routines changed …
Q. Make a list of all the pros and cons about moving house.
Q. Why do you think some people are skeptical of change? Can you think of a time where something in your life changed? Perhaps you moved school, got a new teacher, started a new sport, or maybe you moved house. How did you feel about it? Were you nervous? What made you feel this way? How do you feel about it now?
Chapter Three – The Vacant Block
Q. Write all the different times the music is referred to in Chapters Two and Three.
Page 13
Jo sighed and shut her eyes. And just as she felt her thoughts starting to drift into dreams, just at that moment between waking and sleeping, too late to turn back, she heard, or thought she heard, far away up Marley Street, the sound of music.
Page 15
It was coming from further up Marley Street – a piping, waltzing melody, strange and inviting.
Page 16
It’s very loud. It must be some sort of advertising thing. Maybe they’re giving ice-cream away, or something …
Page 18
The strange music rose in the distance, and Simon, Jo and Cecilia glanced quickly up the road.
Q. While we soon learn the music belongs to a carousel, what else could’ve made the music? Make sure your ideas fit with the description of the music found in the book.
Chapter Four - Riders: Walk In
Page 20
Close up, the merry-go-round was a bewildering, a magnificent, sight. It was the biggest Jo had ever seen, and the brightest. The horses were huge, and from their shiny hooves to the tips of their ears they gleamed. Their heads seemed to toss impatiently to the music as Jo looked, and their painted eyes seemed to scan the crowd boldly, as if they were looking for riders.
She leaned over the little fence and peered up at the shining mirrors, the fantastic painted scenes that decorated the centre of the merry-go-round.
Research:
Using the internet, search for traditional merry-go-rounds that fit the description given in the passage. Collect pictures for a display.
How did carousels originate?
When did the modern carousels we know of today, with fixed platform floors, come into existence? How were they powered? How are they powered today?
Extension:
Draw a picture of a carousel horse you’d like to ride. Use the images collected for this question as your inspiration.
Page 25
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People pressed forward towards the tent. One by one they tried to get in. Mostly they failed. Pull and tug as they might, they had no more success than Cecilia and Mrs Pickering had had, and they were forced to stand back and let others try their luck.
But then, every so often, someone would touch the tent flap, flick it aside and slip through the opening without the slightest fuss.
Q. Why do you think only some people can go through the tent? Do you think you’d get through the tent? Would you even want to go through the tent?
Chapter Five – “The Time of Your Life”
Page 31
According to by-law no. 5 a (i), this carousel may not exceed its prescribed time limit of 7 years into future time under any circumstances.
Task:
As a class have a ‘walking debate’ to the following prompts.
(A walking debate is when three signs – Not Sure, Agree, Disagree - are pinned in different locations. Children then walk to the sign that matches their answer to a question. Children are given the opportunity to explain why they chose that answer.)
- I would be nervous to walk into the tent.
- If given the chance, I would walk into the tent.
- I would like to travel into the future.
- I would like to travel into the past.
Chapter Six – “I Want to Get Off!”
On page 38 Jo notices time is moving forward.
Q. List the indicators given in the book, which tell us that time is moving forward seven years.
Chapter Seven – No Time to Waste
"Now you can get off here, and have a look around. But," he held up his hands as a few people began to chatter and exclaim, "but you’ve got to make sure you understand a few things."
“Number one: sixty minutes we’ve got here, from the moment we stop. And that’s all we’ve got. One hour maximum. When you hear the whistle go, you’ve got ten minutes to get back here.”
(cont.) “Number two: you don’t really exist here. That is, no one can see you. Not people, anyhow.”
Q. Given what you’ve just read, make a list of all the things that could go wrong in this story. What might happen that could cause problems?
Q. Would you get off the carousel to have a look? Why/why not? What would you want to find out?
Chapter Eight – Mr Angelo Finds Out
Q. Why was Mr Angelo so happy? What did he find out?
Chapter Nine – The Best-kept Secret
Q. List all the ways Jo knew that it wasn’t her house any longer.
Q. On page 58 Jo learns what she thinks is the best kept secret in history. What is it?
Chapter Ten – Stowaway
Q. Why do you think Jo grabbed the little boy and pulled him onto the carousel?
Q. What was the consequence of Jo pulling the little boy onto the carousel?
Chapter Eleven – The Shark to the Rescue
There are two puzzling things that happen in this chapter.
Page 72-73
And in paralysed silence they did watch, as he leapt over the side of the carousel. They saw him walk steadily away, the only moving thing in the blurred, silent landscape. Soon he was just a hazy dot, and then they could see him no more.
(cont.) “They should never’ve given the grade twos between-zone travel capacity ...”
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“I’m good with cars. I like old machines.” The Shark brought out the words hesitantly, almost as if her were shy.
The old woman looked into his eyes for a few seconds, the nodded as if satisfied.
“Very good,” she said briskly. “I should not have doubted. I must confess I wondered why you came. Now my question is answered. Please come with me.”
Q. Choose one of the situations and answer the following;
- Who is involved?
- What has happened?
- What problem has been caused/solved?
- How might this affect the story?
Chapter Twelve – Waiting
Page 78
“Once I’m home, see,” he said, “bang, into the safe goes this little lot.” He pulled out the yellow sheets of paper from his pocket and waved them under Mr Angelo’s nose. “Seven years later – bang, out the come again, see? I use the info to make a few bets, and bang for the third and last time – I’m a millionaire. Get the picture?”
“Ah – is that allowed?” said Mr Angelo, after a short silence.
Q. Do you think it’s right to use information you found in the future to make money for yourself? Why/why not?
Chapter Thirteen – The Riders Decide
In this chapter the riders must decide if they will go back into the past to drop Davy back in the time he belongs, but risk not being able to get back to their own time themselves, or to go back to their own time and risk Davy vanishing into nothing.
Q. Think, pair, share. How would you vote?
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Q. What did Mr Angelo say that made people reconsider? Why do you think what he said was so powerful?
**Chapter Fourteen – “Won’t I See You Any More?”**
Q. In this chapter, Jo comes to an important realization. What did she realise? What evidence from the passage supports your answer?
**Chapter Fifteen – The Fine Print**
Page 101
Mrs D shook her head. “The sign makes it perfectly clear that they should not expect to remember with their conscious minds. After all, they must realise what complications and difficulties that would cause …”
Q. What does Mrs D mean by this statement? If this is the case, what is the point of them being able to see seven years into the future?
**Chapter Sixteen – “I Just Have This Feeling…”**
Page 106
“I always somehow pictured you as the age you are now. It was as though I’d seen you, grown up, before you were even born. Isn’t that strange?”
Q. Now having read the book, do you think what Jo’s mum said is strange? Why/why not? What might have happened to Jo’s mum?
Q. Why did a ‘some idea danced at the fringes of her (Jo’s) mind’?
**Chapter Seventeen – Kid’s Stuff?**
Draw a web showing how what happened seven years in the future connects with what is happening in this chapter and the different people involved. Be sure to include the bank, the manager of the bank, Jo, Davy and Simon (as a minimum).
Research Task
Biography
For this task you will be using a computer to find information on the internet.
Open discussion: How do you know if a website is a trustworthy website?
Research who Emily Rodda is. As a class, or in small groups, brainstorm what sort of information you should find when writing a short biography on someone.
Q. Why do you think she chose to write adult fiction under her own name, but children’s fiction under a pseudonym?
Subject Specific Tasks
Visual Literacy
Analysing height and angles
Look at the picture on page 3 and answer the following questions.
Q. From what height are we viewing the picture? Are we viewing the picture from the air? From the ground? From Jo’s height?
Q. What angle are we viewing the picture? From the side? From straight on?
Now go back to your answers and think why those choices were made. What effect do they create?
Analysing movement
Look at the picture on page 37. List at least three ways movement is shown in the picture.
Analysing picture composition
Look at the picture on page 53. Where is Mr Angelo standing? Where are the other people standing? Who are the main two subjects of the picture? How do we know? (Mr Angelo is relatively larger and in the foreground, he is the same height as the entire picture, so we know he is important. His daughter is the focus of most people’s gaze, so as we follow where everyone is looking, we too are drawn to look at her.)
Analysing meaning
Look at the picture on page 79. Pay particular attention to the way the two people are standing, where their arms are, where they are looking, their facial expressions. What does this tell us about what is happening and how they are feeling?
Challenge!
Put what you have learnt about picture composition into practice. Create a picture to represent one of your favourite passages from the text. Remember to use height, angle, movement and composition to help convey the mood and what is happening.
Create either a book review or a book advertisement for *The Best Kept Secret*.
Questions to consider;
What do you need to do, before filming? (e.g. write a script, collect props, choose location)
What camera angle would be best to use? Do you need more than one camera angle?
Consider lighting. Is natural lighting better, or should you film indoors?
How will you limit unnecessary background noise?
What software will you use to edit your video?
Will you use music in your video? What are the copyright laws around using music?
**Digital Technology**
Twitter can be great ways to connect with other readers. Together with your teacher, or your parents, create a conversation about what you’ve read or follow the thread that others have generated, by using the hashtags #emilyrodda #harpercollinsaustralia or the tags @EmilyRodda @harpercolins.au
**NOTES PREPARED BY**
Nadia McCallum completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and Sociology, before going on to complete a Masters of Teaching which she finished with Honours. She has taught in the Catholic, Government and Independent school systems at a Primary School level. Nadia has a special interest in the explicit teaching of thinking skills in order to develop critical thinkers who actively explore, engage with and learn about the world around them and themselves. Nadia works as an education consultant advising schools and speaking at conferences on curriculum differentiation and assessment.
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Be Prepared, Have a Plan: Emergency Preparedness Toolkit
For persons with disabilities
Adapted and Endorsed by the Wisconsin Council on Physical Disabilities
About the Wisconsin Council on Physical Disabilities (CPD)
• Created by the state legislature in 1989.
• Vision: The Council envisions a world where all persons with physical disabilities have access to the same opportunities and life choices as any other Wisconsin resident.
About the Wisconsin Council on Physical Disabilities (CPD)
- Has five major responsibilities:
- Develop a state plan for services to people with physical disabilities.
- Advise state agencies on programs and policies that affect people with physical disabilities.
- Promote public understanding of the abilities and concerns of people with physical disabilities.
- Encourage development of programs to prevent physical disabilities.
- Submit recommendations in an annual report to the legislature.
Presenters
• Ben Barrett, CPD Chair
• Karen Secor, CPD Chair of Emergency Preparedness Committee
• Jeff Fox, CPD Member-at-Large
History on Council’s Involvement in Emergency Preparedness
• The Council has been working on emergency preparedness for over 11 years.
History on Council’s Involvement in Emergency Preparedness
• CPD has an Emergency Preparedness Committee
• Karen Secor, Chair of the CPD Emergency Preparedness Committee, serves on Wisconsin’s Emergency Preparedness Advisory Committee as physical disability representative
• CPD developed an Emergency Preparedness Toolkit, customized for people with disabilities
Your best chance of survival is to have a plan and be prepared
• This toolkit is the first step you can take to be prepared and informed!
• Here are some things you can do to get started:
• Set up a meeting
• Take responsibility
• Plan ahead
• Discuss how you will communicate with each other
• Make plans for your pet(s)/service animal(s)
• Have an evacuation plan and practice evacuating your home twice a year
• Choose who you will make contact with during a disaster
• Pack emergency supplies that will last for 5 days
• Be resourceful
• Be informed
Overview of the Emergency Preparedness Toolkit
• The toolkit serves as a resource tool providing all people, especially those individuals with physical or other disabilities, emergency preparedness information including tips, checklists, wallet card, visual communications tool, and other resources to be prepared and have a plan for emergencies and natural disasters.
• This toolkit also serves as a resource tool for professionals and volunteers who may assist people with disabilities during an emergency situation.
ACTIVITY WITH BAG
• Everyone was given a bag when they came to this workshop.....
Fire and First Aid Blanket
Coghlan's Magnesium Fire Starter
Windproof Waterproof Matches
Wheelchair
Scissors
Portable Heater
Batteries
Medical Alert
Flashlight
Canned Food Opener
First Alert Radio
Medication Container
Whistle
Emergency Preparedness Checklists
It is important to plan for what you need to have available for different types of emergencies. This toolkit includes four checklists to help you identify what you need.
These include a:
- General Checklist
- Disability Checklist
- Car Checklist
- Important Documents Checklist
This checklist should help you prepare for natural disasters and/or emergencies before they occur and includes general items you may want to include in your GO BAG (if you need to evacuate) or HOME KIT (if you are home and have to wait on emergency assistance after an natural disaster). Pack your HOME KIT with supplies for at least five days, so you and your family can be prepared with the necessary supplies to survive independently until you can receive emergency assistance. Also see the DISABILITY CHECKLIST, provided in the Be Prepared, Have a Plan: Emergency Preparedness Toolkit, for other items you might want to include in your GO BAG or HOME KIT.
**EMERGENCY ITEMS**
- Important documents (see IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS CHECKLIST, included in the Be Prepared, Have a Plan: Emergency Preparedness Toolkit)
- Medications and extra medications
- Medical tags (bracelet / necklace / ankle bracelet)
- Water (1 gallon / person / day)
- Food (non-perishable)
- Food (Special Dietary Needs)
- Can opener
- Whistle
- NOAA radio
- Download APPS on smart phone (NOAA / weather, compass, flashlight, GPS, etc.)
- Matches / lighters (in a waterproof container)
- Fire starter kit
- Wire Saw
- Mess kit
- Water purification filtering system
- Disposable gloves (sterile and non-sterile)
General Checklist
• This checklist includes general items you may want to include in your GO BAG or HOME KIT.
• Your GO BAG should include items you need if you are to evacuate.
• Your HOME KIT should include supplies needed to survive for at least five days.
Disability Checklist
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CHECKLIST
DISABILITY CHECKLIST
This checklist includes medical devices, supplies, and assistive technology devices for people with physical disabilities. Pack items you will need for yourself in your GO BAG. You may need to add additional items or devices to this list to meet your individual and/or family’s needs.
GO BAG ITEMS
If you have a mobility disability and use a wheelchair or scooter, you may want to consider having some or all of these items in your GO BAG:
- Thermal blanket (survival)
- Fire blanket (survival)
- Fire starter kit
- Inverter (12-volt AC to 110 DC)
- 12-volt heater / fan
- Wire saw
- Hand warmers
- Small 12-volt electric pump (120 psi) for car, bicycle, and other sports’ equipment
- Bicycle tire pump and tire repair kit
- WD-40
- Magnifying glass
- Scissors
- Small sewing kit (needle and assorted thread)
- Tablet and pencil / pen
COMMUNICATION DEVICES
- Computer and computer software
Disability Checklist
• This checklist includes medical devices, supplies, and assistive technology devices for people with physical disabilities.
• Pack the items you will need for yourself in your GO BAG.
• Additional items or devices may be needed to meet your individual needs.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CHECKLIST
CAR CHECKLIST
You may need to evacuate or take shelter in your car. Use this list to determine what you should have in your car for different emergency situations and/or weather events. You will want to monitor your water and food supplies when there is excessive heat and/or freezing temperatures.
EMERGENCY ITEMS
- Copy of Medical Emergency Wallet Card
- Water
- Blanket
- Whistle
- Flashlight and batteries or lantern (hand-crank type)
- Tire chains
- Small shovel and non-clumping cat litter or sand
- Tools (pliers, flat and Phillips screwdrivers, and adjustable wrench)
- Wire saw
- Pocket knife
- Electrical and duct tape
Car Checklist
• Use this list to determine what you should have in your car for different emergency situations and/or weather events.
• You will want to monitor your water and food supplies when there is excessive heat and/or freezing temperatures.
Use this checklist to identify important documents and other items that you should take with you if there is a disaster or emergency. Make copies of the documents and other information, and if possible, also copy the information to a Flash Drive. Put the documents in your GO BAG. Store this document and other important items/documents in a waterproof container. Always keep the originals in a safety deposit box or other safe location!
You may not need all the information on this list. Put together only those documents you think you will need to protect yourself, your family and your future!
- Family Emergency Planning Form (provided in your toolkit)
- Medical Emergency Wallet Card (provided in your toolkit): Make a copy for each family member!
- Family Photo (or current picture of each family member and/or pets)
- Extra Cash
- Copies of Important Keys
- Copies of Vehicle Titles, Leases, Loan Documents, etc.
- Copies of Wills, Living Wills, Health Care Power of Attorney, Financial Power of Attorney, and Trust(s), etc.
- Computer files backed up on CDs, DVD or USB drive
- Copies of Pet Medical Records, Shots, Microchip Information, etc.
Important Documents Checklist
• This checklist helps to identify important documents and other items that you should take with you.
• Make copies of the documents and other information, and if possible, also copy the information to a flash drive.
• Put the documents in your GO BAG.
• Store this document and other important items/documents in a waterproof container.
• Always keep the originals in a safety deposit box or other safe location!
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS TOOLKIT
MEDICAL EMERGENCY WALLET CARD FOR:
NAME: ____________________________________________________________
DATE OF LAST UPDATE: ________/_______
Complete both sides of this card using a pencil. Update the information every six months. Keep the card with you at all times (in your wallet or purse). Keep an extra copy in your GO BAG.
PERSONAL DATA
Name: ____________________________________________________________
Address: _________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
City: _____________________________________________________________
State: _____________________________ Zip: ___________________________
Phone: ___________________________________________________________
Email: ____________________________________________________________
Date of Birth: ____________________________ Blood Type: _______________
Medical Emergency Wallet Card
• Fill out the information on the WALLET CARD that applies to you. For medication, include dosage, frequency, and specific time you take medication each day.
• Keep your WALLET CARD with you at all times in your wallet or purse. If you have a car, also keep a copy of your WALLET CARD in your CAR KIT.
• All family members in your home should have their own WALLET CARD with their information.
• Review your WALLET CARD every six months and update the information as needed. If you set aside your medication for emergencies, replace/rotate every six months or as medication expires.
This FAMILY EMERGENCY PLANNING FORM is for everyone in your home. Have a family meeting to talk about disasters. Fill out this form together.
When you have finished completing this form, make extra copies. Put a copy in your GO BAG. Everyone in your home should also have one. Put a copy near your phone or on your refrigerator. It should be easy to find.
OUT-OF-TOWN CONTACT NAME: ______________________________ PHONE: ________________
EMAIL: __________________________________________________________
FAMILY EVACUATION PLAN
Date of last practice evacuation (in case of house fire, wildfire, flood, etc.): _______/_______
1. Is there a family member that has limited mobility or no mobility? ○ Yes ○ No
If yes, has the family practiced getting the person out of the home? ○ Yes ○ No
2. Is there a family member that has a mobility device and/or service animal? ○ Yes ○ No
If yes, has the family practiced getting the person out both with AND without the mobility device and/or service animal? ○ Yes ○ No
3. Is there a family member with a disability who needs assistance? ○ Yes ○ No
Person responsible for assisting family member: _________________________________________
Contact Information: _______________________________________________________________
Family Emergency Planning Form
• This form is for everyone in your home. Fill out this form together.
• When you have finished completing this form, make extra copies. Put a copy in your GO BAG. It should be easy to find.
• Develop a FAMILY EMERGENCY PLAN that includes everything your family should consider and do in order to be prepared for different emergencies or disasters. See the Evacuation Guide section of the toolkit.
• If you need assistance, let family, friends, and neighbors know how they may help, and let them know your emergency plan.
• Review the four EMERGENCY CHECKLISTS to determine the items which need to go into the emergency kit(s).
This MEDICAL INFORMATION AND EMERGENCY HEALTH CARE PLAN is intended to communicate pertinent medical information and how an emergency responder or other person could assist you in case of an emergency or natural disaster. This form should be completed in conjunction with the MEDICAL EMERGENCY WALLET CARD. You should keep this form with a copy of your MEDICAL EMERGENCY WALLET CARD on you at all times and keep an extra copy of both of these items in your GO BAG. You should update this form every six months or when there is a change in your health status/condition(s).
PERSONAL DATA
Name: ________________________________ Address: ________________________________
Date of Birth: ___________________________ ________________________________
Phone Number: _________________________ ________________________________
Date of last review and update of this form: _______/______
Medical Information and Emergency Health Care Plan
• This form includes information on your:
• Personal Data
• Emergency Contact
• Medical/Health History
• Medical Equipment and Devices
• Daily and Mobility Skills
• Preferences and Considerations
• This form should be completed with the Medical Emergency Wallet Card.
• You should update this form every six months or when there is a change in your health status/condition.
How to Make a Home Fire Escape Plan
- Draw a map of your home. Show all doors and windows.
- Visit each room. Find two ways out.
- All windows and doors should open easily. You should be able to use them to get outside.
- Make sure your home has smoke alarms. Push the test button to make sure each alarm is working.
- Pick a meeting place outside. It should be in front of your home. Everyone will meet at the meeting place.
- Make sure your house or building number can be seen from the street.
Fire Escape Plan
• How to Make a Home Fire Escape Plan form is available at: http://www.nfpa.org/public-education/by-topic/safety-in-the-home/escape-planning/basic-fire-escape-planning.
• Pull together everyone in your household and make a plan. Everyone in the household must understand the escape plan.
• A closed door may slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire.
• Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home.
• If there are infants, elderly, or family members with mobility limitations, make sure that someone is assigned to assist them in the fire drill and in the event of an emergency.
Visual Communications Tool
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS TOOLKIT
VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS TOOL
I have a physical disability
I am Deaf
I am blind
I have a cognitive disability
Other
Quick Communication Tips for Emergency Responders:
• Get the person’s attention first.
• Speak to them at eye level.
• Look at the person when you speak. He or she may be able to read your lips.
• Speak slowly with a low-pitched and calm voice.
• Use short, familiar words, such as “What do you need?”
• Ask one question at a time. Also give directions one at a time. Check for understanding after each step.
• Give the person time to respond to your question or follow directions.
COMMUNICATION METHODS
The best way to communicate with me is:
WRITING
CELL PHONE
COMMUNICATION BOARD
SIGN LANGUAGE
I CAN READ
HEARING AID OR COCHLEAR IMPLANT
TEXT / CAPTIONS
TACTILE INTERPRETER
List your unique communication equipment needs on your MEDICAL EMERGENCY WALLET CARD, available at https://cpd.wisconsin.gov.
A B C D E F
G H I J K L
Visual Communications Tool
• The VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS TOOL can be used for quick and easy communication during an emergency as stress may make it more difficult to understand others.
• This tool can be used to tell others what you need. They can also use the card to tell you what is going on.
• The VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS TOOL DOES NOT substitute for accommodations required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Shelters and federal aid programs must provide interpreting services and other public accommodations as required by the ADA.
Additional Information Included in the Toolkit
• Evacuation Planning Guide
• Evacuating Yourself and Your Family
• Basic Fire Escape Planning
• Escape Planning in Tall Buildings
• Evacuation Procedures/Evacuation Devices
• Tips for Professionals and Volunteers Working with People with Disabilities During Emergencies
• Communicating with People in Emergency Situations
• Disability Etiquette
• Tips for Effective Communication
• Emergencies and Disasters to Plan for by Season
• Other Emergencies and Disasters
• Global Weather
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Basic Rights for People with Disabilities in Emergencies and Disasters
• References and Resources
All Toolkit Materials Available Online
• To download an electronic copy of the Wisconsin Council on Physical Disabilities, Emergency Preparedness Toolkit, visit: https://cpd.wisconsin.gov/toolkit.htm.
The image shows a scene of a collapsed bridge with emergency personnel and vehicles present. A person is highlighted in a red circle, indicating their presence on the vehicle. The context suggests a rescue or emergency situation following a bridge collapse.
Five Essential Elements of Mass Trauma Intervention
1. Promotion of Safety
2. Promotion of Calmness
3. Promotion of Connectedness
4. Promotion for Self and Community Efficacy
5. Instilling Hope
(Source: Five Essential Elements of Immediate and Mid-Term Mass Trauma Intervention: Empirical Evidence. Hobell, Walson, Bell, et al 2007)
Impact of Disaster Events
• Initial Response
• Immediate support of victims and first responders
• Command support
• Push Pull Intervention Model
• Push – Hotlines, Roving Response Teams
• Pull – Assistance centers, center
• Recovery Support
Importance of Psychological First Aid (PFA)
- This is an evidence informed approach that is built on the concept of human resilience. Its aim is to reduce stress symptoms and assist in health recovery following a traumatic event, natural disaster, public health emergency, or even a personal crisis.
- Core Actions of PFA are:
- Contact and Engagement
- Safety and Comfort
- Stabilization
- Information Gathering: Current Needs and Concerns
- Practical Assistance
- Connection with Social Supports
- Information on Coping
- Linkage to Collaborative Services
- The National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the National Center for PTSD are pleased to make the Second Edition of Psychological First Aid Field Operations Guide and accompanying handouts available at: http://www.nctsn.org/content/psychological-first-aid.
Tips for Communicating in an Emergency
• Special consideration should be given to the needs of special populations during a crisis.
• Some possible situations or conditions someone may encounter when working with people with disabilities or the elderly include:
• Delayed Response Syndrome
• mobility impairments
• sensory changes (hearing and/or vision loss)
• service animals
• chronic illnesses/medications
• heat and cold (hypothermia, hyperthermia)
• dementias
• transfer trauma
• fear of institutionalization
Disability Sensitivity
• Watch the Utube video on Disability Sensitivity at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv1aDEFIXq8&list=PLbFKGFkIKL21ureNznAlzeQmeB4zECsOc#action=share
Disability Etiquette
• It is Important to Remember:
• Not all disabilities are visible, such as heart disease, depression, or asthma.
• Many people have temporary disabilities which are equally as limiting as permanent disabilities.
• Not everyone with a disability wishes to discuss it or its limitations. Wait until you know an individual before asking personal questions.
• On the next few slides are tips for communicating with people with various disabilities. These are not all inclusive but may be helpful in emergency situations.
(These tips and resources are from University of Washington: https://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/faculty/faculty-resources/tips-for-working-with-different-disabilities)
Disability Etiquette
• Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing
• Tap someone who is deaf on the shoulder or wave your hand to get his or her attention.
• Write notes if you don’t sign (short sentences; common words).
• Look directly at the person while speaking and don’t obscure your mouth.
• Try to limit gum chewing
• Do not accept a head nod for understanding.
• Talk directly to the person, not the interpreter.
• Speak in a normal speed and tone unless asked to do otherwise.
• Avoid standing in front of a light source.
• Do not walk between two people using sign language as you will be cutting off their conversation.
• Try to be expressive in your body language, gestures and facial expressions.
Disability Etiquette
• Wheelchair Users and Other Mobility Device Users
• Position yourself at the same eye level by sitting down if engaged in a long conversation with someone who uses a chair.
• Treat the chair as part of the user’s personal space; do not touch or lean on the chair.
• Ask before giving assistance to a wheelchair user and take “No” for an answer.
• Feel free to use words like “run” or “walk”. Wheelchair users use these words too.
• Be aware of architectural features which may cause difficulty for wheelchair users, such as steps or insufficiently wide doors.
• Remember that some parking spaces are reserved for people with mobility limitations, they are not a luxury, they are a necessity.
• Direct your comments to the individual, not their companion or care attendant.
• Never pet, feed or otherwise distract a service animal without first obtaining permission from the owner.
Disability Etiquette
• Speech and Language
• Allow time for the person to speak, as they may need more time to respond to you.
• Avoid the urge to interrupt or complete a sentence for the person.
• Ask for repetition if you do not understand what the person said.
• Do not fake understanding.
• Be aware that you may need to use a variety of communication methods such as writing notes, emailing, or technological options.
• Be patient and encourage the person toward expression.
Disability Etiquette
• Learning Disability or ADHD
• Understand that learning disabilities may impact a person’s reading, writing, math, memory, and/or information processing.
• Realize that this is rarely visible evidence of learning disabilities.
• Use multiple methods to deliver information.
• Minimize environment distractions (screen savers, background noises, etc.).
• Keep in mind that an unconventional response may be influenced by a processing difficulty which affects social interaction.
Disability Etiquette
• Blindness or Visual Impairment
• Understand that legally blind people may have some vision.
• Provide very explicit and specific directions if asked. Avoid using such terms as “over there” or “turn this way”.
• Never pet, feed or otherwise distract a service animal without first getting permission from the owner.
• Provide class information in accessible, electronic formats to support the individual in using their technology to speak content aloud.
• Feel free to use words like “see” and “look”.
• Offer your arm/elbow when leading someone who is blind.
• Place the person’s hand on the side or back of the chair when seating them.
Disability Etiquette
• Chronic or Acute Health
Examples: Cancer, Asthma, Emphysema, Diabetes, HIV/AIDS, Sickle Cell
• Understand that each person has unique set of symptoms and treatments.
• Accept that many health conditions are often invisible to others.
• Never define the person by the condition. For example, someone should be referred to as “the girl who has cancer” not “the cancer girl”.
• Do not treat the person as if they are contagious.
Disability Etiquette
• Neurological
Examples: Cerebral Palsy, Seizures, MS, Tourette, Muscular Dystrophy, TBI (traumatic brain injury)
• Know that some of these conditions will have symptoms that look like mobility issues, others may have similar effects as learning disabilities.
• Understand that someone may look like they have no disability.
Disability Etiquette
• Psychological
• Understand that social skills may be impaired.
• Be sensitive to emotional stress or triggers.
• Be patient.
• Set clear boundaries for people repeatedly interacting with you. For example, “Thanks Bob for stopping by. If you want to chat, you need to make an appointment first”.
Disability Etiquette
• Cognitive
• Be very clear and specific in your language. Sarcasm and subtle humor is often missed.
• Present instructions in a clear, easy to understand way.
• Present oral information at a measured pace, using pauses as appropriate to encourage understanding.
• Offer cues to help with transitions like “we have 5 minutes left until our meeting is done”.
• Reinforce information in multiple formats.
• Employ modeling, rehearsing and role-playing to help students learn appropriate interactions.
• Keep in mind that an unconventional response may be influenced by a cognitive difficulty which affects social interaction.
Disability Etiquette
• In Case of an Emergency
• Be aware of a person with a disability in emergency situations. It may be necessary to alert someone who is deaf to a fire alarm or lead someone who is blind out of a building.
• Stay calm. Do your best to keep yourself and others safe.
• Remember that people with disabilities are not helpless. Offer help, but only give it when accepted or requested.
• Use first aid and other emergency responses according to your training.
Tips for Communicating in an Emergency
1. Get the person’s attention first. Speak to them at eye level. Identify yourself and explain why you are there, no matter how obvious it may seem.
2. Look at the person when you speak. Speak slowly with a low-pitched and calm voice.
3. Use short, familiar words, such as “What do you need?”
4. Ask questions that can be answered with a yes or no, if possible.
5. Ask one question at a time. Also give directions one at a time.
6. Give the person time to respond to your question or follow directions.
7. Repeat, rephrase, or write your message if necessary.
8. Ask permission first, before touching the person.
9. Ask before moving a person or a person’s wheelchair/mobility device.
Apps for Volunteers and First Responders
• Disability Tips - Mobile-friendly website with information and tips for first responders
Description: The Mobile TIPS for First Responders was developed by Project REDD at the Center on Disability and Development at Texas A&M University. The Mobile TIPS are adapted from Dr. Tony Cahill’s 3rd Edition of the TIPS for First Responders, developed at the Center for Development and Disability at the University of New Mexico and from the TIPS for First Responders and Texas Resources for Services and Supports, developed at the Texas Center on Disability Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
Please visit: http://disabilitytips.tamu.edu/
Apps for Volunteers and First Responders
• SAMSHA Behavioral Health Disaster Response App
Description: In a disaster, it's essential that behavioral health responders have the resources they need—when and where they need them. The SAMHSA Disaster App makes it easy to provide quality support to survivors. Users can navigate pre-deployment preparation, on-the-ground assistance, post-deployment resources, and more—at the touch of a button from the home screen. Users also can share resources, like tips for helping survivors cope, and find local behavioral health services. And, self-care support for responders is available at all stages of deployment.
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/samhsa-behavioral-health-disaster/id787518271?mt=8&WT.ac=LP_20140206_DISASTERAPP_ITUNES
Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.hhs.samhsa.app.disaster&WT.ac=LP_20140206_DISASTERAPP_GOOGLEPLAY
Apps for Volunteers and First Responders
• Show Me - A communication tool for emergency shelters
Description: The Maryland Office of Preparedness and Emergency Management has created a simple, hands-on tool to reduce communication barriers and better assist individuals with access and functional needs, and professional shelter staff and volunteers, make their needs and concerns understood within a community shelter setting during an emergency.
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/show-me-for-emergencies/id840012297?mt=8
Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.ma.dph.showme
Now Be Prepared, Have a Plan! – For Individuals
• Fill out and carry with you your Medical Emergency Wallet Card
• Pack a GO BAG (take with you everywhere)
• Share emergency plan with family and caregivers
• Have drills for emergencies and natural disasters
• Check GO BAG and emergency kits when time change occurs
Now Be Prepared, Have a Plan!
– As An Agency/Partner
• Create a plan to share this information with all interested staff, community partners, and stakeholders.
• Educate members of the public about having an emergency plan with family and caregivers.
• Encourage volunteer or first responder agencies to have drills for emergencies and natural disasters and how to respond.
• Teach people about the importance of having a GO BAG and remind people to check their GO BAG and emergency kits supplies when time change occurs.
Questions
Acknowledgements
This material was made possible in part, by a cooperative grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP), Grant Number CFDA 93.074-CDCRFA-TP12-1201. Additional support for this material was provided in part, by the Wisconsin Division of Public Health Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program, Grant Number 5U90TP000561-05 from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Program. The views expressed in the materials do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
Contact Information
• You can also contact the Council at:
• Website: https://cpd.wisconsin.gov
• Mailing Address:
Wisconsin Council on Physical Disabilities
1 W. Wilson Street, Room 551
Madison, Wisconsin 53703
• Phone: 608-266-9354
(Lisa Sobczyk, DHS, Staff Support to Council)
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2021-2022
Middle School
COURSE CATALOG
ROGERS Public Schools
where all belong, all learn, and all succeed
#366110 6th Grade English (required)
This course will focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language standards. Students will write to tell stories, demonstrate understanding of a topic, and argue a position. Students will also apply their skills to research, gathering information and learning to evaluate sources.
OR
#97160E EL English
One of the following is required:
#970906 Literacy Applications — 6th Grade
Students will build their knowledge and vocabulary as they read a wide range of texts including stories, plays, and poems from across cultures and time. They will also read informational texts from a variety of subject areas, including history/social studies, and science. Students will use a variety of methods to evaluate, discuss, and appreciate what they have read.
OR
#970806 REACH, G/T Seminar — 6th Grade (Pre-requisite: Rogers REACH G/T identification)
In this course, the REACH curriculum addresses critical thinking, creative thinking, independent and group investigations, and personal growth while aligning with ELA skills. This course nurtures talents and interests through various research projects activities and competitions.
OR
#971604 EL Language Development
The focus of this course is developing proficiency in English through explicit language instruction and practice based on Student Proficiency.
#97090L Literacy Plus
Students may be placed in this course based on their performance on state and/or local assessments.
7th Grade
#377110 7th Grade English — (required)
This course will focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language standards. Students write to demonstrate understanding of a topic, argue a position, and tell stories. Students will also apply their skills to research, gathering information and learning to evaluate sources.
OR
37711P 7th Grade Pre-AP English
(Pre-requisite: Commitment by student to participate in learning the skills and strategies required to be successful in advanced placement courses.)
This course will focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language standards. Students will be introduced to a wide variety of texts. They will write to argue a position, demonstrate understanding of a topic, and tell stories. Students will apply their skills to research, gathering information and learning to evaluate sources. There will also be an emphasis on independent learning and a greater depth of literary analysis.
OR
#97160E EL English
One of the following is required:
#970907 Literacy Applications — 7th Grade (required)
Students will build their knowledge and vocabulary as they read a wide range of texts including stories, plays, and poems from across cultures and time. They will also read informational texts from a variety of subject areas, including history/social studies, and science. Through a variety of methods, they will learn to evaluate and summarize what they have read.
OR
#970806 REACH, G/T Seminar — 7th Grade (Pre-requisite: Rogers G/T identification)
In this course, the REACH curriculum addresses critical thinking, creative thinking, independent and group investigations, and personal growth while aligning with ELA skills. This course nurtures talents and interests through various research projects, activities and competitions.
#971604 EL Language Development
The focus of this course is developing proficiency in English through explicit language instruction and practice based on Student Proficiency.
#97090L Literacy Plus
Students may be placed in this course based on their performance on state and/or local assessments.
## 8th Grade
#388110 8th Grade English (required)
This course will focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language standards. Students will read increasingly challenging stories, plays, and poems from across cultures and time periods. They will also read literary nonfiction and informational texts from a variety of subject areas including history/social studies and science. Students will write to argue a position, demonstrate understanding of a topic, and share stories and experiences. They will also apply their skills to research, gathering information and learning to evaluate sources. This course builds upon the skills taught in 6th and 7th grade English.
OR
#38811P 8th Grade Pre-AP English
(Pre-requisite: Commitment by student to participate in learning the skills and strategies required to be successful in advanced placement courses.) This course will focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language standards. Students will read increasingly challenging stories, plays, and poems from across cultures and time periods. They will also read literary nonfiction and informational texts from a variety of subject areas including history/social studies and science. Students will write to argue a position, demonstrate understanding of a topic, and share stories and experiences. They will also apply their skills to research, gathering information and learning to evaluate sources. There will also be an emphasis on independent learning, collaboration and a greater depth of literary analysis. This course builds upon the skills taught in 6th and 7th grade English.
OR
#97160E EL English
#97090L Literacy Plus
Students may be placed in this course based on their performance on state and/or local assessments.
#366310 6th Grade Math (required)
This course will focus on four critical areas: 1) connecting ratio and rate to whole number multiplication and division, and using concepts of ratio and rate to solve problems; 2) completing understanding of division of fractions and extending the notation of numbers to the system of rational numbers, which includes negative numbers; 3) writing, interpreting, and using expressions and equations; and 4) developing understanding of statistical thinking.
OR
#37731P 7th Grade Accelerated Math
(Pre-requisite: 6th grade CCSS Math and Algebra Aptitude Test score to be determined by the district)
This course differs from the non-accelerated 7th grade course in that it contains content from the 8th grade. While coherence is retained in that it logically builds from the 6th Grade, the additional content when compared to the non-accelerated course demands a faster pace of instruction and learning. The course will focus on four critical areas: 1) develop a unified understanding of numbers, recognizing fractions, decimals, and percents as different representations of rational numbers; 2) use linear equations and systems of linear equations to represent, analyze, and solve a variety of problems; 3) build on previous work with single data distributions to compare two data distributions and address questions about differences between populations; 4.) solve problems involving area, circumference, surface area, and volume.
#97090M Math Plus
Students may be placed in this course based on their performance on state and/or local assessments.
## 7th Grade
### #377310 7th Grade Math (required)
This course will focus on four critical areas: 1) developing understanding of and applying proportional relationships; 2) developing understanding of operations with rational numbers and working with expressions and linear equations; 3) solving problems involving scale drawings and informal geometric constructions, and working with two- and three-dimensional shapes to solve problems involving area, surface area, and volume; and 4.) drawing inferences about populations based on samples.
OR
### #37731P 7th Grade Accelerated Math
(Pre-requisite: 6th grade CCSS Math and Algebra Aptitude Test score to be determined by the district.)
This course differs from the non-accelerated 7th grade course in that it contains content from the 8th grade. While coherence is retained in that it logically builds from the 6th Grade, the additional content when compared to the non-accelerated course demands a faster pace of instruction and learning. The course will focus on four critical areas: 1) develop a unified understanding of numbers, recognizing fractions, decimals, and percents as different representations of rational numbers; 2) use linear equations and systems of linear equations to represent, analyze, and solve a variety of problems; 3) build on previous work with single data distributions to compare two data distributions and address questions about differences between populations; 4) solve problems involving area, circumference, surface area, and volume.
OR
### #430008 Algebra I*
*This course is for high school credit and will count in high school grade point average and quality point’s calculation.
(Pre-requisites: Completion of 7th grade math or 7th grade accelerated math, identification through a predetermined screening process, and commitment by student to participate in a course designed for accelerated pacing and in-depth learning of mathematical skills and strategies required to be successful in advanced courses.) This course differs from high school Algebra I in that it contains content from 8th grade. While coherence is retained, in that it logically builds from the 7th grade curriculum, the additional content when compared to the high school course demands a faster pace for instruction and learning. The primary goal of Algebra 1 is to help students transfer their concrete mathematical knowledge to more abstract algebraic generalizations. Students will solve problems using equations, graphs, and tables to investigate linear, quadratic, and exponential relationships. In addition, students will explore operations on algebraic expressions and apply mathematical properties to algebraic equations.
#97090M Math Plus
Students may be placed in this course based on their performance on state and/or local assessments.
#388310 8th Grade Math (required)
This course will focus on three critical areas: 1) formulating and reasoning about expressions and equations, including modeling an association in bivariate data with a linear equation, and solving linear equations and systems of linear equations; 2) grasping the concept of a function and using functions to describe quantitative relationships; 3) analyzing two- and three-dimensional space and figures using distance, angle, similarity, and congruence, and understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem.
OR
#430008 Algebra I*
*This course is for high school credit and will count in high school grade point average and quality point’s calculation.
(Pre-requisites: Completion of 7th grade math or 7th grade accelerated math, identification through a predetermined screening process, and commitment by student to participate in a course designed for accelerated pacing and in-depth learning of mathematical skills and strategies required to be successful in advanced courses.) This course differs from high school Algebra I in that it contains content from 8th grade. While coherence is retained, in that it logically builds from the 7th grade curriculum, the additional content when compared to the high school course demands a faster pace for instruction and learning. The primary goal of Algebra 1 is to help students transfer their concrete mathematical knowledge to more abstract algebraic generalizations. Students will solve problems using equations, graphs, and tables to investigate linear, quadratic, and exponential relationships. In addition, students will explore operations on algebraic expressions and apply mathematical properties to algebraic equations.
OR
#431001 Pre-AP Geometry*
*This course is for high school credit and will count in high school grade point average and quality point’s calculation.
(Pre-requisite: Algebra I)
This course is recommended for students planning to take AP courses before graduation. The fundamental purpose of this course is to formalize and extend students’ geometric experiences from the middle grades. Congruence, proof, and constructions, similarity, proof, and trigonometry, extending to three dimensions, connecting algebra and geometry through coordinates, circles with and without coordinates, and applications of probability are the six critical areas of study.
#97090M Math Plus
Students may be placed in this course based on their performance on state and/or local assessments.
#366210 6th Grade Science (required)
This course is integrated with life, physical, and earth science. This course covers topics including structure, function, information processing, growth and development of organisms, energy, earth's systems, weather and climate, and human impacts.
#377210 7th Grade Science (required)
This course is integrated with life, physical, and earth science. This course covers topics including structure and properties of matter, chemical reactions, matter, energy, interdependent relationships in ecosystems, earth history and systems, and human impacts.
#388210 8th Grade Science (required)
This course is integrated with life, physical, and earth science. This course covers topics including the nature of science, history of the earth, growth and development of organisms, natural selection and adaptations, forces and interactions, energy, waves and electromagnetic radiation, as well as space systems.
#423008 Physical Science-Integrated
*This course is for high school credit and will count in high school grade point average and quality point’s calculation.
(Pre-requisite: Recommend student is enrolled in Algebra I previously or concurrently with this course.) Students in Physical Science Integrated continue to develop their understanding of the core ideas in the physical, life, and earth and space sciences learned in middle school. These ideas include the most fundamental concepts from chemistry, physics, biology, and Earth and space science but are intended to leave room for expanded study in upper-level high school courses. The performance expectations in Physical Science Integrated build on the middle school ideas and skills and allow high school students to explain more in-depth phenomena central not only to the physical sciences, but to life and earth and space sciences as well. There are six topics in Physical Science Integrated: (1) Elements, Matter, and Interactions, (2) Matter in Organisms, (3) Forces and Motion, (4) Energy, (5) Waves, and (6) Interactions of Humans and the Environment. Students will earn one unit of physical science credit for graduation.
### SOCIAL STUDIES
| Grade | Accelerated Pathways | SMART CORE and CORE | ELECTIVES |
|-------|---------------------|---------------------|-----------|
| 6th | World History | | |
| 7th | Geography (1 semester) | | |
| | Arkansas History (1 semester) | | |
| 8th | Pre AP US History | | |
| 9th | Pre AP US History | | |
| | AP Human Geography | | |
| 10th | AP World History | | |
| 11th | Civics (.5) AND Economics (.5) | AP Government (meets Civics req.) AND Economics (.5) | |
| | AP Macroeconomics/AP Microeconomics | | |
| 12th | AP US History | | |
Shaded = graduation credit
#366710 World History — 6th Grade (full year) (required)
Grades 6 Social Studies builds on the foundational knowledge of civics/government, economics, geography, and history gained in earlier grades. This World History course focuses on world history from the beginnings through the middle of the first millennium.
#377710 Geography — 7th Grade (1st semester) (required)
The 7th grade World Geography course focuses on the study of spatial patterns of the human and physical dimensions of the world. Students will explore how these spatial patterns form, change over time, and relate to one another throughout various regions of the world. Students will examine the cultural, political, and economic developments, physical geography, and population distribution for both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
#378720 Arkansas History — 7th Grade (2nd semester) (required)
The second semester for Grade 7 Social Studies has a focus on Arkansas history. This semester in Arkansas history serves as an in-depth and rigorous study of civics/government, economics, geography, and history of the state. Students will also investigate how Rogers and Northwest Arkansas fit into the social, cultural, and geographic history of the state.
#388710 US History — 8th Grade (full year) (required)
The first semester for Grade 8 Social Studies has a focus on United States history from the 1801 expansion and reform to 1900s Industrial America. The desired outcome of this course is for students to develop an understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship between events, recognize patterns of interactions, and understand the impact of events in the United States within an interconnected world. The history of the United States during the 19th century includes the integration of social, political, economic and geographic components. Students will also receive a review of the country’s beginnings up through 1800.
OR
#388711 Pre-AP US History — 8th Grade (full year)
(Pre-requisite: Commitment by student to participate in learning the skills and strategies required to be successful in advanced placement courses.)
This course will cover the same content as the 8th grade social studies course but will introduce skills and strategies that students can use to enhance their critical thinking skills.
ESOL Programs
Newcomer Program — 6th - 8th Grades
This is an optional semi-contained program for students who have attended a U.S. school for less than two years. The focus is acquiring English Language Skills and acclimating students to the school and community.
Newcomer Acculturation
#971601 RAEL English
#971602 RAEL Reading
#971603 RAEL Math
#971604 EL Language Development
The focus of this course is developing proficiency in English through explicit language instruction and practice based on Student Proficiency.
#97160E EL English - see English pg. 1-3
#97160R EL Reading - see English pg. 1-3
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Special education is provided only for students who are eligible for services according to federal and state guidelines. Parent/teacher/counselor approval is required.
## ENCORE CLASSES
### REQUIRED
| 6th Grade | 7th Grade | 8th Grade |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| **Mandatory WHEEL**
- PE (1 semester)
- Health (6 weeks)
- Art (6 weeks)
- STEM 6: Explore PLTW (6 weeks)
| **Key Code (1 semester)***
| Physical Wellness (1 semester)
OR
Athletic Wellness
(football, basketball, volleyball, cheer, pom, track, cross-country) |
*Key Code (1 semester)
if not taken in 7th grade
| Physical Wellness (1 semester)
OR
Athletic Wellness
(football, basketball, volleyball, cheer, pom, track, cross-country)
| Career Development (1 semester) |
### ELECTIVES
All students must take a music class. Choose one:
- Band
- Choir
- Orchestra
| Exploratory WHEEL
- Music Appreciation (9 weeks)
- EXPLORE: Introduction to World Language (9 weeks)
- EXPLORE Course (9 weeks)
- EXPLORE Course (9 weeks)
| Band
| Choir
| Orchestra
| Art (1 semester)
| Exploring Personal Finance (1 semester)
| STEM 7: PLTW Design & Modeling /Flight & Space (1 semester) |
| Band
| Choir
| Orchestra
| Art (1 semester)
| Family CSI (Consumer Science Investigations) (1 semester)
| PLTW Automation & Robotics (1 semester)
| PLTW Medical Detectives (1 semester)
| Exploring Business Applications (1 semester)
| Broadcasting
| Yearbook
| Leadership WEB
| World Languages (High School Credit)
- French I
- German I
- Spanish I
- Spanish for Native Speakers I |
REQUIRED Mandatory Wheel (all students)
PE (1 semester), Health (6 weeks), Art (6 weeks), STEM 6 (6 weeks)
#366600 Physical Education (PE) — 6th Grade (required) (1 semester)
It is our goal for students to learn to value activity, fitness, and nutrition as keys to creating and maintaining a life-long healthy lifestyle.
#366850 Health — 6th Grade (required) (6 weeks)
Students will learn skills to help them prevent disease enhance their personal health and live a healthy life.
#366510 Art — 6th Grade (required) (6 weeks)
This course is designed to introduce students to the elements of art: line, color, shape, form, space and texture while developing creativity and imagination. Students work with a variety of materials in creative ways to capture art from life and imagination.
#366650 STEM 6: EXPLORE Project Lead the Way - 6th Grade (6 weeks)
EXPLORE PLTW will provide sixth grade students with a six-week introductory course that will include a core introduction unit and exploratory STEM activities. Students will be introduced to the PLTW design process, problem solving activities, and hands-on STEM learning experiences.
REQUIRED Music (all students must take a music class in 6th grade. If you do not take band, choir or orchestra, you must take the Exploratory Wheel.)
Choose one:
#366540 Band — 6th Grade (full year)
(Pre-requisite: Parents are required to provide an instrument.)
Beginning band students will be scheduled into similar instrument classes that meet every day. Students will learn to produce a characteristic sound, understand simple musical notation and terminology, and perform two concerts a year. Students will be expected to practice at home on a regular basis.
#366544 Percussion
#36654B Brass
#36654W Woodwind
OR
#366536 Choir — 6th Grade (full year)
This is a training choir open to all interested singers. Students focus on the fundamentals of singing technique, music theory, and concert etiquette. Through performance, the students are provided with practical application of what they have learned.
OR
#366546 Orchestra — 6th Grade (full year)
(Pre-requisite: Parents are required to provide an instrument.)
Students will learn the basic principles of the violin, viola, cello, or string bass. Students may be divided into classes with similar instruments. The instrument sections must be well balanced and will meet every day.
#36654H High Strings
#36654L Low Strings
OR
Exploratory Wheel (required for students not in full year music class)
Music Appreciation (9 weeks), EXPLORE: Introduction to World Languages (9 weeks) and two additional EXPLORE courses (9 weeks each).
REQUIRED #36690M Music Appreciation – 6th grade Exploratory Wheel (9 weeks)
This course explores aspects of music including exposure and interpretation of the meaning of artistic works. Students will synthesize and relate personal experience and artistic ideas with societal, cultural, and historical contexts to deepen understanding.
REQUIRED #36690W EXPLORE: Introduction to World Languages — 6th Grade Exploratory Wheel (9 weeks)
Students will look at world languages and learn some basic words in French, German, Spanish, and other languages as time allows. This course is meant to expose students to the various languages the district offers and allows students to make decisions based on their interests and abilities.
Schools will determine which two additional courses from the following list of approved EXPLORE courses will be offered within the wheel.
#36690L EXPLORE: Computer Literacy - 6th Grade Exploratory Wheel (9 weeks)
This course will introduce students to computer-based technology concepts, including computer hardware and software components. The course is designed to increase student understanding and proficiency of foundational keyboarding and word processing skills such as Microsoft Word, EXCEL and PowerPoint. Students will learn basic formatting skills and command features within each program.
#33690S EXPLORE: Construction, Machines and Motors - 6th Grade Exploratory Wheel (9 weeks)
This course will introduce students to foundational skills relating to design and construction of different types of structures, construction related math and literacy concepts, and proper use of hand and motorized tools. Students will also explore the history of manufacturing, assembly line processes and machines that are commonly used in various industries, as well as basic principles of motorized equipment and vehicles. The course will include project-based learning activities designed to provide students opportunities to complete “hands-on” projects.
#36690B EXPLORE: Careers in the Medical Field – 6th Grade Exploratory Wheel (9 weeks)
This course will provide students an opportunity to explore different types of careers within the medical and health services career fields and learn more about the job duties commonly associated with careers such as a doctor, nurse, surgeon, forensic scientist, physical therapist, dentist, orthodontist, sports/athletic trainer and many more. Students will have the opportunity to participate in “hands-on” learning experiences that integrate STEM concepts used within the medical fields.
#36690F EXPLORE: Food, Fitness & Finance - 6th Grade Exploratory Wheel (9 weeks)
This course will introduce students to foundational concepts presented in the Family & consumer Sciences program, including food safety, healthy choices, nutrition and the benefits of physical fitness. Students will learn skills relating to personal finances relating to budgets, different types of credit and currency options, opportunity costs, savings plan and calculating monthly expenses that align with wages and earnings.
#336690C EXPLORE: Introduction to Coding - 6th Grade Exploratory Wheel (9 weeks)
This course will provide opportunities for students to gain knowledge and skills related to computer science with an emphasis on basic coding skills including block-based and text-based coding, sequencing, basic programming principles and commands. Students will learn strategies for identifying and debugging coding sequences and programs that do not produce expected outcomes. The course will include project-based learning tasks and activities that allow students to apply and practice computers science and coding skills in a variety of engaging learning experiences.
#36690A EXPLORE: Introduction to Performing Arts - 6th Grade Exploratory Wheel (9 weeks)
This course will provide opportunities for students to learn about different types of performing arts through exploratory study of music, drama, film/theatre, dance, public performance, and artistic interpretation. Students will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of learning experiences and activities that highlight dance, film, theatre and drama and art.
#36690E EXPLORE: Introduction to Outdoor Education - 6th Grade Exploratory Wheel (9 weeks)
This course allows students to explore aspects of the great outdoors. It encourages students to develop greater self-confidence and acquire a sense of trust and commitment in their classmates. Outdoor education is designed to expose students to a variety of outdoor skills while teaching them valuable lessons such as team building and problem solving.
#36690H EXPLORE: Highly Effective Strategies of Teens - 6th Grade Exploratory Wheel (9 weeks)
This course is part of the Franklin Covey Education courses. The course is designed for all student populations. Highly Effective Habits of Teens helps develop the essential life skills and characteristics students need in order to thrive in the 21st century. It develops student leaders, teaches tools for positive leadership behavior, develops character, leadership, academic achievement and raises levels of accountability for students. The course develops habits that are essential to goal setting and planning needed to develop organizational skills. The course guides students through leadership life principles, self-control, making wise decisions, goal setting, relational skills, and setting aside time to “sharpen the saw.”
#97090L Literacy Plus
Students may be placed in this course based on their performance on state and/or local assessments.
#97090M Math Plus
Students may be placed in this course based on their performance on state and/or local assessments.
REQUIRED Key Code (all students)
#399320 Key Code — 7th (required) (1 semester).
Key Code is a one-semester course designed to cover the state keyboarding and computer science coding block standards. Emphasis is placed on the following: understanding the importance of Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSO), soft skill development, operation and management of classroom equipment, touch-typing method, simple document formatting, and the computer science-coding block. A minimum of 5 weeks shall be dedicated to students using keyboarding skills as they relate to formulating algorithms as well as create, analyze, test, and debug computer programs in order to solve real-world problems. A text based programming language is required to accomplish these tasks.
REQUIRED P.E. (all students)
#377810 Physical Wellness (PE) — 7th Grade (required) (1 semester)
It is our goal for students to learn to value activity, fitness, and nutrition as keys to creating and maintaining a life-long healthy lifestyle.
OR
Athletic Wellness
#37781F - Football/Wellness (full year)
#37781B - Basketball /Wellness (full year)
#37781V - Volleyball/Wellness (full year)
#37781C - Cheer/Wellness (full year)
#37781P - POM/Wellness (full year)
#37781S - Spirit (full year)
#37781T - Track/Wellness (half year)
#37781X - Cross Country (half year)
ELECTIVES (choose one full year course or two semester courses)
#377540 Band — 7th Grade (full year)
(Pre-requisites: 6th Grade Band or demonstrated skill level; Parents are required to provide an instrument.)
After completing 6th Grade band, students may be scheduled into similar instrument band classes that meet every day. Students will play 2 to 3 concerts each year and also participate in the Region Solo-Ensemble contest.
#377544 Percussion
#37754B Brass
#57754W Woodwind
#37753B Boys Choir or #37753G Girls Choir — 7th Grade (full year)
Students in the 7th Grade choir program meet for class/rehearsal every day and focus on learning new music, music vocabulary, theory, sight singing, and listening to different genres of music. Students perform 2-3 concerts each year and have the opportunity to participate in vocal competitions. 7th grade choir may be scheduled as a mixed chorus.
#377547 Orchestra — 7th Grade (full year)
(Pre-requisites: 6th Grade Orchestra or demonstrated skill level; Parents are required to provide an instrument.)
Students will continue learning the basic principles of the violin, viola, cello, or string bass. Students may be divided into classes with like instruments. The instrument sections must be well balanced and will meet every day. Students also have the opportunity to participate in solo & ensemble contests.
#37754H High Strings
#37754L Low Strings
#377510 7th Grade Art — 7th Grade (1 semester)
This course is an exploration of visual mediums including pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, pastels, watercolor and paper maché. Inspiration will be taken from world cultures and both historical and contemporary artists. Design will be studied through the use of elements of art and principles of design. Techniques will be practiced in all mediums. Idea development will be practiced through creative thinking practice and elaboration.
#377650 STEM 7: Project Lead the Way 7th/8th (1 semester)
9 weeks **Design & Modeling** - Students will apply the design process to solve problems and understand the influence of creativity and innovation in their lives. Using Autodesk design software, students create a virtual image of their designs and produce a portfolio to showcase their innovative solutions.
9 weeks **Flight and Space** - The exciting world of aerospace comes alive through Flight and Space. Students explore the science behind aeronautics and use their knowledge to design, build, and test an airfoil.
#399260 Exploring Personal Finance — 7th (1 semester)
This course is designed to introduce students to the knowledge and skills required for managing their personal and family financial resources. Students learn to manage resources through hands-on applications that are relevant to their lives. Projects will require students to use academic skills in language arts, math, social sciences, and science. Emphasis is given to the development of competencies related to values, needs, and wants, goals and decision-making, career exploration, understanding paychecks, spending plans, savings, electronic banking and credit, financial institutions, and checking accounts.
REQUIRED Career Development (all students)
#399280 Career Development — 8th Grade (required) (1 semester)
This foundation course uses hands-on activities and research to provide an opportunity for exploring the 16 career clusters. It is the point at which educational development begins with the establishment of individual career plans.
REQUIRED P.E. (all students)
#388810 Physical Wellness (PE) — 8th Grade (required) (1 semester)
It is our goal for students to learn to value activity, fitness, and nutrition as keys to creating and maintaining a life-long healthy lifestyle.
OR
Athletic Wellness
#38881F - Football/Wellness (full year)
#38881B - Basketball /Wellness (full year)
#38881V - Volleyball/Wellness (full year)
#38881C – Cheer/Wellness (full year)
#38881P – POM/Wellness (full year)
#38881T – Track/Wellness (half year)
#38881X – Cross Country (half year)
REQUIRED Key Code (any student who did not take it in 7th grade)
#399320 Key Code — 7th / 8th (required) (1 semester).
This course is designed to teach the state keyboarding and computer science coding block standards. Emphasis is placed on the following: understanding the importance of Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSO), soft skill development, operation and management of classroom equipment, touch-typing method, simple document formatting and the computer science-coding block. A minimum of 5 weeks shall be dedicated to students using keyboarding skills as they relate to formulating algorithms as well as create, analyze, test and debug computer programs in order to solve real-world problems. A text based programming language is required to accomplish these tasks.
ELECTIVES (choose two full year courses OR one full year and two semester courses OR four semester courses)
#38853B Boys Choir or #38853G Girls Choir — 8th Grade (full year)
This choir meets for class/rehearsal every day. Students deepen their focus on sight singing, vocabulary and theory. Students perform various concerts throughout the year and have the opportunity to participate in vocal competitions and festivals. 8th grade choir may be scheduled as a mixed chorus.
#388540 Band — 8th Grade (full year)
(Pre-requisites: 7th Grade Band or demonstrated skill level; Parents are required to provide an instrument.)
This band will meet each day in a full band setting and will play several concerts each year. Students will have the opportunity to participate in the Region Solo-Ensemble contest, as well as audition for the Junior All-region Band.
#388548 Orchestra — 8th Grade (full year)
(Pre-requisites: 7th Grade Orchestra or demonstrated skill level; Parents are required to provide an instrument.)
The 8th Grade string orchestra will have class/rehearsal every day. The orchestra will perform in several concerts each
year. In addition, students also have the opportunity to participate in solo and ensemble contests.
#388510 8th Grade Art — (1 semester)
This course is an exploration of visual mediums including pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, pastels, watercolor and paper maché. Inspiration will be taken from world cultures and both historical and contemporary artists. Design will be studied through the use of elements of art and principles of design. Techniques will be practiced in all mediums. Idea development will be practiced through creative thinking and elaboration.
#399080 Family CSI (Consumer Science Investigations) — 8th Grade (1 semester)
This is a course in which emphasis is placed on competencies related to Family, Career and Community Leaders of America: personal and family development, relationships, home environment, food and nutrition, wellness, resource management, responsible childcare, clothing and appearance, and career preparation.
#399040 Exploring Business Applications — 8th Grade (1 semester)
This is a one-semester course with emphasis given to computer concepts and operations, programming and design, computer software, and the implications of technology in society and ethics. This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the fundamental uses for computer applications and technology in business and careers.
#38890Y MM Yearbook (1 semester or full year)
Students will help create the yearbook.
#38890X MM Broadcasting (1 semester or full year)
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the entire production process of entry-level creation and broadcast journalism.
#399110 Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Automation and Robotics - 8th Grade (1 semester)
Students trace the history, development, and influence of automation and robotics as they learn about mechanical systems, energy transfer, machine automation, and computer control systems. Students use the VEX Robotics platform to design, build, and program real-world objects such as traffic lights, tollbooths, and robotic arms.
#399180 PLTW Medical Detectives - 8th Grade (1 semester)
Students play the role of a real-life medical detective as they analyze genetic testing results to diagnose disease and study DNA evidence found at a “crime scene”. They solve medical mysteries through hands-on projects and labs, investigate how to measure and interpret vital signs, and learn how the systems of the human body work together to maintain health.
#388900 Leadership - 8th Grade (1 semester or full year)
Where Everyone Belongs (WEB)
The class will be an experience in active participatory leadership. Students will take on projects, chosen and assigned, that will teach the skills of leadership. In the process, this will offer students an opportunity to better serve their school and community and develop individual responsibility.
**The following courses are for high school credit and will be counted in high school grade point average and quality point calculation.**
#441008 **French I** — 8th Grade (full year)
This course is designed for students who wish to explore the French language and its cultures. Students will practice literacy skills including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The culture of the French-speaking world is integrated into the curriculum through the four literacy skills. The course will be taught partially in French.
#442008 **German I** — 8th Grade (full year)
In this course students will learn to speak and write German used in everyday situations. Students will develop the four language skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Students will also gain information on the history, geography, and the way of life of German people. The course will be taught partially in German.
#440008 **Spanish I** — 8th Grade (full year)
This course is designed for students who wish to explore the Spanish language and its cultures. Students will practice literacy skills including, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The culture of the Spanish-speaking world is integrated into the curriculum through the four literacy skills. The course will be taught partially in Spanish.
#540108 **Spanish for Native Speakers I** — 8th Grade (full year)
(Pre-requisites: Daily exposure to Spanish outside the school environment; conversational skills in Spanish; possible placement test). This course is specifically designed to meet the communicative needs of the Spanish heritage learner. Students will learn Spanish structure: phonetics, grammar, spelling, reading, and writing processes. In addition they will work to build a more extensive vocabulary. This class will be taught in Spanish and will prepare students to advance to the upper levels of native Spanish.
In keeping with guidelines of Title VI, Section 601, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX, Section 901, Education Amendments of 1972, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Rogers Public Schools assures that no person shall, on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion or handicap be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program.
Dr. Roger Hill, Equity Coordinator | 80fa25d6-6fcc-43d9-9873-70ac38e70844 | CC-MAIN-2024-33 | https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1698076782/rogersschoolsnet/uor8cxy91m2wrbhudbxp/21_22_Middle_School_Course_Catalog.pdf | 2024-08-08T16:37:33+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-33/segments/1722640736186.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20240808155812-20240808185812-00448.warc.gz | 390,748,507 | 8,280 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.961398 | eng_Latn | 0.995297 | [
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1 Grad Se Beli (Croatia – Međimurje) 2/4
In 1990 I choreographed this dance, especially driven by the fact that the musical phrasing is irregular, which is not quite common for the music from Međimurje. The performers are the female choir “Ladarice” with Andela Potočnik and the record dates back to 1970. In later years Ladarice recorded new arrangements of Grad Se Beli, where the irregular phrasing was lost. Since the 1970 recording is less available on the internet, some people started using the later arrangements for my dance, but of course the main attractiveness (the irregular phrasing) was thus lost. Of course I will make available the “correct” version of the music via the FAC shop, so hopefully this will bring back the ‘original’ dance.
The movements are based on patterns that can be observed not only in Međimurje, but in Croatia as a whole. It is a joyful mixed dance that can be danced in a large circle with the hands held down, in basket-front or basket-back position.
2 Švrćino Kolo (Serbia) 2/4
This dance was choreographed by Miodrag “Ciga” Despotivić and his wife Ivon. During their teaching careers they produced four albums and one CD. Most of these dances were created by Ciga and/or Ivon, based on authentic movements that they observed “in the field”. Since I was asked by Ciga and Ivon to preserve their legacy, I will usually include some of their dances in my repertoire.
The music for this dance was shortened to fit better with nowadays audiences. It is a really joyful dance (once you are able to keep up with the tempo …) Švrćino Kolo was created in the early 1970’s and the music is by Ansambl Tihomira Paunovića (Tihomira is a renowned frula and dvojnica player).
3 Trenino Oro (Macedonia) 7/8 & 4/4 Choreographed by Ben Koopmanschap
In 1988, a friend of mine sent me a copy of studio recordings by the musicians of Radio televizija Skopje. To my knowledge these recordings were never officially released on an album, cassette or CD. To make the recording of Trenino Oro more suitable for teaching purposes, I shortened the introduction and increased the dance part.
The attractiveness of Trenino oro is that it consists of two parts; a slower part in 7/8 and a quicker part in 4/4.
4 Splet Pesama Iz Istočne Srbije (East Serbia) 2/4, 5/8 & 9/8
Before Christianity was introduced in the Balkans there were many pagan Slavic traditions and rituals. Some of these rituals are still practised today, such as “Dodole”. During the dry summer seasons, young girls would dress themselves with vines, small branches and leaves. They travelled from village to village and from house to house. Once arrived at a house they would perform ritual Dodole songs and dances. The host of the house would respond by sprinkling some water on the girls, in order to please the goddess of rain.
The first time I heard the recording of Splet Pesama Iz Istočne Srbije (Three songs from East Serbia) it brought back my memories of observing the Dodole traditions. The atmosphere of the songs is similar to the authentic songs, although I must stress that these songs are NOT Dodole songs. So, the Dodole traditions and the atmospheric rendition of these three beautiful songs, formed the inspiration for the three dances that I choreographed.
The performers are Grupa Pevača "Šumadija" and the Narodni Orkestar Radio Televizija Beograd.
Serbia 1958, Dodole in Nedeljka
Watering of Dodola by Uroš Predić – 1892
5 Tankosava (Serbia – Šumadije) 2/4
I created this dance in 2002. When I heard the music for the first time I just loved it and I couldn’t resist using this music for a dance. I edited the music to extend the length, so that we can enjoy it even longer. The performers are Predrag Gojković – “Cune” and Dragan Živković - “Tozovac” with the female choir “Šumadija”.
The movements are inspired by the dances of the “Šetnja” family of dances; comfortable walking dances. I have seen various interpretations of Tankosava on the internet which don’t necessarily ignite my enthusiasm. During the workshop I will focus on the way I wish that the dance would be performed.
Videos and music for these dances available through the Folk Arts Center’s music shop: store.facone.org | c9a3bee5-3957-4c40-aced-8783011473ab | CC-MAIN-2021-49 | https://facone.org/programs/images/FAC-BK-010221.pdf | 2021-11-27T05:44:44+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-49/segments/1637964358118.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20211127043716-20211127073716-00067.warc.gz | 353,571,803 | 1,032 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.996226 | eng_Latn | 0.996512 | [
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About The Forest
In 2019, AFER discovered that the Catchacoma Forest is the largest documented old-growth eastern hemlock Forest in all of Canada. Only a 45 minute drive from Peterborough, ON, the Forest is located on the north end of Catchacoma Lake and can be accessed from a bus-friendly trailhead off of country road 507.
Facilitated by Ancient Forest Exploration & Research (AFER) and the Ontario Wilderness Committee (WC)
A Class Visit to Catchacoma Old Growth Forest
A memorable environmental education experience!
Learn Among Towering Hemlocks
A Phenomenal Outdoor Classroom
The Catchacoma Forest is a classroom like no other. Guided by AFER and WC, students will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the magical old growth and learn first-hand about tree identification, forest and wetland ecology, local species (547 species ID’d to date), and carbon storage in one of Eastern Canada’s most carbon-rich temperate forests. This education experience will look different based on the age and focus of the class (Ages 6+ recommended).
Citizen Science
If interested, it is also an option for students to learn first-hand about citizen science and fieldwork by collecting data in the Forest and learning valuable field skills using forest ecology equipment like DBH tapes and calipers.
Environmental Advocacy
As Catchacoma Forest is currently unprotected, some areas were logged in 2019-2021. Students will have the chance to walk through these logged areas on the way to the intact old-growth and learn about real-time advocacy efforts of the Catchacoma Forest Stewardship Committee (CFSC) to protect the Forest.
Activities
Other activities in the forest can include campfires and forest bathing—a guided, meditative experience that encourages participants to slow down, reflect, and experience the forest through all their senses.
About Us
AFER and WC are non-profit organizations that have been operating in Ontario for 30+ years. AFER is dedicated to research and education on Ontario old-growth forests, and WC aims to protect Canada's wild spaces and species. AFER and WC have been facilitating research, education, and advocacy in the Catchacoma Forest since 2019, bringing over 300 people into the Forest to learn about the landscape.
Contact Us!
If you are interested in bringing a class to the Catchacoma Forest or have any questions, please contact us at:
email@example.com
firstname.lastname@example.org
For more information about AFER and WC:
Peterborougholdgrowth.ca
wildernesscommittee.org/ontario | b70e5573-0d4c-41f2-b918-a2abb9ecbaa8 | CC-MAIN-2024-22 | https://www.ancientforest.org/_files/ugd/1eacbf_d11b19ccfdb045419fc7fd5acf90948a.pdf | 2024-05-21T04:03:45+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-22/segments/1715971058383.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20240521025434-20240521055434-00385.warc.gz | 574,158,672 | 535 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.994732 | eng_Latn | 0.994998 | [
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“Mommy, my teacher talked to us today about looking for ways to help change our world for the better,” Deidra explained as they walked home from school. “But I’m not sure what I can do.”
“Helping to make a positive change in your world is a wonderful undertaking,” her mom said. “Did you know that changes can be small things you do around your community, but which help to make a difference? Taking care of our community, like the parks and general areas, is one way you can help.
“It’s also being mindful of how you treat public property by not littering, not breaking things on purpose, and even avoiding walking on plants in flowerbeds. Helping out in the garden and removing your toys from the lawn and driveway helps to keep the neighborhood looking nice and is a way to make positive change.”
Deidra thought for a while, then said, “Look, Mom, there is quite a bit of trash in the park. Could I go pick it up?”
“That would be a lovely idea,” her mother agreed. “How about we go home and get some gloves to use and a basket to put the rubbish in?”
After getting the necessary supplies, Deidra and her mother began picking up bits of trash along the way. “Why do people make such messes?” Deidra asked.
“Well, sometimes people haven’t been taught to care about things, and they don’t understand how their lack of care hurts other people and nature. Sometimes, though, mess is just a part of life, and cleaning it up is something that has to be done.”
“For example, maybe you’re eating in the park and your napkin blows away, and you may not be able to catch it that day and it settles somewhere else as litter. Or an animal might get into the rubbish bin and get trash everywhere that has to be cleaned up.”
“Oh no, Mommy, there’s a broken bottle,” Deidra said.
“Don’t touch it, Deidra!” her mom exclaimed. “It’s good that you want to help clean it up so no one gets hurt, but when you see a broken or sharp object on the ground, ask a grown-up to take care of it so that you don’t cut yourself.”
“Hi, Deidra,” Jeffrey called out. “What are you doing?”
“I’m helping to change the world,” Deidra announced. “By picking up trash, we’re making the park look nice again.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” Jeffrey said. “Thank you. I’d like to help too. Can I, Dad?”
“Of course, son,” his dad replied. “But you’ll need to get gloves and a bag or two first.”
“I’ll be back soon, Deidra,” Jeffrey called as he ran back to his house.
Deidra smiled. She was glad that not only was she making the park look better with her efforts, but she could also encourage her friends to make a difference too.
Don’t belittle what you can do to change the world. Little things and little people are important! Whatever you can do to help make a difference matters. Caring for the world, even in little ways, when they all add up, can make big change happen. And it can start with YOU!
Authored by Devon T. Sommers. Illustrations by Didier Martin.
Colors and design by Stefan Merour.
Published by My Wonder Studio. Copyright © 2017 by The Family International | fe4b52d6-64e2-4469-915d-144613767db0 | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://www.mywonderstudio.com/documents/1747/455_Help_Change_Your_World.pdf | 2022-01-24T10:43:59+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320304528.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20220124094120-20220124124120-00253.warc.gz | 941,613,917 | 713 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.995635 | eng_Latn | 0.996279 | [
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Objective:
• Teach our youth the basics of how to plan a flight.
• Review the wind triangle.
• Explain terminology – course, heading, track, drift angle, WCA, ground speed.
• Explain the steps required to plan a flight.
• Avoid becoming a child of the magenta line!
Materials:
• E-6B flight computer
• Navigation Log worksheet (Yes, I know - “there’s an app for that”)
• Sectional charts
• Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
• Airport/Facility Directory (Now Chart Supplement)
• Aircraft Operating Handbook
The term “children of the magenta” traces to 1997, when American Airlines captain Warren Vanderburgh said the industry has made pilots too dependent on monitoring the magenta lines on the machines that are really flying the plane. (Source IEEE Security & Privacy Children of the Magenta Sept.-Oct. 2015, pp. 104-104, vol. 13) link
No matter what you fly, regardless of how high or how fast, the basics matter.
From the Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge:
Air navigation is the process of piloting an aircraft from one geographic position to another while monitoring one’s position as the flight progresses. It introduces the need for planning, which includes plotting the course on an aeronautical chart, selecting checkpoints, measuring distances, obtaining pertinent weather information, and computing flight time, headings, and fuel requirements. The methods used in this chapter include pilotage—navigating by reference to visible landmarks, dead reckoning—computations of direction and distance from a known position, and radio navigation—by use of radio aids.
Figure 16-14. Aircraft flight path resulting from its airspeed and direction and the wind speed and direction.
Figure 16-15. Effects of wind drift on maintaining desired course.
Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge Page 16-5 through 16-20
\[ \text{TC} \pm \text{WCA} = \text{TH} \pm \text{V} = \text{MH} \pm \text{D} = \text{CH} \] (page 16-20)
- **TC** - True Course
- **WCA** - Wind Correction Angle
- **TH** - True Heading
- **V** - Magnetic Variation
- **MH** - Magnetic Heading
- **D** - Magnetic Deviation
- **CH** - Compass Heading
• Course—intended path of an aircraft over the ground or the direction of a line drawn on a chart representing the intended aircraft path, expressed as the angle measured from a specific reference datum clockwise from 0° through 360° to the line.
• Heading—direction in which the nose of the aircraft points during flight.
• Track—actual path made over the ground in flight. (If proper correction has been made for the wind, track and course are identical.)
• Drift angle—angle between heading and track.
• WCA—correction applied to the course to establish a heading so that track coincides with course.
• Airspeed—rate of the aircraft’s progress through the air.
• Ground Speed (GS)—rate of the aircraft’s inflight progress over the ground.
Quoting Wikipedia, “The wind triangle is a vector diagram, with three vectors.
The **air vector** (shown in yellow) represents the motion of the aircraft through the airmass. It is described by true airspeed and true heading.
The **wind vector** (shown in blue) represents the motion of the airmass over the ground. It is described by wind speed and the inverse of wind direction. Note that by convention wind direction is given as the direction...
the wind is from. In a vector diagram such as the wind triangle, wind direction must be stated as the direction the wind is blowing to, or 180 degrees different from the convention.
The **ground vector** (shown in green) represents the motion of the aircraft over the ground. It is described by ground track and ground speed. The ground vector is the resultant of algebraically adding the air vector and the wind vector.” | f61174f0-f564-43c8-841f-5af3a1793d0a | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://www.eaa461.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Hangar-Night_9_15_22.pdf | 2023-01-28T03:30:41+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764499470.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20230128023233-20230128053233-00716.warc.gz | 777,378,120 | 855 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.914532 | eng_Latn | 0.99263 | [
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WORK LIKE THE BEST
Review of middle schooling in the Northern Territory
Vic Zbar
September 2014
Final Report
Hon Peter Chandler MLA
Minister for Education
Parliament House
Mitchell Street
Darwin NT
Dear Minister
I am pleased to submit my final report in response to request for quotation Q14-0167, ‘2014 Review of Northern Territory Government Middle Years Schools’ dated 7 April 2014. The report was finalised after a short briefing process for key stakeholders and School Councils in most schools following the release of my draft report.
The report is titled *Work Like The Best* both to indicate the challenge the Territory faces to substantially improve schooling in the middle years and to signal that best practice does exist on which improvement can be built.
There is, as outlined in the report, significant variation in practice and performance between and within schools which, it should be noted, is not unique to the Northern Territory. Research suggests that the greatest source of improvement for any school or system comes from the extent to which this variation can be reduced so that more schools and teachers do work like the best.
The discussion in the report is designed to provide the direction and support needed to enable middle schools and their principals and teachers to improve their performance and work like the best.
The research, visits, teleconferences and consultations conducted demonstrated that this depends on:
- developing a compelling shared vision to provide the motivating moral purpose for middle schooling in the Northern Territory, and the report provides a sample to get the discussion underway;
- leadership for whole-school improvement supported by an accredited leadership coach for the principal of each middle school;
- a disciplined and orderly learning environment based on the successful School Wide Positive Behaviour Support framework, where each student feels there is a teacher who knows and cares for them;
- a curriculum framework appropriate to young adolescents that ensures an adequate base of literacy and numeracy (with some necessary training for teachers in this regard) and access to rich, engaging interdisciplinary projects that tackle big questions and meet a range of standards for the Australian Curriculum;
- consistent assessment across the middle years to enable system and school monitoring of student achievement and planning to improve it;
- good, collaborative planning of lessons by teachers using an instructional model to spread consistently better teaching practice through each school;
- continued improvement of already good transition arrangements in place by ensuring formal transition plans that enable every student to be known on entry to year 7 and then be prepared for success when leaving for year 10; and
- systemic leadership and support that reports on progress in implementing these strategies and fosters constituencies of middle school leaders and teachers that enable their voices to be heard and their professional practice to improve.
The report contains recommendations for each of these elements for further improving the middle years of schooling in the Northern Territory. There are also recommendations to ensure the necessary data regime is in place to support better planning and monitoring of performance by the system and that quality exemplars are developed for schools and teachers to adapt and implement so they can work like the best.
One factor that has detracted from the effective implementation of worthwhile initiatives in the past has been a tendency to move on to the next ‘silver bullet’ before the first one has accurately been fired. Successful implementation of the recommendations for improving schooling in the middle years will depend on consistency of direction and support for at least three to five years to enable the changes to take hold and be consolidated and embedded in schools.
Assuming this can be achieved, there is cause for considerable optimism that middle schooling in the Northern Territory can significantly improve in coming years.
This optimism reflects the keen awareness expressed by all at the system, school and stakeholder level that the status quo is not acceptable and a jump in performance is required. This recognition of the need to change was backed up by a willingness to embrace the core strategies embodied in the report’s recommendations when they were outlined in briefing sessions on the draft review report. In addition, the approach was endorsed as much by key stakeholders who were consulted as it was by Departmental personnel, signalling the potential to garner a broad consensus around a program for sustained improvement in the middle years.
Beyond this, although substantial variability of practice and performance exists between and within schools, there are sufficient examples of quality practices in place to support the development of systemic exemplars and advice to support more consistent practice like the best. There is also a rich vein of policy, research and practice both nationally and internationally the Department can use to ensure that the better practices it promotes accord with what has been demonstrated to work.
The alignment of these factors within and beyond the middle schools, along with the passionate desire to improve that was evident through the review, provides a real opportunity for a cohesive and united effort by all those with an interest in middle schooling in the Northern Territory to realise the promise the original decision to create a middle schooling phase made.
I have very much enjoyed undertaking this review. I was warmly welcomed in schools and the Department and received the utmost cooperation along the way. I was impressed by the commitment all have to successful schooling in the middle years and to making the changes needed to generate better student results.
I want to thank all those who supported the conduct of the review and assure them that the report is better for their input.
Thank you for the opportunity to undertake this review. Its outcomes will contribute to better schooling in Northern Territory middle schools.
Yours sincerely
Vic Zbar
# Table of Contents
Glossary .......................................................................................................................... 5
Overview ....................................................................................................................... 7
Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................. 21
Chapter 2: A snapshot of performance ........................................................................... 26
Chapter 3: The nature of the cohort and its implications ............................................. 44
Chapter 4: The policy context ......................................................................................... 49
Chapter 5: Adopting a strategic approach ...................................................................... 54
Chapter 6: A vision for middle schooling ....................................................................... 57
Chapter 7: Leadership for whole-school improvement .................................................. 61
Chapter 8: Structuring provision in the middle years .................................................... 68
Chapter 9: Curriculum and assessment for the middle years ....................................... 83
Chapter 10: Pedagogy for the middle years .................................................................. 100
Chapter 11: Transition into and from the middle years ............................................... 113
Chapter 12: Systemic leadership and support ............................................................... 121
Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 123
Appendix 1: Stakeholders consulted for the review ..................................................... 128
Appendix 2: Framework for Principles and Policies for the Middle Years .................... 129
Appendix 3: Structure of the Employment Pathways Model ....................................... 130
Appendix 4: Assessment Practices in Middle Years Survey Questions ....................... 131
Appendix 5: Centralian Middle School Instructional Model ......................................... 133
| Abbreviation | Description |
|--------------|-------------|
| ABS | Australian Bureau of Statistics |
| ACARA | Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority |
| ACER | Australia Council for Educational Research |
| AEDI | Australian Early Development Index |
| AEU | Australian Education Union |
| AIEW | Aboriginal and Islander Education Worker |
| AITSL | Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership |
| ANTSEL | Association of Northern Territory School Educational Leaders |
| ASPIRE | A School Planning, Improvement and Reporting Environment |
| ATAR | Australian Tertiary Admission Rank |
| CAS | Curriculum, Assessment and Standards |
| CDU | Charles Darwin University |
| COGSO | Council of Government School Organisations |
| CMS | Centralian Middle School |
| DAMYTC | Darwin Area Middle Years Training Centre |
| DEECD | Department of Education and Early Childhood Development |
| EAL/D | English and as Additional Language/Development |
| GATES | Gifted and Talented Education program |
| HLO | Home Liaison Officer |
| ICT | Information and Communication Technology |
| IEEP | Industry Engagement and Employment Pathways |
| IER | Indigenous Education Review |
| MYRAD | Middle Years Research and Development Project |
| NAPLAN | National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy |
| NMSA | National Middle School Association |
| NT | Northern Territory |
| NTBOS | Northern Territory Board of Studies |
| NTCF | Northern Territory Curriculum Framework |
| NTCE | Northern Territory Certificate of Education |
| OHS | Occupational Health and Safety |
| Acronym | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| PAT | Progressive Achievement Tests |
| PCG | Pastoral Care Groups |
| RTO | Registered Training Organisation |
| SAIS | Student Assessment Information System |
| SOSE | Studies of Society and Environment |
| SRC | Student Representative Council |
| SWPBS | School Wide Positive Behaviour Support |
| VET | Vocational Education and Training |
| WIAT-II | Wechsler Individual Achievement Test |
Overview
The 2003 report on *Future Directions for Secondary Education in the Northern Territory* recommended that two clear stages of secondary schooling be established in the Northern Territory; middle schools\(^1\) catering for students in Years 7 to 9, and senior schools catering for students in Years 10 to 12.
The transition to the new structure commenced in 2006, with the first students to complete the entirety of their secondary schooling under the new model graduating from Year 12 in 2013; making a review of middle years schooling timely.
In 2014, the Hon Peter Chandler MLA, Minister for Education, commissioned Vic Zbar, of Zbar Consulting, to conduct a review of middle schooling in the Northern Territory. The review encompassed the six provincial middle schools in Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs and four larger comprehensive schools. More specifically, the ten schools covered by the review are:
- Centralian Middle School
- Dripstone Middle School
- Rosebery Middle School
- Katherine High School
- Taminmin College
- Darwin Middle School
- Nightcliff Middle School
- Sanderson Middle School
- Nhulunbuy High School
- Tennant Creek High School
The review’s focus on these ten schools accords with the view adopted by Wilson in his Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory that ‘secondary education should, with some exceptions, be delivered in the NT’s urban schools in Darwin, Palmerston, Alice Springs, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Tennant Creek’ (2014:12). This is the subject of specific recommendations in that report, including recommendation 27 that the Territory should progressively move to deliver ‘the majority of middle years schooling in urban schools with a critical mass of students’ (Ibid:22).
The review comprised: detailed analysis of systemic data and documents as well as a range of material provided by schools; desktop research on middle schooling to inform the review report; visits to the urban middle and comprehensive schools and some targeted senior schools, supplemented by extended teleconferences with other relevant schools, support centres and regional offices/departamental staff; stakeholder consultations including student and parent forums in Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs; interviews with relevant Department personnel; drafting of the review report; briefings for key stakeholders and School Councils in Greater Darwin and Alice Springs; and finalising the review report.
This methodology enabled the development of a review report that analysed current performance in middle schools; forming the basis for discussion around how it can be improved, taking account of the nature of the cohort and the implications this has for middle schooling in the Northern Territory.
Following a range of visits and discussions conducted through the review, along with the detailed document and data analysis, it is clear that there is much good practice occurring in the middle years of schooling in the Northern Territory. The issue is that there is a lack of
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\(^1\) For the purpose of this report, the term ‘middle schools’ should be taken to refer to Years 7 to 9 in all schools unless specified otherwise. This is designed to avoid having to continually specify that the review applies to both the urban middle schools and the comprehensive schools providing education for students in Years 7 to 9.
systemic direction for schooling in this phase, with a consequent lack of consistency that prevents good practice being generalised across schooling for the middle years. The result is substantial variability of effectiveness in generating improved learning outcomes for all students in Years 7-9.
A significant focus of the review report is on identifying best practice for schooling in the middle years; based on successful experience, relevant research and mechanisms by which it can be implemented strategically and hence consistently across middle and comprehensive schools. The intent is to support more schools and teachers to apply best practice methods, as this is the greatest source of improvement in any system and school. This process is outlined in terms of a framework for schooling in the middle years and is derived from elements of the research on effective middle schooling which suggests the needs to be addressed — including, a vision for schooling in this phase, leadership for whole school improvement, structuring provision to ensure an orderly learning environment where students are well known, curriculum and assessment for the middle years, pedagogy for the middle years, transition into and from the middle years, and systemic leadership and support.
The recommendations advanced are designed to be pragmatic and replicable across schools and classrooms, strategic so they focus on what matters most to make the difference in middle schooling in the Northern Territory, and aligned to strategies, approaches and support already in place.
**Nature of the recommendations from the review**
The reviewer is impressed with the criteria Wilson adopted for framing recommendations in his review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory and hence has sought to mirror the approach.
More specifically, the recommendations are designed to be:
- **Pragmatic**, so they are replicable across middle school sites and classrooms, and based on what schools, principals, teachers and other educators can realistically deliver in the Northern Territory.
- **Strategic**, in that they focus on what matters most to make the difference in middle schooling in the Northern Territory, rather than seeking to tackle everything schooling in the middle years does. ‘*The focus*’, as Wilson puts it, ‘*is on those areas where action is most needed, is most likely to achieve significant improvement and is likely to require a manageable level of resourcing*’ (2014:14).
- **Aligned**, to strategies, approaches and support already in place so the system and schools can build on what exists, rather than seeking to reinvent the wheel.
This reflects a view discussed in detail in Chapter 5 that a range of reviews and supports have only haphazardly been implemented, with the result that significant change has been initiated, but its implementation insufficiently consolidated to have the intended positive effects.
A ‘snapshot’ of performance
It is important to emphasise that this review is of the models of middle schooling in the Northern Territory, and not a formal review of each middle school. That said, it is necessary to underpin the review with some consideration and analysis of school performance in the middle years. A range of performance data was therefore analysed to enable a ‘snapshot’ of performance to be gained in the context of the different circumstances of each school.
The review process revealed many examples of excellent practice that contributes markedly to improved student outcomes in the middle years, however overall practice is variable between and within the schools.
Enrolments, retention and attendance
Enrolments have generally been either stable or increased over time in middle schools, in contrast to middle years enrolments in the comprehensive schools (excluding Katherine High School), though this sometimes is for reasons beyond the control of the school e.g. a refinery closure in the town.
Raising real retention from Year 7 to the end of Year 9 is a challenge to nearly all of the schools and appears to relate more to proximity or distance from Greater Darwin than it does to whether the school is a middle or comprehensive school. Similarly, there is no evident pattern of attendance to suggest a difference between middle and comprehensive schools as structures in their own right, and attendance levels across the board need to be significantly improved.
Improving government middle schooling so it is chosen by more parents in the Territory therefore is a focus of this component of the review report, rather than any structural change to the delivery of education to students in the middle years.
NAPLAN results
The Department’s Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel provides a generally positive picture of National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) performance though improvement is greater in the primary than the middle years.
The value schools add in this context is variable from year to year, though there is no discernible difference between the middle and comprehensive schools. This suggests that other factors than structure determine the outcomes the schools achieve and hence the focus of this component of the report is on what research suggests can make the difference to student learning outcomes in the middle years.
Data for informed decision making
NAPLAN is the only consistent assessment that applies in Northern Territory middle schools and needs to be supplemented by a variety of high-quality data that can help the system to gain a richer and deeper appreciation of the overall performance of its middle schools, and the schools themselves to determine their key successes on which to build and the major challenges they need to address.
While there is substantial data available in the Department, it commonly is disparate and disconnected, so it is hard to gain a clear sense of performance on a range of indicators that can help devise appropriate strategic responses at both the school and system level. There are also some significant gaps, such as the absence of stakeholder opinion survey results and readily available systemic data on Year 12 completion rates that could inform any meaningful judgment of the impact of middle schooling in this regard. In addition, the
assessment data collected by schools aside from NAPLAN, while extensive in some cases, is not consistent, comparable or shared.
Put simply, the Department needs better and more comprehensive data to know what its middle schools are doing and how they are performing, and the schools themselves need better, more user-friendly data to inform their planning at the local level.
**Recommendations**
1. That the Department of Education initiate a project to:
- consolidate the range of data needed to inform school and system planning and the monitoring of performance against school and system goals; and
- analyse the data collected in order to provide consolidated reports to schools and the Department, including the identification of emerging systemic trends that may need to be addressed and, where appropriate, reviews of targeted innovations to determine the evidence for their effectiveness and continued use.
The use of such consolidated data sets should first be trialled with a sample of primary, middle and senior schools and refined as needed to ensure that they contribute to more informed decision making in the Department and schools.
2. That the current staff opinion survey in the Northern Territory be updated to reflect nationally agreed requirements and include a variable on teachers’ views of student motivation to learn. The updated survey should be administered annually to staff in the middle schools.
3. That a student opinion survey be developed for students in Years 7 to 9 and administered annually to all students in these years. Further, a parents’ survey should be developed with appropriate translations, and administered to a sample of at least 30 parents each year in middle schools.
**The nature of the cohort and its implications**
As a group, young adolescents reflect important developmental characteristics, albeit at varying rates, which have implications for the way in which they are taught, and puts a premium on the need for clarity about the purpose of learning and hence the extent to which teachers’ learning intentions are clear.
Peer relationships assume greater importance and teachers need to support students to establish the mode of peer interaction that ensures they make appropriate decisions about learning and their work. The slower maturing capacity to control emotions suggests a need for clear boundaries for students linked to an orderly learning environment where students are well known by the staff.
**The policy context**
There is a range of policy documents designed to guide the delivery of middle schooling in the Territory and support the work of principals, teachers and schools. Some of these are no longer available for use by teachers and schools and most are pitched at a high level without sufficient examples to enable them to be readily implemented in schools. A need exists to provide a structure that can help schools to effectively plan, implement and support the sort of capacity building that will enable more schools and teachers to work like the best.
The Assessment and Standards Middle Years project\(^2\) is a welcome initiative in this regard that can help shift what are often broad brush policy statements to the sort of finer detail that can help form part of the actual picture that applies in schools. Potentially as valuable is the work of the Department’s Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel and the opportunity exists to align the work of these two.
**Recommendation**
4. That wherever possible, Department policies designed to guide schooling in the middle years be accompanied by exemplars to support schools to effectively implement them at the local level. Further, the Department should seek to ensure a formal connection exists between projects that are established with similar and/or related objectives and hence potentially overlapping work, to ensure consistency of approach, economies of scale and the provision of coherent advice to schools.
**Adopting a strategic approach**
Reading the range of reports and policy documents provided as input to the review, one is struck by the fact that a lot seems to have been tried, with variable implementation success and arguably no substantial improvement in student results. This may in part reflect a search for the ‘silver bullet’ that never is found and the fact that nothing is really bedded down.
It is well-known from research and experience that organisations commonly experience an implementation dip as they seek to implement change. When schools or systems continually review direction or seek further change they effectively set off further dips and nothing gets properly implemented as a result. School principals, teachers and the system all need time to consolidate and successfully implement change. Thus, rather than seeking to point to major systemic changes required to middle schooling, the review focuses on identifying the few big things in middle schooling that can have a significant impact, and then planning to do them well.
**A vision for middle schooling**
While the middle schools themselves all have vision and/or mission statements to guide their work, there does not appear to be a systemic statement of vision for middle schooling in the Northern Territory.
A compelling, shared vision should be crafted to provide the context for specifying more concrete goals for middle schooling, and the strategies that will bring this about in ways that carry stakeholder support. Just as important as crafting the vision, however, is the process by which it occurs, so that buy-in to the outcome and its subsequent implementation can be assured. The report provides a sample vision statement and the core beliefs on which it is based to inform the process the Department initiates subsequent to this review.
A vision statement specific to the middle years of schooling could also help to inform the development of a statement of what it means to be a leader and a teacher in the middle years, and their training through the relevant tertiary institutions.
\(^2\) The Assessment and Standards Middle Years project is led by the Curriculum, Assessment and Standards team within the Northern Territory Department of Education’s School Support Services directorate.
Recommendations
5. That the Department, through a collaborative process, develop and implement a set of core guiding beliefs for schooling in the middle years; using the set provided in this report as a basis.
6. That the Department develop, consult on and adopt a vision statement for the middle years of schooling taking account of the sample provided in this review report to in turn inform school level vision statements crafted together with the local school community.
Leadership for whole school improvement
Leadership and the existence of a cohesive and effective leadership team is a fundamental precondition for whole school improvement to occur. Implementing any vision for middle schooling in the Northern Territory depends on the nature and quality of leadership at the school level and systemic support for it to continually improve.
All middle schools are trying to develop more effective leadership teams and are at different stages along the way. In some schools the team has been developing for a number of years and a stable team exists that works together well and where team members complement each other’s skills. In others, the teams have been established relatively recently, often under a newly-appointed principal who is working to build the team’s capacity to oversee improvement in the school. Other teams have been less stable and need more time to develop as aligned and cohesive groups that can really impact the school.
In his review of Indigenous education, Wilson identified the need to strengthen principal quality in remote settings through a range of measures which, with some minor contextual adjustments, could equally apply to principals in middle schools.
All principals, and by extension their leadership teams, could benefit from having a leadership coach in the same way as top level leaders in business, industry, the public sector and indeed many schools around the country do. Coaching is a key mechanism for strengthening the quality of leadership in schools. Expert advice sought for the review suggests a minimum of ten significant coaching sessions is needed in a year to have a lasting impact on the leader being coached.
Until the recent appointment of the Director for Secondary Education, middle school leaders did not feel as if they had any representation in the Department or the principal forums it conducts. In the course of developing the more strategic and coherent approaches to improving schooling in the middle years sought by this review, significant value can be gained by fostering a constituency for middle school leaders that could also run a significant annual conference for middle school leadership teams.
Recommendations
7. Recommendation 44 of the Indigenous Education Review (IER) proposes the implementation of a range of strategies to raise the quality of principals in remote schools. It is recommended that appropriate elements of this recommendation (i.e. 44a, b and e in particular) be extended to encompass middle school principals and be developed to supplement the implementation of the IER.
8. That the Department support each middle school principal and leadership team to have a leadership coach. More specifically, the Department should provide seed funding for one year to enable each principal to select an appropriate coach from an accredited panel of leadership coaches the Department identifies who will provide ten significant coaching sessions face-to-face and/or online (with at least the first and last two sessions conducted face-to-face), and ongoing liaison as needed in between. Any extension of coaching arrangements beyond one year will be at the school’s expense.
9. That the Department provide funding for personnel support to one of the middle school principals selected by their peers to establish and maintain a middle years leaders’ network that will meet regularly to: share experiences and build leadership capacity in middle schools; and serve as a conduit between the Department and its leaders in middle schools. In addition, the Department should support the conduct of an annual middle years leaders’ conference managed by the network to address significant issues and research relevant to improving schooling in this phase.
**Structuring provision in the middle years**
The issue of structure is not so much one of middle versus comprehensive schools as it is a question of how well each school is structured to ensure the students are known well and supported to succeed. Successful middle schools, according to the National Middle Schools Association in the US, provide organisational structures that support meaningful relationships and learning, thereby contributing to an orderly learning environment in the school.
Available data suggests significant levels of disruption in most middle schools which not only affects the students involved, but also detracts from the learning of others in the class. While significant variability of approach exists, a growing number of middle schools are using the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework to ensure an orderly learning environment exists. The approach, which is proving successful where it is used, should be extended to all middle schools and (where possible) combined with the ‘Good Standing’ program processes in ways that can be adapted to the context of each school. Such consistency in turn would enable the provision of more comprehensive advice as part of the Department’s SWPBS webpage.
The ‘Good Standing’ program has been implemented in schools across Australia and a number of middle schools in the Northern Territory. The program can be adapted to suit the school context, but in general terms encourages the students’ development of such positive qualities as work ethic, punctuality, self-discipline and respecting the rights and responsibilities of others and themselves. Satisfactory attendance, punctuality, participation in learning and appropriate behaviour place students in ‘Good Standing’. Loss of ‘Good Standing’ can result in students being refused permission to attend non-curricular events or access to particular rewards.
Regardless of the behaviour management policy and processes adopted, the research is clear that successful middle schools enable young adolescents to form relationships with adults who understand how to support their intellectual, social and emotional development.
A range of approaches are in place in middle schools with varying degrees of success, and some schools are better structured to ensure their students are connected to their teachers, feel cared for and are well known. The Department can assist by providing models for schools to consider, such as the one provided in this report, along with advice on how to effectively use structured home group time.
One thing most middle schools have begun to develop in more effective ways is the range of opportunities for students to exercise leadership in the school and thereby develop as role models for others. This is a trend that should be encouraged since it contributes to improved student engagement at school, a greater willingness for students to take responsibility for the school and its activities, improved teacher/student relationships and the sort of positive role models who can influence other students in the school.
**Recommendations**
10. The review notes recommendation 38 of the Indigenous Education Review to mandate School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) for Priority 1 schools and recommends the approach also be adopted and combined with a ‘Good Standing’ approach to have maximum impact in ensuring an orderly learning environment in all middle schools.
11. That all middle schools be expected to examine their structures for ensuring students are well known by the staff and there is an adult advocate for each student in the school. The Department should provide advice and exemplars of structures that meet this need to inform school deliberations on it.
12. That existing support materials and links on the SWPBS webpage be expanded to include advice and links to support schools and teachers in working effectively with students in the middle years who present with mental health issues and/or who have experienced trauma in their lives.
**Curriculum and assessment for the middle years**
Consistent with what is known about the phase, curriculum in the middle years needs to address not only the knowledge and skills students are expected to gain, but also the process by which this is to occur, the capabilities young adolescents need to develop and the learning habits to be attained. This implies a greater use of substantial interdisciplinary projects that align to the Australian Curriculum, and tap into young adolescents’ emerging ability to understand complex concepts and make connections across subjects in ways that address the goals of instruction and the interests they have. Assessment needs to be aligned to the curriculum for the middle years and the educational focus it adopts, so it both diagnoses students’ learning needs and evaluates the progress they have made.
**Literacy and numeracy as the base**
Literacy and numeracy are the foundations for students to become engaged thinkers who continue to engage with learning throughout life. The Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel identified seven ‘fundamental expectations’ arising from the research to inform planning, teaching and assessment at the school level. These expectations and associated advice provide an important starting point for guiding and supporting middle schools to improve their literacy and numeracy approaches and thereby raise student achievement as a result.
Significant concern was expressed in this context in some schools about their teachers’ capacity to really improve literacy and numeracy outcomes in the middle years, especially given the spread of student achievement levels in most middle school classrooms. This may suggest a need for some targeted, systemic coaching, consistent with the efforts some schools are making to implement an explicit teaching approach. More specifically, schools should be supported to identify one or more literacy and numeracy learning leaders who can be trained in evidence-based literacy and numeracy improvement approaches for students in the middle years, and how to support other teachers in their school to implement these
(e.g. Munro’s *High Reliability Literacy Teaching Procedures* and its numeracy equivalent program each offered by the Australian Council for Educational Research [ACER] and Direct Instruction as recommended by the Indigenous Education Review, especially as an intervention for students ‘at risk’). To be effective and enable such literacy and numeracy learning leaders to have an impact in their schools, the approach would need to be maintained for a minimum of three years.
**Interdisciplinary projects in the middle years**
There is substantial consistency around the core subjects that all students take in Years 7 to 9 in middle schools and a degree of commonality about the broad categories of electives they provide. This is underpinned by substantial systemic curriculum support and comprehensive curriculum documentation in some schools. Much of the support, however, appears to be aimed at highly engaged and capable teachers rather than those who are not, but who also have a greater need for it. There is a need to more explicitly show teachers curriculum (and associated teaching and learning and assessment approaches) they can use to better effect, which in turn helps equip them to improve.
The research about young adolescents cited in the report suggests that a challenging and engaging middle level curriculum adopts more of an interdisciplinary approach where essential questions are posed. A need exists to rebalance the curriculum structure and delivery towards a stronger focus on projects where students use inquiry and problem solving to tackle issues they face in their everyday world. This is not to suggest that single subjects ought to disappear from the curriculum, but rather to signal that opportunities should be sought for an interdisciplinary approach where it contributes to meeting the knowledge and skill requirements young adolescents have, and enables the requirements of the Australian Curriculum to still be met.
Ensuring there are more such projects in the mix requires some quality exemplars on which schools and teachers can draw, as they cannot be expected to develop them on their own. Developing quality exemplars is a systemic task that requires time, research, collaboration, trialling and amendment as needed to ensure the exemplars do meet the needs of students in the cohort and will be used by teachers because they are too good to ignore.
**An important role for VET**
To some extent, another version of interdisciplinary projects with a substantial product at the end, which meets the needs of a significant proportion of students in the middle years are VET courses that middle schools offer, supplemented by the programs offered by the Darwin Area Middle Years Training Centre. Another program of particular importance in this regard is the development of the Employment Pathways Model, which the Indigenous Education Review recommended should be trialled and evaluated and then considered as potentially applicable to all urban middle and senior schools.
**Assessment for improved learning in the middle years**
The Assessment and Standards Middle Years project is pursuing a range of outcomes and outputs to help ensure a more coherent assessment regime exists in middle schools that reflects high expectations for all students, makes valid and reliable judgments particularly in relation to A to E grading in the school, and is used to inform teaching to enable the full range of student learning needs to be met.
A survey the project conducted, along with data gathered for this review, shows a lack of consistency about assessment practices in the middle schools and hence variability in the quality and effectiveness of the approach. In particular, there is no common and consistent
test to supplement NAPLAN to inform school and system level monitoring and hence planning to improve. The Assessment and Standards Middle Years project, in consultation with middle school principals, should identify a common and consistent assessment regime to adopt, taking account of ACER Progressive Achievement Tests (PATs) and On Demand tests which already are in use in a number of schools. Consideration should also be given to extending this from Year 5 through to Year 10 to support the flow of information to improve transition between schools.
It should be expected that the outcomes of the assessment regime adopted, along with school-based A to E assessments are included on the Department’s Student Assessment Information System (SAIS) to ensure a comprehensive database of student performance in Northern Territory middle schools.
**Recommendations**
13. The review notes and endorses the seven fundamental expectations identified by the Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel to inform planning, teaching and assessment of literacy and numeracy in middle schools and the development of support materials and professional development aligned to these.
14. That the Department support training of one literacy and numeracy learning leader in each middle school in proven programs for significantly improving literacy and numeracy outcomes for students in Year 7 to 9, and working with other teachers in the school to implement them. The specific training programs to be used should be determined on the basis of advice from the Assessment and Standards Middle Years Project team after consideration of programs available, including the Munro-designed ACER literacy and numeracy programs outlined in this report and Direct Instruction advocated in the IER. The approach adopted should be implemented for a minimum of three years, with a review of implementation and impact in year three to determine if any extension is required.
15. That the School Support Services Division initiate a project to develop an initial set of two quality interdisciplinary project exemplars for each of Years 7, 8 and 9, comprising:
- advice on the learning intentions and content for the project;
- the pedagogy for teaching it effectively;
- assessments, along with success criteria, rubrics and work samples;
- links to the Australian Curriculum standards;
- advice on extending higher performing students; and
- suggested follow up topics, themes and activities.
The project exemplars developed should be trialled in at least two middle and two comprehensive schools to be amended as needed and provided to schools and teachers to adopt and use as they deem appropriate. Following implementation, a feedback loop should be established whereby schools and teachers are encouraged to develop their own interdisciplinary projects and/or improve on the exemplars with a view to submitting these after successful use in schools for quality assurance and inclusion on Learning Links.
16. The review notes recommendation 30 of the Indigenous Education Review to trial and evaluate the Employment Pathways Model in four schools and recommends that, if successful, the outcomes be advised to all middle schools to inform curriculum planning and provide a means of ensuring a blended learning opportunity is available so the learning needs of all students can be met.
17. That all middle schools be expected to implement a common and consistent assessment regime to support the monitoring and improvement of student achievement within and across schools. The nature of the assessment regime should be determined by the Department on the advice of the Assessment and Standards Middle Years Project team in consultation with middle school principals, with specific consideration given to ACER PAT and On Demand tests which are already in use in a number of schools. In addition, all schools should be expected to include their test data, along with teachers’ A to E assessments on the Student Assessment Information System the Department maintains. The Assessment and Standards Middle Years Project team should also consider and advise on the applicability of extending the approach from Year 5 to Year 10 to support the flow of information to improve transition between Year 6 and Year 7, and then Year 9 and Year 10.
**Pedagogy for the middle years**
Teaching is the variable within the control of the school that has the biggest impact on student learning outcomes. That said, we also know that not all teachers have the same effect, and the greatest source of improvement in any school comes from narrowing the gap by supporting more teachers to work like the best, which leads to consistently better teaching in each class.
Good planning, and especially collaborative planning, is arguably the key means to support more teachers to work like the best, and using an instructional model can help to improve teacher planning in schools. A number of middle schools have begun to go down this path though, as has been the story throughout this review, it is a path that has been inconsistently trod.
**Visible Learning and an instructional model to consider**
Central Region has adopted Visible Learning and increased the extent to which evidence-based teaching practices are consistently used. The Indigenous Education Review recommended that Visible Learning should be progressively extended to all schools over time, after an initial review of progress to determine whether the extension ought to be conducted on the same basis as undertaken in Central Australia. This review endorses that view.
In the meantime, however, consistently better teaching practice can be fostered in middle schools by using an instructional model to guide teachers’ planning, which can have even greater impact when combined with the sort of curriculum exemplars advocated in this report. The impact of such an approach can be further strengthened by the adoption of routines in class to increase the amount of engaged time on task. Such routines contribute positively to the orderly learning environment in the school, can readily be aligned to complement the use of the SWPBS framework and could be the subject of advice and exemplars the Department provides.
**The primary/secondary teaching mix and its implications**
One issue that does emerge in the context of any consideration of teacher planning and practice is the possible impact of different teaching traditions in middle schools because of the mix of primary and secondary trained teachers they contain. While too much can be made of this issue, since strong and effective leadership and whole-school processes for better planning of teaching can influence practice in the classroom, it can be relevant where these preconditions do not exist. More specifically, it can sometimes manifest in a lack of sufficient content expertise in some core areas, most notably science and mathematics, with
the result that students in Year 9 in particular may not be sufficiently challenged and/or adequately prepared for Year 10, as some who were consulted in the senior colleges suggested is the case.
A suite of strategies is required, designed to improve the content knowledge and associated teaching skills of the staff in each school, regardless of the basis of their training, most of which are contained in recommendations throughout this review report.
**Professional learning to underpin improved teaching**
Collaborative professional learning in teams is arguably the key means that schools have to build the collective capacity and effectiveness of their staff, focused on what happens in the classroom and the student learning outcomes that result.
All middle schools have developed whole-school approaches to professional learning, with varying degrees of effectiveness and impact. Most of the schools are well on the way to providing the means for their teachers to plan together in systematic and structured ways. They are arguably less successful in ensuring consistency of the quality of what is planned and that it will make a positive difference to what happens in class.
The professional learning strategy that seems weakest is classroom observation designed to de-privatise teaching in the school. Classroom observation is central to helping teachers improve since it informs feedback and broader collaborative work, and provides a mechanism to spread good teaching practice through the school. The Department can support classroom observation in schools by providing sample pro formas that schools can adapt and use.
**A constituency for middle years teaching**
Just as there is no obvious constituency for middle years leaders, so too there is no group that appears to provide middle years teachers with both targeted professional learning appropriate to the phase, and a coherent and consistent voice. The Department could support the formation of a middle years teachers’ association which conducts an annual teaching-focused conference for its members in schools.
**Recommendations**
18. That all middle schools be expected to identify and adopt a common instructional model to inform teacher planning of better lessons and units so more teachers can work like the best. The Department should provide one or more sample models that schools can adopt along with advice on developing teaching routines that increase students’ engaged learning time on task.
19. That the Department use the vision statement developed through Recommendation 6 to inform both discussions with Charles Darwin University to ensure the inclusion of middle years-specific content in undergraduate training courses and the development of training modules for teachers without a middle years background from outside the Northern Territory who are seeking employment in Northern Territory middle schools.
20. That all middle schools be expected to have a systematic structure in place to enable teachers to plan collaboratively and engage in school-based professional learning to help them to improve. Further, schools should be supported to progressively introduce classroom observation as part of the process as a means of providing improvement-focused feedback to teachers by their colleagues and as an adjunct to the collaborative planning they undertake. The Department should provide such resources to support
these processes as advice on structures to adopt for collaborative teacher planning and pro formas to support a positive approach to classroom observation in schools.
21. That the Department provide seed funding for three years to support the development of a membership-based middle years teachers’ association, including support to conduct a major teaching-focused annual conference for teachers in middle schools.
**Transition into and from the middle years**
As the phase between primary and senior secondary schooling, the middle schools have to focus on transitions into and out of the school; this applies just as much to student movement between Years 9 and 10 in the comprehensive schools since students do then move to a different curriculum and teaching and learning approach.
Transition from feeder primary schools is an area where the middle schools generally seem to be doing reasonably well and are improving. There is substantial commonality of approach, with the one gap that some schools have been trying to fill of consistent assessment data to inform the grouping of students and the extent to which teachers know their students’ learning needs from the start of the year. Beyond this, the schools could further strengthen their relations with feeder schools by moving from the positive informal relationships that have been developed to more formal Year 6 to 7 transition plans agreed between the schools.
Transition arrangements from Year 9 to 10 are less comprehensive than into Year 6, though also improving on most counts. More formal processes and plans are needed to ensure that students can enter Year 10 being known to some extent, especially in terms of their current levels of learning and consequent learning needs, and that curriculum content is not unnecessarily repeated in Year 10.
**Engaging parents in the school**
While not strictly part of transition, engaging parents has a key role to play in any school. This depends on providing a mix of information about what the school is doing and why, to gain their support, and advice on how they can support their children’s learning at school.
Middle school websites provide lots of information for the engaged parent who is prepared to search the site. Some schools supplement this with a downloadable parents’ handbook and two schools have developed their own app to connect parents more closely to the school. Nearly all of the schools provide good, comprehensive information to parents about their key policies and operations. The missing element is clear advice for parents on how they can really support their children’s learning at home. Schools need support in this regard and the Department could provide a short, readable handbook of advice that can be rebadged by schools for distribution to parents in print and/or electronically, with an introduction from the principal of each school.
**Recommendations**
22. That each middle school be encouraged to develop an agreed Year 6 to 7 transition plan in consultation with its feeder primary schools and their councils, to enable students to be well known when they enter Year 7.
23. That each middle school and its associated senior school be encouraged to develop a transition plan in consultation with their school councils for Year 9 students moving to Year 10 to ensure they are appropriately prepared to succeed in senior school.
24. That School Support Services develop a short, readable handbook of advice for parents on how to support their children’s learning and the work of the school that can be badged by schools, with an introduction from the principal to distribute in print and/or electronically to the parent community.
**Systemic leadership and support**
There is a strong and consistent feeling in middle schools that they are not valued and less understood than either the primary or senior secondary schools. This is something the discussion and recommendations about the need for a vision for middle schooling and the need to build and support constituencies for middle school leaders and teachers are designed to address.
The accompanying feeling the schools have of being left on their own without targeted support can be addressed by the recommendations for common assessments, instructional planning tools, behaviour management approaches and exemplars of various sorts.
The excitement that seems to exist about the appointment of a new Director for Secondary Education provides an opportunity to act to align and support this group of schools.
Implementation of the range of recommendations in this review report can help ensure consistently better middle schooling occurs throughout the Northern Territory, as all schools and teachers are both challenged and supported to work like the best.
Effective implementation will depend on relevant recommendations being included in the annual plans of both the Department and schools, along with regular reporting on progress to the community as a whole.
**Recommendation**
25. That schools and the Department include the implementation of relevant recommendations from the report in their annual plans and provide an annual report on progress to the community.
Chapter 1: Introduction
In 2003, the Ramsey Report on Future Directions for Secondary Education in the Northern Territory recommended new stages of schooling ‘to deal with the wide span of learning required in secondary school, and the very different pedagogies (teaching and learning practices) needed to appeal to younger secondary-aged students, as compared with those required for young people approaching adulthood’ (xv).
More specifically, Ramsey proposed a shift to two clear stages of secondary schooling, the ‘later middle years’ (Years 7-9) and the ‘senior years’ (Years 10-12), necessitating a staged shift of Year 7 students to high school where that wasn’t already the case, and Year 10 students to senior schools.
The introduction of these two stages was to be accompanied by changes to curriculum and pedagogy for each stage, and also changes to the pre-existing organisational and physical structures of schools. It was proposed in this context that the Department should develop a policy and strategy for the Territory-wide implementation of curriculum and pedagogy for the later middle and senior years and assist learning precincts to determine the mix of school organisation and structures best suited to meet the needs of their students, within the context of the new stages of schooling outlined.
As a result, the Territory prepared for, and commenced to implement middle years approaches to teaching and learning, along with the introduction of Year 7 to 9 middle schools from 2007 and developed a suite of documents to support schools and teachers in this regard — i.e. a guide to planning, teaching, assessing and reporting learning, along with a range of advice and tools listed in the bibliography for this review.
Terms of Reference
Seven years later, in May 2014, the Minister for Education, the Hon Peter Chandler MLA, commissioned Vic Zbar, from Zbar Consulting to conduct a review of the middle years schooling in the Northern Territory.
The review was commissioned with a view to strengthening the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of education for middle years’ students in Northern Territory Government schools. The review process utilised quantitative (e.g. examination of enrolment and attendance, NAPLAN, NTCET and VET data) and qualitative methods (e.g. interview and focus groups) to develop a set of recommendations regarding middle schooling. The review will evaluate the impact on attendance, retention, Year 12 completion rates, student outcomes, student wellbeing and parent and community satisfaction of:
1. current structural framework for the delivery of middle schooling in Northern Territory Government schools (i.e. standalone middle schools versus comprehensive secondary schools);
2. current pedagogical models implemented within each school that provides middle years education and determine the characteristics that have the greatest impact on student outcomes;
3. the extent to which each school has a coherent and sequenced plan for curriculum delivery and the degree to which this is consistent across Northern Territory Government schools;
4. the quality and effectiveness of assessment practices and standards as they align to each school’s curriculum and pedagogical plans and how they inform students, their families and the system on achievement and progress;
5. middle years approaches that are congruent with safe, respectful, accepting and inclusive learning environments; and
6. the extent to which each school is focused on a rigorous learning environment, a culture of high expectations, student leadership, role models and behaviour.
The review will provide a comprehensive report that includes recommendations that target improved middle years education in regard to:
- structural frameworks
- learning environments and behaviour management
- curriculum delivery and subject offerings
- middle years pedagogy
- assessment practices
- influencing school culture.
It should be noted that the review, and hence this report, was limited to the six provincial middle schools in Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs and four larger comprehensive schools. More specifically, the ten schools covered by the review are:
- Middle Schools — Centralian Middle School; Darwin Middle School; Dripstone Middle School; Nightcliff Middle School; Rosebery Middle School; and Sanderson Middle School.
- Comprehensive Schools — Katherine High School; Nhulunbuy High School; Taminmin College; and Tennant Creek High School.
The review’s focus on these ten schools accords with the view adopted by Wilson (2014) in his Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory that ‘secondary education should, with some exceptions, be delivered in the NT’s urban schools in Darwin, Palmerston, Alice Springs, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Tennant Creek’ (2014:12). This is the subject of specific recommendations in that report, including recommendation 27 that the Territory should progressively move to deliver ‘the majority of middle years schooling in urban schools with a critical mass of students’ (2014:22).
A further point to note in relation to the scope of this review is that it operated on a relatively short timeline, between the end of May and September 2014, which included the substantial school break between 23 June and 18 July. As a result, school visits were limited to the six middle schools plus Taminmin College and extensive teleconferences were conducted with the principals of the other three schools. In addition, visits were arranged to the Darwin Area Middle Years Training Centre, and Centralian and Palmerston Senior Colleges, and teleconferences with Casuarina Senior College and Darwin High and the Malak Re-engagement Centre.
The visits and teleconferences were supplemented by a rich array of policy documents, support materials and data the Department provided and detailed curriculum, assessment, teaching, wellbeing and broader planning documents provided by the schools where they exist.
Process for the review
The Review comprised the following stages. While they are listed serially, they did significantly overlap and were implemented in an iterative way.
1. Detailed analysis of:
- Data and documents provided by the Northern Territory Department of Education and/or schools, including student performance data for each school; student enrolment and retention data; student attendance data; and documents on middle schooling (i.e. policy frameworks, advice provided to schools). Despite the existence of staff, parent and student opinion surveys on the Department’s data website, there were no actual opinion survey results to view.
- Documents provided by each school, including any vision statement they have for middle schooling; behaviour management/student wellbeing policies; range of curriculum offerings from Year 7 to 9; curriculum policies (i.e., the required curriculum at each year level); teaching policies (e.g. models of instruction used, any required pedagogical practices, etc.); assessment policies including any required assessment tools; professional learning policies; parent/community engagement policies; structures for student involvement.
2. Desktop research and analysis of issues associated with middle schooling to inform the final review report. This included a consideration of the characteristics of students in this phase of schooling and the implications this has for schools, curriculum for successful middle schooling, pedagogy for successful middle schooling, structures to ensure success for middle years’ students, etc.
3. Visits to the urban middle and comprehensive schools and some targeted senior schools (i.e. Centralian and Palmerston), supplemented by extended teleconferences with any schools not visited, along with Casuarina Senior College, Darwin High School and the Malak Re-engagement Centre, to ensure both qualitative input to the review to supplement the data and document analysis in Stage 1, and that the views of the schools are fully taken into account in formulating the review report. A schedule for discussions was negotiated with each school in the context of arranging the visit/teleconference at a mutually convenient time. The reviewer also visited the Darwin Middle Years Area Training Centre located at Nightcliff Middle School.
4. Stakeholder consultations conducted with major stakeholders identified in consultation with the Department, including student and parent forums in Darwin and Alice Springs, to ensure their views of middle schooling in the Northern Territory are fully taken into account. The range of stakeholders and experts consulted is included in the list of discussions and consultations provided as Appendix 1.
5. Interviews conducted with relevant Department personnel and ongoing liaison with the Department for the duration of the review.
6. Writing of a draft report for feedback from the Department before briefings for key stakeholders and School Councils in Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs and development of the final review report.
Structure of the report
The report analyses current performance in middle schooling as the basis for discussing how it can be improved, taking account of the nature of the cohort and the implications this has for middle schooling in the Northern Territory.
The Overview summarises the review’s argument and includes all of the recommendations that are made. This introduction sets out the background to and scope of the review, outlines the process used in the relatively short time allowed, and provides the criteria that guided the framing of recommendations advanced. The report then comprises two substantial, interlinked parts:
- A discussion of four key contextual elements for the review — i.e. a snapshot of current performance based on the available data and the visits and teleconferences the reviewer conducted; analysis of the nature of the cohort in the secondary middle years of school; an outline of the policy context for middle schooling; and a discussion of the need for a strategic approach.
- A series of chapters outlining the review findings in depth, structured according to the major elements of a program for continuing to improve middle schooling in the Northern Territory — i.e. a vision for middle schooling; leadership for whole-school improvement; middle years structure; curriculum and assessment for the middle years; pedagogy for the middle years; transition into and from the middle years; and systemic leadership and support.
There is also a bibliography and a number of appendices providing additional material relevant to the review report.
Nature of the recommendations from the review
The reviewer is impressed with the criteria Wilson adopted for framing recommendations in his review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory and hence has sought to mirror the approach.
More specifically, the recommendations advanced are designed to be:
- **Pragmatic**, so they are replicable across middle school sites and classrooms, and based on what schools, principals, teachers and other educators can realistically deliver in the Northern Territory.
- **Strategic**, in that they focus on what matters most to make the difference in middle schooling in the Northern Territory, rather than seeking to tackle everything schooling in the middle years does. ‘*The focus*,’ as Wilson puts it, ‘*is on those areas where action is most needed, is most likely to achieve significant improvement and is likely to require a manageable level of resourcing*’ (2014:14).
- **Aligned**, to strategies, approaches and support already in place so the system and schools can build on what exists, rather than seeking to reinvent the wheel.
This reflects a view discussed in detail in Chapter 5 that a range of reviews and supports have only haphazardly been implemented, with the result that significant change has been initiated, but its implementation insufficiently consolidated to have the intended positive effects.
Acknowledgments and thanks
Without exception the reviewer was welcomed into each of the middle schools and provided with cooperation, hospitality and access to the materials needed to conduct the review. This was echoed by the Department personnel he interacted with at both the central and regional levels.
There are a number of people in this context who do need to be singled out for thanks.
Ken Davies (Chief Executive) and Susan Bowden (Deputy Chief Executive, School Education) were always available to provide direction and feedback to the review and facilitate briefings of the Minister and the Department’s Executive Board.
Vicki Baylis (Executive Director, School Support Services [Learning and Performance]) provided continual Departmental oversight of the review and ensured that School Support Services met the various demands it occasioned along the way.
Marion Guppy, having taken up the position of Director of Secondary Education during the course of the review, took a substantial interest in its progress and regularly provided input along the way.
Vicky Eastwood (A/Director, School Quality, Improvement and Performance) provided considered feedback to the draft review report.
The logistical support that made the review possible was provided by a team comprising Jill Hazeldine (Director, Curriculum, Assessment and Standards, T-9), Megan McKenzie (Consultant, Assessment and Standards Middle Years), Judith Nicholson (Consultant, Assessment and Standards Middle Years), Deborah Hodgkin (Senior Project Manager, Middle Years), Madelaine Evans (Policy Officer, Stakeholder Management) and Jade Tiedeman (Senior Administration Officer).
Special thanks are due to Shelley Worthington (A/Director, eLearning and Development), the project lead for the review, for coordinating all of the arrangements for the review, and ensuring it proceeded efficiently, smoothly, hassle-free and on time.
Chapter 2: A snapshot of performance
It is important to emphasise that this review is of middle schooling in the Northern Territory, and not a formal review of middle schools, for which a separate Departmental process exists. That said, it is necessary to underpin the review with some consideration and analysis of school performance in the middle years. In addition, some detailed descriptions of specific practices in schools that are relevant to the terms of reference are included throughout the report to provide the context for the review findings and the recommendations arising from them.
With this in mind, the reviewer analysed a range of performance data provided by both the Department and schools, along with comparative data accessed from the MySchool website that the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) maintains.\(^3\)
To demonstrate the fact it is only a truncated analysis rather than a full set of school reviews, however, it is referred to as a ‘snapshot’ in this chapter, and needs to be considered in these terms.
The nature of the schools
Any consideration of performance needs to recognise that the context in which the schools operate is always unique to some extent. Given this, it is worth starting with a brief outline of the nature of each of the schools, drawn from school profiles the Department provided to the review.
Centralian Middle School
The school enrols 358 students, 68% of whom are Indigenous and 22% are English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EAL/D). Located in the western suburbs of Alice Springs, it was created in 2010 from the amalgamation of Anzac Hill High School and Alice Springs High. The school has a Special Education Centre and Positive Learning Centre and the Alice Springs Language Centre is also located on site.
While student management and suspension rates are high, significant progress is being made to reduce this through a combination of establishing the Positive Learning Centre in 2012, adopting School Wide Positive Behaviour Support\(^4\) and implementing Visible Learning to improve the teaching and learning in class. This has also seen a noticeable improvement in student achievement compared with like schools, as indicated in the discussion of the broad performance picture below.
The school has adopted an ICT strategy aimed at rolling out take home laptops/devices for all students, initially on a trial basis, going whole school in 2015. A program has been introduced to improve transition from local feeder schools with the aim of attracting a broader cohort of students over time.
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\(^3\) [http://www.myschool.edu.au/](http://www.myschool.edu.au/)
\(^4\) The School Wide Positive Behaviour Support model, referred to in a number of these vignettes of schools, is a framework the Department promotes to help schools plan and implement practices across the whole school to improve educational and behaviour outcomes for all students. The model is discussed in more detail in Chapter 8. Further information on the framework, including links to support materials for schools, can be found at [http://www.education.nt.gov.au/teachers-educators/students-learning/safe-schools-nt/swpbs](http://www.education.nt.gov.au/teachers-educators/students-learning/safe-schools-nt/swpbs)
Darwin Middle School
Opened in 2008 as the first purpose-built middle school in the Territory, the school enrolls 637 students, 9% of whom are Indigenous and 6% from Defence Force families.
The wide range of curriculum opportunities on offer includes a strong emphasis on English, Mathematics, Science and ICTs, and the school is piloting the Australian Curriculum in History, Mathematics and Science. The school has a ‘Good Standing’ policy that rewards students and builds citizenship, and helps to ensure a whole-school behaviour management approach. This is supplemented by a resident psychologist and trained counsellors who support the work of a strong Welfare Inclusion Support Team.
The school has a range of interesting curriculum and wellbeing-related programs such as the Driftwood Café that involves students in food preparation and customer service, a number of pathways related programs including student use of the Middle Years Area Training Centre, and a Students of High Performance program.
Dripstone Middle School
Under the banner ‘A Community of Achievers’, the school enrolls 621 students, 18% of whom are Indigenous. The school has a large number of students from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, and a growing proportion from defence force families.
Dripstone describes itself as a Positive Behaviour School that values partnerships with its community and is working to further improve its student attendance rate. The school Welfare Team endeavours to case manage students struggling with their attendance and the school’s ‘Good Standing’ policy includes rewards for achieving attendance of 100%.
The school has a strong culture of music and drama, including an annual school production, and its diverse subject offerings include such programs as technical studies, cooking and Judo, as well as drama and music.
The school was the first in the Territory to have a school app to improve communication between the school and home, and has established relations with schools in Japan that enable international exchanges to occur. The school, like other Territory middle schools, operates a Clontarf program to promote attendance of Indigenous students at school.
Katherine High School
This comprehensive school of 538 provides education for students from Years 7 to 12 over a vast geographic area with a diverse socio-economic clientele, including 39% of Indigenous students and 45% EAL/D.
Curriculum offerings in this context are limited by both staff availability and the relatively low student numbers and the school has a significant number of students with special needs. In addition, defence posting cycles means there is significant student turnover each year.
In 2010 the school added both a Sports Science and Clontarf Academy facilities which supplement a Stronger Smarter Sisters program to encourage attendance of Indigenous girls. The School Ready and Senior Intensive Programs help provide a flexible pathway for students who have high support literacy and numeracy needs and a history of poor attendance.
The school also caters for students from Callistemon House and Fordimail Hostel. By virtue of location, the school does experience difficulty in recruiting and retaining some expertise that is required and work placements for VET can be difficult to find.
**Nhulunbuy High School**
This small comprehensive school of 249 (17% Indigenous), which is structured in terms of a Year 7-9 middle school and a 10-12 senior school, is experiencing significant change as a result of Rio Tinto’s announcement that it will cease refinery activity from this year.
The school has a strong VET program and operates as a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) that can deliver full certificates and modules in engineering, information technology, hospitality and business.
The expected fall in enrolments arising from the loss of town population due to Rio Tinto’s withdrawal is expected to be counterbalanced somewhat by an increase in Indigenous student enrolments arising from a decision by the Gumatj Association to connect its students to the school and potentially by the Indigenous Education Review’s recommendations for boarding school facilities as well.
The school recognises that such a change in demographic profile would mean a need to review its structure, staffing profile, programs and potentially its pedagogical approach.
**Nightcliff Middle School**
This relatively small urban middle school of 270 (22% Indigenous and 24% EAL/D) opened as a middle school in 2008, having previously been Nightcliff High School, and added a VET facility in 2013.
The school’s attendance rate is hampered by what it describes as ‘a few chronic non-attenders’ which it is seeking to tackle with the support of an Aboriginal and Islander Education Worker and Home Liaison Officer who work with families, along with a School Attendance Officer to ensure an acceptable level of attendance for all.
The school has identified three focus areas for 2014 — implementation of the Australian Curriculum, adoption of the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Model, and improving literacy with a particular focus on reading. The school also offers support for students through both the Clontarf Academy program and support staff, working alongside other external agencies engaged to run such programs as Counterpunch\(^5\).
**Rosebery Middle School**
The school opened in the Palmerston region in 2011 and enrolls 560 students of whom 35% identify as Indigenous, 16% and growing are EAL/D and 8% are from Defence Force families. The school has experienced some small-scale recent enrolment decline, in part perhaps related to the opening of a neighbouring private school, which clearly creates a challenge to maintain numbers over time. The school’s cohort is very diverse, ranging from students from families with intergenerational dependence on welfare to students from higher socio-economic backgrounds, with plenty in between.
The school endeavours to provide a rigorous, ICT-enriched curriculum that includes a strong focus on performing arts and VET. The school has established a Pathways Unit that includes the Autism Spectrum Disorder Unit and alternate pathways for students requiring additional support.
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\(^5\) CounterPunch is an early intervention program focusing on the development of resilience skills using the physical medium of Boxing and a life skills training program called “In the Driving Seat” (based on Reality therapy/Choice theory). Further information on the program can be found at [http://www.ntyan.com.au/new/ntyan/images/documents/counterpunch.pdf](http://www.ntyan.com.au/new/ntyan/images/documents/counterpunch.pdf)
A range of strategies are in place to improve student attendance including the Clontarf Academy, the Palmerston Girls Academy and Smith Family incentives for regular attendance at school.
The school implements Restorative Practice and School Wide Behaviour approaches as part of a whole school wellbeing program and offers both a Year 8 accelerated learning program for gifted students and a gifted and talented education program (GATES) for students in Year 6. It is seeking to tackle low literacy and numeracy levels of a significant proportion of its students while seeking to engage children and families dealing with dysfunction and even justice and child welfare issues at home.
**Sanderson Middle School**
This diverse multicultural school of 477, including 27% Indigenous students, represents around 60 different cultural groups, and has established an Intensive English Unit to cater for students who have recently arrived in Australia.
The school community also has a partnership with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to provide a range of educational programs to school age asylum seekers during the day with a night program for 16 and 17 year olds.
Originally established as a junior high school in 1985, Sanderson became a secondary school in 1993 before becoming a middle school in 2008. School attendance averages around 85% and the school has self-admitted ‘problematic NAPLAN results’. The school has in this context, embarked on a ‘large scale change management process’ as a result of a comprehensive review in 2013.
The plan specifically addresses the eight areas of high expectations for student achievement, curriculum and assessment, teacher directed learning based on analysis of hard data, explicit instruction, pastoral care, establishing a feedback culture, high quality transition programs, and teacher performance and development.
**Taminmin College**
This large comprehensive school of 1005, comprising 15% Indigenous students and 13% students from an EAL/D background, serves a growing rural community 40 kilometres south of Darwin and has a large geographic footprint for both its students and staff.
The college has access to a mixed produce farm, a 150 hectare natural resource area and an automotive, construction and engineering skills centre. It is an RTO in its own right, delivering VET courses in a variety of pathways, and it operates a Leading Learner program for students in Years 7-10, a Sports Academy, a Special Education Centre for students with high needs, and is a centre for excellence in business and enterprise.
Attendance is a shade above 86%, though less in Year 9, and the college has targeted interventions for students at risk. Students in Year 10 choose either an academic or vocational pathway, which clearly impacts on students completing their middle years.
The college has strong international relationships and provides opportunities for students to engage in travel overseas for various purposes. It also has a strong performing arts program that presents an annual musical production.
It should be noted that Taminmin only really became fully comprehensive in 2014, having previously operated as separate middle and senior schools, albeit with a single overarching principal.
**Tennant Creek High School**
The school, which was officially opened in 1986, enrols 212 students, 85% of whom are Indigenous and 70% from an EAL/D background.
Overall attendance is relatively low with the result it constitutes a major focus of school activity, along with literacy and numeracy which also are weak. A range of programs underpin this, which all seek to encourage students to explore valued opportunities for the future. The school is, in this context, revisiting the School Wide Positive Behaviour framework with ‘renewed focus’ and a team has been formed to ‘drive the development and implementation of a commonly agreed structure in the area of student management and student wellbeing’.
This is supplemented by a range of special programs, activities and events designed to improve student participation and engagement in school, and is consistent with the need discussed in Chapter 8 of this review for an orderly learning environment where students are well known as a precondition for whole school improvement to occur.
The school is also seeking to group students more strategically to maximise their learning opportunities, and it operates a middle years homework club three afternoons a week for an hour where students can catch up on work they have missed and/or seek advice from teachers on assessments they need to complete. A partnership operates with the University of Western Sydney that sees undergraduate students visiting for a month in term 4 for their practical teaching block, and this provides what is described as ‘an energy boost to the school as well as mentoring opportunities for individual teachers in their role as teacher supervisor’.
In 2013, the school was one of 15 national winners of the Safe Schools are Smart Schools competition in the third annual National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence.
Aside from the ten schools listed, there is also the Darwin Area Middle Years Training Centre (DAMYTC). The Centre is located in the old technical studies building at Nightcliff Middle School.
The Centre offers Certificate I courses in Resources and Infrastructure operations to 109 Year 9 students who attend one day a week from local middle schools. The Centre employs three full time staff to train the students who work closely with Charles Darwin University as their RTO.
Eighty-seven students completed the course in 2013 from Rosebery, Darwin, Nightcliff, Dripstone and Sanderson Middle Schools, which suggests it is an important additional source of curriculum options for some students in the middle years.
The Centre is reported as having received strong support from parents and the broader community, along with positive feedback from the students engaged in its programs. It is currently in the process of upgrading its facilities to cater for an increased number of students and courses.
The Malak Re-engagement Centre provides an alternative engagement model for young people from 12-17 years of age, who have been disenfranchised and disengaged from education. Students attending may be long-term absentees, those within the Youth Justice system or in the care of the Department of Children and Families not suited to traditional mainstream schooling.
The Centre aims to reconnect them to a wide range of education and training opportunities by providing support and building honest and authentic relationships with the student, their family and the community. Around 80 young people are currently on the Centre’s list, 30 of whom are students in the middle years who the Centre is seeking to either set up for re-entry to Year 10 or embark on a pathway of their choice.
While the Centre has been the subject of a separate review in 2014, it is noted that it potentially does have the level of expertise that could enable it to provide important advice to schools on engaging some disengaged young people in schooling as discussed in more detail in Chapter 8.
**The broad performance picture**
In the course of visiting and talking to school leaders and teachers, the reviewer saw many examples of outstanding practice that is contributing markedly to improved student outcomes in the middle years. This included: some high class curriculum documentation, including scope and sequence and associated student tasks; some comprehensive whole-school assessment plans and the collection and analysis of data to inform teaching to meet student needs; some really effective whole-school student wellbeing and behaviour management policies, processes and programs that help to ensure an orderly learning environment where students are well known; some focused planning of teaching practices using evidence-based teaching models that are known to work; some all-embracing professional learning structures and processes designed to help teachers improve their teaching capacity, including through feedback along the way; and some targeted transition programs, in particular with feeder primary schools both to attract students to the school and ensure they are comfortable when they arrive in middle school.
It should be noted that the word ‘some’ has been used throughout the preceding paragraph. This is designed to signify that practice is variable between and within the schools. Just as there are some outstanding examples of the various elements of middle schooling discussed in the report, so too are there examples of not so good, and in a limited number of cases, arguably bad practices. The challenge is to create the conditions where more middle schools and more middle school teachers can work like the best, since that is the greatest source of improvement across the Territory’s middle schools.
**A prelude on enrolments, retention and attendance**
**Enrolments**
Table 1 sets out the enrolment levels for students in the middle and comprehensive schools between 2009 and 2013, with the inclusion of Alice Springs and Anzac Hill High Schools for 2009 as the two schools amalgamated to form Centralian Middle School.
Table 1: Enrolments by school, year level and calendar year
| School | Year Level | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
|-------------------------------|------------|------|------|------|------|------|
| Alice Springs High School | Year 7 | 59 | | | | |
| | Year 8 | 56 | | | | |
| | Year 9 | 53 | | | | |
| | **Total (middle yrs)** | **168** | | | | |
| Anzac Hill High School | Year 7 | 43 | | | | |
| | Year 8 | 55 | | | | |
| | Year 9 | 64 | | | | |
| | **Total** | **163** | | | | |
| Centralian Middle School | Year 7 | 151 | 123 | 112 | 120 | |
| | Year 8 | 99 | 134 | 108 | 108 | |
| | Year 9 | 101 | 92 | 127 | 110 | |
| | **Total (middle yrs)** | **352** | **348** | **348** | **337** | |
| Darwin Middle School | Year 7 | 193 | 192 | 191 | 230 | 179 |
| | Year 8 | 195 | 203 | 201 | 216 | 235 |
| | Year 9 | 220 | 202 | 209 | 213 | 221 |
| | **Total (middle yrs)** | **609** | **597** | **602** | **658** | **635** |
| Dripstone Middle School | Year 7 | 222 | 210 | 202 | 220 | 219 |
| | Year 8 | 192 | 216 | 206 | 200 | 221 |
| | Year 9 | 188 | 195 | 214 | 205 | 191 |
| | **Total (middle yrs)** | **602** | **621** | **621** | **625** | **630** |
| Katherine High School | Year 7 | 120 | 103 | 106 | 116 | 133 |
| | Year 8 | 118 | 113 | 93 | 111 | 120 |
| | Year 9 | 124 | 100 | 109 | 98 | 112 |
| | **Total (middle yrs)** | **363** | **315** | **308** | **325** | **365** |
| Nhulunbuy High School | Year 7 | 49 | 65 | 42 | 71 | 48 |
| | Year 8 | 58 | 44 | 59 | 41 | 55 |
| | Year 9 | 53 | 59 | 48 | 59 | 28 |
| | **Total (middle yrs)** | **159** | **168** | **149** | **170** | **131** |
| Nightcliff Middle School | Year 7 | 83 | 90 | 76 | 75 | 75 |
| | Year 8 | 73 | 86 | 80 | 77 | 83 |
| | Year 9 | 75 | 75 | 88 | 77 | 79 |
| | **Total (middle yrs)** | **231** | **251** | **244** | **229** | **237** |
| Rosebery Middle School | Year 7 | | 284 | 232 | 206 | |
| | Year 8 | | 225 | 265 | 193 | |
| | Year 9 | | | 222 | 238 | |
| | **Total (middle yrs)** | | **509** | **718** | **636** | |
| Sanderson Middle School | Year 7 | 177 | 164 | 146 | 128 | 130 |
| | Year 8 | 162 | 180 | 178 | 136 | 133 |
| | Year 9 | 155 | 174 | 174 | 172 | 134 |
| | **Total (middle yrs)** | **494** | **519** | **498** | **435** | **397** |
| Taminmin College | Year 7 | 210 | 181 | 159 | 163 | 171 |
| | Year 8 | 207 | 203 | 173 | 165 | 178 |
| | Year 9 | 213 | 206 | 202 | 167 | 176 |
| | **Total (middle yrs)** | **630** | **591** | **534** | **494** | **525** |
| Tennant Creek High School | Year 7 | 40 | 51 | 44 | 47 | 34 |
| | Year 8 | 52 | 47 | 48 | 44 | 41 |
| | Year 9 | 53 | 50 | 36 | 34 | 32 |
| | **Total (middle yrs)** | **145** | **148** | **128** | **125** | **106** |
Source: NT Department of Education, Enrollment and Attendance Collection
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6 The methodology for data collection changed in 2013 and as such cannot be directly compared to previous years.
It can be seen that, despite the view some respondents expressed that the establishment of middle schools in the Territory was so disruptive that students were turned off attending them, enrolments have been generally either stable or have increased over time, other than Sanderson Middle School where other factors may have been at play as the school itself now attests given its substantial change of direction under a new leadership team. This in turn contrasts to the middle years enrolments in the comprehensive schools which, with the exception of Katherine High which experienced a marked decline that was completely redressed in 2013, have generally declined, albeit sometimes for economic reasons (e.g. Nhulunbuy) beyond the control of the school.
On the flip side of the ledger, if the creation of middle schools was designed to significantly increase enrolments by drawing students back from the private sector, this cannot be said to have occurred across the board, though there are schools such as Darwin and Dripstone Middle Schools where numbers are increasing in part, of course, driven by demographic changes in the area as well.
The real point is that, although the creation of middle schools was almost of necessity disruptive at the start, with all the structural and physical changes that occurred, it does not appear to have had a significant long-term impact on enrolments in the schools. To the extent that an increase in enrolments is sought in Years 7 to 9 in government schools, this arguably has more to do with the quality of school performance in each case, than any structural solution that might be applied.
Put simply, parents who have a choice about schooling will send their children to government middle schools if they perceive them as improving in terms of delivery of such desired outcomes as a well-led school that communicates with them, improved academic achievement, an orderly learning environment where each student feels there is an adult who knows and cares about them, and quality teaching driven by teams of teachers working together to continually improve. Hence, this is the focus of this review rather than any structural options for changing the delivery of schooling for students in Years 7 to 9.
**Retention**
Any consideration of middle school performance must take account of real retention since that affects the extent to which the data examined is comparing consistent cohorts of students and hence, like with like.
There are varying levels of real retention of students\(^7\) in middle schools in the Northern Territory as evident from Table 2. It should be noted that the percentages cited are an average for the four years, 2010-2013, and the review was advised that a degree of volatility exists from year to year in a number of schools, in part due to mobility of students in the schools, and especially Indigenous students in some areas.
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\(^7\) The Real Retention Rate in the northern Territory looks at students enrolled in Week 4 Term 1 who are still enrolled in Week 8 Term 4 of the same year.
Table 2: Real Within Year Retention % of all students and Indigenous students, average from 2010-2013
| School | Enrolment, 2013 | Average RR, 2010-2013 | Average RR, Indigenous students, 2010-2013 |
|-------------------------------|-----------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| Centralian Middle School | 972 | 73 | 68 |
| Darwin Middle School | 240 | 92 | 82 |
| Dripstone Middle School | 457 | 93 | 86 |
| Katherine High School | 1088 | 77 | 65 |
| Nhulunbuy High School | 153 | 79 | 56 |
| Nightcliff Middle School | 239 | 89 | 81 |
| Rosebery Middle School | 542 | 84 | 82 |
| Sanderson Middle School | 560 | 81 | 79 |
| Taminmin College | 608 | 86 | 78 |
| Tennant Creek High School | 772 | 72 | 70 |
Source: NT Department of Education, Enrolment and Attendance Data
While mobility is clearly an issue, it does not remove the challenge that exists to raise real retention levels in middle schools, by retaining those students who may well be dropping out of school. This in turn depends on progressively improving schooling in the middle years as outlined in the remainder of this review report, and in concert with the implementation of the Wilson report (2014) arising from the Indigenous Education Review.
Attendance
In addition, in relation to the issue of stand-alone middle schools versus comprehensive schools, it appears as if the difference in real retention (given the figures for Centralian Middle School are more aligned to the comprehensive school outcomes than those of the other, Darwin/Palmerston-based middle schools) relates more to proximity or distance to Greater Darwin than it does to the structural arrangement that applies. Beyond this, the issue of structure is arguably more a question of how the school organises itself to ensure its students are well known than which year levels it serves, as discussed in detail in Chapter 8.
Table 3 provides the annual attendance data for the middle schools and Years 7 to 9 in the comprehensive schools for 2010 to 2013.
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8 The percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
9 In the case of Katherine High School, Nhulunbuy High School, Taminmin College and Tennant Creek High School the data included in the table applies to schools that span Years 7 to 12.
10 The methodology for data collection changed in 2013 and as such is indicative only.
Real retention rate is based on the proportion of students enrolled in Term 1 week 4 still enrolled in Term 4, Week 8.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Enrolment 2013 is the number of students enrolled in Term 1, Week 4 2013.
The comprehensive schools (Katherine, Nhulunbuy, and Tennant Creek High Schools and Taminmin College) include Year levels 7 to 12.
Table 3: Average annual attendance by school and year level 2010-2013
| School | Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 |
|-------------------------------|----------|----------|----------|
| | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| Centralian Middle School | | | |
| Year 7 | 76.9% | 73.7% | 73.1% | 76.5% |
| Year 8 | 73.0% | 75.3% | 71.7% | 76.0% |
| Year 9 | 73.7% | 72.0% | 74.2% | 72.3% |
| Darwin Middle School | | | |
| Year 7 | 89.4% | 90.5% | 91.1% | 90.9% |
| Year 8 | 88.3% | 87.1% | 88.3% | 88.2% |
| Year 9 | 82.9% | 85.5% | 87.3% | 87.3% |
| Dripstone Middle School | | | |
| Year 7 | 89.9% | 89.9% | 90.6% | 90.1% |
| Year 8 | 88.6% | 86.8% | 89.0% | 89.3% |
| Year 9 | 87.0% | 84.7% | 86.4% | 87.4% |
| Katherine High School | | | |
| Year 7 | 81.2% | 79.3% | 78.8% | 75.6% |
| Year 8 | 77.2% | 76.0% | 72.9% | 73.5% |
| Year 9 | 73.2% | 74.8% | 72.7% | 70.7% |
| Nhulunbuy High School | | | |
| Year 7 | 87.4% | 82.8% | 86.2% | 87.6% |
| Year 8 | 88.9% | 85.4% | 80.2% | 81.9% |
| Year 9 | 84.4% | 79.1% | 83.9% | 83.1% |
| Nightcliff Middle School | | | |
| Year 7 | 88.0% | 88.6% | 89.0% | 89.3% |
| Year 8 | 82.6% | 83.3% | 88.3% | 86.8% |
| Year 9 | 79.0% | 78.6% | 84.9% | 86.2% |
| Rosebery Middle School | | | |
| Year 7 | N/A | 86.9% | 87.7% | 88.4% |
| Year 8 | N/A | 83.4% | 84.3% | 84.7% |
| Year 9 | N/A | N/A | 80.0% | 82.4% |
| Sanderson Middle School | | | |
| Year 7 | 89.1% | 77.8% | 88.3% | 87.1% |
| Year 8 | 84.0% | 86.0% | 76.0% | 86.3% |
| Year 9 | 82.1% | 84.6% | 85.6% | 84.1% |
| Taminmin College | | | |
| Year 7 | 86.3% | 88.1% | 87.6% | 88.5% |
| Year 8 | 88.1% | 87.2% | 84.8% | 87.5% |
| Year 9 | 83.1% | 84.9% | 85.1% | 82.4% |
| Tennant Creek High School | | | |
| Year 7 | 58.0% | 60.0% | 68.6% | 80.5% |
| Year 8 | 62.6% | 47.2% | 60.7% | 70.9% |
| Year 9 | 60.9% | 58.6% | 49.3% | 57.5% |
Source: NT Department of Education, Enrolment and Attendance Collection
Although attendance bounces around from year to year, it is generally in a relatively small range for each of the schools, with significant variation from a low of 47.2% attendance for Year 8 students at Tennant Creek High in 2011 to a high of 91.1% attendance for Year 7 students at Darwin Middle in 2012. Despite the ongoing efforts of middle and comprehensive schools to improve attendance as a threshold requirement for learning at
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11 The methodology for data collection changed in 2013 and as such is indicative only.
school, average attendance levels have not substantially increased in most schools, with the notable exception of Nightcliff Middle School particularly at Year 9. In part, this reflects the fact that turning attendance around is a process not an event, and hence requires consistent implementation of strategies over time on the understanding it effectively is work that is never done. It also reflects the fact that student engagement tends to decline in the middle years, as outlined in the later discussion of data for informed decision making, which contributes to poorer attendance levels that can only be turned around through a mix of strategies to better engage students at school and ensure they are well known. That is both the objective and the substance of much of the remainder of this review report.
Beyond this, an analysis of attendance data suggests that, similar to the retention levels outlined in Table 2, there is no evident pattern to suggest a difference between middle and comprehensive schools as structures in their own right, and that differences appear to have more relationship to the proximity to a major centre, socio-economic status and proportion of Indigenous students in the school.
**NAPLAN results**
Aside from the real retention context noted above, any analysis of performance across the schools on consistently applied tests such as the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) must also acknowledge the extent to which the Northern Territory is more disadvantaged than other Australian jurisdictions. For example, the school age population in the most disadvantaged socio-economic group (i.e. the lowest decile) in the Territory is 19.5%¹². 37.2% of the Territory’s school age population come from a language background other than English, compared with 23.2% for Australia as a whole¹³. Almost twenty times the Australian proportion of school age young people live in remote or very remote areas in the Territory (44.8% compared with 2.3%)¹⁴ and almost twice as large a proportion are developmentally vulnerable on two or more Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) domains which are known to be good predictors of adult health, education and social outcomes (20.9% compared with 10.8% nationally)¹⁵.
With this significant caveat in mind, the Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel (2014) using data and analysis the Department of Education provided, concludes that:
*The Northern Territory shows generally stable performance with significant increases in some mean scale score measures. When comparing 2012 to 2013, Year 5 reading improved significantly. When comparing 2008 to 2013, significant increases were seen in Years 3 and 5 reading, Year 3 spelling, grammar and punctuation …*
*Overall the Northern Territory’s performance in Mean Scale Score (MSS) between 2008 and 2013 has been strongest in the Year 3 cohort. For the percentage of students At or Above National Minimum Standard (AANMS), the Northern Territory has made good gains for Years 3 and 5 results. For Year 7 and 9, the percentage of students At or Above National Minimum Standard has declined compared to both 2008 and 2012 levels across the majority of tested areas. The statistical significance of these changes is generally consistent with other jurisdictions.*
*The Northern Territory performs better than other jurisdictions when comparing the same student cohorts over time, that is students tested in 2009, 2011 and 2013*
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¹² ABS 2011 Census (Basic Community Profile).
¹³ *Ibid.*
¹⁴ DEEWR Unpublished, and cited in *The Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel Report and Recommendations*.
¹⁵ AEDI National Report 2012, Issued April 2013.
progressing through Years 3, 5 and 7. The Northern Territory has made strong gains in reading and spelling across all cohorts, ranking either first or second for improvement when compared to other jurisdictions. Gains in other test domains however have not been as strong, indicating a need for our system to focus more strongly on numeracy and writing skills in 2014 and beyond. (6)
This generally positive picture tends to suggest a greater level of improvement in the primary sector than in the middle years, which is confirmed to some extent by the inconsistencies noted below. However, this does augur well for future intakes to the middle years, provided the schools are structured to capitalise on the gains in the primary years.
There is a range of data available about performance on the MySchool website, the most interesting of which is arguably the student gain charts for matched cohorts of students between Years 7 and 9 compared with the gains achieved by a group of schools with similar students, commonly referred to as ‘like’ schools.
The reviewer examined these charts for each of the schools related to reading and numeracy performance between 2010 and 2012 and between 2011 and 2013 — i.e. enough time for most of the schools to have firmly established their middle years approach following the change in structure arising from the Ramsey review. The results of the reviewer’s judgments are summarised in Figure 1. It should be noted that the Year 7 cells in the Figure record the mean entry point of students to Year 7 in the school compared with a group of similar schools, while the Year 9 cells show the mean performance of students compared with like school students in Year 9.
In addition, the reviewer had access to Departmental data for 2013 on performance compared with similar schools in relation to the NAPLAN bands\(^{16}\) that is included as Table 4.
Figure 1: Comparative performance Year 7 and Year 9 in Reading and Numeracy, compared to schools with similar students; 2010 to 2012 and 2011 to 2013
**Interpretation:**
- Significantly below like schools
- Just above like schools
- Just below like schools
- Significantly above like schools
- Equivalent to like schools
| School | 2010-2012 | | | 2011-2013 | | |
|------------------------------|-----------|--------|--------|-----------|--------|--------|
| | Reading | Numeracy| Reading | Numeracy | | |
| | Y7 | Y9 | Y7 | Y9 | Y7 | Y9 |
| Centralian Middle School | | | | | | |
| Darwin Middle School | | | | | | |
| Dripstone Middle School | | | | | | |
| Katherine High School | | | | | | |
| Nhulunbuy High School | | | | | | |
| Nightcliff Middle School | | | | | | |
| Rosebery Middle School | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | | |
| Sanderson Middle School | | | | | | |
| Taminmin College | | | | | | |
| Tennant Creek High School | | | | | | |
\(^{16}\) Collected and packaged on a different basis to Figure 1 because of the way year level results were consolidated.
The data embodied in Figure 1 and Table 4 do need to be read with some caution, since in some cases the schools are relatively small, which means there are small Year 7 and Year 9 groups, with the result the outcomes of relatively few students can skew the mean performance for the cohort as a whole. That applies, for instance, to Tennant Creek High School which has only 212 students from Year 7 through to Year 12. In addition, the matched cohort (i.e. the percentage of students who sat the relevant tests in both years) in all cases is significantly less than the enrolment of students in Year 9 and hence is not entirely indicative of the performance of the Year 9 group as a whole. That said, by focusing on those students who have moved through the school and taken the tests in both years, it can give us a clue to the value the school adds, to reading and numeracy NAPLAN results at least, compared with schools that have a similar student intake.
Perhaps the clearest sense to emerge from a consideration of Figure 1, which spans two cohorts of students moving from Year 7 to Year 9, is the degree of bouncing around that occurs from one year to the next in a number of the schools. Darwin Middle School provides a good example whereby students on average in the cohort that moved from Year 7 to Year 9 between 2010 and 2012 achieved slightly above similar students in other schools, whereas the following group of students (Year 7 moving to Year 9 between 2011 and 2013) tended to slightly underperform in comparative terms. Similarly, there is some variation between literacy and numeracy, with seemingly better comparative performance in literacy between 2010 and 2012 than between 2011 and 2013, and to a lesser extent numeracy as well.
In addition, both the figure and the table tend to confirm the observation that no discernible difference can be identified between the middle schools as a group and the comprehensive schools which include the middle years. This suggests that other factors determine the outcomes the schools achieve than their configuration of year levels, and there is little value in going down a path of viewing one group as ‘versus’ the other. Rather, the focus needs to be on what the research suggests can make a substantial positive difference to student learning outcomes in the middle years, as discussed through the remainder of this report.
There is evidence in the data outlined to support the Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel’s observations that there has been some relative improvement in performance in the Territory,
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17 Index of Community Socio-Educational Disadvantage, which has an average value of 1000.
18 Listed in descending ICSEA order — i.e. growing levels of disadvantage.
though it is less evident at Year 9 than in earlier years, and is patchy between schools and between cohorts, especially in the smaller schools. This illustrates a need for the sort of progress that has been achieved to date to be consolidated and further built. That in turn requires a strategic approach to whole school improvement in the middle years, aligned to the evidence of what actually works, as outlined in the remainder of this report.
In all of the schools a significant proportion of students exists who are achieving relatively low level results. An analysis of the 2013 NAPLAN test results conducted by the reviewer shows significant proportions of students assessed as low in relation to the expected NAPLAN bands at Year 7 and 9 in all of the schools, and a consequent smaller proportion of students judged as high, with the exception of Darwin Middle School in Reading, as evident in Table 5, and which basically confirms the data in Table 2 above.\(^{19}\) Yet again, there is no discernible pattern to suggest a difference in outcomes between middle and comprehensive schools.
Table 5: Proportion of students (%) assessed as low or high in relation to NAPLAN Bands, reading and numeracy, 2013 tests\(^{20}\)
| School | Reading Year 7 | Reading Year 9 | Numeracy Year 7 | Numeracy Year 9 |
|-------------------------------|----------------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
| | Low | High | Low | High | Low | High | Low | High |
| Centralian Middle School | 67% | 4% | 54% | 3% | 65% | 0% | 70% | 4% |
| Darwin Middle School | 21% | 25% | 17% | 19% | 24% | 22% | 24% | 21% |
| Dripstone Middle School | 35% | 17% | 36% | 21% | 32% | 18% | 40% | 22% |
| Katherine High School | 51% | 12% | 55% | 10% | 48% | 7% | 71% | 11% |
| Nhulunbuy High School | 33% | 15% | 32% | 8% | 32% | 11% | 28% | 24% |
| Nightcliff Middle School | 39% | 14% | 49% | 15% | 38% | 0% | 47% | 15% |
| Rosebery Middle School | 44% | 10% | 40% | 9% | 43% | 7% | 43% | 5% |
| Sanderson Middle School | 62% | 5% | 58% | 3% | 66% | 2% | 59% | 3% |
| Taminmin College | 35% | 17% | 43% | 7% | 40% | 10% | 52% | 5% |
| Tennant Creek High School | 78% | 3% | 83% | 7% | 83% | 0% | 89% | 7% |
Suffice to say, there are large groups of students in each of the schools who are performing below expectations on the NAPLAN tests for reading and numeracy at least, which has implications for the pedagogy in particular that teachers in all middle schools adopt.
**Data for informed decision making**
It is noted that the preceding discussion of performance relates exclusively to NAPLAN test results, which were also the data source that informed the deliberations of the Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel which was established in 2013 specifically to ‘oversee a renewed focus on teaching, and assessing the core competences of reading, writing and mathematics, including a review of current literacy and numeracy practice’ (2014:2).
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\(^{19}\) It should be noted that the proportion of Indigenous students assessed as low is even higher where this disaggregated data exists. For example, at Centralian which is the first listed school and which has a significant Indigenous population, the respective percentages of students assessed as low in Year 7 and 9 reading and Year 7 and 9 numeracy are 80%, 71% 74% and 87%.
\(^{20}\) Note that the percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. It should also be noted that the cohorts in Years 7 and 9 are relatively small at both Nhulunbuy and Tennant Creek.
As has been demonstrated, this data is useful for comparing the average performance of students in the middle schools to those in schools with similar student intakes. It also provides useful trend data that can help the schools to analyse their students’ performance and then adopt an appropriate strategic response. However, NAPLAN is simply one quite restricted source of school performance data and even then only a point in time snapshot through the tests. It is also the only consistent assessment that applies in Northern Territory middle schools. The NAPLAN data needs to be supplemented by a rich array of other data that can help the system to gain a richer and deeper appreciation of the overall performance of its middle schools and the schools themselves to determine their key successes on which to build and the major challenges they need to address.
The consultant’s experience in working with the Department to conduct the review is that a great deal of data exists, but it commonly is disparate and disconnected, so it is hard to gain a clear sense of performance on a range of indicators that can help to devise the appropriate strategic response either at the school level or across the Territory as a whole. There are also some significant data gaps, such as the absence of stakeholder opinion survey results and readily available systemic data on Year 12 completion rates that could inform any meaningful judgment of the impact of middle schooling in this regard.
In addition, the assessment data collected by schools aside from the NAPLAN, while extensive in some cases, is not consistent, comparable or shared to provide a systemic picture of student performance in the middle years. The Department does have an online ASPIRE system that notionally provides NAPLAN, wellbeing and transition and pathways information that can be aggregated by schools and for the system as a whole, but it is far from embraced by schools. The common view of middle school leaders is that it is more about compliance than a support to planning, is not user-friendly, and locks people out if they do not go through the right hoops. It’s a system that its intended users see as good in theory but not in practice, whereas it needs to be good in both.
More recently, the Department established a Student Assessment Information System (SAIS) to provide ‘a one stop shop for teachers, principals and schools to create, record and report on student assessments’. The SAIS is designed to provide ‘a flexible framework to manage assessment and reporting for class, school and system wide assessments’ along with a range of user guides and videos to support its use. That said, the SAIS, which can provide fast fact reports on schools, is limited to student assessments and is not mandatory and hence subject to inconsistent use. Anecdotal reports suggest the SAIS has been embraced by primary schools, but has not particularly been taken up by middle schools, with most not really contracting in to date.\(^{21}\)
Beyond this, the Department itself has acknowledged that the SAIS shows there is no clear line of sight across the Territory for data relevant to students in the middle years and hence a pressing need exists for systemic data collection at the very least about student achievement, A to E, in the Australian Curriculum English and Mathematics using SAIS. This is important since the view within the Department which the discussions for this review confirmed, is that the A to E outcomes tend to be skewed to the lower end, in part perhaps reflecting some low expectations of students by some teachers in the schools.
Put simply, the Department needs to have a better and more comprehensive data set to know what its middle schools are doing and how they are performing, and the schools
\(^{21}\) More specifically, the reviewer was advised that only Sanderson, Rosebery and Centralian Middle Schools and Tennant Creek High School used the SAIS and SharePoint for reporting in Semester One, 2014.
themselves need better, more user-friendly data sets to inform their planning consistent with a view of what they are trying to achieve in the middle years.
It is possible in this context to envisage a consolidated set of strategic data the Department could systematise and collect in consistent form across schools, which could also be contained on school-specific, password-protected web pages in a form that is always up to date and malleable to support decision making systemically and at the school level. Where the school lacks sufficient bandwidth to effectively use an online tool of this sort, the school could be provided with regular, point in time school level reports containing all of the relevant data to inform their own performance evaluation and hence planning for the following year. By way of illustration, the strategic data set could include: enrolment trends and relevant socio-economic data; teacher judgments against common whole school assessments; NAPLAN data including on student gain relative to other similar schools; data on VET courses being undertaken and completed; student attendance and absence data; student retention levels; any opinion survey (i.e., staff, student, parent) data; and data on staff retention and sick leave.
These all have relevance to strategic planning within the Department and schools, and to improving schooling in the middle years. The approach could also reasonably apply to schools on either side of the middle years (i.e., primary and senior schools) which would contribute to economies of scale in setting it up, as well as better transition of students between the stages of school.
Opinion surveys of staff, students and parents have a particularly important role to play in the middle years of school. Staff opinion surveys can provide valuable insight to staff views on such critical issues as students’ motivation to learn, the effectiveness and consistency of implementation of discipline and wellbeing policies and protocols in the school, how challenging and engaging the curriculum is, the impact of different pedagogical approaches, the quality of professional learning environment that exists in the school, and more. The current staff opinion survey in the Northern Territory largely conforms to this outline, since it gathers information about staff/student wellbeing; relationships; quality of teaching; curriculum relevance and student outcomes; information (from the school to its staff); learning and work environment; overall satisfaction; overall work experience; and leadership. As such it basically fits the bill for gaining an understanding of staff views systemically and at the school level. If it were to change at all, it could benefit from the inclusion of an additional variable related to staff views about students’ motivation to learn, since this is a surrogate for their expectations of students which are known to significantly influence the outcomes the students achieve.\(^{22}\) In addition, it may need to be adjusted to ensure that it conforms to any nationally-agreed survey items to be included as a result of the National Education Agreement and Schools Assistance Act 2008, which required reports on parent, student and staff satisfaction in annual reports.
The reviewer was advised that staff opinion surveys in the Northern Territory are only administered every four years and was unable to access any survey results. Every four years would seem to be too infrequent to effectively support the ongoing systemic monitoring of middle schools and strategic planning at the school and system level. The survey should be administered annually in all middle schools which will also help to identify trends over time.
\(^{22}\) The sort of statements that could be included in such a variable, based on ones that have been used in surveys in Victoria in the past, are: Students at this school are really motivated to learn; Students are always keen to do well at this school; Students at this school spend most of their time on task; Doing well is important to the students at this school; and Students at this school put a lot of effort into their work.
Student opinion provides a kind of reality check to help schools and teachers, as well as the system as a whole, ensure that the experience they believe they provide to students conforms closely to the experiences the students actually have. That there is a mismatch between the two which increases in the middle years is well known from research. Put simply, student engagement, and in particular their connectedness to their teachers and to school, tends to decline after primary school, between Years 7 and 9, before stabilising in Year 10 and then trending upwards in the senior years. This is readily evident in Figure 2 from Victoria which replicates experiences in other jurisdictions and overseas.
Figure 2: Student motivation, connectedness to school and teacher effectiveness, Victoria, 2006-7
Thus, the extent to which student opinion is important for informing decision making in the school, in particular about such issues as curriculum provision, pedagogy and structures to ensure students are well-known by the staff, is only strengthened for young adolescents in the middle years of school. A student opinion survey should be developed and used annually in Northern Territory middle schools. The Department does not need to start from scratch in this regard and could, for example, source a survey to either use or amend as required, from another jurisdiction, such as the Victorian Attitudes to School student opinion survey that has been in use in Government schools for a number of years and has proven successful in gaining a lens on students’ views\(^{23}\). Once again, the survey developed will need to encompass any national items that Ministers have agreed.
Parents too can provide valuable insight to the strengths and shortcomings of the school since they are the ones with the greatest interest in their children’s experience and success at school, and a further conduit to the student experience to the extent it is talked about at home. The Department of Education website provides a parent opinion survey that fits the bill provided it is amended as needed to meet agreed national requirements and regularly used with at least a sample of parents in the schools. It is acknowledged in this context that the Department may also need to provide translated versions so a broader range of parents can be included in the samples that schools approach.
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\(^{23}\) Further information on the survey can be found at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/management/Pages/performsurveyat.aspx
Recommendations
1. That the Department of Education initiate a project to:
- consolidate the range of data needed to inform school and system planning and the monitoring of performance against school and system goals; and
- analyse the data collected in order to provide consolidated reports to schools and the Department, including the identification of emerging systemic trends that may need to be addressed and, where appropriate, reviews of targeted innovations to determine the evidence for their effectiveness and continued use.
The use of such consolidated data sets should first be trialled with a sample of primary, middle and senior schools and refined as needed to ensure that they contribute to more informed decision making in the Department and schools.
2. That the current staff opinion survey in the Northern Territory be updated to reflect nationally agreed requirements and include a variable on teachers’ views of student motivation to learn. The updated survey should be administered annually to staff in the middle schools.
3. That a student opinion survey be developed for students in Years 7 to 9 and administered annually to all students in these years. Further, a parents’ survey should be developed with appropriate translations, and administered to a sample of at least 30 parents each year in middle schools.
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24 It should be noted that the use of the term middle schools should be taken to also refer to Years 7 to 9 in the comprehensive schools in recommendations throughout this report in order to reduce their length.
Chapter 3: The nature of the cohort and its implications
The establishment of middle schools as a result of the Ramsey Review (2003) was in part a response to intellectual, social, emotional and physical changes young people experience through adolescence, and the implications this has for how they are engaged and taught at school.
While young adolescents move through this growth cycle at varying rates, they do as a group reflect important developmental characteristics that schools and teachers need to take into account.
The physical changes adolescents undergo are relatively well-known. They experience changes in height, weight and body chemistry, along with rapid sexual development. One thing that is often neglected in this regard is the fact that heightened physical growth can cause frequent fatigue in early adolescence, especially when students are physically active as well. While adolescents do need good nutrition in these years, they tend to have a preference for junk food and some may adopt poor health habits and even engage in risky experimentation with drugs. These are all factors that schools and teachers need to consider.
Less well-known perhaps than the physical changes which can readily be observed, are some intellectual and emotional changes that are also underway.
This chapter summarises some important recent research findings about the development of the adolescent brain, and discusses the implications they have for middle schooling which have influenced the remaining chapters of the review report.
Brain development and learning
According to Giedd (2009), who has worked extensively in the field, the brain’s ability to change is particularly pronounced in the adolescent years, however different rates of development can lead to poor decision making and substantial taking of risks.
Magnetic imaging resonance (MRI) research has demonstrated that the millions of neuronal connections (dendrites) that children are born with, and which spike between the ages of 9 and 11, start to shut down during adolescence as they are not used to speed the transmission of the used portions of an individual’s brain. In other words, as Wilson and Horch (September 2002:58) have explained, after a growth spurt in early adolescence just before puberty, the brain then goes through a period of ‘pruning’ when heavily used connections between parts of the brain are strengthened and unused connections deteriorate. This process of ‘hardwiring’ continues throughout adolescence and means that ‘the intellectual activities given the most time, the most opportunity to strengthen the connections in the brain, will influence learning for the rest of the student’s life’ (Salyers and McKee, undated:1).
As a consequence Giedd and colleagues (1999), who arguably identified this wave of neural overproduction, suggest a ‘use it or lose it’ principle whereby the cells and connections used are those that survive and flourish, and those that are not used, die. As he simply put it in an interview in 2005, ‘If a teen is doing music, sports, or academics, those are the cells and connections that will be hard-wired. If they are lying on the couch or playing video games or...
MTV, those are the cells and connections that are going (to) survive’. To the extent that this is the case, it means that adolescent brain development can be influenced by the nature of activities undertaken during this phase, and the ways in which they are taught.
Taking account of the physical and intellectual changes at play, Salyers and McKee suggest a need to design lessons for adolescents that include ‘a full range of sensory motor experiences’, since engaging the senses and emotions ‘will increase students’ attention span and heighten memory’ (2). Another strategy they suggest in this context is ‘to build lessons using inquiry or problem-based learning in which students are encouraged to ask questions that interest them after the lesson is framed in terms of essential questions or problems to resolve’.
Beyond this, they advocate asking students to write reflectively each day since this ‘strengthens connections in the brain … (and) gives time for students to consolidate learning and seek meaning between various activities’ (2).
The physical changes referred to can also not be ignored and, at the very least, suggest that adolescents should also have the opportunity to move regularly since they are often unable to sit still for long periods of time.
Looked at more broadly than just specific strategies that teachers might adopt, the National Middle School Association (NMSA) in the United States as far back as 1995 argued that middle schooling program components should be built around:
- curriculum that is challenging, integrative and exploratory;
- varied teaching and learning approaches;
- assessment and evaluation that promote learning;
- flexible organisational structures;
- programs and policies that foster health, wellness and safety; and
- comprehensive guidance and support services.
All of this has, at its heart, the need to engage young people in learning in the middle years. Adolescents, Bellhouse, et. al. (2004) argue in this regard, ‘increasingly differentiate themselves in terms of their peers, physical attributes and competence’ (13). They begin to associate achievement more with skill and cognitive ability than the effort they need to invest: ‘While they may give the appearance of being engaged by novelty, to hold their interest through to achievement, young people will increasingly require content that is perceived as valuable, is consistent with personal goals, and/or will lead to an important outcome’ (13-14). This particularly suggests a need for clarity about the purpose of learning in which they are being urged to engage, and hence puts a premium on teacher planning and the extent to which their learning intentions are clear.
School, according to Bellhouse, ‘is more likely to become a means to an end’ and hence learning ‘will be enhanced by opportunities for students to participate in projects they believe to be relevant and important to their lifestyle or career goals, that occur over extended periods and are learner directed. These projects encourage deep thinking, a process that gives students an opportunity to apply knowledge and skills flexibly and to develop a meaningful sense of their application and purpose’ (19-20).
Aside from the basic literacy, numeracy and technology skills that all students need to succeed in the middle years of school, the development of self-efficacy emerges as increasingly important for effective middle years learning to occur. With the brain still maturing in these years, students can be supported to build what Bellhouse refers to as ‘positive habitual behaviours that encourage them to employ a range of strategies such as
predicting outcomes, planning ahead, noting difficulties and failure to comprehend, and activating relevant knowledge’ (17).
He goes on to explain that ‘(t)hese gradually increase in complexity, manifesting in cognitive skills like the use of deliberate memory and concentration techniques, and the adaptable use of graphic representations for ideas, thinking processes and frameworks’ (21-2). Teachers can support the development of these skills through explicit teaching of a range of study skills (e.g., goal and target setting, prioritising, scheduling, etc.) which Hattie (2012) has shown to have a high positive effect.
Despite the discussion of adolescent brain development so far, it also needs to be acknowledged, as Salyers and McKee have observed, that the ‘only consistent point about the development of young adolescents is that it is inconsistent’ (2). By way of example, they explain how in eighth-grade classrooms ‘there is a six to eight-year span in physical development among the students; and in seventh grade classrooms, there is a six to eight-year span in academic achievement’ (2). Thus, although adolescent student bodies and brains are developing in the ways that are described, they are doing so variably and are at different stages of development at essentially the same age.
By way of response they suggest that students ought be encouraged to ‘use peer collaboration and cooperative learning at this age to take advantage of the great range of academic and social maturities while developing group problem solving skills’ (2). This also recognises the fact that peer group acceptance is especially important to students in this phase, which in turn impacts on learning and engagement in the group. ‘Students who belong to a highly engaged group’, a Victorian Department of Education & Training Research Paper (April 2006) explains, ‘tend to have positive behavioural engagement at the individual level’ while ‘students belonging to a peer group that have negative feelings towards learning tend to exhibit similar behaviour’ (14). As a result, Reeve and Ainley (2004) suggest, teachers need to work to establish the mode of classroom peer interaction that will ensure students make appropriate decisions about learning and their work.
**Adolescent behaviour and its implications**
The process of neural pruning means that adolescents develop faster reaction times, better memory and increased speed in learning. It is also the case, however, that a dynamic relationship exists between the earlier developing limbic system networks, which Giedd (2009) describes as ‘the seat of emotion’ and the later-maturing frontal lobe networks that help regulate that emotion.
Frontal lobe circuitry, he explains, ‘mediates “executive functioning”, a term encompassing a broad array of abilities, including attention, response inhibition, regulation of emotion, organisation and long-range planning’. And MRI studies suggest that this matures particularly late, perhaps not reaching adult levels until the mid 20s.
This disparity between the maturation of the cortex and limbic systems explains what Wisconsin’s Horicon Library research papers (citing Sylwester, 2007) refer to as “‘How could you be so smart and do something that dumb?’ moments that teens suffer through, even as the teens themselves think that they are way smarter than adults’.
Neuroscientist Ronald Dahl (quoted by the Horicon library from a private interview with Shirtcliff in 2009) uses the analogy of driving a car to suggest that the teenage brain is like ‘all drive and no brakes’. The drive, he explains, comes from the limbic system that is highly activated by hormones during early childhood that then skyrocket to adult levels during
early adolescence. The brakes, which are operated by the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC), are not fully mature until the early 20s at least, and sometimes later in young men, which means they are not entirely present for most teenagers. Hence they often lack what might be described as the good judgment to weigh the consequences of the decisions they make.
That said, Dahl does suggest that the calming effect a mature brain has can be encouraged in several ways: ‘\[p\]roblem solving, thinking critically and judging the relative merits of action, and learning from one’s mistakes are all ways in which teens can “flex their PFC” to become wiser, faster’. Beyond this, ‘actually allowing teens to deal with some real-world consequences may enable the PFC to mature more quickly … (and) Self-monitoring and impulse control on the part of the teens themselves is of more value than external controls’.
Bellhouse takes it a stage further still to suggest we should support students to ‘communicate, participate and work cooperatively, to have self-control and to resolve conflicts thoughtfully without resorting to avoidance or aggression’ since this helps them to achieve success in the middle years of school. ‘Learning to manage emotions, predict consequences, develop optimistic thinking habits, and set goals are all skills that will improve student achievement and wellbeing’ (14).
One thing this does all suggest is the need for clear boundaries to exist for students in the middle years of school so they are not continually searching for where the limits lie. This in turn requires the school to have clear and agreed behavioural expectations for students, with clear, known consequences, that teachers commit to and consistently implement. This is not just a matter of rules to regulate behaviour, but rather rules that apply in a context where students are well-known by the staff. One consistent message to emerge through substantial middle years experience of schools and teachers in the late 1990s in Victoria (the Middle Years Research and Development Project, MYRAD), for instance, was the positive link that appears to exist between student achievement and the degree to which students feel there is a teacher in the school who knows and cares about them.
The need for an orderly learning environment where students are known well by the staff also accords with broader school improvement research which demonstrates that it constitutes a fundamental precondition for whole school improvement and a key means for developing greater consistency amongst the staff. (See Zbar, et. al. 2009).
The mismatch noted between different parts of the adolescent brain and how it develops also helps to explain why adolescents, more than students at other ages, tend to exhibit what the Victorian Department of Education and Training (2006) refers to as ‘a disproportionate amount of reckless behaviour, sensation seeking and risk taking’(6). Interestingly enough, there is evidence the Horicon Library cites to suggest this is not so much a lack of awareness of risk, as the fact, as Reyna (2007) notes, that ‘teens tend to weight benefits more heavily than risks when making decisions. So, after carefully considering the risks and benefits of a situation, the teenage brain all too often comes down on the side of the benefits … and chooses the risky action’.
This in turn means it is difficult to motivate teenagers negatively, through threats, and a rewards-based approach is likely to generate better results. Beyond this, the role modelling that responsible adults, such as teachers provide, ought not be ignored. Significant new research on mirror neurons, which Daniel Goleman (2007) describes as a kind of ‘neural wi-fi’ that monitors what is happening in other people, has demonstrated that our brains can tend to reflect what happens in those of others around us, especially significant others such as those in a position of authority in the room. Emotions are contagious from the most powerful person present out. So, just as leaders in organisations ‘have to take more responsibility for the impact they have on the people that they lead and the people around
Finally, as is well-known by any adults who regularly work with adolescents, this developmental phase is often marked by an increase in conflict between the adolescent and the adults with whom they interact, including their parents at home. While this partly reflects the growing importance of peer interaction and affiliation with peers, it also relates to miscommunication arising from how the adolescent brain responds to the outside world. Yurgelen-Todd (1998 and cited by the Victorian DET, 2006), for example, explains how adolescents have been found to be unable to correctly read all the feelings in the adult face. They may, for instance, see anger or sadness when it simply doesn’t exist. Thus, as the Department paper explains, ‘when adolescents are relating to their parents, teachers or other adults, they may be misperceiving or misunderstanding some of the feelings that adults take as the norm’ (7). This again suggests a need for middle school structures that ensure that students are connected to at least one adult in the school who can get to know them well, as discussed in detail later in this report.
Chapter 4: The policy context
There is a range of policy documents designed to guide the delivery of middle schooling in the Territory and support the work of principals, teachers and schools.
Chief among these is the Department’s Framework for the Principles and Policies for the Middle Years in the Northern Territory. This sets out the five key principles that apply to the middle years, and provides high level advice related to each. More specifically, the five principles are:
- Principle 1: The Teaching and Learning Environment — The curriculum is based upon Northern Territory Curriculum Framework (NTCF) outcomes and is rigorous, rich, real and relevant to students’ current and future lives.
- Principle 2: Literacy and Numeracy — Students are offered learning opportunities that allow them to reach and in most cases exceed literacy and numeracy national benchmarks.
- Principle 3: Student-Teacher Relationships — Strong teacher-student relationships are fundamental to improving individual outcomes for most students in the middle years.
- Principle 4: Transition into and out of the middle years — Transition into and out of the middle years is a formal part of the program of all schools.
- Principle 5: Systemic support — The school system provides support to students, parents and teachers in the middle years.
The advice for each principle relates to the specific areas of: teaching, learning, assessing and reporting; student support; teachers; school leadership; school organisation; and evaluation. Some of the flavour of the document can be gained from the advice related to teaching, learning, assessing and reporting provided as Figure 3, and the full document is provided as Appendix 2 to the report.
Figure 3: Extract from the Framework for Principles and Policies for the Middle Years
| Principle 1: The Teaching and Learning Environment | Principle 2: Literacy and Numeracy | Principle 3: Student-Teacher Relationships | Principle 4: Transition into and out of the middle years | Principle 5: Systemic Support |
|---------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| The curriculum is based upon Northern Territory Curriculum Framework (NTCF) outcomes and is rigorous, rich, real and relevant to students’ current and future lives. | Students are offered learning opportunities that allow them to reach and in most cases exceed literacy and numeracy national benchmarks. | Strong teacher-student relationships are fundamental to improving individual outcomes for most students in the middle years. | Transition into and out of the middle years is a formal part of the program of all schools. | The school system provides support to students, parents and teachers in the middle years. |
| Teachers, students and parents are clear about the ‘NTCF outcomes’ and the ‘learning intentions’. Students have a range of learning opportunities that include specialist and integrated approaches to the curriculum. Students are challenged intellectually and focus on developing their skills and knowledge. Teachers who teach the same group of students collaborate to identify learning that is relevant to students’ current and future lives. Through explicit teaching and learning, students are able to take an active part in their own learning development. Teachers work as a team including students to make links between learning areas across the curriculum. Students are provided with a range of assessment opportunities to demonstrate their learning. The whole school assessment is used by teachers and students to improve and guide the teaching and learning process. Assessment is used to measure student learning and provide information for reporting to students, teachers, parents and DEET. | Literacy and numeracy programs are a core part of the curriculum in the middle years, whether they are taught alone or as part of the program’s curriculum. Strategies for teaching literacy and numeracy are embedded in literacy/English and numeracy/mathematics classes but in all learning areas. | Support programs designed to strengthen teacher-student relationships are an integral part of the curriculum. | Supported transition programs that link curricular and pedagogical models across the transition from primary to middle years. Middle years students have a range of experiences that prepare them to studies in the senior years. Students are equipped with the skills necessary for success as life long learners. | Schools have appropriate flexible learning spaces that provide a range of learning opportunities, including small group and individual classes. Principals, students, school staff and DEET work as partners to motivate and help students learn. Parents are facilitated in their involvement in their child’s education. |
The Framework is effectively supplemented by the Northern Territory Board of Studies Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Policy and Guidelines for Transition to Year 9 effective from August 2013. This too provides high level advice on: curriculum and its implementation with reference to the Northern Territory Curriculum Framework and the Australian Curriculum; assessment including principles of assessment and an expectation that schools develop a whole school curriculum and assessment plan; and reporting including reporting requirements of schools. Links are provided to digital online resources to help schools, and the whole approach is encapsulated in Figure 4 from the guide.
While this diagram does provide useful planning advice to schools, an argument can be made that it needs to at least be supplemented, or underpinned by:
- leadership that ensures whole school planning of the approach aligned to a vision for schooling in the middle years, and consistent implementation by the staff;
- an orderly learning environment where students are well known by staff;
- an instructional model to guide teacher planning of the curriculum, how it is delivered and assessed; and
- a structure for professional learning that supports collaborative planning and enables more teachers to work like the best teachers in the school.
These are all issues which are pursued in more depth through the remainder of this report. In addition the diagram, which applies to the whole transition to Year 9 span, plus these supplementary factors, need to be implemented in a way that reflects what is known about the cohort in middle schools as outlined in Chapter 3. Again, this is taken up in more detail in the later discussion of curriculum and assessment, and pedagogy for the middle years.
Aside from these two overarching policy documents, the Department did in 2006 issue a number of papers designed to support schools, principals and teachers in catering for students in the middle years. More specifically:
- *A Guide to Planning, Teaching, Assessing and Reporting Learning*, which makes the case for change in the context of the (then) shift to middle schools for students in Years 7 to 9, provides high level planning advice to schools, outlines some useful pedagogical strategies (i.e., direct instruction; inquiry-based instruction; metacognition and critical thinking; literacy, numeracy and ICT; authentic assessment and standards; and collaborative learning and cooperative behaviour), and provides advice on assessment planning and recording and reporting for learning. An appendix to the guide also includes some suggested curriculum themes based on ‘an intersection of social and early adolescent concerns’, along with some sample integrated units of work.
- Four separate, but interrelated supportive guides to reflecting on teaching practices in the middle years of schooling respectively covering different modes of learning, different modes of instruction, assessment, and recording and reporting.
- A school self-reflection tool aligned to a planning model developed by Hill and Crevola (1997) that was implemented in the Middle Years Research and Development Project in a group of Victorian Government schools.
There are at least two interesting things about these 2006 documents in particular.
The first is the fact that these documents are not readily available for the use of staff working with students in the middle years of school. For example, they do not appear to be contained in the register of policies included on the Department of Education’s website and do not show up from a targeted search of the site. While the documents may be dated to some extent, they do contain useful information and advice that could inform the deliberations of schools. At the very least, they are material on which the Department and its personnel can build as they consider and implement recommendations arising from this review.
The second point of note, which these Territory documents share with much of the advice other jurisdictions around Australia provide, is that aside from the sample themes and units included as an appendix to the first-listed guide, they are all pitched at a high level, contain substantial information that is not exemplified in ways that schools can readily use, and hence can be quite hard to implement. The matrix comprising the Framework for Principles and Policies for the Middle Years (Appendix 2) provides a good example of this point. Taken together, this cross-referencing of five principles to six elements of school-based practices produces 30 ostensibly discrete cells around which schools should plan. This presumes a high level of planning expertise, not to mention time in which the elements can be integrated into a coherent, whole-school plan.
**Important recent initiatives**
One welcome initiative in this regard is the recent establishment of an ‘Assessment and Standards Middle Years’ project in the Department scheduled to run between term one 2014 and term four 2016. The project sees two consultants working with and supporting each of the schools covered by this review, along with Katherine School of the Air and Batchelor, Jabiru and Alyangula Area Schools to:
- efficiently and effectively develop and implement quality assessment initiatives and professional learning in middle years schools;
• provide expert assessment practice information and advice in the context of middle years to critical stakeholders;
• design, develop and evaluate middle years assessment resources and professional learning with and for educators;
• lead the development and implementation of assessment policy initiatives including data literacy, assessment design, clarifying and confirming to ensure consistency of standards;
• work with middle years educators, including personnel from Curriculum Assessment and Standards (CAS), Senior Years teams, regions and schools to enact assessment components of the Northern Territory Board of Studies Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Policy and Guidelines T-9 and departmental policies; and
• develop and maintain comprehensive and effective professional networks and collaborative partnerships with school staff, regional staff, CAS and Senior Years colleagues, to identify and access school-based expertise and build capacity.
It is intended that the project will result in:
• professional learning courses and resources on Moodle and Learning Links\(^{26}\) to support middle years teachers in assessment and standards;
• recommendations for, and examples of, whole school assessment plans, summative and formative assessments, peer and self-assessment for middle years;
• vignettes of quality assessment practices in middle years housed in Learning Links; and
• log modes of delivery and support for building facilitator capacity.
As such, it will in time constitute a good example of the sort of exemplars advocated in the discussion above, to help shift what are often broad brush policy statements to the sort of finer detail that can help form part of the actual picture that applies in schools.
The initiative also has particular importance in light of the need for more systemic data collection about middle years achievement, as noted in Chapter 2, which was one of the reasons the initiative was introduced. Better data of this sort not only contributes to better system oversight of performance in the middle years of school, but can also help the transition of students from primary feeder schools to the middle years and then from the middle years to the senior secondary phase of their schooling.
This initiative is discussed further in Chapter 9 on curriculum and assessment for the middle years, though it is acknowledged it is only in a relatively early phase of working with four pilot schools.
Just as valuable is the work of the Department’s Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel cited earlier, as outlined in its 2014 *Report and Recommendations*. This sets out seven fundamental expectations for teaching literacy and numeracy and discusses strategies for growing teacher capacity, leadership and school improvement, data analysis and interrogation, and partnerships, and these are referenced in the remaining chapters of the report since they relate to proposals arising from this review.
The Assessment and Standards Middle Years project is a welcome initiative in this regard that can help shift what are often broad brush policy statements to the sort of finer detail that can help form part of the actual picture that applies in schools. Potentially as valuable is the work of the Department’s Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel and the opportunity exists to align the work of these two.
\(^{26}\) A password protected website containing curriculum support materials for teachers in Northern Territory schools.
Recommendation
4. That wherever possible, Department policies designed to guide schooling in the middle years be accompanied by exemplars to support schools to effectively implement them at the local level. Further, the Department should seek to ensure a formal connection exists between projects that are established with similar and/or related objectives and hence potentially overlapping work, to ensure consistency of approach, economies of scale and the provision of coherent advice to schools.
Chapter 5: Adopting a strategic approach
In the course of conducting this review, the reviewer has read a number of major reports which impact significantly on the Northern Territory education system and schools, and in some cases directly on the provision of schooling in the middle years.
In particular:
- Ramsey’s report on future directions for secondary education in the Northern Territory (2003) which, as cited earlier in this report, effectively led to the establishment of Year 7 to 9 middle schools and the designation of these years as a specific middle years stage;
- O’Sullivan’s reports on community consultations related to the middle years of schooling (2005 and 2006);
- Ladwig and Sarra’s structural review of the Northern Territory Department of Education and Training (2009);
- Masters’ report on improving educational outcomes in the Northern Territory (2011);
- The Department’s own Strategic Plan for the period 2013 to 2015; and
- Wilson’s review of Indigenous education in the Territory (2014) which includes specific recommendations on the middle years.
All of this is aside from the range of middle years policy statements and supports referenced in Chapter 4.
One is struck in this context by the fact that a lot seems to have been tried, not only concerning the middle years of school, with variable implementation success and arguably no substantial improvement in student results. It is not really too far removed from Wilson’s observation in relation to Indigenous education that, ‘[d]espite substantial investment and dedicated effort … in some areas the position for many Indigenous children is worse that it was at the time of the last review’ (11).
This may in part reflect the fact there have been so many investigations and reviews of aspects of education in the Territory, that nothing is ever really bedded down — an apparent search for the ‘silver bullet’ that is never found. As one school leader somewhat typically explained, ‘when the middle years was thought of in 2006 there was support, but then it all went when the system moved on’. The result was a kind of ‘choose your own adventure’ (a phrase that more than one school leader in different schools used) in relation to data collection and shared professional practices, with no systemic expectations at all. In a somewhat similar vein, the AEU noted in a briefing session on the draft review report that so many policy shifts have occurred that it leads to uncertainty amongst teachers and a desire for no more structural change.
Also of relevance may be the sort of situation noted in the preceding chapter, whereby projects that ought be related in order to capitalise on sharing expertise, reducing the potential for unnecessary duplication, taking advantage of economies of scale, and providing more manageable outcomes for schools are in fact conducted separately with minimal evident connection between them.
It is well-known from a range of research and experience that organisations, including schools, commonly experience an implementation dip as they seek to implement change. This dip, illustrated in Figure 5, as Fullan (undated) explains, reflects a ‘dip in performance and confidence as one encounters an innovation that requires new skills and new understandings’ (6). Leaders who understand the dip, he advises, ‘know that people are
experiencing two kinds of problems’ when they are in it — ‘the social-psychological fear of change, and the lack of technical know how or skills to make the change work’ (ibid).
When schools or systems continually review direction or seek further change, and/or set too many hares running not in unison but in different (disconnected) fields, they effectively set off another dip as the same anxieties and skill shortfalls emerge, and nothing gets properly implemented as a result. In contrast, what Fullan, drawing on a range of organisational research, recommends is that leaders maintain ‘an urgent sense of moral purpose’ for consistency of vision and approach, and ‘still measure success in terms of results’, but that they also ‘do things that are more likely to get the organisation going and keep it going’ (ibid).
Figure 5: The Implementation Dip
Source: McLeod, 2007
Put simply, this tends to suggest that schools, principals, teachers and the system as a whole need time to consolidate and successfully implement change that is sought. Just as Wilson calls for ‘a consistent approach for an extended period’ (13) if significant improvements for Indigenous young people are to be achieved, so too is consistency required to improve students’ learning outcomes in the middle years of school. Apart from anything else, time to consolidate the implementation of targeted change, is also time to develop and provide the support that those responsible for implementation require to overcome the ‘social-psychological’ anxieties they feel and develop the skills to make it work.
It is instructive to note that in 2003, Ramsey’s review pointed to some ‘essential features’ (2003:91) of middle schooling programs that arguably still hold. More specifically:
- smaller groups of students, arranged within learning communities or sub-schools;
- a smaller number of teachers for each student;
- interdisciplinary teaching teams;
- strong pastoral care programs;
- integrated curriculum for core subjects;
- self-directed, problem-based learning;
• higher order, critical thinking’
• individual needs catered for, particularly those of ‘at risk’ students;
• flexible use of time and space;
• seamless transition;
• a firmly stated commitment by the school, staff and the community to the principles and practices of middle schooling.
The variability of performance noted in Chapter 2, along with even the commissioning of this review, suggest that these not only are inconsistently applied, but that the challenge is not so much knowing what is needed, as to simply do it well.
Thus, rather than seeking to point to major systemic changes required to middle schooling, the remainder of this report focuses on identifying the few big things in middle schooling that can have a significant positive impact, and then planning to do them well, building on approaches already in place that are working well in schools. This is especially important in the wake of the Wilson review, which proposes substantial change the Department will need to manage if the outcomes for Indigenous students, including those in the middle years, are to substantially improve. Hence the argument and recommendations advanced are designed to dovetail with Wilson’s approach, and be manageable at scale across the ten affected schools.
It is also consistent with Barber’s observation (in Barber, et. al, 2009) that the focus now is ‘no longer talking of “if”, but rather “how”; and the consequent realisation that, in terms of meeting the shared agenda to raise the bar and narrow the gap, “it’s all about implementation and delivery”’ (2009:20).
The point is that acting strategically to ensure successful implementation of middle years approaches that work, may mean slowing continual change down, identifying relatively few things that are known to make a substantial difference to student outcomes, and then doing them well across the system as a whole. This in turn requires focused support from the Department to principals, teachers and schools that can build on some good policies and materials already in place and using them to develop more concrete exemplars that practitioners can readily adapt to their own circumstances and then successfully use.
This, it should be noted, is consistent with how successful large scale reform has occurred in school systems in the past, such as the Northern Metropolitan Region in Victoria where, as Hopkins, et. al. (2011) explain, the implementation of precise programs and associated systemic support, saw a relatively high disadvantage region, comprising 195 schools for more than 75,000 students, generate a substantial reversal in academic trends.
Chapter 6: A vision for middle schooling
Setting up a structure for schooling that covers Years 7 to 9, as the implementation of Ramsey has done, begs the question of what the system, including its schools, actually wants to do with the approach. This goes to the question of vision at the systemic level, in turn reflected in schools, to provide the motivating moral purpose for schooling in the middle years. It also provides a de facto statement of commitment by the system to the schools catering for students in this phase.
Gabriel and Farmer (2009) used the following analogy of a shared excursion to demonstrate the importance of having a shared vision for achieving the purpose of, in this case, a school:
‘Imagine that you have a rare weekend without any professional responsibilities, no papers to grade, no lessons to plan, no activities to cover. To take advantage of this unexpected free time, you and three friends decide to go on a fishing excursion to a lake known as one of the best largemouth bass habitats in the eastern United States. Through email messages, telephone conversations, and brief get-togethers, the four of you coordinate transportation, lodging, the time of departure and other details.
It would seem reasonable to assume that you were all going with ambitions to catch largemouth bass. However, what would happen to the trip’s camaraderie and outcome if each person’s vision of the weekend differed from that assumption? What if one person plans to spot eagles, another is looking for lakefront property, and a third hopes to catch anything that will pull in the line, while you are there for sun and leisure?
You could have avoided any confusion and better harnessed efforts by explicitly asking your companions during the planning stages,
- What is the actual purpose of the trip?
- What are the goals of the attendees?
- What does everyone envision for the weekend?
- Has everyone shared these things with one another?
Whatever the context, the point is the same: if a group wants to move forward, it needs to develop an understood, agreed-on purpose. With a couple of word substitutions, you could ask those bulleted questions of any leadership team or department in your school …’
The same holds true for middle schooling as a stage.
It is noteworthy in this regard that, despite the existence of *The Framework for the Principles and Policies for the Middle Years in the Northern Territory*, and associated policy statements and guides, there appears to be no statement of vision for middle schooling in the Northern Territory. The closest that exists is the ostensible ‘vision’ included in the document *Middle Years Strategic Framework for Cultural Change* (10 December 2006) — which interestingly, like some of the support materials listed in Chapter 4, is no longer available on the Department’s website — which states that ‘By 2010, middle schooling will have seamlessly and effectively merged into the education landscape in the Northern Territory. Learning will be the central pillar of all areas of school life, and there will be continuous consolidation and refinement of teaching, learning and assessment in the Middle Years’. This, it is noted, is as much a vision for the implementation of middle schools as it is for schooling in the middle years.
In contrast to the Department, a search of middle school websites and discussions with principals reveals that they all do have a vision and/or mission statement which is often shared online with their school community and, for that matter, anyone who cares to visit the site. For the most part, these are quite brief, as they should be, and in some cases very broad brush. In other cases, they are expanded by the principal in their message to the community, and in yet others have to be inferred from either the principal’s message or other statements such as why parents should choose this school.
The espoused vision statements of each of the schools are:
- Centralian Middle School — *CMS challenges every learner to achieve success in a safe and supportive community where diversity is valued.*
- Darwin Middle School — *Darwin Middle School is committed to leading the way in middle years education by creating a vibrant learning environment that inspires all students to reach their full potential and become lifelong learners.*
- Dripstone Middle School — *Dripstone Middle School strives to provide a stimulating, innovative, quality learning environment where all students and staff are respected and valued, and where all students and staff are encouraged and supported to achieve their potential in a safe, supportive and caring environment.*
- Katherine High School — *Our vision for Katherine High School is that we grow and develop as a valued and responsive learning organisation, promote access, participation and lifelong learning, and provide the customers, partners and the wider social, cultural and business communities with relevant, effective and innovative learning experiences.*
- Nhulunbuy High School — *Empowerment through opportunity, partnership and achievement. To engage students in a dynamic curriculum and safe learning environment with a 21st Century focus.*
- Nightcliff Middle School — *Nightcliff Middle School provides a stimulating learning environment, where 21st century learning is integrated across the whole curriculum to personalise the learning for each student. Academic excellence is valued at all stages and classroom programs focus on challenge, engagement and achievement. Learning is celebrated across all aspects of school life with a range of specialist programs to complement the formal curriculum and extend the creative interests of students. Our school staff work collaboratively to plan, teach and assess innovative student learning plans, they are committed to inspiring every student to do their best.*
- Rosebery Middle School — *Our school community creates confident, connected global citizens.*
- Sanderson Middle School — *The school’s vision is embodied in its motto, Building the future and its associated commitment to the provision of quality education so that all students are challenged to realise their maximum potential within a safe, supportive environment.*
- Taminmin College — *The mission of Taminmin College is ‘promoting high achievement in a safe, disciplined and caring environment’ which is underpinned by the four pillars of: high achievement; caring environment; safe environment; disciplined and orderly learning environment.*
- Tennant Creek High School — *The school’s vision is summed up in its motto, Learn today, lead tomorrow.*
Rosebery Middle School is one good example of where a very high level vision statement is then fleshed out in the Principal’s message to the community which explains that the school ‘has a strong focus on academic achievement, building a safe and supportive learning environment and developing young people who are engaged, connected and ready for the Twenty First Century’. Similarly, Centralian Middle School provides more substance to its vision statement in a discussion of why parents should enrol their children in the school, which indicates that the school ‘provides students with access to meaningful and appropriate teaching and learning programs including transition into and out of the Middle Years of Schooling; opportunities to become engaged through educational experiences that will lay the foundations of their future growth, development and participation in the Australian community; achievement that is moderated and validated against the standards described in the Australian Curriculum’.
While significant commonality can be identified from these examples, the point of crafting a compelling, shared vision for middle schooling for the Territory as a whole, is to provide the moral purpose that, as Fullan (undated) suggests, can help the implementation of change and to manage the inevitable implementation dip, since it provides an inspiring and unifying story of what we are all, collectively seeking to achieve.
As Gabriel and Farmer have observed, ‘Without a vision, your school (or system – VZ) lacks direction … A common understanding of the destination allows all stakeholders to align their improvement efforts’. In addition, an effective vision they argue, ‘announces to parents and students where you are heading and why they should take the trip with you’.
Put simply, a compelling, shared vision provides the context for specifying more concrete goals for middle schooling the Department and schools are seeking to achieve, and the strategies that will bring this about in ways that carry stakeholder support. It also serves as a public statement of the importance the Department attaches to the stage, and provides a whole-of-Territory context for the separate vision and mission statements of the schools themselves.
Just as important as crafting the vision for middle schooling, however, is the process by which it occurs. Too many vision statements are not really shared because they have been drafted and imposed from above. The extent to which the vision is shared is the extent to which consistent implementation of strategies to realise it will be adopted in schools. Hence the process ought be designed to ensure buy-in from all those with a stake in its outcome and a role in its implementation, which in turn builds further buy-in as a result.
There is a range of ways in which stakeholder involvement both centrally and locally can be assured, and the Department needs to ensure that the process takes this into account; especially since involving people along the way helps to alleviate the sort of fears about change that lead to an implementation dip.
**A sample vision to consider**
While it is necessary that the Department and key educational stakeholders develop the vision for middle schooling themselves, it seems appropriate for the review to at least suggest a sample vision for the process that is initiated to take into account.
Any worthwhile vision statement for the middle years needs to be built on a core set of educational beliefs that reflect the evidence of how young people learn and the nature of adolescence and hence the student needs to be met.
Central to these, according to Cole (2004), are the beliefs that:
- all students can learn, although they are unlikely to do so at the same pace and in the same way;
- schools can make a difference to students’ learning outcomes, regardless of who the students are and what their social circumstances; and
- student effort and desire to learn will produce learning improvement and success.
To this important list, we can reasonably add the beliefs that:
- high expectations lead to better learning outcomes and higher results;
- an orderly learning environment contributes to more effective teaching and learning in the school; and
students are more likely to succeed when they feel there is an adult in the school who knows them well and cares about them.
Taking these core beliefs into account, a motivating vision statement for middle schooling in the Northern Territory could take something like the following form:
*Middle schooling in the Northern Territory provides a positive and supportive, yet challenging learning environment for young adolescents in Years 7 to 9, characterised by high expectations for achievement and personal conduct at school. NT middle schools unite educators, parents and members of the wider community in efforts to ensure that all students succeed at school, and become lifelong learners and productive members of the community. Our schools continually improve, to lift their performance and provide an optimal learning experience for every student.*
A statement along these lines creates the basis for exploring the key elements of leadership, middle years structure, curriculum and assessment, pedagogy and transitions on which its achievement depends, along with the systemic leadership and support to ensure it is consistently achieved across the Territory as a whole. These elements are the subject of the remainder of the review report.
In addition, a vision statement for the middle years of school could help to inform the development of a statement of what it means to be a leader and a teacher in the middle years, to then inform the training of such teachers at CDU and other tertiary institutions. Apart from anything else, it would help answer the question a number of school interviewees posed along the lines as one put it that, ‘we have primary teachers who teach through themes, we have senior secondary teachers who are prescriptive because of the expectations of Years 11 and 12, and middle school teachers need to be a merger of both, but in what form?’. As another middle school leader observed, ‘Teachers in our schools say that I’m primary-trained, or I’m secondary trained, or I’m a particular subject teacher, but no-one describes themselves as a middle school teacher’.
**Recommendations**
5. That the Department develop, consult on and adopt a set of core guiding beliefs for schooling in the middle years based on the set advanced in this middle years review report.
6. That the Department develop, consult on and adopt a vision statement for the middle years of schooling taking account of the sample provided in this review report to in turn inform school level vision statements crafted together with the local school community.
Chapter 7: Leadership for whole-school improvement
In a major study of eight socio-economically disadvantaged schools that had significantly improved over time and then consistently maintained higher levels of performance than other schools with which they legitimately could be compared, Zbar, et. al. (2008) identified four preconditions needed for whole-school improvement to occur, the first of which is ‘strong leadership that is shared’.
Giving more substance to this statement, they explained in an article summarising the research (2009) the sort of leadership evident in these schools:
*Each of the study schools is characterised by having strong leadership with a clear vision and direction for the school and a high degree of leadership stability over time … What is more, each of the principals focused their efforts from the start of their time in the school on building the leadership team and ensuring they all acted according to a common vision and shared views.*
*While Hattie and others have shown that the prime factor influencing student achievement in schools is the teaching they receive, the reality in each of the eight schools studied is that leadership has been the key determinant of the success of the school. This, it should be noted, does not necessarily contradict the finding that teaching is the major source of variation in student learning outcomes within the control of the school, but rather that leaders establish the conditions in which teachers can either deliver high quality teaching to students or not.*
*Instances of good teaching inevitably exist in schools where the quality of leadership is weak. This study, however, shows that high quality leadership is a prerequisite for this to be spread throughout the school … The other defining characteristic of the principals in each of the study schools is the fact they willingly share the leadership load, encourage others to take and exercise leadership responsibilities and support the development of leadership skills amongst the staff.* (3-4)
More recently (2010), after continuing to work with these and other schools, the authors took it further to suggest that ‘leadership is so central to school performance and improvement, that it almost amounts to a precondition for the preconditions, and hence constitutes the place where schools must start if significant advances are to be achieved’.
Put simply, the existence of a cohesive leadership team, with a clear sense of what needs doing, why and how, is the difference between whole school improvement and pockets of improvement in the school. In any school there will be areas that are performing particularly well, and better than other parts of the school. In the absence of leadership, however, their achievements rarely if ever spread across the school, since there is no-one to drive it through, with the requisite authority to bring others with them on the way.
Implementing any vision for middle schooling in the Northern Territory, therefore, depends on the nature and quality of leadership at the school-level and systemic support for it to continually improve.
**Leadership practices to foster in schools**
It is important to recognise in this context that we do know, from more than a decade of Wallace Institute research (Leithwood, et. al, 2004), which practices leaders need to adopt to successfully lead improvement in their schools.
The three core leadership practices the research highlights involve:
- **Setting directions** — This set of practices, Leithwood and colleagues explain, ‘is aimed at helping one’s colleagues develop shared understandings about the organisation and its activities and goals that can under-gird a sense of purpose or vision … Often cited as helping set directions are such specific leadership practices as identifying and articulating a vision, fostering the acceptance of group goals and creating high performance expectations. Monitoring organisational performance and promoting effective communication throughout the organisation also assist in the development of shared organisational purposes’ (8).
- **Developing people** — Setting directions will only bear fruit if people are challenged and supported to develop the capacities they need to enable the direction to be collectively pursued. The sort of leadership practices that ‘significantly and positively’ influence teachers and others in the school include ‘offering intellectual stimulation, providing individualised support and providing appropriate models of best practice and beliefs considered fundamental to the organisation’ (8).
- **Redesigning the organisation** — Despite the vision and directions set and the motivations and capacities of staff, ‘organisational conditions sometimes blunt or wear down educators’ good intentions and actually prevent the use of effective practices’. Successful educators therefore work to develop their schools as ‘effective organisations that support and sustain the performance of administrators and teachers, as well as students’. This really amounts to ensuring the school is structured to support learning, to facilitate the work that teachers do, and that barriers to this are eliminated or at least their negative impact is reduced (9).
These are not the only roles that leaders in middle schools perform, however they do help guide an understanding of the major sort of capacities these leaders need to develop and demonstrate to continually improve the school and its staff. They also dovetail neatly with the Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel’s (2014) argument that ‘the success of any improvement initiative is to a large degree dependent on the quality of leadership of the initiative’ (12) and hence support is needed to help school leadership teams to grow their capacity in: using data to inform planning and setting of targets; implementing intervention strategies and strategies to extend the top twenty percent of the student cohort; consolidating links between literacy, numeracy, curriculum, learning, teaching and assessment; and supporting whole-school planning for improved outcomes in literacy and numeracy.
As such, Leithwood’s practices have significant implications for how middle school leaders are selected, trained, supported and networked to do an effective job. This is something Wilson’s review of Indigenous education discussed in ways that have relevance for this middle schooling review, as outlined below.
**Leadership in the middle years**
All middle schools are trying to build the cohesion and effectiveness of their leadership teams, and are at different stages of development in this regard.
In some schools, the leadership team has been developing for a number of years and a stable team is in place that works well together, and where team members complement each other’s skills. Rosebery Middle School is a case in point, where aside from the principal, the team comprises three assistant principals, each focused on one year level, but with specific whole-school roles aligned to their interests and capacities under the headings,
‘leader for learning’, ‘innovation for improvement’ and ‘capability for diversity’. The team cohesion is reflected in some comprehensive whole school policies and plans developed with the involvement of staff.
Darwin Middle School is in much the same position, with a team that has been so stable that a bit of movement recently is seen as a good thing, not because of any concern about the departing personnel, but because it enables the injection of some new, needed expertise around curriculum development in the school. The leadership team meets fortnightly, but even more importantly, the principal meets with each senior manager once a week to discuss their portfolios, with the result that communication across the school is described as ‘so good that GSMs (i.e., general staff meetings) are falling out of favour so we can use the time for professional learning instead’.
In other schools, the leadership teams have been established relatively recently, such as Sanderson Middle School where a new principal has worked to establish a cohesive leadership team that can oversee a major program of improvement that has led some to talk as if a new school was established in 2014, with a whole new, and arguably more successful, middle years approach. Similarly, the principal at Katherine High School has only just reached the stage where a more stable and effective leadership team is beginning to coalesce and thereby develop its overall influence in the school; albeit in a context where some team members are still at an early stage of really learning their craft. Tennant Creek High School finds itself in the same position as these two schools, with one of its five members only just joining the leadership team and in this case, an historical team structure that makes it difficult to define broader roles for some members of the team. In addition, there is an extent to which the real leadership roles are being exercised by the principal and assistant principal, with the result they are not distributed as even the school itself would like, in part reflecting a need to build the leadership capacity of the team.
Not only is the principal at Nhulunbuy High School relatively new with less than two years at the school, but significant turnover of leaders in recent years has seen a number of inexperienced new leaders arrive who need time to adapt to their new roles. This inevitably impacts the effectiveness of the team, though a strong culture of collaboration in both the school and the community is helping to mitigate this effect. The team, as the school itself acknowledges, is a work in progress with significant potential to really develop over time.
By virtue of its size, Taminmin College has a very large leadership team of 19 (comprising six principal class members and 13 senior teachers who are all either year level, faculty or special program leaders) which complements the smaller Executive Group. As a result, its effectiveness varies, especially at the team level, with the result a significant focus of the principal’s time is on mentoring and/or coaching members of this group to strengthen leadership across the college as a whole.
The team at Centralian, in contrast to those already described, sees itself as ‘evolving’ as it works to broaden the responsibility for communicating information in both directions. More specifically, it is seeking to ensure that each team member acts as a conduit for the views of their team so these are all taken into account, but when a decision is made, they act as the corporate messenger selling it back to the team. This evolution, it was explained, is in response to a strong feeling amongst the staff that, although necessary at the time, leadership could now become less top down. The result is that decisions are described as widely embraced, though it is acknowledged that there is still considerable variability in leaders’ capacity to work with their teams in implementing the decisions that are made. This is something the school is seeking to tackle through having more consistent processes that all can follow.
The experience of all these teams is that where they are working best, is when middle leaders are also included in the team and it then works to ensure a focus both on what they intend to pursue, and also how it will be done with the teams that they lead. This not only builds trust and corporate responsibility in the team, but also supports more rigorous implementation of the agreed strategies and helps develop the leadership capacity of the team.
Other teams have been somewhat less stable than these, at times due to staff changes, such as at Nightcliff Middle School, where a reduction in senior positions impacted the structure and operations of the team. In a different way, but with a similar result, Dripstone Middle School has a relatively new and inexperienced team, after a degree of team membership churn. The team suffered a ‘disruptive’ period of time with critical personnel on unavoidable leave and some major distractions such as a death in the school; but is starting to work well together now as the principal and assistant principal focus on building the capacity of the team as a whole. Each of these teams needs more time to develop as an aligned and cohesive group that can really impact the whole of the school.
**Implications of the Indigenous Education Review**
Wilson, in the course of his Indigenous Education Review, observes that workforce planning in the Territory is arguably weak, not just for Indigenous education, but across the board. There is, he argued, ‘no overall plan for achievement of the Department’s strategic goals and it seems that no area of the agency has overall responsibility for the workforce’ (2014:192). This leads him to specifically call for a whole of department workforce plan, which this review would endorse.
Beyond this, he identified a number of areas in which action could strengthen principal quality in remote settings, which in most cases could equally, with some minor adjustment, apply to principals in middle schools. More specifically he pointed to:
- Initial training — ‘The initial training of new principals is weakly developed and inadequate to the critical role principals play’ (2014:201). The suggestion to provide a significant training program for remote principals, comprising at least a full day of training in dealing effectively with and being culturally responsive to Indigenous communities, could readily be adapted to help prepare newly-appointed principals to schools catering for students in the middle years to undertake their role. It could, for example, include an initial orientation to the nature of the adolescent cohort and its implications for schooling, as discussed in Chapter 3 along with the ‘substantial and extended training program for all new principals, including refresher experiences, aiming to develop the skills of principalship and covering the wide range of responsibilities of principals and the forms of support that are available’ (ibid:201) that Wilson recommends.
- The need for a clear statement to be developed of the responsibilities of remote principals applies just as much to principals in middle schools, particularly if the effective implementation of schooling in this phase is to be included in principal performance management processes as well as school Annual Operating Plans and school reviews.
- The potential value of experienced external support for new and continuing principals, which is reflected in the discussion of principal coaches and a constituency for middle school leaders which follows.
- An expectation that ‘applicants for senior roles should have to demonstrate that they have established a pattern of relevant professional learning including specific required hurdle programs, without which candidates should not be appointed’ (ibid).
The discussion about principals in the context of the Indigenous Education Review’s Chapter 12 on Workforce Planning leads Wilson to propose (Recommendation 44) that efforts should be made, amongst other things, to:
Raise the quality of remote principals by:
a. strengthening initial training ...
b. developing a clear statement of the responsibilities of leadership in remote schools ...
e. requiring applicants for senior positions to demonstrate a pattern of relevant professional learning, including specific required programs without which candidates should not be appointed ...
g. arranging early appointment and release of new remote appointees to ensure effective handover.
Implementation of this recommendation inevitably will involve developing leadership capacities and practices for whole-school improvement that apply to principals regardless of the context of their school. Such practices could then readily be contextualised to specific school appointments such as remote Indigenous schools (as discussed in Wilson’s review) or leadership for schooling in the Middle Years (this review).
Certainly the degree of overlap is such that any work to implement the recommendations of one ought be linked to the implementation of recommendations in the other. This will enable a pooling of research, experience and expertise amongst those involved, and help ensure a consistent approach to principal selection, training and development that can then be contextualised to the school in which the principal works, with appropriate guidance and advice relevant to that context.
A leadership coach for each principal
As the preceding discussion makes clear, both principals and their leadership teams are at different stages of development, with the result their effectiveness varies across the schools. The principal is key in this regard and the leadership team’s effectiveness arguably depends on their ability to weld together a cohesive team with a clear sense of direction and agreed set of strategies to pursue. This is commonly difficult to do on one’s own and, regardless of how good relationships are, there is always an extent to which the primary leader in the school will feel and even be isolated at key moments and when critical decisions need to be made.
All principals (and by extension their leadership teams) could benefit from having a leadership coach in the same way as top level leaders in business, industry, the public sector, and indeed many schools around the country do.
Coaching, which includes both challenging leaders to strive for higher levels of leadership performance and the provision of frank and honest feedback on performance, can help strengthen the quality of leadership in schools which, as outlined earlier in the discussion, is the precondition for all of the preconditions for substantially improving any school.
Macklin (2012) has defined leadership coaching in a school context as ‘a strategy to support leaders in their efforts to become more effective leaders, to develop colleagues and to improve student learning. It builds leadership and staff capacity and uses research, theory, practice and feedback for improvement’ (6). It is, she explains, a process for building on the individual strengths of the leader in their own context, rather than providing a template of leadership capacities as a guide from which to work to address some perceived deficit. ‘This is not to say that the focus on areas of improvement in recognised leadership capabilities is
ignored, but that the important starting point is the individual leader and her/his context’ (4).
By virtue of being highly targeted and personalised to where the leader is at, where they need to go and how and when they would get there given the context they work in, coaching involves a level of challenge and support, often including questions the leader being coached would prefer were not asked. It is a process of focused, deep and purposeful leadership development that no generic leadership course can provide.
While clearly the more coaching sessions the leader can have the better, advice provided to the reviewer suggests that there needs to be a minimum of ten significant coaching sessions in a year to have any lasting impact on the leader being coached. It is recognised in this context that there may be a paucity of trained leadership coaches within the Northern Territory, necessitating a need to source coaches from outside. Should this be the case, then some sessions may need to be conducted by tele- or video-conference, but at least four of the ten sessions, including both the first two and final two in the relationship will need to be conducted face-to-face. This not only helps to ensure the necessary coaching relationship can be formed, but also provides the potential to extend some element of the coaching to the school’s leadership team.
It is suggested in this context that the Department should provide seed funding for one year to help establish coaching for principals, and where appropriate school leadership teams, on the understanding that any costs associated with maintaining the coaching relationship beyond the first year are carried by the school. Experience in some other jurisdictions suggests this is a cost the school will willingly bear because of the benefits the coaching arrangement provides.
**Building a constituency for middle schooling**
As will become evident in the discussion of systemic leadership and support (Chapter 12), there does not appear until recently at least to have been any sort of constituency for middle schooling in the Department. This is evident in the comment a number of school-based personnel made that, as one typically put it, ‘we feel as though we’re not valued in the system’. The lack of a clear vision for the middle years discussed earlier only contributes to that view. In addition, despite the fact the principals of schools providing education in these years see themselves as a group requiring a voice and have made some attempts to establish this in Darwin at least, this has not come to pass since no-one is systematically supported to make it happen, with the result the efforts have been sporadic and ad hoc.
In the course of developing the more strategic and coherent approaches to improving schooling in the middle years that this review seeks, there would seem to be significant value to be gained from fostering a leadership constituency of this sort. For example, a middle years principals group could speak with some authority on the delivery of education in their schools and plans designed to improve it. They would bring direct, day-to-day experience to the table, along with a sense of what is possible in terms of change, thereby helping to craft whole-system approaches that can genuinely work to improve outcomes for students in the phase.
It is recognised that developing such a constituency does ultimately depend on someone taking responsibility for the group, and exercising a leadership role. This in turn depends on time to undertake the task, which inevitably is difficult when combined with the challenges of leading an effective school.
In order to foster a group that potentially can contribute significantly to improving schooling in the middle years, the Department could consider providing one principal selected by their peers with additional personnel support to enable them to oversee the development of a middle years principals network to promote greater sharing of successful practices and expertise between the schools (so more can work like the best and variability between them is reduced), support each other in the implementation of change, and ensure an informed voice on middle years issues to the Department as a whole.
Beyond this, the group could be supported to organise and run a significant annual middle years leadership conference for school leadership teams which not only supports the ongoing networking that is envisaged, but also provides a forum for high level input relevant to these schools and an opportunity to review performance and plan for its further improvement over time.
**Recommendations**
7. The review notes recommendation 44 of the Indigenous Education Review (IER) aimed at implementing a range of strategies to raise the quality of principals in remote schools. It is recommended that appropriate elements of this recommendation (i.e., 44a, b and e in particular) be extended to encompass middle school principals and be developed as part of the implementation of the IER.
8. That the Department support each middle school principal and leadership team to have a leadership coach. More specifically, the Department should provide seed funding for one year to enable each principal to select an appropriate coach from an accredited panel of leadership coaches the Department identifies who will provide ten significant coaching sessions face-to-face and/or online (with at least the first and last two sessions conducted face-to-face), and ongoing liaison as needed in between. Any extension of coaching arrangements beyond one year will be at the school’s expense.
9. That the Department provide funding for personnel support to one of the middle school principals selected by their peers to establish and maintain a middle years leaders’ network that will meet regularly to: share experiences and build leadership capacity in middle schools; and serve as a conduit between the Department and its leaders in middle schools. In addition, the Department should support the conduct of an annual middle years leaders’ conference managed by the network to address significant issues and research relevant to improving schooling in this phase.
Chapter 8: Structuring provision in the middle years
The issue of structure in relation to middle years schooling is, as the COGSO submission to the review noted, not so much one of middle versus comprehensive schools, as it is a question of how well each school that caters for students in Years 7 to 9 is structured to ensure the students are known well and supported to succeed\(^{27}\). This especially is the case in light of the observation in Chapter 5 that continual change that is not bedded down has impeded the Territory from achieving the sorts of improvements that various reviews and policy changes have sought. A period of structural stability in terms of schooling for the middle years can, in this context, serve to focus attention more on the strategies the schools can adopt to work more successfully with the adolescent cohort they serve. Beyond this, as argued in the snapshot of middle school performance in Chapter 2, there is no discernable difference between middle schools in aggregate and schools providing Years 7 to 9 in a comprehensive setting, and the differences in performance that do exist relate to factors other than whether they are comprehensive or middle schools.
The fundamental point is that an effective middle school program is designed around the specific developmental needs of adolescents as outlined in Chapter 3. Since the intellectual, social, physical and emotional needs of students in this age group are different from either primary or senior school students, a customised educational program is required. The middle school should be seen in this context as a bridge between primary and senior school, with its own evidence-based approach. It is, in these terms, not so much an extended primary or miniature senior school, as a judicious blend of the two.
What we do know of adolescence suggests that teaching and learning in this phase needs to be personalised as much as possible so the students are well known. This, as Cole (2004) has observed, commonly is achieved by reducing the number of teachers with whom students interact on a regular basis, and having a stable team of teachers working with a consistent group of students with the result that higher levels of teacher-student rapport, trust and learning can be achieved. Just as important as fewer teachers for fewer students is the need for each student to have a single teacher who can act as both a mentor and role model, and the student’s main point of reference in the school. This is consistent with the findings of the National Middle Schools Association in the US (2006) that successful middle schools provide organisational structures that support meaningful relationships and learning, and is the subject of further discussion in the section on structuring to ensure students are well known, below.
An orderly learning environment
One of the key reasons for ensuring structures that ensure students are well known is that it contributes to ensuring an orderly learning environment in the school. The existence of an orderly learning environment established through positive rather than negative means, whereby there are high levels of teacher consistency about how it is ‘enforced’ and structures in place to ensure that all students are known well by at least one adult in the school emerged as a fundamental precondition for improved teaching and learning in Zbar, et. al’s (2008, 2009) research on high disadvantage, high performing Government schools.
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\(^{27}\) The COGSO submission suggests that ‘the Middle Years of Schooling are a discrete educational block, that should be underpinned by Middle Years theory, pedagogy and resources, and that the provision of Middle School premises is not a necessary requirement for the delivery of a successful Middle Years of school program’. (2)
It is interesting to note in this context, as they did in 2010, that the absence of an orderly learning environment is usually the first thing noticed in an under-performing school, and the major impediment to improvement and change. That is why the establishment of such an environment, and just as importantly the consistency of staff behaviour on which it depends, is commonly the key initial strategy for the leadership team in turning the school around. Aside from the fact you cannot have effective teaching and learning in a disorderly classroom or school, developing an orderly learning environment also provides a mechanism for getting teachers working more consistently and towards a common end. That in turn creates the basis for further united action within the school, particularly to the extent it is linked to knowing the students well, and hence developing a more personalised teaching and learning approach to ensure their needs are met.
Ensuring an orderly learning environment is especially important in middle schools given the research findings cited in Chapter 3 on the nature of young adolescents which point to the need for clear boundaries to help students manage their emotions and exercise self-control.
An examination of available discipline-related data for middle schools in the Territory suggests that significant levels of disruption do occur in most, though not all of the schools as evident from Table 6.
Table 6: Number of Years 7 to 9 students suspended and negative behaviour incidents, 2013 onwards
| School | Students suspended | Negative behaviour incidents, total notional number of days\(^{28}\) |
|-------------------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Centralian Middle School | 86 for 185 incidents | 517.5 |
| Darwin Middle School | 11 for 20 incidents | 104 |
| Dripstone Middle School | 55 for 88 incidents | 201 |
| Katherine High School | 122 for 258 incidents | 1230 |
| Nhulunbuy High School | 7 for 9 incidents | 37 |
| Nightcliff Middle School | 47 for 119 incidents | 321.5 |
| Rosebery Middle School | 89 for 183 incidents | 545 |
| Sanderson Middle School | 47 for 78 incidents | 151.5 |
| Taminmin College | 129 for 389 incidents | 981 |
| Tennant Creek High School | 28 for 53 incidents | 104 |
There are, of course, caveats to this data that need to be applied. For example, it is likely that some of the incidents and hence notional number of days affected reflect the same students infringing more than once, thereby reducing the number of students involved in recorded negative behaviours in the school. In addition, it is known that individual school policies and approaches apply across the schools which reflect different expectations and tolerances between them. Nonetheless, the message is clear that significant levels of disruption to student learning exist in middle schools, which the interviews with middle school students confirmed. This not only impacts negatively on the students involved, but also inevitably disrupts the learning of other students in the same class, deflects the teacher from their primary teaching role and hence reinforces the importance of a consistently implemented orderly learning environment in middle schools.
A key means that a number of Territory middle schools are adopting to ensure an orderly learning environment where students are well known is the use of the School Wide Positive
\(^{28}\) Negative behaviour incidents include assault, bullying, dangerous acts, inappropriate use of technology, indecent behaviour, substance use/possession, verbal abuse, violation of agreement, and weapons/property offence.
Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework that derives from the United States and is outlined in detail with links to resources on the Department of Education website.
School Wide Positive Behaviour Support is a framework designed to help schools plan and implement practices across the whole school to improve educational and behaviour outcomes for all students. The framework is founded on a positive approach to whole school wellbeing, with targeted approaches for students with higher levels of need. As such, it resonates with the research about risk and reward in adolescence, outlined earlier in Chapter 3. The framework specifically seeks to improve educational outcomes for students by:
- preventing behaviour problems and managing existing issues in positive and consistent ways;
- developing knowledge and skills in schools for better teaching and learning; and
- creating and maintaining a better school environment for students, teachers and the whole school community.
With this in mind it provides a decision-making framework for schools that uses data to guide the selection and implementation of the best evidence-based academic and behavioural practices across the whole of the school. The framework is structured around four integrated elements of: data for decision making; measurable outcomes supported and evaluated by data; practices that are evidence based and support student behaviour and learning; and systems that efficiently and effectively support staff to implement practices (see Figure 6).
Figure 6: The Four Elements of the SWPBS Framework
The framework is provided free to schools and directly links to the Safe Schools Northern Territory Strategy and Code of Behaviour. The Department’s website also includes links to such support materials as a team implementation checklist, an effective behaviour support self-assessment survey, a school-wide evaluation tool, and a behaviour report form.
The framework focuses in particular on schools identifying three to five behavioural expectations that suit the needs of the school and teachers in their classrooms and which can be positively stated in a memorable form. This, it is noted, is not always easy for schools to achieve, and requires processes that involve not only the teachers, but parents and students as well.
**Some variability of approach**
An analysis of school profiles and policies provided to the reviewer, along with information gained from visits and teleconferences, suggests that a range of strategies have been adopted to improve the orderly learning environment, with a particular focus on improving attendance which, in a number of cases has been quite low and hence a trigger point for action in the schools.
The major strategies adopted include:
- the SWPBS framework outlined above;
- a ‘Good Standing’ program which doesn’t so much replace as supplement a school’s behaviour management policy by specifying what students need to do to maintain good standing in the school;
- support for Clontarf and equivalent Girls’ Academies to improve the attendance of Indigenous students;
- the use of such attendance specific measures as school wide attendance plans and drawing on the support of Aboriginal and Islander Education Workers (AIEWs) and Home Liaison Officers;
- structured follow up to absences after a defined number of days, underpinned by the use of data to monitor this; and
- the use of pastoral care groups.
These are often supplemented by a range of curriculum-related initiatives to improve student engagement at school that centre around VET programs, and the use of Visible Learning in some schools to improve students’ chances of achieving learning success, and which commonly translates into better behaviour at school.
What strikes one most on examining the strategies used is the lack of consistency across the schools and the variability in approach between them, albeit with a growing trend towards using the SWPBS framework, which arguably should be further consolidated. A lack of consistency in itself does not mean that there are no comprehensive approaches in schools. There certainly are, with a school such as Rosebery for instance adopting both the SWPBS framework along with a resiliency and social skills program based on Covey’s *7 Habits of Highly Effective Teams*. Equally comprehensive is the Taminmin College approach which involves: the use of the recently adopted SWPBS framework to set the ground rules for behaviour; a Responsible Thinking Centre the school has established which is staffed by senior teachers to ensure constant supervision to deal with small-scale disruptive behaviour in class through a mix of getting students to reflect on their actions and the impact and then mediation between the student and their teacher to ensure better relations and behaviour in future; and a duty desk, also staffed by senior teachers on a roster, to deal with high level student misbehaviour arising from referrals teachers make. All incidents are logged and data analysed to enable positive interventions where needed from the school’s wellbeing team.
The variability is such, however, that the more strategic approaches designed to improve behaviour management and hence engagement and attendance at school, are
counterbalanced by approaches that appear more reactive to unsatisfactory situations that exist than strategically thought through. That they vary in their impact is evident in the contrasting views students gave to the online survey for the review which ranged from the observation that an orderly learning environment exists ‘because teachers are very strict’, to the view that other students are ‘extremely distracting’ because ‘bad behaviour is tolerated by most teachers’.
It is interesting to note in this context that despite the Department’s support for the SWPBS framework, and the US Department of Education’s expansive range of research and materials to support the approach, not all of the schools covered by this review have adopted it; though the number is growing. The advantage of schools coming on board with the SWPBS is that it derives from substantial research, and comes with systemic support including materials and tools that can help effective implementation at the school level; albeit more in the past, since the associated training for it has ceased.
This is all aside from the fact that the Wilson review has examined and recommended the ‘mandating’ of School Wide Positive Behaviour Support for Priority 1 schools\(^{29}\) with the advice that other schools should also adopt it (Recommendation 38) and that all schools be required to have ‘a school-wide approach to behaviour management and wellbeing’ (Recommendation 39). These recommendations reflect some positive anecdotal evidence cited by schools that are implementing the approach, including through this review, and Wilson’s observation that the ‘SWPBS program is a sound behaviour management model and has the advantage of being well-supported in a number of schools already’ (180).
This was only confirmed by the responses of middle schools using the approach, as well as parents who participated in consultations for the review. Rosebery Middle School, for example, reported a 50% reduction in suspensions between 2012 and 2013 as a result of introducing SWPBS and associated programs. The experience of Centralian Middle School was the same where, having experienced significant disorderly behaviour including violence after the school merger, the implementation of the SWPBS approach saw discipline issues and suspensions markedly decline to the point where they are described as having ‘faded’ in the school. Similarly, a concerted focus on improved student behaviour and consistent implementation of an orderly learning environment at Katherine and Tennant Creek High Schools and Sanderson and Nightcliff Middle Schools, where relatively new principals identified a particular challenge and need, has yielded positive results that can be seen in the observations in teleconference of the high school principals and in walking around the two middle schools.
At Sanderson and others, this has meant a shift from behaviour management being the responsibility of some, to it being the job of all, as has been the long-standing practice in such schools as Darwin Middle School where behaviour is generally very good, though it was reported that this was not always the case.
Nhulunbuy High School is arguably having a different experience to the others because of the economic changes that are underway. While the adoption of the SWPBS framework has helped to ensure a more consistent approach to the orderly learning environment, the fact that many families are struggling with the closure of Rio Tinto negatively impacts their children’s wellbeing and manifests in some poor behaviour at school. In response, the school has introduced a MindMatters wellbeing unit for five periods a week as a semester-length
\(^{29}\) ‘Priority 1’ are defined as those schools in which students experience the greatest disadvantage on a number of scales. The report proposes that these schools should be allocated resources and support based on the areas of need identified and should also be required to adopt specific evidence-based approaches in key areas.
subject for all Year 7 students that supports the establishment of quality relationships with one of their teachers in the school. In addition, the school has a very active and effective wellbeing team that is helping to tackle the family-based strains being reflected by some of the students at school.
It is the contention of this middle schooling review that schools could be substantially supported in their efforts to ensure an orderly learning environment where students are well known, as a precondition for further improvement of schooling in the middle years, by the adoption of a common planning framework across the Territory as a whole. The SWPBS framework is the obvious candidate for this approach not only because of the Departmental support, including materials that already exist, but also because a database of its implementation and impact already exists in a number of schools. This would allow for the coordinated provision of support to schools from the Department, consistent with Wilson’s argument about the need to restore some support for the approach\(^{30}\), and enable more systematic data collection about the impact the SWPBS approach has, to supplement the positive initial anecdotal evidence that exists. This would help consolidate and accelerate the positive gains that appear to have been made in most middle schools in reducing the incidence of bad and disruptive behaviour at school, merely by virtue of having a whole-school approach and progressively getting more consistent implementation of it by the staff.
This, it should be stated, does not mean that schools not using the SWPBS at present will be starting from scratch or even need change much. It is, for example, easy to envisage schools that use the ‘Good Standing’ program, adapting it to align to the SWPBS framework since it starts from a philosophically similar base. By way of example, Darwin Middle School, which pioneered and then shared its ‘Good Standing’ approach with other schools, uses a ‘Good Standing’ Behaviour Expectations Matrix that sets out the expectations of students across different settings, such as the classroom and the oval, matched to the four elements of respect for self, respect for others, respect for the environment and respect for learning. A flavour of the matrix can be gained from the cells for the classroom in Figure 7.
**Figure 7: Extract from Darwin Middle Schools Behaviour Expectations Matrix**
| Setting | Respect for self | Respect for others | Respect for environment | Respect for learning |
|---------|------------------|--------------------|------------------------|----------------------|
| Classroom | Attend all classes and be on time. Enter classroom in an orderly manner. Remain positive and put forth your best effort. | Listen carefully to your teacher and follow their instructions. Be courteous and respectful of others. Use appropriate language and volume. Be helpful and supportive of others. Be respectful of other people’s property. | Keep classroom clean and organised. Respect others’ belongings by not touching anything that does not belong to you. Respect the facility by not defacing desks, walls, etc. Finish food and drinks before entering the hallways and classroom. | Attend all classes. Be on time. Put forth your best effort in class. Bring all necessary equipment/resources. Do your homework. Ask questions when you are unsure. Be responsible for the time you miss from class. |
\(^{30}\)‘In recommending the adoption of this program, the key criteria are the adoption of a common approach in all Priority 1 schools (and by preference in all schools) and the provision of effective support through both professional learning and access to coaching. Other programs with a similar focus should not be supported. The review recommends that the conduct of this work may require putting resources back into the delivery of initiatives that have recently been disbanded.’ (2014:180)
This, it is noted, is supplemented by clear structures and processes to ensure that students are ‘caught’ doing good things rather than bad, and acknowledged and ultimately rewarded for this. This includes a well-supported Office of ‘Good Standing’ where students take their citations for positive behaviour from teachers to be logged and which awards bronze, silver or gold certificates after a defined number have been attained. The awarding of a gold certificate comes with a key-ring for the student’s parent to notify them of what has been achieved. While the office also logs negative behaviours which can lead to time for the student in an adjacent reflection room, the reviewer was advised that it is rarely used, and positive affirmations outrun negative notices at least four to one.
It’s an approach that dovetails closely to the SWPBS framework and suggests that it is not so much a matter of adopting something new in the schools not currently using it, as tweaking their current approach to ensure consistency with the Department-supported SWPBS framework, which in turn makes it easier to use the supports the Department provides. This is readily evident at Dripstone Middle School where its approach to SWPBS combines with a ‘Good Standing’ Approach, and even more expansively still at Rosebery Middle School where the SWPBS effectively sets the ground rules for behaviour management in the school. ‘Good Standing’ is then where all students start, with it being lost if the SWPBS is regularly infringed, and Restorative Practices are invoked if bad behaviour persists. All of this is underpinned by analysis of Student Administration Management System (SAMS) behavioural data that is available to all staff, and the school’s own scoped and sequenced wellbeing program delivered to classes each week. It’s an approach that did require training the Department initially provided and to which Wilson, cited earlier, referred in his report.
Somewhat similarly at Nightcliff Middle School, SWPBS is supplemented by a timetabled wellbeing program for all year levels once a week that comprises: ‘raising resilience’ units for each year level in term one; ‘bullying – no way’ for Year 7, ‘life choices’ for Year 8 and ‘healthy minds, bodies and lives’ for Year 9 in term two; and ‘relationships and change’ for Year 7, ‘it’s all in the mind’ for Year 8, and ‘embracing senior school’ in Year 9 in term three.
It is interesting to note in this context that there was some call from some schools for the SWPBS to be supplemented by some advice around understanding and effectively responding to students with mental health issues, or who have experienced severe trauma in their lives. This could readily be integrated as additional links and advice on the SWPBS web page, including potentially to such broader resources in use in some schools as MindMatters, especially if the SWPBS approach applies across all middle schools. The Malak Re-engagement Centre could also potentially serve as a source of advice to schools in this regard, working through the SWPBS team.
**Structuring to ensure students are well known**
Regardless of the behaviour management policy and processes the Territory elects to adopt, the research is clear that successful middle schools enable young adolescents to form relationships with adults who understand how to support their intellectual, social and emotional development. Adults who, as a number of the students who were interviewed tended to put it, ‘ask about me’.
As outlined in Chapter 3, the development of relationships whereby teachers know their students well in the middle years can play an important role in helping young adolescents to make more sensible choices at school and interact with others in more productive ways so their learning can be enhanced.
There is also a strong base of research to show that when adolescents believe that their teachers care about them, and expect them to learn at high levels, they work harder to meet those expectations. (See, for example, Scales 1999 cited by the National Middle Schools Association, 2006.) Disadvantaged students are the ones most likely to benefit from strong teacher-student relationships and, on the other side of the coin, are also the ones who disengage first when such relationships do not exist. In addition, the role of the school and its teachers in knowing students well is only enhanced by the knowledge acquired from 30 years of research in The Australian Temperament Project\(^{31}\) that ‘close relationships with others’ is a key experience shown to promote positive development of teenage children, along with school engagement which closer relations between students and teachers helps to promote.
As Scales’s meta-analysis of over 800 studies showed, ‘Schools that nurture positive relationships among students and teachers are more likely to realise the payoff of more engaged students achieving at higher levels’; though he does caution that it’s not enough to just nurture the students involved, and they need to be challenged as well. It’s a matter of simultaneously being ‘warm and demanding’ in the way that good parents are.
Research of this kind leads the NMSA to conclude that ‘certain organisational structures are most conducive to providing positive relationships’ for students in the middle years. The primary example they cite is the use of interdisciplinary teams that work together over a sustained period of time both to get to know the students well and to collaboratively plan and thereby build their own team skills. In settings where teachers deal with fewer students for more of the learning day teachers are enabled to ‘establish a culture of trust, respect, and high expectations, which encourages young adolescents to take intellectual risks and accept responsibility for learning’. Small teams and what the NMSA refers to as schools-within-a-school have also ‘been shown to make students feel safe, reducing the emotional stress that can cause them to disengage from school or exhibit aggressive behaviour’ (21).
In addition to the sort of strong relationships required, the NMSA argues for every young adolescent to have an ‘adult advocate who will champion his or her success in school’ (ibid). This reflects the findings from Zbar, et. al’s high performing schools research that a positive approach to student order and behaviour depends for its effectiveness on each student having a teacher in the school to whom they feel a bond. This can be a challenge for middle schools where commonly students experience several teachers for shorter periods of time than primary schools where they generally have one teacher for most of their week. However, the research cited is clear, and puts a premium on the structures the schools adopt to systematically connect students to teachers and thereby ensure that the students are well known; which in turn generally results in better learning outcomes for the students involved.
The most common approach that schools have adopted around the country in this regard is to use teacher-student teams that connect some teachers to students for longer periods of time. Often this involves a teacher taking the same class group for more than one subject, so they work for longer together each week, and in some cases this is extended so the teacher and class stay together for more than one year. Sometimes this is supplemented by the use of home groups which have had mixed success in schools, usually because there has been insufficient time for their operation (taking the place of a form assembly on one or more days in the week) and/or because teachers are unsure about how to use the time together with students to good effect.
\(^{31}\) Cited by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, June 2014.
Territory middle schools have generally adopted various approaches along these lines. Table 7 seeks to give a flavour of the approaches in use and signals some issues that could emerge in each case.
Table 7: Structures to help ensure students are well known
| School | The approach in use | Issues to consider |
|-----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Centralian MS | • The students do not move and the teachers come to them.
• A limited number of teachers work with smaller numbers of students to the extent this is possible in the timetable.
• Teams move with the students from year to year.
• This is all supported by having class seating plans to reduce the stress some students feel on entering a classroom about where to sit. | • The specialist teachers are not as clearly part of the process of ensuring students are well known. |
| Darwin MS | • The school tries to limit the number of teachers working with classes of students.
• Year level coordinators meet regularly with students and year level teams of teachers to analyse ‘Good Standing’ data and institute case management where required.
• Home groups operate for 15 minutes a day. | • The onus of students being known well seems to fall more on coordinators than other teachers, despite the belief that pastoral care is everyone’s business. |
| Dripstone MS | • No home groups.
• One period on a Tuesday which ensures a teacher for each cohort of students as their ‘go to’ for pastoral care — eg, the Year 7 1B History teacher is also the PBS group teacher. In their timetabled History session on Tuesday, the teacher may need to address PBS issues with the pre-arranged support of the school counsellor.
• The school attempts to have teachers take more than one subject with the same group where possible. | • The ‘go to’ teacher does not necessarily know or meet the students any more than other core subject teachers. It relies on the teacher knowing the student well by virtue of being nominated as the ‘go to’ teacher.
• It could pit the teaching of the subject against the need to address wellbeing needs and vice-versa. |
| Katherine HS | • Year level coordinator positions have been established to focus on students’ wellbeing and really getting to know the students.
• The school’s timetable has been restructured to establish a School Readiness program for Indigenous students, in the context of significant turnover that occurs, which has its own building and an | • The school is only at an early stage of spreading the capacity and responsibility to all teachers to know their students well, and there is still a heavy reliance on leaders to take on the role.
• It is work in progress at this stage. |
32 It should be noted that these structures are underpinned by a growing focus in the middle schools on transition (discussed in Chapter 11) to help ensure the students arrive at middle school better known than may have been the case in the past.
| School | The approach in use | Issues to consider |
|--------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | emphasis on literacy, numeracy and ICT. It includes a reengagement class for some students requiring reconnection to school and a ‘top end’ transition class to shift students into mainstream classes in the school.
| | • A significant group of more than 70 students has been identified as ‘at risk’, who are connected to a teacher buddy to support them.
| | • The school introduced significant extra-curricular activities led by teachers in recess and lunch breaks that have contributed to a more positive atmosphere in the school.
| | • Year coordinators and faculty seniors have been paired to work together to support English/SOSE and Maths/Science teachers in particular to get to know the students well. | |
| Nhulunbuy HS | • The school believes that its smallness makes the job of knowing students easier, which is only strengthened by the well-connected nature of the community as a whole. In addition, being comprehensive means the teachers interact with the relatively small cohort for six rather than three years.
| | • The use of the MindMatters program cited earlier at Year 7 helps to strengthen the potential for students to be well known by staff. | • The school’s size means it is unable to rotate staff and have teachers follow their students from one year to the next to get to know them even more deeply still; though it feels that this is somewhat compensated for by their teachers knowing students from Year 7 to Year 12. |
| Nightcliff MS| • There is some degree of reliance on being a small school to know the students well. There are no home groups.
| | • The timetable is structured so most teachers have two subjects with the same class and core teachers have common release time when they can discuss behaviours.
| | • Teachers are encouraged to contact families for positive as well as negative reasons, which mobiles facilitate through SMS. | • There is acknowledged variability in the extent to which teacher contact with the home occurs.
| | | • There is reliance on just timetable structures to ensure that students are well known with the result it does not embrace all teachers in the school. |
| Rosebery MS | • The school has physical Hub arrangements whereby there is a defined area for each year level. Four core teachers (2 x Maths/Science and 2 x English/SOSE) teach the students, which limits movement and increases time together. | • The specialist teachers are not involved in any structure to ensure students are well known. |
| School | The approach in use | Issues to consider |
|-----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sanderson MS | • Core teachers are also the students’ wellbeing teachers.
• The school is looking at Maths/English/Humanities/Science teachers following students from Year 7 to Year 9.
• Pairs of teachers spend 20 minutes Tuesday to Friday and an hour and 20 minutes on Monday with well-established Pastoral Care (home) Groups that receive some guidance on how to effectively use the time. | • It is acknowledged that the guidance for PCGs is not sufficiently explicit and the school would value some systemic guidance and support.
• The teachers’ connection to students’ families is variable. |
| Taminmin College| • The school has a team-based ‘pod’ structure for Year 7 that is a bit looser in Year 8 and not really present at Year 9.
• Year 7 Maths/Science and English/Humanities classes are taught by the same teachers. The school endeavours to do the same in Years 8 and 9, but this is not always possible.
• One or both of these core teachers is also the class pastoral care teacher.
• There are two pastoral care lessons a week in Years 7 and 8, and one a week in Year 9 which use a ‘rigorous’ pastoral care curriculum the year level coordinators develop that covers such material as habits of mind, setting goals, working around the school values, etc. | • The arrangement is much stronger in Year 7 than in Years 8 and 9.
• Continuity of teachers and students is variable according to other timetabling demands. |
| Tennant Creek HS| • There is no formal process in place because the smallness of the school means that ‘everyone knows everyone’ in the school.
• As behaviour improves the school is focusing more on students participating actively in class, underpinned by an effort to match the right teacher to the right group to cater for their learning needs. | • There is acknowledged patchiness in part because people are not necessarily ‘right’ in a context where some staff see student wellbeing as part of the leaders’ role rather than their own.
• This reflects a need to ensure that knowing the students well is the responsibility of every adult in the school. |
It is clear from this table that substantial variability in approach exists across the schools and that some are arguably better structured to ensure that students are well known. This can also be seen in the contrasting views that parents expressed to the online survey for the review which ranged from ‘yes my child is cared for’ to the belief ‘it is totally dependent on which teacher they have’, to the more negative sense that the teachers did not appear ‘to have taken the time … to get to know my child’. In all cases, it is possible that there are still too many students for an individual teacher to get to know really well, and there may be value in considering how the number can be reduced. That is the basis for the following sample approach for consideration by schools as they continue to work on ensuring their students are better known.
A sample approach that schools could consider
There is no doubt, as the schools themselves recognise as evidenced by the efforts recorded in Table 7, that reducing the number of teachers with whom students interact on a regular basis, and having a stable team of teachers working with a consistent group of students can prove successful in the middle years. It has even greater effect when each student also has an ‘advocate’ as their main point of reference in the school. One option to consider to potentially achieve this in a manageable way is to involve all teachers in the task. More specifically, all staff with a teaching qualification (whether timetabled for teaching or not) could be expected to serve as a ‘champion’ for a consistent group of students for the whole year.
The teacher-student ratio for schools in the Northern Territory in 2013 was just under 1:12\(^{33}\). Allowing for slippages, such as the fact there may be no point in including the principal who cannot guarantee continuity of involvement because of competing systemic and other demands, this means that the sort of arrangement outlined would see each trained teacher in the school responsible for a group of no more than 15 students; which is much less than some of the ‘pastoral’ groups currently in use in schools. While the groups can be structured in any way determined by the school, it may be best to start by basing them on year levels, in part to support the development of strong year level teams. This would also have the advantage of enabling year level coordinators to become real leaders of teams, who strategically determine how best to meet the needs of students at that year level, rather than people who are swamped with individual behavioural issues and concerns as commonly occurs when structures of responsibility for students do not exist.
Each teacher would be expected to establish a strong ‘pastoral’ relationship with their group and, most importantly, would be the first port of call for any issues that arise either from the students themselves, their teachers and/or their parents. The teacher would be responsible for the wellbeing and academic success of the students in their group and work with their students to develop appropriate individual learning and engagement plans. Such plans not only provide a means of catering for each student’s individual learning needs, but also create a mechanism for ensuring that each student is appropriately challenged and thereby progressively raising expectations in the school.
The school would need to identify blocks of time in each week for these small groups to meet and where relationships can be forged. While arrangements of this sort in schools have generally involved much larger groups, which can hamper their potential success, they also have sometimes foundered on the rock of teachers feeling ill-prepared to effectively use the time. The Department could support schools in this regard by providing materials and links to proven resources for supporting students’ own social and emotional development, such as the emerging range of positive psychology resources for teachers and students\(^{34}\), as well as resources to develop students’ study skills which have been demonstrated to positively influence their learning outcomes and success. There are also, as indicated, some materials in middle schools like Rosebery and Nightcliff on which to draw. Regardless, the materials developed will enable school leaders and their wellbeing teams to support teachers in adopting what ultimately is a more effective pastoral approach that can be implemented across the school.
It is important to emphasise that there is no suggestion that the sample approach outlined should be required of middle schools. It is purely advanced as an example to consider of how middle schools can be structured to ensure their students are well known. However, it is
\(^{33}\) [http://www.education.nt.gov.au/news/the-facts](http://www.education.nt.gov.au/news/the-facts)
\(^{34}\) See, for example, resources available through Dr Martin Seligman’s Penn Positive Psychology Centre, [http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/bio.htm](http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/bio.htm)
incumbent on all middle schools to at least examine their structures in order to ensure that all students are connected to at least one adult in the school who they feel cares about them. The Department can assist by providing models, such as the one cited above, for schools to consider and then adapt as appropriate and adopt.
The importance of doing so is only enhanced by the recommendations of the Indigenous Education Review that relate to how middle schooling is provided for some Indigenous students and, in particular, the proposal ‘that secondary education should, with some exceptions, be delivered in the NT’s urban schools in Darwin, Palmerston, Alice Springs, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Tennant Creek’ (2014:12). As Wilson observes in his report, schools will ‘need to ensure that their pastoral care arrangements are adequate to the task of supporting an increased enrolment of students who have undertaken primary, and in some cases middle, schooling in remote communities and are now living and attending school away from their home communities’ (2014:144). Aside from the piloting and relations to community the report proposes, this also puts a premium on middle schools all having the sort of structures discussed in this chapter that mean students are well known and have someone in the school who cares about them.
**Student leadership in middle schools**
One thing that a number of middle schools have begun to develop in more effective ways is the range of opportunities they provide for students to exercise leadership in the school and thereby develop as role models for others. This takes a variety of forms, as illustrated in Table 8, and always includes a Student Representative Council (SRC). It also occurs, as several of the school leaders consulted observed, in the context of the use of both the SWPBS and ‘Good Standing’ programs which are designed to promote student leadership and individual responsibility.
| School | Summary of opportunities |
|-----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Centralian Middle | - A large SRC of up to 40 comprised of students who apply to become involved to ensure participation by those who are genuinely interested.
| - The SRC meets fortnightly at lunch, supplemented by some workshops after hours for students who are able to attend.
| - The school has elected school captains but feels it needs a clearer sense of their role in the school. |
| Darwin Middle | - An elected SRC.
| - House and sporting captains.
| - A range of extracurricular opportunities that engage a significant number of students in developing a range of capabilities including leadership skills — popular ones cited include the school’s Shakespearean plays, debating and tournament of the minds.
| - Use of a student opinion survey to gain student feedback on the school and teaching which school leaders analyse and treat seriously. |
| Dripstone Middle | - SRC which runs the school’s assemblies.
| - House captains who run sports activities.
| - A ‘Tech Crew’ group that provides the technical support for assemblies and school productions. |
| Katherine High | - Having initially pushed a Student Leadership Council, it was allowed to lapse because there was no clear view of its purpose in the school.
| - This year separate middle years and senior years SLCs have been re-established which connect to the overall plans of the school. |
| School | Description |
|-------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Nhulunbuy High | - The school has also introduced an extensive camps program to engage students and provide opportunities to experience leadership.
- The school has a relatively large and effective SRC which reflects a community-minded town.
- The SRC focuses on a mix of community activities and fund raising and there is some desire among school leaders to progressively involve it in learning-related issues as well.
- Year 9 peer leaders play an active role in the Year 6 to 7 transition process.
- The school provides opportunities for individual students to exercise and/or learn about leadership such as CDU scholarships and participating in youth round tables. |
| Nightcliff Middle | - SRC that has grown in significance as it shifted from just volunteers to successful applicants for the role. |
| Rosebery Middle | - SRC of self-nominated members who gain the approval of a staff member. The SRC organises and runs the fortnightly assembly and a range of recess and lunchtime activities.
- Leadership training for SRC members.
- A range of groups to involve students in community or whole school activities — eg, the International Deforestation Action Project, Rosebery Peace Keepers Peer Support Group which tackles bullying and supports the implementation of SWPBS, and Reading Buddies whereby trained Year 7 students read with primary students once a week. |
| Sanderson Middle | - SRC comprising one elected member from each Pastoral Care Group to ensure representation.
- Sporting captains.
- The school has borrowed and used Darwin Middle’s student opinion survey.
- Student leadership is seen as somewhat thin and the school believes there’s ‘a long way to go’. |
| Taminmin College | - The school has a Student Leadership Team comprising two leaders from each year level, which meets fortnightly with the principal.
- Students commonly host school assemblies.
- The school provides and looks for opportunities for students to represent it, such as the large number of students involved in activities at the local agricultural show.
- A Year 9 Taminmin Cares program (linked to building financial literacy skills) operates whereby students raise money for a cause they have identified in their pastoral care groups. |
| Tennant Creek High | - The school has a SRC.
- A staff member is responsible for providing opportunities for students to experience and exercise leadership, such as the recent participation of some students in the youth parliament.
- The same teacher looks after a Stronger Sisters program with both a community involvement and fund-raising focus to better engage some girls in the school. |
Overall, this is a trend that should be encouraged since it contributes to improved student engagement at school, a greater willingness for students to take responsibility for the school and its activities, improved teacher/student relationships, and the development of positive role models who can influence other students in the school. As such, it arguably constitutes a fruitful topic for discussion and sharing that middle school leaders and teachers could have, and is something the sort of networks recommended in Chapters 7 and 10 could facilitate.
Recommendations
10. The review notes recommendation 38 of the Indigenous Education Review to mandate School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) for Priority 1 schools and recommends the approach also be adopted and combined with a ‘Good Standing’ approach to have maximum impact in ensuring an orderly learning environment in all middle schools.
11. That all middle schools be expected to examine their structures for ensuring students are well known by the staff and there is an adult advocate for each student in the school. The Department should provide advice and exemplars of structures that meet this need to inform school deliberations on it.
12. That existing support materials and links on the SWPBS web page be expanded to include advice and links to support schools and teachers in working effectively with students in the middle years who present with mental health issues and/or who have experienced trauma in their lives.
Chapter 9: Curriculum and assessment for the middle years
The nature of the middle school cohort has implications for the curriculum program and associated assessments for students in Years 7 to 9 as discussed in Chapter 3.
Cole (2004), for instance, has argued that curriculum programs ‘must be developed to enable all students to master essential areas of knowledge and develop necessary personal competences and values’ (6). This reflects what he describes as a ‘broad consensus that to function effectively in the information society, schooling should provide young people with the capacity and motivation to be:
- a community-builder, with strong social competencies and resilience, a positive valuing of self, and a conscious personal and social values base;
- a team worker with skills in co-operation, communication and negotiation;
- able to find, select, structure and evaluate information, to be intellectually curious and able to find problems;
- a problem-solver, complex thinker, original/creative thinker, critical thinker, intellectual risk-taker, and decision-maker;
- independent of mind, responsible, persevering, self-regulating, reflective, self-evaluating and self-correcting;
- flexible and able to adapt to change, through knowing how to learn and wanting to continue to learn throughout life.’ (4)
In this context, he argues the curriculum should ‘enable students to investigate issues that are meaningful to them, in ways that require them to use and build on existing knowledge and skills. An essential part of the formal and informal curriculum will be instruction in thinking, learning and problem-solving strategies and exposure to ways of working that build personal and group competencies.’ (ibid)
In other words, the curriculum in the middle years needs to address not only the knowledge and skills students are expected to gain, but also the processes by which this is to occur, the dispositions (or what Fadel, 2011, calls ‘character’) they need to develop and the learning habits to be attained.
This in turn, as will be seen later in this chapter, implies a greater use of substantial interdisciplinary projects that match closer to the issues young people face and care about in their everyday world. As far as the NMSA (2006) is concerned, the distinguishing feature of a challenging middle level curriculum is that it develops the students’ analytical and problem-solving skills: ‘[s]uch a curriculum blurs the artificial boundaries among subjects by tapping into young adolescents’ emerging ability to understand complex concepts and make multidisciplinary connections, while respecting their desire to see the world in terms of their personal experience.’ (9) This also has the pay-off for schools and teachers that students who experience integrated courses tend to ‘enjoy school more and have fewer disciplinary problems’. (ibid)
Clearly assessment needs to be aligned to the curriculum for the middle years and with the educational focus it adopts. As far as the NMSA is concerned, this requires a ‘comprehensive and balanced’ approach comprising assessments that ‘both diagnose students’ learning needs and evaluate their progress’. More specifically, an approach to assessment that would be familiar to most middle school professionals, in concept at least, which comprises:
- Assessment for learning — i.e., formative assessment to help teachers determine what students know and how to plan for further instruction;
• **Assessment of learning** — i.e., summative assessment after the learning process to provide evidence of students’ progress; and
• **Assessment as learning** — i.e., where students are encouraged and supported to monitor their own learning, ask questions and use a range of strategies to decide what they know and can do, and how to use assessment for new learning.
**Literacy and numeracy as the base**
Literacy and numeracy are the foundations for students to become engaged thinkers who continue to engage with learning throughout life. Despite the focus on developing what are commonly referred to as ‘21st Century skills’ (which are important as outlined in more detail below), it’s instructive to note that a workforce requirements study conducted in the United States still identified as its top four knowledge requirements English language (spoken), Reading comprehension (in English), Writing in English (grammar, spelling, etc.), and Mathematics.\(^{35}\)
What is more, literacy and numeracy has just as much relevance in the middle years as they do in primary schools, especially given the relatively high proportion of students who present as low on the NAPLAN reading and numeracy bands. (See Chapter 2.)
Of concern in this regard is that, although a Departmental Expert Literacy and Numeracy Task Force did develop a strategy to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes for the period 2010 to 2012, Wilson still concluded in his 2014 report that there are ‘no common approaches to literacy across the Northern Territory, despite well-established research about what works’ (2014:20). While the comment was specific to the primary years, and gave rise to a set of recommendations about the form that literacy teaching in particular should take, it seems from this review’s investigations that it is just as true of literacy and numeracy in the middle years.
On the flip side of the ledger, what is encouraging is the work of the Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel (referenced earlier) in its 2014 report. Of particular importance, in terms of working to ensure that evidence-based approaches are more consistently used is the panel’s recommended set of seven ‘fundamental expectations’ to inform planning, teaching and assessment at the school level. The Fundamental Expectations for Teaching Literacy and Numeracy are quoted in full because they reflect prevailing research on literacy and numeracy practices that work and go a long way towards addressing Wilson’s concern.
**The Fundamental Expectations for Teaching Literacy and Numeracy**
1. **Know what you intend students to learn and follow through on the learning intentions.**
Use the Australian Curriculum documents to identify required content and achievement standards before you begin planning. Analyse and record the important ideas that underpin the literacy and numeracy you intend your students to learn. Communicate your learning intentions clearly to students and explain to them the processes they will use as they engage in this learning:
- the main benefit of articulating learning intentions is the clarity and focus they provide for your teaching. A focus on the intention of your teaching allows you to examine student learning processes and evaluate learning outcomes more fully
\(^{35}\) *Are they really ready to work? Employers’ perspectives on the basic knowledge and applied skills of new entrants to the 21st Century US workforce*, Report of the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the Society for Human Resource Management.
intentions must be learner-focused and promote engagement with year-level appropriate content and concepts
successful and engaging teachers provide multiple opportunities for students to meet year level achievement standards
explain the language and purpose of the learning intentions and ensure that there is opportunity for students to reflect on the achievement of those intentions.
2. **Plan for teaching and learning that builds on existing knowledge, skills and experience.**
High quality, real time assessment information about what students know and can do is the starting point of your planning and teaching. By knowing students well you can plan the next steps for student learning and can both contextualise and establish a rationale for the learning:
- to fully inform teaching and learning in your classroom, gather and interrogate a range of quality sources of information about student learning. A planned assessment cycle should be established and revisited progressively throughout the year to provide information for evidence-based judgments about teaching
- approaches to teaching the content of the Australian Curriculum should be appropriate to the learner, culturally responsive, linguistically sensitive and inclusive
- evidence-based differentiation should be common practice in your classroom. This includes planning for students who are still working towards current targets and planning further challenges for those students who are ready to move beyond them
- identify the language and the embedded and implicit cultural knowledge students bring to the learning and identify which aspects of the language need to be taught.
3. **Maximise opportunities for all students to learn in a collaborative culturally responsive classroom community.**
Students come to the classroom with a range of experiences and expectations about learning and schooling:
- establish a classroom culture in which all students expect to be included and which promotes culturally and contextually responsive pedagogies
- promote engagement of students of all backgrounds and respect cultural learning and language and communication preferences
- emphasise variety in student decision making processes and promote a culture of respectful and rigorous communication.
4. **Communicate the high expectations you hold to all students.**
Hold high expectations for students and communicate those through the choice of appropriately challenging learning experiences, by modelling persistence and effort and by clearly stating your expectations for their effort and learning:
- expectations include aspirations for performance, behaviour, attendance, participation, and effort
- plan learning activities that have scope for students to excel
- model persistence, affirm persistence, and acknowledge that failure is a step on the path to powerful learning
- ensure there is explicit and ongoing feedback for students on their learning and progress so they know how well they are doing, what is missing and what you will do together to move forward
- communicate throughout teaching and learning interactions that all students can reach their potential.
5. **Develop the literacy and numeracy aspects of all domains.**
Plan to provide opportunities for teaching literacy and numeracy in all domains. Fluency in literacy and numeracy enhances study in those domains:
- identify the specific literacy and numeracy demands of all curriculum areas. You need to provide focused and purposeful teaching about these demands of literacy and numeracy so that the students are able to learn these in meaningful contexts
- presenting students with applications of literacy and numeracy across the curriculum supports students’ learning in English and mathematics
- identify and explicitly teach the associated English language needed to interpret the learning experience and context.
6. **Plan learning experiences that engage, challenge and extend students to plan and evaluate their approach to finding solutions to problems.**
Promote active and engaged learning in your classroom by providing opportunities for students to connect ideas, to explore their own strategies for solving problems and to conduct investigations, and to communicate their solution strategies to others:
- provide learning experiences that require students to plan and evaluate their approaches to finding solutions to problems
- encourage students to set their own learning goals, come to see concepts in new ways and learn to select and monitor their own strategies
- engaged and motivated students take risks in solving problems and can justify their thinking to the teacher and other students
- provide intensive scaffolding and model the reasoning process so that students can organise their thinking to reinforce concepts.
7. **Provide opportunities for students to become fluent with their literacy and numeracy.**
Planned, systematic review and practice enhances fluency in literacy and numeracy, which in turn contributes to learning in other domains:
- ensure that each student’s potential is maximised by gradually transferring responsibility for learning from teacher directed to independent performance
- plan learning sequences that develop from teacher modelling (show me), through scaffolding and support (help me), to independent practice (let me)
- emphasise the importance of fluency and provide opportunities for independent learning of key ideas and practice to fluency.
The outline of fundamental expectations is accompanied in the panel’s report by advice and recommendations on growing teacher capacity, leadership and school improvement, data analysis and interrogation, and partnerships with both communities and families and universities and professional associations. As such, it provides an important starting point for guiding and supporting middle schools to improve their literacy and numeracy approaches, and thereby raising achievement as a result. It also aligns well to the efforts already underway in some schools to use such programs as Tactical Teaching Reading and First Steps Numeracy to build the literacy and numeracy teaching capacity of their staff.
The reviewer endorses the work of the panel and in particular its recommendations to adopt the fundamental expectations and, as a priority, develop resources to elaborate and exemplify them in digital and print form drawing where appropriate on quality resources already in place, such as the Multi Year Level materials to implement the Australian Curriculum that are included on Learning Links. This dovetails neatly with a view that will emerge as this chapter unfolds that schools and teachers need more exemplars on which to draw that give life to the broader policy frameworks that exist.
It is important in this context to ensure that the fundamental expectations and associated supports do not just become another example of the implementation churn discussed in Chapter 5, whereby good ideas and intent translate into little change or impact on practice in schools. Achieving this requires the Department to commit to implementation not only on a Territory-wide basis, but to stick with it for at least three years so the approach can be embedded in schools. Beyond this, as discussed in the later section on assessment, the implementation work also needs to link to the work of the Assessment and Standards Middle Years project to ensure alignment between the efforts to improve literacy and numeracy teaching on the one hand, and their assessment on the other.
This is something that Taminmin College has sought to tackle by engaging Griffith University, at considerable expense to the school, to deliver an Accelerating Literacy program to its Year 7-10 English, science and SOSE staff. Amongst other things, the program has seen the introduction of PAT Reading tests for the first time in the school, which were analysed and used to create a data wall with photos of students aligned to the results, with a view to determining what is needed for each student to improve and then charting the progress they make after they are tested again. In addition, ten teachers are being trained through the project to ensure the program is sustainable once the university’s participation ends.
There was some significant concern expressed in this context in some schools about their teachers’ capacity to really improve literacy and numeracy outcomes in the middle years, especially given the spread of student achievement levels in most middle school classrooms. The Taminmin effort aside whereby the school is spending substantial funds to craft a solution itself, the concern expressed by schools may suggest a need for some targeted systemic coaching, consistent with the efforts some schools are making (and which the following chapter on pedagogy suggests should be generalised) to implement an explicit teaching approach to literacy and numeracy so it can be used to good effect.
More specifically, schools could be supported to identify one or more literacy and numeracy leaders in each middle school who can be trained in evidence-based literacy and numeracy improvement approaches for students in the middle years and how to support other teachers in their school to implement these. To be effective and enable such literacy and numeracy leaders to have an impact in their schools, the approach would need to be maintained for a minimum of three years.
While the Department could charge its Assessment and Standards Middle Years project consultants with the task of identifying the appropriate literacy and numeracy programs to adopt to underpin training of school-based literacy and numeracy leaders, the reviewer can advise on two to consider that align to the research on what works and, in the case of the literacy program in particular, has already succeeded in turning around literacy results to scale.
- **Literacy** — The Northern Metropolitan Region in Victoria saw NAPLAN literacy outcomes markedly improve as a result of adopting Munro’s High Reliability Literacy Teaching Procedures\(^{36}\), and training leaders in schools to support teachers in ensuring they are consistently used. More recently the approach, which aligns closely to the seven expectations cited above, has been used to inform the development of programs in reading and writing by the ACER Institute which have been piloted prior to broader delivery through the Institute which has registration as a higher education provider. The courses, developed with Munro’s involvement, can be taken online as well as face-to-face and are suitable for the purpose of training leaders in schools to then work with others
---
\(^{36}\) For further information on the procedures see Hopkins, D. et. al. (eds.) (2011), Chapter 5, and a wide range of resources available at [http://www.aiz.vic.edu.au/Resources/?cid=35](http://www.aiz.vic.edu.au/Resources/?cid=35)
on implementation across the school. In addition, ACER will be seeking to have them accredited so they can result in a Graduate Certificate being awarded for completion.
- **Numeracy** — Similarly, the ACER Institute has drawn on Munro’s work in the numeracy domain to develop a companion ‘Teaching of Mathematics’ program that has similar characteristics and potentially will result in a Graduate Certificate as well.
The other program that could be considered, particularly as an intervention for students ‘at risk’, is Direct Instruction as recommended by the Indigenous Education Review for primary schools.
**Interdisciplinary projects in the middle years**
An examination of curriculum offerings across the middle schools reveals substantial consistency about the core subjects that all students in Years 7 to 9 should undertake. English, Mathematics, Science and Humanities (sometimes in the form of Studies of Society and the Environment, sometimes as Humanities and sometimes as History/ Geography) are compulsory in all the schools, while some also require their students to undertake Health and Physical Education. This not only reflects the basics of middle school programs around the country, but also accords with the core program that Year 6 students who were interviewed for the review wish to pursue, with science a particular interest they have since it doesn’t feature prominently in their primary schools. How enjoyable the students find this curriculum appears from the responses a number made to the online survey for the review to depend as much on what they think of their teachers as the content itself, with an almost even split between those who enjoy learning at school and those who do not, commonly describing it as ‘boring’.
The compulsory subjects are supplemented by electives from which students can choose, which differ a little between the schools but, in general, cover one or more of the arts (music, dance, drama), languages, technologies of various sorts (from wood work to digital technology, to multimedia, robotics and more), home economics and in the case of Taminmin, agriculture which makes use of its farm.
Some schools also have accelerated programs for gifted students such as Dripstone Middle School’s classes for students of high potential and Taminmin College’s ‘Leading Learner’ program for students from Year 7 through to Year 10.
There is also substantial documentation related to curriculum offerings within some middle schools. Rosebery Middle School provides a case in point where a whole school curriculum and assessment plan sets out contextual school information and data, the strategies being pursued to improve teaching and learning in the school, curriculum unit overviews by learning area and year level that enact content descriptions presented in the Northern Territory Scope and Sequence and where appropriate cross referenced to the Australian Curriculum and National Standards, and an assessment unit overview by learning area. This plan is then supplemented by a useful programming rubric to guide whole school curriculum planning, and an outline of separate Year 7, 8 and 9 integrated activities embracing the various subjects and electives, though arguably less well-developed than the sort of interdisciplinary projects for engaging adolescents in deeper learning that are suggested below.
It has to be acknowledged in this context that substantial curriculum support does exist for middle years teachers in the Northern Territory, though the extent to which it is used is unknown.
An examination of the three updates on Implementing Australian Curriculum\textsuperscript{37} that are included on the Department website, for instance, advises principals and teachers that they can access:
- dedicated science and history pages on Learning Links that include ‘a comprehensive range of resources, advice, teaching materials and professional learning courses to support implementation’;
- Northern Territory Multiple Year Level Scope and Sequences which describe the intended curriculum using content descriptions (scope) for English, Mathematics, Science and History organised by year level, across school terms and by units of work (the sequence)’ that schools are expected to use to inform their whole school, year level and classroom plans;
- planning support such as a Whole School Curriculum and Assessment Plan Template that reflects the Multiple Year Level teaching materials; and
- a relatively newer page that was added to Learning Links for Geography.
These resources are all found on Learning Links which is described as ‘our “one stop” shop’, providing regularly updated information, advice, teaching materials and resources for teachers and principals to use. In addition, schools have access to Scootle\textsuperscript{38} which supports the implementation of the Australian Curriculum by providing an array of digital resources online.
Learning Links provides schools and teachers with planning advice for whole school curriculum and assessment plans, and year level plans aligned to Multiple Year Level (MYL) or Curriculum into the Classroom (C2C) materials to be developed collaboratively by teaching teams, along with unit and lesson plans that teachers can use in class. The advice recommends backward planning from achievement standards to identify a learning goal and how students will demonstrate their learning. From this, assessment plans and then the teaching and learning sequence can be developed. The site also includes some professional learning packages that schools can use.
Schools and teachers are advised to look for connections between learning areas and the integration of strands within learning areas to provide rich, authentic learning experiences. Whether sufficient capacity exists in schools for this to effectively occur, not to mention time, is a moot point and suggests, as will be seen as the discussion unfolds, a need for richly-illustrated exemplars on which schools and teachers can draw.
The reviewer was advised that there are more than 2,500 separate documents on Learning Links which does present a challenge about how teachers navigate the site to find what they want. This is illustrated by a search the reviewer undertook to find either a Year 7, Year 8 or Year 9 interdisciplinary unit of any sort. In each case, the only response from the search engine for Learning Links was ‘Big Ideas: A Close Look at the Australian History Curriculum from a Primary Teacher’s Perspective’. Similarly searches for integrated units elicited a range of subject-specific MYL Unit Plans.
It is acknowledged that there is a vast repository of useful material on Learning Links but putting it together into a coherent program, especially one that includes interdisciplinary projects of any sort, is a difficult task and requires substantial input and time. This arguably is why the schools visited indicated the use of Learning Links by teachers was patchy at best, despite the quality of what it contains. It’s an excellent support for a highly engaged and capable teacher, but probably less helpful for someone who is not, but who is also more of
\textsuperscript{37} February 2013, May 2013 and July 2013.
\textsuperscript{38} \url{http://www.scootle.edu.au}
the target for its use. There remains a sense that the site requires teachers who aren’t necessarily the best, but are still eager to improve, to develop high quality approaches themselves, rather than showing them explicitly curriculum (and associated teaching and learning and assessment approaches) they can use to better effect, which in turn helps equip them to improve.
Beyond this, while the rich vein of subject-based and literacy and numeracy support available is necessary to ensure effective curriculum design and delivery in the middle years of school, it is not necessarily sufficient for ensuring that young adolescents are effectively engaged at school and developing outcomes that prepare them for success in a pathway of their choice; especially since the sort of curriculum on offer across the schools as outlined earlier is the type of curriculum that has only achieved moderate success in Years 7 to 9 both in the Territory and other states and territories.
As already indicated in Chapter 3, substantial research examined by the NMSA in particular suggests that a challenging middle level curriculum ‘blurs the artificial boundaries among subjects by tapping into young adolescents’ emerging ability to understand complex concepts and make multidisciplinary connections’ (9). Effective middle level teachers the Association argues on the basis of these remarks, ‘design classroom activities around essential questions that address both the goals of instruction and students’ interests’ (*ibid*).
This in turn enables the construction of a curriculum to address each of the dimensions of what Fadel (2011), who is a co-founder of the internationally influential Center for Curriculum Redesign, refers to as ‘21st century needs’ — i.e.:
- **Knowledge** — there is, he suggests, a *‘profound need to rethink the significance and applicability of what is taught, and in concert to strike a far better balance between the conceptual and the practical’* (1) both to make the content relevant and hence more engaging for students and meet broader economic and societal needs.
- **Skills** — including the higher order skills of creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration, that often are neglected because they are squeezed out by the sheer amount of content the curriculum contains.
- **‘Character’** — the sort of behaviours, attitudes and values that enable young people to *‘face an increasingly challenging world’* (2). These, he suggests, include both performance (eg., adaptability, persistence and resilience) and moral (eg, integrity, justice, empathy, ethics) related traits.
- **Meta-Layer** — the learning related capacities that enable young people to apply and transfer what they learn, build expertise, develop their creativity and establish the habits of lifelong learning.
This challenges schools to devise a curriculum that not only ensures the essential knowledge is addressed, but in ways that enable the students to develop the sought after character dispositions, learning capacities and skills. Interestingly, this also accords with the desire a number of students who were interviewed expressed for more ‘real world’ learning where they are academically challenged, but can also work on something that interests them. Amongst other things this provides a means of making learning at school more interesting so students are not bored as a number of respondents to the online survey seem to be.
For Fadel (2010, 2014) at least, what is needed is to rebalance the current curriculum structure and delivery away from the heavy emphasis on direct teaching, at the expense of inquiry towards a greater focus on inquiry-based projects where direct instruction still plays an important role. The curriculum, he suggests (2010), should focus more on interdisciplinary projects and the opportunities for projects that can be devised, consistent with the NMSA argument above, as illustrated in Figure 8.
Apart from the fact that an interdisciplinary approach is more like ‘real life’, it provides a means of complementing subject-specificity with a focus on character, learning processes and skills. It also aligns to the advice of Salyers and McKee cited in Chapter 3 that students in this phase of schooling can benefit from an approach that poses more essential questions and/or problems to solve.
This is not to suggest that single subjects ought disappear from the curriculum in middle schools, but rather to signal that opportunities should be sought for an interdisciplinary approach to be used where it contributes to meeting the knowledge and skills requirements young adolescents have. Nor does it mean neglecting the requirements of the Australian Curriculum, but rather the need to look for linkages in the curriculum around significant ‘big ideas’ leading to a substantial product from the students that can meet a range of outcomes in different domains. It could also mean examining the range of electives on offer in schools to determine if they are the best fit for meeting the learning requirements today’s students have. It’s an approach that the Griffith University personnel working at Taminmin were reported as advocating, and that also fits neatly with the emphasis some of the schools have had on ensuring what Rosebery Middle School, channelling some others as well, refers to as an ‘ICT enabled and enriched curriculum … (using) a range of tools to support 21st Century teaching and learning … in an ever-changing technological world’.
Ensuring there are more such projects in the mix requires some quality exemplars on which schools and teachers can draw. There is, as Fadel (2011) notes, ‘little in terms of teacher expertise in combining knowledge and skills in a coherent ensemble, guiding materials and assessments’ (2). Hence it is unrealistic to expect that teachers will inevitably get there on their own and, in particular, that they will do so at scale. Developing quality exemplars, or what the AEU referred to in a briefing session as ‘templates’ for teachers to start, is ultimately a systemic task that requires time, research, collaboration, trialling and amendment as needed to ensure the exemplars do meet the needs of students in the cohort and will be used by teachers because they are too good to ignore. The extent to which teachers use the exemplars that are developed then only contributes to building capacity across the system as a whole.
Once again, this is not work that needs to start from scratch, in that a range of quality curriculum materials already exist to inform the work, primarily on Learning Links and Scootle as outlined above. However, it does require a dedicated project and dedicated resourcing for appropriately qualified staff.
Such exemplars would go beyond the specification of the interdisciplinary project itself (i.e., its focus, the disciplines addressed, and how they are integrated, the product to be developed, etc.) to also encompass:
- pedagogical advice to support the use of more evidence-based approaches and, where appropriate, innovative practices in class;
- suggested assessments and rubrics aligned to the Australian Curriculum, clear success criteria for the project and its outcomes, and samples of work that meet and exceed the criteria;
- suggested extensions for students capable of higher levels of achievement; and
- recommended follow-up interdisciplinary projects that teachers and students could undertake.
While not in any way mandatory for teachers to use, it is expected that the richness of such comprehensive and integrated interdisciplinary project advice could help transform the curriculum in middle schools in ways that reflect the needs of young adolescents in the stage, and help lift teacher performance by supporting more effective pedagogical practices in classrooms, with the result that student learning outcomes can be expected to improve.
**An important role for VET**
To some extent, another version of interdisciplinary projects with a substantial product at the end, which meets the needs of a significant proportion of students in the middle years, are the VET courses that middle schools offer, supplemented by the important program offered by the Darwin Area Middle Years Training Centre (DAMYTC).
The DAMYTC, co-located with Nightcliff Middle School, comprises three classrooms that accommodate up to 14 students each, and provides metals-based VET courses for students related to employment opportunities in mining and the major new INPEX gas project in Darwin. The programs include a heavy emphasis on Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and the acquisition of certificates through the Centre’s Registered Training Organisation, Charles Darwin University. The Centre can cater for 120-140 students each attending one day a week from all of the Darwin-based middle schools — currently three groups from Darwin Middle School, two groups each from Dripstone, Rosebery and Sanderson Middle Schools, and one group from Nightcliff Middle School. The Centre sees itself as providing both options for students, including some whose literacy and numeracy is weak, to work towards a certificate and an employment-related outcome, and a taster for some higher achievers who are deciding on the pathway they want to take. As such, it’s an educational VET option that students in middle schools could not otherwise get, which has an important role that ought to be recognised and valued in curriculum provision for a significant number of Year 9 students in middle schools.
Another program of particular importance in this regard is the development of the Employment Pathways model, since the Indigenous Education Review recommends it should be trialled and evaluated in Tennant Creek and Katherine High Schools along with two remote schools, and considered as potentially applicable to all urban middle and senior schools (Recommendation 30).
The Employment Pathways model has been developed by the Department to assist schools to provide an alternative, employment-focused pathway as an option for students who are not seeking to gain an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR). It is designed to engage them in hands-on learning and provide them with the skills they need to get jobs. The model, as Wilson observes, ‘could be the primary model for many students’ and, he suggests, is ‘particularly applicable to remote Indigenous students entering secondary education because it addresses the demonstrated critical gaps in their education to that point and provides students with a clear reason to attend school and a line of sight from school to employment … (and also) to non-Indigenous students interested in going straight to employment or further training’ (149).
The model, which is in the process of being fully developed and implemented by the Department’s Industry, Engagement and Employment Pathways Team (which is why Wilson recommends trialling it first) includes: a vocationally focused program preparing students from employment pathways supported by online resources from the Pre-VET™ package in the middle years; an employment-focused VET program following a clear and staged model; a VET-based leadership program associated with an engagement program such as Clontarf, Girls Academies or Cadets; an industry engagement plan incorporating an industry placement program; online resources for Stage One and Two subjects; and middle years subjects focusing on mathematics, English, science and civics and citizenship from the Australian Curriculum framework. The stages of the model aligned to different year levels is provided as Appendix 3 to the report.
The Employment Pathways model effectively constitutes something of a blended mixture of the academic and vocational pathways for students, between the ATAR-driven academic pathway and the vocational pathway combining compulsory NTCET Stage One subjects and NTCET-credit gaining VET programs already familiar to schools.
By offering a clear pathway through school to a job, the model helps answer the question some students have of ‘why bother to come’, and hence potentially contributes to improved attendance at school and engagement once there. As such, it is just as applicable to middle as to senior schools, and ought be considered within the context of the regular review of curriculum provision that schools conduct once the Katherine and Tennant Creek High School trials have been evaluated and their outcomes disseminated by the Department to schools.
**Assessment for improved learning in the middle years**
In his advice for improving educational outcomes in the Territory, Masters (2011) highlighted the importance of ‘establishing where students are up to in their learning’ as the basis for ‘implementing effective, evidence-based interventions and learning strategies tailored to students’ current levels of progress and learning needs’ (4). This, he suggested, requires access to tools for this purpose, such as standardised literacy and numeracy tests and more fine-grained diagnostic instruments to better understand why students are performing as they are.
This, as foreshadowed in the discussion of some important recent initiatives in Chapter 4, is part of the remit of the Assessment and Standards Middle Years project that will operate until the end of 2016. The project is pursuing a range of outcomes and outputs detailed in the earlier chapter which, if successful, will help to ensure a more coherent assessment regime exists in Territory middle schools that reflects high expectations for all students,
makes valid and reliable judgments particularly in relation to A-E gradings in the school, and is used to inform teaching to enable the full range of student learning needs to be met.
One early activity the project consultants undertook, with a group of four pilot schools, was to survey them about current assessment practices to gain an understanding of the extent to which a consistent approach exists. The survey asked the 18 questions which are provided as Appendix 4 to this report.
While the detailed data arising from the survey is confidential to the consultants themselves, in accordance with guarantees provided to the schools involved, the clear message from it to which the consultants point is the lack of consistency across the four schools. Put simply, a variety of assessment modes and strategies are employed and there is no consistency to how assessment is used to ensure that teachers do, in Masters’ terms, really know where students are up to so they can support them to reach the next learning stage.
This is not to suggest that there is insufficient assessment occurring in all middle schools. There is certainly lots of it going on. As indicated earlier, for instance, Rosebery Middle School’s whole school curriculum and assessment plan sets out both the systemic and school-based assessments used, including school wide ACER online testing and has a colour coded matrix of assessments conducted in different subject areas as evident from the sample for English and Mathematics provided as Figure 9.
Figure 9: Overview of timing of school assessments by year level and learning area – Extract for English and Maths; Rosebery Middle School
The issue however is, as the consultants have observed the lack of consistency between the schools and the consequent variability in the quality and effectiveness of the approach, as evident from Table 9.
Table 9: Summary of assessment approaches in middle schools
| School | Assessments — Major features |
|-----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Centralian Middle | • All students undertake On Demand testing to establish a performance benchmark. |
| | • They then undertake PAT Maths testing in paper form. |
| | • Do On Demand testing again. |
| | • Do Probe Reading to test for comprehension. |
| | • The data is triangulated to provide a deeper understanding of where each student is at, and hence needs to go. |
| Darwin Middle | • All students undertake ACER testing supplemented by class cohort tests and the school has convinced its primary feeder schools to now do the same. |
| | • Having used these for four years, the school feels it needs to get more rigorous about analysing the data to identify where students are at and how they can be supported to move to the next stage in their learning. |
| School | Assessment Practices |
|-------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Dripstone Middle | - Teams of teachers build assessment pieces to supplement ACER testing and then moderate the outcomes.
- The school is adopting On Demand testing.
- It has identified common assessment tasks for each year level in each subject to get greater clarity about the criteria for making judgments, and teachers moderate around these. |
| Katherine High | - Probe Reading, PM Benchmarking for Reading and a New Zealand Maths Assessment are all used for the (Indigenous) School Readiness Group, and there is an intention to spread these through the school.
- As the first phase of realising this intention, all students undertake testing around literacy, numeracy and problem solving to identify students who need the sort of testing undertaken by the School Readiness Program group. |
| Nhulunbuy High | - The Australian Curriculum was used as a catalyst to establish a comprehensive assessment plan across the school from Year 7 to Year 12.
- A range of tests including PAT tests are used to assess literacy and numeracy, though this doesn’t necessarily apply to all students and the school is seeking to bring this about. |
| Nightcliff Middle | - The school has been using WIAT-II tests for sight reading, spelling and number but is concerned that sight reading does not address comprehension and number is too limited.
- Some time ago it bought the licence for ACER PAT tests, which are used in its feeder primary schools, but at the time the reviewer visited, were yet to be administered. |
| Rosebery Middle | - The school has a whole school curriculum and assessment plan that is under further review and development.
- It uses ACER testing in science, general ability, comprehension and maths for all students in terms one and three.
- Reframing Mathematical Thinking pre-tests are used to identify students’ zone for instruction and then post-tests for progress.
- Specialised testing is used as needed. |
| Sanderson Middle | - The school recently commenced ACER testing.
- It is implementing Probe Reading this year.
- The school believes it has ‘lots of data but not much analysis of it’. |
| Taminmin College | - The school introduced PAT Reading testing as part of its project with Griffith University.
- In 2014 it has introduced On Demand testing and is at the stage of administering it for the first time.
- The school is now at the stage of ‘making sense of’ the assessment data it has collected. |
| Tennant Creek High | - The school administers PAT tests and PM Benchmarking for Reading.
- It was also selected for the trial of the NAPLAN online.
- The school gathered the PM Benchmarking data from its feeder primary schools which also use it, as the basis for tracking student progress and informing support to both the high and low achieving students it enrolls. |
It is clear from this table that, although a number of objective testing programs are in use, there is no common and consistent test to supplement NAPLAN to inform school and system level monitoring of performance and hence planning to improve. This is something that ought to be addressed, and there would seem to be two prime candidates for filling the gap—ACER tests or On Demand, or preferably a combination of the two to enable triangulation of the results for gaining an even better understanding at the school and system level of what students achieve in the middle years.
ACER provides fee-for-service Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) in comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and grammar, written spelling, mathematics and science all up to Year 10 that can be completed on paper or online. The advantage of using ACER tests is that a number of schools already use these, along with their feeder primary schools in some cases, and hence are familiar with the approach. The PAT tests also are supplemented by resources to support teachers in responding to the results identified by the tests.
On Demand testing is an online resource for teachers to use when, where and how they choose that can be used pre-and post-teaching a topic of work, primarily in English and Maths. The advantage of On Demand testing is that the Northern Territory already has the licence for it so it is free to use by schools. In addition, it’s an adaptive testing regime that delivers sets of questions to students that vary according to their ability and depend on their responses to previous questions, which means the students undertaking it move forward after experiencing some success. It is also aligned to the Australian Curriculum.
The decision about which if not both of these sets of tests to adopt on a systemic basis is really a judgment call, but the decision to have a common and consistent approach is not if middle schooling is to move forward in a planned, systematic way, with clear oversight of performance from the system as a whole. There may be value in this context in giving the Assessment and Standards Middle Years project the task, in consultation with middle school principals, of identifying the recommended approach with a view to whole of Territory implementation in 2015. As part of this work, the project team could also be asked to investigate and recommend on the potential to extend the assessment regime adopted to Years 5 and 6 in primary schools, and Year 10 in the senior secondary schools to facilitate better monitoring of student performance across the two divides, and an information flow that can help ensure more seamless transitions between Years 6 and 7 and then Years 9 and 10.
Beyond this, the Department, as noted earlier, has established the SAIS to provide ‘a one stop shop for teachers, principals and schools to create, record and report on student assessments’, and it should be expected that the agreed ACER and/or On Demand data from schools be included on it, along with school-based A to E assessments to ensure a comprehensive data base of student performance in Territory middle years schools.
Aside from this issue of consistency, other common messages to emerge from the Assessment and Standards Middle Years consultants’ analysis of the survey results were that: significant variations exist within the schools in terms of teacher knowledge about the existence of school assessment policies/plan/coordinators; it does not appear as if teachers are confident or experienced in differentiating assessment tasks; student/self/peer monitoring or assessment is not particularly common; some schools clarify their assessment criteria for students while others do not; a tendency exists to limit data to NAPLAN or other external data to the detriment of school-based measures; there is limited evidence of assessment data being analysed to inform teaching and learning in class; the quality of feedback to students is variable; there is no standard means of recording student progress within or across schools; and teachers themselves are confident that they make consistent and comparable judgments though this view is not necessarily shared by those beyond the schools.
There is also arguably no real knowledge within the system as a whole about the assessment practice and levels of achievement in middle schools, which this project is seeking to redress, and although schools do produce assessment tasks themselves, it appears as if they often are not particularly rich with the result that the evidence for the A-E rankings that are made
is somewhat thin. In a number of cases, it was suggested through a range of discussions conducted for the review, the students are not even able to achieve an A or B ranking because the low expectations of teachers for the students limits their judgments to the C to E range. This in turn reflects the view again expressed in interviews and focus groups that although some schools have written assessment policies in their handbooks, they are not necessarily explicitly shared throughout the school and then used. Beyond this, there was some suggestion as leaders in one school visited put it, that ‘we have no shared sense of what a “C” means in this school or across schools … We need more information about what different grade levels mean’.
The other concerning suggestion to emerge from discussions around the review was the view of some that there are times when students are treated for assessment purposes more like senior students in Years 10-12 than middle school students in Years 7-9. This comment derived from a view which some of the schools visited confirmed that sometimes schools and teachers are setting very high stakes assessments accounting for a very large proportion of the student’s assessment in the subject for the year — with percentages as high as 40-60% cited for a single assessment task — often without the opportunity to redress a failure to perform with the result the student is set back at an early stage for the whole of the year, and arguably their time at middle school.
Suffice to say that these anecdotal observations, together with the lack of consistency surfaced by the survey cited above, only highlights the importance of the Assessment and Standards Middle Years project that is underway. The observations also highlight the importance of adopting a common assessment regime along the lines recommended to improve the quality of assessments, strengthen the consistency of good assessment practice across the middle schools, and contribute to systemic monitoring of middle school student performance as a result.
While a wide range of key performance indicators for the Assessment and Standards Middle Years project exist, including professional development to improve assessment and data literacy, sample assessment plans, vignettes of quality practice and so on, perhaps the key to developing school and teacher capacity in this regard is to produce rich exemplars of quality assessment strategies that teachers can use, aligned to both the literacy and numeracy standards to be achieved by students in Years 7 to 9 and the interdisciplinary projects recommended above. Such exemplars should extend beyond just an outline of the assessment tasks themselves, to include success criteria to be shared with students that make clear the standard of performance to be achieved, along with work samples illustrating work that meets the standard so teachers and students know what it looks like. By showing teachers what more effective assessments look like in practice, and providing the professional development the project envisages, the Department can help to raise the level of data and assessment literacy across the middle schools and hence the validity and reliability of the judgments that teachers make.
Finally, in endorsing the Assessment and Standards Middle Schools project work, the review would reiterate the importance already noted in Chapter 4 and its consequent recommendation aimed at ensuring the work of this project and the Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel are appropriately aligned. Already a degree of overlap exists with recommendations from the Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel that relate to developing whole school assessment plans, leaders working with staff to analyse whole school data and student performance including for example the On Demand tests, teachers using identified student assessment tools and a data recording system to track the growth in student achievement, and the use of data as a basis for feedback to students and determining the next stage of teaching and learning. To the extent these two worthwhile endeavours are
brought together, it will help dispel any potential confusion about directions and strategy advice at the school level, and ensure that greater systemic consistency prevails.
**Recommendations**
13. The review notes and endorses the seven fundamental expectations identified by the Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel to inform planning, teaching and assessment of literacy and numeracy in middle schools and the development of support materials and professional development aligned to these.
14. That the Department support training of one literacy and numeracy learning leader in each middle school in proven programs for significantly improving literacy and numeracy outcomes for students in Years 7 to 9, and working with other teachers in the school to implement them. The specific training programs to be used should be determined on the basis of advice from the Assessment and Standards Middle Years Project team after consideration of programs available, including the Munro-designed ACER literacy and numeracy programs outlined in this report and Direct Instruction advocated in the IER. The approach adopted should be implemented for a minimum of three years, with a review of implementation and impact in year three to determine if any extension is required.
15. That the School Support Division initiate a project to develop an initial set of two quality interdisciplinary project exemplars for each of Years 7, 8 and 9, comprising:
- advice on the learning intentions and content for the project;
- the pedagogy for teaching it effectively;
- assessments, along with success criteria, rubrics and work samples;
- links to the Australian Curriculum standards;
- advice on extending higher performing students; and
- suggested follow up topics, themes and activities.
The project exemplars developed should be trialled in at least two middle and two comprehensive schools to be amended as needed and provided to schools and teachers to adopt and use as they deem appropriate. Following implementation, a feedback loop should be established whereby schools and teachers are encouraged to develop their own interdisciplinary projects and/or improve on the exemplars with a view to submitting these after successful use in schools for quality assurance and inclusion on Learning Links.
16. The review notes recommendation 30 of the Indigenous Education Review to trial and evaluate the Employment Pathways Model in four schools and recommends that, if successful, the outcomes be advised to all middle schools to inform curriculum planning and provide a means of ensuring a blended learning opportunity is available so the learning needs of all students can be met.
17. That all middle schools be expected to implement a common and consistent assessment regime to support the monitoring and improvement of student achievement within and across schools. The nature of the assessment regime should be determined by the Department on the advice of the Assessment and Standards Middle Years Project team in consultation with middle school principals, with specific consideration given to ACER PAT and On Demand tests which are already in use in a number of schools. In addition, all schools should be expected to include their test data, along with teachers’ A to E assessments on the Student Assessment Information System the Department maintains. The Assessment and Standards Middle Years Project team should also consider and
advise on the applicability of extending the approach from Year 5 to Year 10 to support the flow of information to improve transition between Year 6 and Year 7, and then Year 9 and Year 10.
Chapter 10: Pedagogy for the middle years
At its simplest level, the NMSA (2006) suggests that successful middle schools need to be able to provide ‘multiple learning and teaching approaches that respond to students’ diversity’ (4). Masters (2011) takes this a stage further by arguing that improved literacy and numeracy performance in particular requires the implementation of ‘effective, evidence-based teaching strategies tailored to the students’ current levels of progress and learning needs’ (6).
Central to this, according to Cole (2004), is the need for the student to be ‘identified as an active agent in their own learning and be provided with all necessary coaching and peer support to see the purpose of specific learning activities and achieve agreed essential learning outcomes’ (7). It is important in this context that teachers adopt ‘a variety of teaching methods to avoid the predictable and routine’ (ibid).
Hattie (2003) has demonstrated that teachers and, even more particularly their teaching, is the variable within the control of the school that has the biggest impact on student learning outcomes.
That said, we also know that not all teachers have the same effect. Figure 10 illustrates the difference in student learning outcomes generated by the highest and lowest-performing teachers in the US state of Tennessee (Sanders and Rivers, 1996). The greatest source of improvement in schools comes from narrowing this gap by supporting more teachers to work like the best teachers in the school, with the result that consistently better teaching occurs in each and every class.
Figure 10: The Difference Teachers Make (Source: Sanders and Rivers, 1996)
Good planning, and especially collaborative planning, is arguably the key means to support more teachers to work like the best. More specifically, teachers need to plan lessons/units that will effectively achieve their purposes and ensure that student learning occurs. Using an instructional model can help to improve teacher planning in schools.
A number of middle schools have begun to go down this path, as evident in Table 10, though as has been the story throughout this report, it is a path that has been inconsistently trod, sometimes with a clear instructional model to adopt, sometimes with something more rudimentary and sometimes not at all.
| School | Key features of the approach in use | Issues to consider |
|-----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Centralian MS | • Visible Learning is used by schools in the Central Region. (Note: There is consideration within the Department for it to be extended to other regions, and the Wilson review recommends it should be more widely used.)
• The school has an instructional model through Visible Learning that is referenced below. | • The instructional model in use could be made more useful still with the inclusion of planning questions for teams to consider, as outlined below. |
| Darwin MS | • The school promotes a focus on ‘what we’re learning, why we’re learning’ what will be the outcome’.
• It is also looking at Visible Learning. | • It was acknowledged that learning intentions, which really frame effective planning of lessons/units by teachers, can be limited in the school. |
| Dripstone MS | • The Australian Curriculum is being used to promote more explicit and rigorous teaching approaches.
• Teachers do plan curriculum delivery collaboratively. | • There is no common instructional model in use to give more substance to teacher planning.
• The planning is variable though, it was suggested, improving. |
| Katherine MS | • The school uses Marzano’s instructional strategies for effective teaching and learning to develop consistent teaching approaches and classroom routines, with a particular focus on differentiating instruction to meet diverse learning needs.
• This is underpinned by the development of better documented teaching programs and assessments for all core subjects to inform the development of lesson plans. These are developed as multi-level programs with a variety of embedded support and linked to student workbooks that form part of their assessment for the year. | • The approach was described as a very slow process in terms of take-up by teachers, reflecting variations in capacity in the school and a lack of understanding in some cases of evidence-based pedagogical strategies to use. |
| Nhulunbuy HS | • The school is looking at both Visible Learning and Marzano’s approach and has constituencies that support each. The approaches are beginning to be used by teachers to inform planning, teaching and assessment and the school intends to commit to one of them by the end of 2014. | • It is very early days in teachers using an instructional model in the school. Exploring two models has the advantage of testing out the best approach to adopt, but could generate some confusion amongst those working with the model that goes by the board, with the result they may need more targeted support when a decision is made. |
| Nightcliff MS | • Teachers are learning to use an explicit model for teaching literacy and numeracy for an hour a week.
• Beyond this, there are variable instructional models in use. | • There is no real consistency and a clear strategy for driving better instruction through the school is yet to be developed. |
| Rosebery MS | • The school is using an instructional model based around inquiry learning. | • It was suggested that the instructional model is being variably implemented. |
| School | Key features of the approach in use | Issues to consider |
|-----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sanderson MS | • The school is introducing an explicit teaching model along the lines of the one outlined later in this report, to address significant variability in teacher planning and performance. | • This is not commencing until 2015.
• Observations suggest that learning intentions are not clear across teachers in the school. |
| Taminmin College| • The staff handbook includes an instructional model aligned to the one discussed later in the report.
• It has had a strong focus on learning intentions to frame teacher planning and walk throughs specifically examine this. | • The approach is being introduced and has yet to really be embedded in the school.
• The school is on the edge of launching into more rigorous walk throughs where more robust and useful feedback can be given to staff. |
| Tennant Creek HS| • The school is using the Visible Learning approach with a focus on learning intentions, success criteria and feedback in particular.
• It considers itself ‘lucky’ to have some staff who are driving the approach by modelling and talking about it in the school, including at staff meetings. | • The implementation is acknowledged as patchy and very much a work in progress at this stage.
• A number of teachers were described as going really well and generating better student results, but the larger group of staff is still struggling and need more support. |
As part of visits conducted to schools in the course of the review, the reviewer did have the opportunity to briefly visit some classrooms and speak with some students in them. It is acknowledged that this was only in some schools, since excursions/camps/school productions precluded some classroom visits, and in at least one case, the reviewer could not speak with students as tests were occurring through the school. Nonetheless, the brief visits and discussions that did occur, along with the range of work on white boards that was observed during tours of the schools, did suggest some weakness in pedagogical planning, especially around learning intentions that specify what students should know, understand and be able to do. In addition, a significant number of students interviewed indicated that, although teachers often wrote learning intentions on the board, in many cases it was purely to have the students copy them into their books, without any further reference in class, which the students then saw as a waste of valuable learning time.
It is worth noting that learning intentions are commonly the entry point for leaders seeking to support more teachers to work like the best, since the specification of what students will be learning provides the logical starting point for then determining:
- the teaching and learning activities to help students learn the knowledge and/or skills and achieve the understanding described; and
- an assessment task which will allow the students to demonstrate that they have achieved the learning intention that can be bolstered by providing students with success criteria so they will know what they need to do.
While questioning the students, the teacher keeps the learning intention in mind and this provides a focus for the lesson, and they make certain that feedback to students about their performance focuses on the learning intention and success criteria and any work samples they also can provide.
In the admittedly limited number of cases observed, many of the learning intentions teachers used were more like activities than a specification of what students will know, understand and be able to do, which reflects a lack of understanding about what a learning
intention really is. This was only confirmed by discussions with leaders following each school tour. In addition, almost all of the students briefly spoken to during classroom visits were able to say what they were doing, when asked, but could not articulate why they were doing it and what they would learn as a result. This too was confirmed in the discussions with leaders that were held and some consistent comments from students through the online survey.
This should not be taken as criticism of the teachers involved, who were all striving to do a better job in class. Rather it serves to highlight the need for schools to have an agreed and common instructional model to inform planning which the evidence shows has previously yielded success.
**Visible Learning and an instructional model to consider**
Central Region in the Northern Territory has adopted the Hattie program, *Visible Learning*, as the means to support more teachers in its schools to work like the best, and hence increase the extent to which evidence-based teaching practices are consistently used. Wilson (2014) reports that ‘for many teachers the Hattie approach has been welcome and effective’ and his review found ‘strong support for this program among teachers and principals involved’ (194). This was only confirmed by the reviewer’s visits to Centralian Middle School and Centralian Senior College where school leaders in particular spoke of how Visible Learning has helped to provide what one described as ‘a meta-language which contributes to better professional learning conversations in the school’. It is from their perspective a program that is underpinned by data and which promotes feedback on the basis of what the data says.
The Learning Links website describes Visible Learning as being about ‘enhancing the role of teachers as they become evaluators of their own teaching … (and) occurs when teachers see learning through the eyes of students and help them become their own teachers’. It involves:
- teachers setting clear learning intentions, providing challenging success criteria, supporting a range of learning strategies, knowing when students are not progressing, providing feedback and visibly learning themselves; and, on the flip side
- students understanding learning intentions, being challenged by success criteria, developing a range of learning strategies, knowing when they are not progressing, seeking feedback and visibly teaching themselves.
At Centralian Middle School, it was explained, the Visible Learning project delivers professional development for teachers and a Visible Learning coach for the school. The school uses an instructional model (called Lesson Framework) that is provided as Appendix 5, with a particular focus on learning intentions and success criteria, though it acknowledges there is still significant variation in the school in its use.
By virtue of the fact it contributes to more intentional and explicit teaching in schools, Wilson recommended that Visible Learning should be progressively extended to all schools over time, though not until an initial review of progress is undertaken to determine whether the extension ought be conducted on the same basis as has been undertaken in Central Australia (IER Recommendation 46).
This is a view that the middle years of schooling review would endorse. At the same time, however, this does not preclude taking action more immediately to develop more consistent good teaching practice throughout Territory middle schools. In particular, consistent use of an instructional model can guide teachers’ planning so more teachers can be supported to
work like the best. This can have particular impact when combined with the sort of curriculum exemplars advocated in this report.
A common instructional model contributes to better planning across the school. Good planning, as foreshadowed earlier, is needed to ensure that teachers’ units and lessons achieve their purposes and ensure that student learning occurs.
One instructional model that teachers around Australia have used with considerable success as a planning tool to ensure better teaching and learning in class is provided as Figure 11.
Figure 11: Sample Instructional Model to inform teachers’ planning in teams
| Phase of Lesson | Plan |
|-----------------|------|
| **Beginning of the Lesson** | |
| The Hook – Grab students’ attention and put them in a receptive frame of mind (1-5 minutes) | How will you “Hook” students into the lesson? |
| Learning Intentions – Make the learning intentions and success criteria clear to the students (2-5 minutes) | What are your learning intentions and success criteria, in a student-friendly language? |
| Activate/Review – Activate prior knowledge and review relevant prior learning (5-10 minutes) | How will you activate prior knowledge and review relevant prior learning? |
| **Presentation** | |
| Teacher Input – Explicitly teach the CONCEPT | How will you teach the concept? |
| Teacher Input – Explicitly teach the SKILL | How will you teach the skill? What are the steps? |
| Check for Understanding – Monitor whether students have ‘got it’ before proceeding. If students have not understood the concept or skill should be re-taught before guided practice begins | How will you check for understanding? |
| **Guided Practice** | |
| Development and Engagement – Develop student understanding of the concept or skill through activities or exercises | What activities or tasks will you get students to undertake? |
| Feedback and Individual Support – Determine the level of mastery and to provide feedback and individual support as needed | Which students do you anticipate will need additional support and how will you provide this? |
| **Independent Practice** | |
| Application – Get students to apply the concept or skill in different contexts. | What independent practice will students undertake? |
| **Review** | |
| Review – Bring the lesson presentation to an appropriate conclusion by reviewing and clarifying the key points and tying them together into a coherent whole | How will you review the lesson? |
The model is based on the explicit teaching approach that Visible Learning adopts, as evident from its clear overlap with Centralian Middle School’s lesson framework (Appendix 5), but has the advantage of posing clear planning questions for teaching teams to address, which also arguably makes it easier to use. It is also a model that at least two middle schools have started to use as the mechanism for supporting more teachers to work like the best.
The impact of such an approach can further be strengthened by the adoption of routines in class, such as the seating arrangements used by Centralian Middle School. While these were
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39 The model has been adapted from one initially developed by Hume Central Secondary College where it is used not only to inform teaching in classes, but also supports a process of classroom observation by leaders and coaches in the school.
designed to reduce stress for students entering the room, they also help to increase students’ time on task. As Lemov (2010) has explained, ‘Students should know where to sit. Milling around looking for a seat or deciding where to sit or talking about deciding where to sit … are all examples of wasted time and energy’ (151). The goal according to Lemov is ‘speed and orderliness’ (155) to ensure a smooth running class. The point is that routines can be taught so that students know, for example, not only where to sit, but how to form groups for particular purposes (discussion, joint problem solving, etc.), without an explanation from the teacher each time that grouping is required. What is more, this is something that ought be done right from the start of the year so the routines are firmly set in place. Lemov likens it to making an investment that will save many hours in the course of the year, thereby increasing students’ engaged learning time. Such routines also contribute positively to the orderly learning environment in the school and can readily be designed to complement the use of the SWPBS approach. Once again, this is a potentially fruitful source of Departmental advice and exemplars for schools, drawing on relevant research and some successful practices in place in middle schools.
The primary/secondary teaching mix and its implications
One issue that does emerge in the context of any consideration of teacher planning and practice is the possible impact of different teaching traditions in middle schools because of the mix of primary and secondary trained teachers they contain. While too much can be made of this issue, since strong and effective leadership and whole-school processes for better planning of teaching can influence practice in the classroom, it can be relevant where these preconditions do not exist. More specifically, it can sometimes manifest in a lack of sufficient content expertise in some core areas, most notably science and mathematics, with the result that students in Year 9 in particular may not be sufficiently challenged and/or adequately prepared for Year 10, as some who were consulted in the senior colleges suggested is the case.
This is not to suggest any problem with the manifestations of the primary teaching tradition in middle schools. It is arguably more student-centred and focused on knowing the students well which, as has been demonstrated, is needed for students to experience academic success. However, it is designed to signal the need in some cases for teachers’ pedagogy to be bolstered with some targeted content support and expertise, so the pedagogy delivers what it’s intended to produce.
As one school leader cogently observed, ‘the secondary knowledge of differentiation is limited and they find it harder than the primaries, but you also need a Year 9 maths teacher to teach Year 9 maths’. The importance of this comment is given added weight by the experience one middle school maths teacher and leader described, ‘when the Year 10 kids moved to the senior schools and a meeting of Maths teachers was held’. What she discovered was that ‘the Year 10 teachers all moved as well, which left a vacuum of knowledge to help prepare students in Maths in middle schools’. In response to this, her middle school established a professional learning team specifically designed to help teachers of mathematics to develop the required content expertise.
The actual mix of primary and secondary trained leaders and teachers in middle schools is quite varied as evident in Table 11.
Table 11: Mix of primary and secondary trained teachers in middle schools, 2014
| School | Leaders | Teachers |
|-------------------------|---------|----------|
| | Primary trained (Number) | Secondary trained (Number) | Primary trained (%) | Secondary trained (%) |
| Centralian Middle | 1 | 3 | 10 | 90 |
| Darwin Middle | 0 | 3 | 20 | 80 |
| Dripstone Middle | 0 | 3 | 20 | 80 |
| Katherine High School | 0 | 4 | 10 | 90 |
| Nhulunbuy High | 1 | 1 | 23 | 77 |
| Nightcliff Middle | 1 | 1 | 50 | 50 |
| Rosebery Middle | 3 | 1 | 60 | 40 |
| Sanderson Middle | 1 | 2 | 40 | 60 |
| Taminmin College | 2 | 4 | 33 | 67 |
| Tennant Creek High School | 0 | 2 | 10 | 90 |
Table 11 does not show the breakdown of subject training and expertise within the proportions of primary and secondary trained teachers, but does suggest that content knowledge in key domains may be limited in some schools.
Given it is likely that the mix of primary and secondary trained teachers will not substantially change in schools for some time, the key issue is really how to support teachers who need it to gain the requisite content expertise. In part, it is suggested, the answer lies in the sort of professional learning team for mathematics teachers that one school established as referenced above. In part it also resides in using a common instructional model in teaching teams so the task of ensuring sufficient content knowledge to achieve identified learning intentions is both explicit and shared. And it also partly lies in the rich curriculum exemplars that are recommended in Chapter 9, where the content can be specified along with the pedagogy and assessment to accompany it, and the training for literacy and numeracy learning leaders in schools to support the adoption of proven models for improving student learning outcomes in these core skills.
In other words, a suite of strategies designed to improve the content knowledge and associated teaching skills of the staff in each school, regardless of the basis of teacher training they received.
In the longer term it may also require specific training for undergraduate teachers and possibly incoming teachers from outside of the Northern Territory, in teaching in the middle years. More specifically, the development of the vision statement for middle schooling recommended earlier could be used to inform discussions between the Department and Charles Darwin University about appropriate preparation for teachers interested in teaching in the middle years and the inclusion of middle years pedagogy in teacher training programs. It could also inform the development of training modules for teachers from other jurisdictions to enable them to work successfully in Northern Territory middle schools.
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40 Based on the estimates of school leaders in each case.
41 Each of Darwin, Nightcliff and Sanderson Middle Schools has one leader who is both primary and secondary trained, and one primary trained leader at Rosebery Middle School also has a qualification in adult education.
Professional learning to underpin improved teaching
Professional learning is arguably the key means that schools have to build the collective capacity and effectiveness of their staff. That said, not all professional learning that schools provide has a positive effect. Cole (2005) for example, who had once described professional development as a great way to avoid change, argues that schools ‘waste thousands of dollars on professional development, as many of the activities typically undertaken to develop teachers produce very little return in terms of improved teacher competency and increased learning’ (189). Ensuring more productive professional learning in schools, he suggests, requires a greater focus on workplace based learning rather than external workshops, staff sharing experience and expertise, integration of teacher work and learning, professional learning as a routine practice and group pursuit of professional learning.
The best way to achieve this is for more professional learning to occur in school-based teams, focused on what happens in the classroom and the student learning outcomes that result; so that learning, as Hawley and Valli (2000) put it, ‘is considered to be part of the work’.
All middle schools already have developed whole-school approaches to professional learning, albeit with varying degrees of effectiveness and impact, as evident in Table 12.
Table 12: Whole school professional learning approaches in middle schools
| School | Key features of the approach in use | Issues to consider |
|--------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Centralian MS| • The school has mandated collaborative planning between teachers as the cornerstone of its professional learning approach.
• Teachers meet together, analyse data together and plan together.
• The school has a collaborative planning coordinator to ensure it is a rigorous process and there is consistency of focus.
• The process operates on the basis of year level subject teams. | • Some teams are more effective than others and a mechanism may be required to ensure consistency of good planning in the school.
• The process could be strengthened by including the observation of teachers by teachers to introduce feedback on teaching practice as part of professional learning. |
| Darwin MS | • The school focuses on peers collaboratively learning from peers, where possible in joint planning time.
• Student surveys about teaching are used to help determine the professional learning issues to be pursued by study groups of teachers and a teacher survey informs the allocation of teachers to the study groups which meet once a week and present to the whole staff at the end of their work.
• Any PowerPoints produced by teams are uploaded to the | • The school has a very comprehensive professional learning process that could be given even further focus with an instructional model to plan around, rather than just the planning questions it currently uses. (See Table 10).
• Teachers’ right to request an observation could progressively develop into an expectation that mutual classroom observation occurs to ensure there is some objective feedback on teaching to supplement the information from student |
| School | Key features of the approach in use | Issues to consider |
|-----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | |
| | | surveys. |
| Dripstone MS | • Collaborative planning occurs in subject/year level groups, usually of three teachers.
• Leaders observe teachers along with a colleague nominated by the teacher being observed, as part of the school’s Performance and Development framework, using an observation template to inform subsequent feedback to the teacher. | • The process was described as being a work in progress with an effort now in place to shift the focus from planning to the quality of what is planned. |
| Katherine HS | • The school has year level teams and a subject coordinator in each faculty to ensure that effective planning occurs.
• The school has only begun to embark on this path and it is being supported by an injection of some deep knowledge from a number of external sources of expertise. | • The school is only at a very early level of discussion in this regard. |
| Nhulunbuy HS | • Professional learning often starts with whole school workshops after school in teams.
• The school then has some small learning teams that are very focused such as a science team that is working particularly well. | • The school perceives a need for more whole school professional learning to ensure it does not splinter into middle and senior school approaches without sufficient cross-fertilisation of expertise.
• Its smallness means there are some areas where the teacher is on their own and needs to be connected to others within or beyond the school.
• There is a desire to restructure the timetable to ensure more time for collaborative planning as opposed to relying on the very high degree of goodwill that exists, though this is difficult in such a small school. |
| Nightcliff MS | • Staff in the school identify a lot of professional learning they need and opportunities to pursue.
• The school has started to implement classroom | • The professional learning strategy is relatively weak at this stage and there is only limited collaborative planning for teaching.
• The take-up of classroom |
| School | Key features of the approach in use | Issues to consider |
|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | • Observation whereby teachers are encouraged to look at someone else and have someone watch them. | • Observation was described as patchy. |
| | • Most of the collaborative planning in the school occurs in the Humanities area. | |
| Rosebery MS | • There is some degree of choice of professional learning depending on need. | • The strong focus on professional learning in both school documentation and processes does not necessarily translate into collaborative planning of better lessons and units. |
| | • Some professional learning sessions are undertaken online. | |
| | • Fortnightly staff meetings in the school have a professional learning focus. | |
| | • Performance management and development is based around I-Smart goals\(^{42}\) and the AITSL standards. | |
| | • People can voluntarily engage in cognitive coaching with another member of staff they select. | |
| Sanderson MS | • Fortnightly faculty meetings are the prime vehicle for professional learning amongst the staff. | • People in more than one faculty cannot manage the competing demands. |
| | • The alternating whole staff meeting once a fortnight also has a professional learning focus. | • Groups are arguably too large to enable the detailed collaborative planning of teaching that is required. |
| | • Leaders observe teachers in class. | |
| Taminmin College| • Literacy and the Griffith University project are the primary focus of professional learning for the whole school. | • There is a need to extend classroom observation to all learning areas. |
| | • The school tries to showcase teachers who have good practice aligned to school goals. It conducts a periodic walk around where teachers view five or six 20 minute snapshots that other teachers present. | |
| | • Every meeting has a professional learning component to it. | |
| | • Classroom observation is strong in English/SOSE and HPE where the leaders have built it over time.| |
| Tennant Creek HS| • The school has conducted lots of professional learning. | • Like most processes in the school, there is a need to extend classroom observation to all learning areas. |
\(^{42}\) One professional goal, one operational goal and one personal goal based on a discussion of the teachers’ classes and students.
Developing a strong professional learning culture within middle schools to underpin more effective teacher performance, and hence better student learning outcomes, depends on both the process to support quality collaborative planning between teachers, and the guidance to ensure that the planning focuses on the right things. An examination of Table 12 suggests that most middle schools are well on the way to providing the means for their teachers to plan together in systematic and structured ways. They are arguably less successful in ensuring consistency of the quality of what is planned, and that it will make a positive difference to what happens in class.
The provision of curriculum exemplars with associated pedagogical and assessment advice, together with an instructional model as outlined above, are designed to provide the substance to help ensure that collaborative teacher planning is soundly based. This is only strengthened to the extent the teams also use the data gained from common assessments proposed in Chapter 9 to link planning directly to student achievement in their classes and how it can be improved for each student they teach.
The professional learning strategy that seems weakest in Table 12 is classroom observation aimed at providing teachers with targeted feedback to help them improve.
Just as feedback to students is a key mechanism that supports their learning, so too does feedback to colleagues provide a key means of supporting their teaching. It is not possible to give and receive objective, constructive feedback without observing each other teach. Classroom observation is central to helping each other improve, since it informs feedback and broader collaborative work. When teachers open the classroom door, they invite feedback on their teaching that can enable them to improve. They also gain the opportunity to see others teach, provide them with feedback as well, and learn from their approach. Thus, it also provides the means by which good teaching practice can be spread through the school as a whole.
A range of research and successful experience in schools\(^{43}\) suggests that to be effective and embraced by teachers, any process of classroom observation must be:
- supportive and developmental with no judgment involved;
- an opportunity for teachers to receive constructive feedback from colleagues on their strengths and ways in which they can improve;
- the basis for further professional reflection, professional development and other support;
- planned and agreed in advance, so there are no surprises involved, with a clear focus linked to improving teaching, and hence student learning outcomes;
- based on clear, simple, sustainable processes that are known, understood and agreed by the staff; and
---
\(^{43}\) Examined by the reviewer acting as a consultant to AITSL on the development of the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework (2012).
• a means of collaboratively developing and sharing good practice throughout school classrooms.
These principles are then enacted through a set of protocols for classroom observation which require that:
• the observation conform to an agreed process that is known in advance;
• the focus of any observation is agreed in advance;
• feedback discussions occur in a timely manner and are confidential to those involved;
• pro forma documents are kept by the teacher who is observed; and
• initial support is provided for observations to occur, until they become an intrinsic part of the way in which professional learning occurs at the school.
The success of the approach then depends on good processes for each step along the way, and pro formas that help implement these processes effectively and consistently across schools. As has been suggested regularly throughout this review report, the Department can play an important role in this regard, providing sample pro formas to support classroom observation in schools.
**A constituency for middle years teaching**
Just as there is no obvious constituency for middle years leaders as outlined in Chapter 7, so too there is no group that appears to provide middle years teachers with both targeted professional development appropriate to the phase, and a coherent and consistent voice. While the organisation Adolescent Success\(^{44}\) does notionally exist as ‘a professional association dedicated to the education, development and growth of young adolescents’, membership of it by Northern Territory teachers would be purely incidental and it has no status as a voice for middle years teachers in the Northern Territory.
Thus, just as the Department could support the formation of a middle years leaders’ network that conducts an annual, high-level conference for its members, so too could it support the formation of a middle years teachers’ association which conducts an annual teaching-focused conference for its members in schools.
**Recommendations**
18. That all middle schools be expected to identify and adopt a common instructional model to inform teacher planning of better lessons and units so more teachers can work like the best. The Department should provide one or more sample models that schools can adopt along with advice on developing teaching routines that increase students’ engaged learning time on task.
19. That the Department use the vision statement developed through Recommendation 6 to inform both discussions with Charles Darwin University to ensure the inclusion of middle years-specific content in undergraduate training courses and the development of training modules for teachers without a middle years background from outside the Northern Territory who are seeking employment in Northern Territory middle schools.
20. That all middle schools be expected to have a systematic structure in place to enable teachers to plan collaboratively and engage in school-based professional learning to help
\(^{44}\) [http://www.adolescentsuccess.org.au/](http://www.adolescentsuccess.org.au/)
them to improve. Further, schools should be supported to progressively introduce classroom observation as part of the process as a means of providing improvement-focused feedback to teachers by their colleagues and as an adjunct to the collaborative planning they undertake. The Department should provide such resources to support these processes as advice on structures to adopt for collaborative teacher planning and pro formas to support a positive approach to classroom observation in schools.
21. That the Department provide seed funding for three years to support the development of a membership-based middle years teachers’ association, including support to conduct a major teaching-focused annual conference for teachers in middle schools.
Chapter 11: Transition into and from the middle years
As the phase between primary schooling and senior secondary schooling, the middle schools have to focus on transition into and out of the school; and this applies just as much to student movement between Years 9 and 10 in the comprehensive schools since students do then move to a different curriculum and teaching and learning approach.
Transition from feeder primary schools is an area where the middle schools generally seem to be doing reasonably well and arguably are improving, as evident in the comprehensive range of transition strategies identified in Table 13.
Table 13: Current transition strategies for incoming Year 7 students
(Note: Although not listed, all schools conduct information sessions for parents)
| School | Key strategies |
|-----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Centralian Middle | • The school has a staff member with a time allowance who manages transition with the result there is, what was described as ‘a pretty thorough approach’.
• All primary schools are visited and in 2014 the school will commence running a sports carnival for all its feeder school Year 6 students.
• The middle school does get student data on its incoming students and supplements this with information gathered during visits to know where to place students and their learning needs.
• Towards the end of this year, the school for the first time will do a full timetabled day with Year 6 students at the Centralian campus. |
| Darwin Middle\(^{45}\) | • The school principal meets with the Year 6 feeder schools once a term.
• The school has asked its feeder schools to adopt the same ACER testing regime as it uses to ensure better data on students entering Year 7.
• The Year 7 coordinator works with teachers in feeder schools to get a deeper understanding of the incoming students.
• Year 6 students visit the school for various experiences and Year 7 students are supported to visit their former primary schools to talk with their Year 6 teachers and their students. |
| Dripstone Middle | • The school arranges visits to primary schools led by the Year 7 coordinator which include visits to classes to talk with Year 6 students.
• It offers taster opportunities including attendance at the school by all Year 6 students at the end of semester one for a ‘day in the life of a middle school student’.
• The school also provides other opportunities for primary and secondary students to be on-site, such as a mentoring reading program it runs.
• When whole school performances occur, the students host a matinee for their feeder schools.
• The school does get what it describes as ‘reasonable data transfer’ from primary feeders to help ensure it knows about the students who come.
• In future the school will seek to arrange for interested teachers to spend some days in primary schools to experience and know the students, and so the students also know a teacher when they arrive at middle school. |
\(^{45}\) It should be noted that Darwin Middle School draws around 35% of its students in year 7 from outside of its group of feeder schools.
| School | Key strategies |
|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Katherine High | • The school manages transition as a year-long process.
• Students from a range of school programs, such as Clontarf, visit the feeder primary schools to undertake a variety of activities with students in Year 6. This reflects an effort to get its students into primary schools, paralleled by inviting Year 6 students to its own school-based activities such as the musicals in which students perform.
• The Year 7 coordinator and teachers speak to students in Year 6 and the schools all share data to facilitate transition and help ensure that students can be well known.
• Parents visit the school for tours and activities. |
| Nhulunbuy High | • The school struggles to get comprehensive information on the whole incoming cohort in a context of some uncertainty about Year 6 parents’ choices of secondary school.
• In contrast, this is done very well for students with learning needs who are part of a comprehensive program comprising structured days in the secondary school over a term and lots of meetings with their parents.
• Transition meetings for Year 6 parents are led by Year 9 peer leaders who outline their experience of the school, which is proving more powerful with parents than just what teachers say. |
| Nightcliff Middle | • The school has ‘ramped up’ its approach to transition in the last couple of years which has led to an increase in enrolments.
• It brings primary students to its campus to experience middle schooling with a positive purpose so it’s more than ‘just having fun’.
• Year 6 students spend a whole day at middle school on a pupil free day and experience classes.
• The school gets some information about incoming students from its primary schools by having conversations with teachers and is looking at common data bases to support a more seamless transfer of relevant information.
• It is also looking at Year 6 and 7 teachers working together to build stronger relationships. |
| Rosebery Middle | • The school endeavours to get to know the students before they enter Year 7 and to enable the students to get to know the school.
• Students’ Year 6 files are viewed by teachers in their Hub groups.
• The school has an internal ‘speed dating’ transition process whereby Year 8 teachers discuss the incoming Year 7 students with their teachers at a whole staff meeting, and the same occurs between teachers of Year 8 and Year 9.
• The school runs a gifted and talented program for two to three students per feeder school (around 15 in total) one morning a week which, at the time of visiting, was focused on design technology. |
| Sanderson Middle | • The school describes itself as ‘always having worked hard to attract students’, though the missing bit has been attracting higher performing students whose parents have tended to choose the private option, with the result the school is now looking at enrichment classes to tackle this.
• Primary students attend the school campus to try classes and as a means of helping them to know the place.
• As part of its humanities program, the school takes its SRC members to talk to Year 6 students about the school. |
An analysis of the range of strategies listed suggests they are largely being driven by the middle schools, both to ensure enrolments in a number of cases, and to maximise the information about incoming students in all. There is substantial commonality of approach evident in the table, with the one gap that some schools have been trying to fill of consistent assessment data to inform the grouping of students and the extent to which teachers know their students’ learning needs from the start of the year. This is something the recommendation to mandate a common assessment regime across middle schools, and to consider extending it to Years 5-6 in primary schools and into Year 10 in the senior colleges will help to overcome.
Beyond this, the schools could further strengthen their relations with feeder schools by moving from the positive informal relationships that have been developed to more formal Year 6 to 7 transition plans agreed to by the middle school and its feeder primary schools (including their respective school councils) to help ensure not only a smooth entry to Year 7, but that the incoming students are also known to some extent by their middle school teachers for the coming year. An important element of any such plans as far as the students interviewed are concerned should be a tour to show them around since Year 6 students are fearful of how ‘gigantic’ the middle school seems to be.
The transition arrangements from Year 9 to Year 10 are less comprehensive than into Year 7, as evident in Table 14, though arguably improving on most counts.
Table 14: Current transition strategies for outgoing Year 9 students
| School | Key strategies |
|---------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Centralian Middle (with Centralian Senior College) | • Year 9 students attend the senior college for a day in term two for orientation around the expectations of senior students.
| | • During term three there is a day when middle school teachers teach their subjects to Year 9 students at the senior campus, observed by senior college teachers, and then on one day in term four it is reversed and the middle school teachers observe their students taught by their senior college |
---
46 senior colleges and comprehensive schools conduct information sessions for parents
| School | Key strategies |
|---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | colleagues.
| | ● Students also attend the college for subject selection days.
| Darwin Middle (with Darwin High School) | ● The co-location of the middle school and senior college means, as leaders put it, that the school ‘just walks across the road and takes the students’ portfolios and work’.
| | ● The senior school runs orientation days and does some student testing as well.
| | ● Some faculties, such as maths, have communicated with each other to facilitate placing students in appropriate Year 10 groups.
| Dripstone Middle (with Casuarina Senior College) | ● The school has begun to develop what it describes as a ‘better working relationship’ with its major senior college which has now adopted a year-long program that mirrors the middle school’s own approach for students in year 6.
| Katherine High | ● The school hasn’t really considered or worked on this as it has not been a priority. That said, it conceded it may emerge, as evidenced by the fact it was raised at a School Council meeting in terms of work around students knowing what it means to move to the NTCET pattern required in Years 10-12.
| Nhulunbuy High | ● The number one element of transition is the fact that most teachers work across Years 7 to 12 and hence know the students they will teach in Year 10.
| | ● This particularly informs subject selection which includes one to one interviews with the students and their parents.
| | ● The school feels it could focus more on supporting parents to understand the formal academic requirements in senior school and has started to run information sessions along these lines.
| Nightcliff Middle (with Casuarina Senior College and Darwin High School) | ● The school indicated that Casuarina Senior College had conducted visits to the middle school, had open days and had hosted students for targeted visits.
| | ● It feels that Darwin High School has not really done as much.
| Rosebery Middle (with Palmerston Senior College) | ● The school acknowledges that transition is not as good from Year 9 to 10 as it is into Year 7.
| | ● Senior college personnel visit the school to speak with Year 9 students and to distribute enrolment packs.
| | ● Faculty heads talk about their subjects on a rotating basis, and the schools do share results.
| | ● The school has invited senior college colleagues to sit with Year 9 teachers in Hubs to get a better understanding of the students.
| | ● The transition arrangements were described as ‘a work in progress’ by both middle and senior school leaders.
| Sanderson Middle (with Casuarina Senior College) | ● The school feels that the senior college is becoming ‘more professional and strategic’ about transition, as evident in the views of Dripstone and Nightcliff Middle Schools above, and generally has a well-planned approach.
| Taminmin College | ● The school is working hard to align curriculum between the middle and senior years as they did develop separately before really coming together structurally this year.
| | ● While there were no teachers who crossed the Year 9/10 divide before 2014, this is now starting to occur, supplemented by the existence of whole school policies spanning Years 7 to 12.
| | ● The school feels the key has been developing more of a whole school approach.
| Tennant Creek High | ● This is not really seen as a concern because the students have the same teachers in the middle years as will teach them in Years 10 to 12.
| | ● Last year the school spoke to its Year 9 students about the change of approach in the senior part of the school and the expectations of them as students in Year 10. |
Transition between Years 9 and 10 is one area of school operations where there is a difference between the comprehensive and middle schools. Put simply, the task of transition is easier when students are on the same site, interacting albeit to differing degrees with teachers they will have in Year 10, mixing with students who will be part of the senior end of the school with them, participating in some whole school activities with senior students and teachers, and being subject to policies and processes that span Years 7 to 12. This also means that the comprehensive schools are less reliant on developing relationships based around transitions than their colleagues in middle schools.
It is clear from Tables 12 and 13, and the discussions with middle and senior school personnel, that the relationships between the schools and their teachers are weaker than those between the middle schools and their feeder primaries. It is also clear, however, that for the most part, those transition relationships are improving and better processes are being developed to support student movement between the middle and senior years.
In some cases, they are being supplemented by some faculty-specific relations that are being formed, such as the growing connection between the arts faculties at Palmerston Senior College and Rosebery Middle School based around a shared effort to develop scope and sequence for students in Years 9 and 10, which has seen students coming to the senior college ‘more skilled for the arts’. While time was cited as an impediment to achieving this task, it also was described as depending on relationships forged by people ‘going out of their way to make it happen’. A dependence on relationships, important as they are, does however mean that the outcomes are patchy, and in many subject areas non-existent since, as one senior college leader put it, ‘it depends on who you are dealing with’. Rather, processes are needed to ensure that students can enter Year 10 being known to some extent by the teachers they will have, especially in terms of their current levels of learning and consequent learning needs. Beyond this, better curriculum-based relations are needed to overcome the situation a number of Year 10 interviewees outlined whereby much of what they are studying in Year 10 simply replicates what they already did in middle school.
This suggests a need for more formal Year 9 to 10 transition plans between middle and senior schools, including their respective school councils, along the same lines as suggested earlier for Year 6 to 7 transition. In this case, however, there could be the added expectation that the plans be designed to help ensure that the incoming students are appropriately prepared to succeed in senior school. This again points to the importance of the flow of objective assessment data, which the recommended common assessment regime is designed to address. It also suggests a need for some better coordination of curriculum planning and sequencing even, as acknowledged, in the comprehensive schools, so the sort of positive faculty-based arrangements for improved communication can begin to take whole-school form.
**Engaging parents in the school**
While not strictly part of transition in a direct sense, engaging parents has a key role to play in any school. It has been said, as Cole (2004) observed, ‘that parents make powerful allies and dangerous enemies’ (7), and the challenge is to engage them in supporting the work of the school. This depends on a mix of information about what the school is doing and why, and advice on how they can support their children’s learning at school. This is consistent with COGSO’s call in its submission to the review to ‘facilitate parent engagement in their child/ren’s learning … (and) participation in school decision making’ (3).
For most parents, the entry point to engaging with their school, apart from the periodic direct contact as part of their children’s enrolment at school (i.e., parent/teacher nights,
student performances, being called to school for student disciplinary reasons, etc.), is the school’s website and the detailed information it contains.
An analysis of middle school websites suggests there is lots of information for the engaged parent who is prepared to search the site in depth as evident in Table 15. Some schools supplement their website with a downloadable parents’ handbook which has the advantage of consolidating key policies and processes in a single resource that is arguably easier for parents to use.
Table 15: School website support for parents
| School | Key strategies |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Centralian Middle | • The school has a dedicated parents’ section on its website
• The section includes a downloadable handbook for parents designed to answer ‘all of your questions concerning the education of your child’. The booklet is structured around a focus on learning (i.e., curriculum, data collection, reporting, homework, teaching staff and staff learning); a focus on wellbeing (i.e., pastoral care, wellbeing team and behaviour); a focus on leadership (i.e., school leadership, school council, student leadership and SRC); and general information (i.e., attendance, school hours, term dates, uniforms, back to school requirements, travel to and from school, and school communications). |
| Darwin Middle | • The school has a dedicated parents’ section on its website
• The section contains information on parent/teacher interviews; policies; assessment information; subject selection; uniforms; bus routes; annual performance reports; useful links; and 2014 Homework Centre.
• The information contained is very detailed for the parent who wishes to search it. |
| Dripstone Middle | • The school’s dedicated parents’ page contains information on assessment information for parents; parent/teacher interviews; communications with teachers; the wellbeing team; parent e-forms; bus routes; a canteen price list; term dates; and useful links.
• A parent handbook referred to on the page is not currently available, and is ‘under construction’.
• The school has developed an innovative and comprehensive app that parents can access for detailed information they seek. |
| Katherine High School | • The website contains a range of information relevant to parents, though there is no dedicated parents’ section on the site.
• The school, like Dripstone, has developed an app as a means of connecting stakeholders more closely to the school. |
| Nightcliff Middle | • The website contains substantial information that parents can access, though there is no specific section directed at them in the same way as exists on other schools’ sites. |
| Nhulunbuy High School | • The website has a parents’ section that provides information on enrolments, uniform, reporting student absences, term dates, class times and competitions.
• A range of policies can be accessed on the site, though there is no middle years equivalent of the Year 10 and senior handbooks that parents can download.
• Parents can access electronic student profiles through the website to gain an appreciation of the progress of their child. |
| Rosebery Middle | • A parents’ section on the website includes performance reports; policies; curriculum; uniforms; bus routes; enrolling; Café – Hungry Hangout; and useful links.
• As is the case for Darwin Middle School, the information contained is very detailed for the parent who wishes to search it. |
As Table 15 suggests, nearly all of the schools provide good, comprehensive information to parents about the operations of the school and key policies relevant to the education their children receive. The handbooks provided by Centralian Middle School and Taminmin College constitute a sort of ready reckoner for frequently asked questions that are arguably easier for parents to use since they don’t require the parent to search through substantial information on the website themselves. In addition, the Dripstone Middle and Katherine High School apps are arguably pioneering a modern approach to communication appropriate to the spread of tablets and smart phones in the community which other schools might choose to emulate.
The one key aspect that does appear to be missing from all of the sites and handbooks, however, is clear advice for parents on how they can really support their children’s learning at home by, for example, promoting the importance of effort for achievement at school and helping them to develop important study and organisational skills.
This, it is acknowledged, is beyond the knowledge and capacities of many parents, and hence requires detailed advice on strategies they can use. Just as likely is the fact that preparing such advice is beyond the time and capacity of schools and, given the need to relate it to relevant research, is a role the Department could fulfil. More specifically, the School Support Services Division could be asked to develop a short, readable handbook of advice for parents on how to support their children’s learning and the work of the school, that can then be rebadged by schools to distribute to parents with an introduction from the principal of each school. This suggestion was enthusiastically embraced by School Councils in the course of the briefings conducted on the draft review report. In addition, a number of parents recommended that in today’s digital environment, it is information that ought to be distributed online or through an app as well as in print.
**Recommendations**
22. That each middle school be encouraged to develop an agreed Year 6 to 7 transition plan in consultation with its feeder primary schools and their councils, to enable students to be well known when they enter Year 7.
23. That each middle school and its associated senior school be encouraged to develop a transition plan in consultation with their school councils for Year 9 students moving to Year 10 to ensure they are appropriately prepared to succeed in senior school.
24. That School Support Services develop a short, readable handbook of advice for parents on how to support their children’s learning and the work of the school that can be badged by schools, with an introduction from the principal to distribute in print and/or electronically to the parent community.
Chapter 12: Systemic leadership and support
In the midst of the considerable inconsistency that has been described throughout this review report, the one consistent factor to emerge across all of the middle schools was a feeling that they are not valued and less understood than either primary or senior secondary schools. As one leader simply put it, ‘the perception is that we’re just preparing students for senior schools and not valued in our own right’.
For many this was symbolised by the fact that, until the recent appointment of a Director of Secondary Education they had, as one leader typically put it, ‘no go to person in the Department’. Or to use the words of another, ‘there was no champion for middle schools’.
Taking this a stage further, another leader described a common feeling that exists within the middle schools that ‘there is lots for primary and senior schools, but not for the middle’. By way of example, this leader pointed to the fact that ‘there’s no formal mechanism for us to share and work together … Nothing is done purely for middle schools’.
This is something that the earlier discussions of both the need for a vision for middle schooling and the need to build and support constituencies for middle school leaders and teachers, with their own defined annual conferences, are designed to address.
Aside from a feeling of being left out — the proverbial bit in the middle — most middle school leaders also talked of being left on their own. To cite one leader who echoed the rest, ‘when the schools were set up, nothing was really mandated so we felt left on our own to work it out’.
This too is something that the recommendations for common assessments, instructional planning tools, behaviour management approaches and exemplars specific to the phase are designed to address.
The excitement that seems to exist about the appointment of a new Director to whom the schools can relate highlights the neglect that has been felt, and the opportunity the Department now has to act to align and support this group of schools. By implementing the range of recommendations to improve middle schooling in the Territory, the system can go a long way towards overcoming the sort of frustration that exists when schools feel squeezed between the support for the foundational years of primary school and the clarity the senior certificate brings at the end, with a consequent void of direction and support.
It is central to ensuring there are not just winners and losers in middle schools, but consistently better middle schooling occurs throughout the Northern Territory as a whole, as all schools and teachers are both challenged and supported to work like the best.
The last piece of the puzzle in this regard is to systemically ensure that the recommendations are implemented in a coherent, consistent and sustained way by the Department and schools. This suggests a need for the implementation of relevant recommendations to be included in each of the schools’ Annual Operational Plans and the Department’s Strategic Plan. The progress of implementation can then be included in school annual reports to their communities and be evaluated as part of the cyclical process of school review. As the quid pro quo for this, the Department should be expected to report annually to schools and the community as a whole on their implementation progress and the associated support they provide to schools.
Recommendation
25. That schools and the Department include the implementation of relevant recommendations from the report in their annual plans and provide an annual report on progress to the community.
Australian Institute of Family Studies (June 2014), *Parenting teens and tweens: Resources for policy and practice*, Retrieved from http://www.aifs.gov.au/cfca/pubs/factsheets/a146363/index.html
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (August 2012) *Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework*, Melbourne.
Barber, M., Fullan, M., Mackay, T, and Zbar, V. (November 2009) ‘Building excellent education systems: From conception to implementation at scale’, originally published as Seminar Series No. 189, and reprinted in Zbar, V. and Mackay, T. (eds) (2011) *Leading the education debate*, Vol. 3, Centre for Strategic Education, Melbourne.
Bellhouse, B., Deed, C., Fuller, A. and Johnston, G. (2004) *Levels and Stages of Learning*, A discussion paper prepared for the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.
Cole, P. (July 2004) *A Guide to Reform in the Middle Years of Schooling*, paper provided to the reviewer by the author.
Cole, P. (December 2005) ‘Leadership and professional learning: Forty actions leaders can take to improve professional learning’, in Zbar, V. and Mackay, T. (eds) (2007) *Leading the education debate, Volume 2*, Centre for Strategic Education, Melbourne.
Department of Employment, Education and Training, Northern Territory (2006) *The Middle Years of Schooling: A Guide to Planning, Teaching, Assessing and Reporting Learning*.
Department of Employment, Education and Training, Northern Territory (2006) *A Guide to Reflecting on Teaching Practices in the Middle Years of Schooling* — separate guides covering teaching practices, assessment practices and reporting practices.
Department of Employment, Education and Training, Northern Territory (2006) *School reflection tool: Interconnected and interdependent elements for improving learning outcomes*.
Department of Employment, Education and Training, Northern Territory (10 December 2006) *Middle Years Strategic Framework for Cultural Change*.
Department of Education and Training Literacy and Numeracy Taskforce (July 2010) *Prioritising Literacy and Numeracy: A strategy to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes, 2010-2012*, Retrieved from http://www.education.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/13086/LiteracyNumeracyStrategy.pdf
Department of Education (2013) *Creating Success Together: Strategic Plan, 2013-2015*.
Department of Education (2014) *The Expert Literacy and Numeracy Panel Report and Recommendations*.
Department of Employment, Education and Training, Northern Territory (undated) *The Framework for the Principles and Policies for the Middle Years in the Northern Territory*.
Fadel, C. (October 19, 2010) *What should be learned?*, Presentation in Helsinki, Finland.
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Appendix 1: Stakeholders consulted for the review
Structured consultations were conducted with a wide range of relevant Department personnel from both the central and regional offices, to supplement the visits/teleconferences involving each of the relevant schools and centres listed in Chapter 1. Beyond this, formal discussions and/or consultations were conducted with:
- Association of Northern Territory School Educational Leaders — Pam Erfurt (President), Sue Healy (Vice President), Caroline Edwards (Secretary) and Raymon Dixon (Chapter for Darwin).
- Australian Education Union — Jarvis Ryan (President) and Peter Hardcastle (Acting Secretary).
- Pamela Macklin, Managing Director of Zbar Consulting and an Accredited Leadership Coach, for advice on coaching for school leaders.
- Professor Geoff Masters, Chief Executive Officer, the Australian Council for Educational Research, and author of *Improving Educational Outcomes in the Northern Territory*, 2011.
- Northern Territory Board of Studies — Anne Donnelly, Hugh Roberts and Pauline Schober (Board Members).
- Principals Australia Institute — Vanna Garrick (Northern Territory Coordinator, KidsMatter and MindMatters) and Peter O’Beirne (Queensland and Northern Territory Manager).
- Bruce Wilson from The Education Business, who conducted the Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory.
A number of structured consultation sessions were also conducted with Year 6, Year 7 to 9 and Year 10 students in Darwin and Alice Springs, and parents from across these levels had the opportunity to attend forums in these same two locations. In addition, the Department opened a consultation website to enable parents and students who were unable to participate in the forums along with other interested members of the community to contribute their views.
Competing commitments meant that a face-to-face consultation session could not be arranged with the Council of Government School Organisations (COGSO Northern Territory) with the result the organisation made a written submission to the review instead. In addition, the consultations with parents included discussion with at least two COGSO Northern Territory parent members.
Briefings were provided on a draft of the report to the AEU and ANTSEL, along with all middle School Councils in Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs before the report was finalised.
## Appendix 2: Framework for Principles and Policies for the Middle Years
### The Framework for the Principles and Policies for the Middle Years in the Northern Territory
| Principle 1: The Teaching and Learning Environment | Principle 2: Literacy and Numeracy | Principle 3: Student-Teacher Relationships | Principle 4: Transition into and out of the middle years | Principle 5: Systemic Support |
|-----------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| **The curriculum is based upon Northern Territory Curriculum Framework (NTCF) outcomes and is relevant to students’ current and future lives.** | **Students are offered learning opportunities that match their needs and in most cases exceed the numeracy national outcomes.** | **Strong teacher-student relationships are essential to improving individual student achievement in the middle years.** | **Transition into and out of the middle years is a priority for all schools.** | **The school system provides support to parents, students and teachers in the middle years.** |
| Teaching, Learning, Assessment and Reporting | Teachers, students and parents are clear about the NTCF outcomes and the need for collaborative teaching. Students have a range of learning opportunities that include specialist and integrated approaches to the curriculum. Students are challenged intellectually and focus on developing skills for life beyond school. Teachers who teach the same group of students collaborate to negotiate, design and assess learning experiences for future levels. Through explicit teaching and learning, students are able to take an active part in negotiating, designing and assessing their learning. Teachers work as a team including students to make links between the home, school and community. Students are offered a range of assessment opportunities to demonstrate their learning. The information gathered from assessment is used by teachers and students to improve and guide the teaching and learning process. Assessment is used to measure student learning and provide feedback to students, parents, teachers, parents and DEET. | Literacy and numeracy programs are a core part of the curriculum in the middle years, where they are taught in subject specific contexts and integrated with other subjects in an integrated curriculum. There are consistent strategies for teaching literacy and numeracy/English and mathematics across classes but in all learning areas. | Support programs designed to strengthen teacher-student relationships are an integral part of the curriculum. | Schools have appropriate flexible learning spaces that provide a range of learning opportunities, including specialist and integrated classes. |
| Student Support | Curriculum planning and implementation recognises and values the first language of students. There is a strong focus on students becoming independent learners. Different learning styles and individual needs are recognised and supported. Middle years students are supported in academic achievement and social connection. | Students in need of special assistance with literacy and numeracy are identified, recognised, respected and accommodated. Opportunities are provided for extra support or special assistance. | Students have contact with a small number of teachers to develop positive relationships which enhance their wellbeing. Students in the middle years have an integrated curriculum delivered by a core group of teachers. Students in the middle years have access to specialist teachers. Opportunities for integration and special assistance are provided. | Students have learning opportunities that support them to transition into senior years programs and prepare them for learning in the senior years. |
| Teachers | Teachers have professional learning opportunities in middle years practices. Teaching teams, where appropriate, collaborate to plan and deliver a rigorous, rich and relevant curriculum. | All teachers in the middle years have professional learning opportunities and support so they can plan for and meet the literacy and numeracy requirements of their learning areas. | Teachers of middle years students teach more than one class and work closely with students to improve their learning outcomes. That teachers provide hands on support to build positive relationships with the students and to improve student learning outcomes. | Primary and middle years teachers work together to ensure the smoothness of student transitions. Teachers have an important role in supporting students to make decisions about their future. |
| School leadership | School leaders initiate/resume models of collaborative and inclusive leadership. School leaders plan for community involvement in the middle years. Sufficient resources are dedicated to ensuring the delivery of outcomes for students in the middle years. | School leadership recognises the diverse learning needs of all students and provides opportunities for learning opportunities and special strategies. These should be clearly articulated within the literacy and numeracy plan. The leadership team encourages parental involvement by parents to support students in meeting the literacy and numeracy standards in the middle years. | Allocation of resources from NT funding to support middle years students are not diverted, and are used to support the development of closer student-teacher relationships. In primary schools, students being taught with middle years students receive appropriate allocation of resources. | School leaders are the key to ensuring the level of support required during the transition years. The design and implementation of transition programs for students moving from primary to middle years is a formal process involving all stakeholders. Schools promote cross school relationships within clusters to facilitate a seamless transition for student transitions. |
| School organisation | Schools adopt a flexible organisational model that best meets the learning needs of students in a range of different contexts. Timetables are organised for teachers to have common non-contact times, allowing for greater integration of curriculum planning. Timetables and school learning spaces provide opportunities for collaboration between specialist and integrated models, specialist classes and an integrated curriculum. | School timetables and spaces are designed to support programs and strategies that meet the range of learning needs and numeracy needs. | Teachers of a particular group of students have planned time to share their understanding of individual student needs, and the wider school community. The focus is on improvement in student well being. | Students in Year 10 have the opportunity to take senior years subjects without VET. Schools are organised to facilitate a seamless transition. |
| Evaluation | Schools provide opportunities for staff, students and parents to reflect on identified indicators that: • Set a baseline for future evaluation • Demonstrate achievement of outcomes and the learning growth of students | Schools provide opportunities for staff, students and parents to reflect on identified indicators that: • Relate to the achievement against Year 7 and Year 9 benchmarks | Schools provide opportunities for staff, students and parents to reflect on identified indicators that: • Identify retention rates • Relate to student well being • Identify achievement in NTCF outcomes • Identify attendance rates | Schools provide opportunities for staff, students and parents to reflect on identified indicators that: • Relate to the achievement against the learning growth of student attendance and retention, student well being and achievement against Year 7 and Year 9 benchmarks. |
| Professional learning communities are initiated and sustained at the school and system level. Examples of best practice are shared and valued within, and across, schools. | School leaders establish and maintain a culture of middle years approaches with a focus on student learning. Schools implement a leadership program specifically for the middle years. This is coordinated with the other levels of schooling. Students are given opportunities to practise learning in a supportive environment. | Sufficient resources are dedicated to ensuring the delivery of outcomes for students in the middle years. |
Appendix 3: Structure of the Employment Pathways Model
| Years 7 and 8 | Students engage in a pre-VET program, introducing them to the world of work. This can be supported by online resources and should include engagement with role models who are in jobs. It requires students to undertake excursions to workplaces and interact with employers. |
|---------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Year 9 | Introduce the first formal VET Certificate programs in a broad-based course relevant to local employment circumstance (eg, Resources and Infrastructure in a mining area). Introduce job work placement and simulated placement.
To ensure that students gain the additional skills required by employers that are not attainable under Certificate programs, JobSkills funding is used to boost student achievement and skills acquisition. This grants-based funding provides support for short-term one-off courses such as white card and first aid skills. |
| Years 10-12 | Introduce the Certificate II level programs with the Stage One compulsory subjects, also Stage One and Stage Two VET focused subjects to complete the student’s pattern |
Sourced from a brief prepared by the Industry, Engagement and Employment Pathways (IEEP) team in the Department of Education for Wilson (2014) (252). The full briefing paper can be found on pages 249-254 of that report.
Appendix 4: Assessment Practices in Middle Years Survey Questions
1. Our school has:
a. a whole school assessment plan;
b. an assessment policy; an assessment coordinator;
c. assessment prioritised in its Annual Operation Plan;
d. none of the above;
e. I don’t know.
2. Does your school use the Australian Curriculum achievement standards as the starting point for assessment plans and for assessment design? — Yes or No with the option to add a comment.
3. Do you work with others to review the implications of school-wide assessment data for teaching and learning programs? — Yes or No, and if yes, with a request to provide an example.
4. Do you design classroom assessment tasks that use a variety of strategies to monitor students’ learning progress? — Yes or No and a request to share if Yes.
5. How often do you use the following forms of assessment? (on a five point scale spanning Never, Sometimes, Regularly, Often, Always):
a. Diagnostic;
b. Formative;
c. Summative;
d. Student self-assessment;
e. Student peer-assessment;
f. Observation;
g. Anecdotal;
h. Performance or practical;
i. Exam;
j. Oral;
k. Open-ended questions;
l. Checklists;
m. Role plays;
n. Other.
6. Which of the following assessment models do you use to offer students choice or variety?:
a. Multimedia;
b. Project reports;
c. Posters;
d. Student presentations;
e. End of unit test;
f. Reports of investigations;
g. Responses to set problems;
h. Oral presentations;
---
47 The questions, completed online, were set out in a more user-friendly form than this listing provides.
48 Those with a non-teaching role were asked to indicate how often other teachers in their school use these forms of assessment.
i. Not applicable as I have a non-teaching role;
j. If other, please specify.
7. How do you or your teaching team devise assessment criteria?
8. Do your students participate in discussions to clarify levels of performance? — Yes or No, with a request to elaborate if Yes.
9. How do you or your colleagues evaluate or refine assessment tasks before or after students have completed them?
10. How are assessment tasks differentiated to cater for the different abilities, learning styles and needs of your students?
11. Do you provide structured opportunities for student self and peer monitoring? — Yes or No with the request to share an example if Yes.
12. How do you use data (evidence of learning) to modify learning content and programs for a range of student needs either during or at the end of a teaching program?
13. How do you ensure that your assessments of student learning are consistent and comparable?
14. How do you rate your confidence that you make consistent judgments of student learning based on a range of evidence? — On a four point rating scale spanning Not at all confident, Somewhat confident, Confident, Very confident.
15. Please describe the nature of feedback you give students.
16. Which of the following do you use to record student progress?:
a. SAIS;
b. Anecdotal notes/entries;
c. Accelerus;
d. Electronic Markbook;
e. Teacher Markbook.
17. Our school has formal exchanges of student profiles (achievement standards, A-E grading, NAPLAN data, summative data:
a. with feeder primary schools;
b. with senior secondary school;
c. with neither feeder primary nor senior secondary schools.
18. Have you established, or do you participate in, professional networks to support continuous knowledge building and effective practice in assessment and standards? — Yes or No.
Appendix 5: Centralian Middle School Instructional Model
CMS LESSON FRAMEWORK
Expectations for learning:
1. Be respectful to others and yourself
2. Listen when others are speaking
3. Follow reasonable requests
4. Be prepared with your equipment and to work in class
5. Have a go!
Beginning of the lesson
Teacher:
- displays, articulates and demonstrate the explicit learning intention
- teacher or students record a success criteria that states the skills and content knowledge the student’s will investigate, practice and/or learn in the session
- makes teacher talk explicit and connections with prior learning as well as drawing on prior knowledge of focus area
- models the skills to be learnt and uses think aloud as a scaffold
- identifies and explores new vocabulary
Whole class lesson introduction
Student:
- can articulate the learning intention
- observe, listen, question and respond
- may ‘practice’ the skills modeled by the teacher before they commence their independent or group task
Middle of the lesson
In a lesson you may use one or a combination of the following elements dependent where the lesson is in the learning cycle.
Modelling
Teacher:
- provide clear and accurate explanations to introduce new material
- choose appropriate ways of delivering information including lecture, demonstration, use a text, simulation, explore the Internet, excursion or guest speaker
- model skills using visual cues, vocal cues, signal phrases and body language to highlight key concepts
- engage students in the learning including to check for understanding
Independent and/or group learning time
Student:
- clearly understand the learning task they are completing and its purpose in the learning sequence
- identify they key concept being introduced
- create memory or processing aids with the assistance from the teacher and/or peers to help to organize information in their heads
Guided Practice
Teacher:
- purposefully select differentiated and engaging tasks matched to students needs as identified in the data
- provides multiple opportunities for students to elaborate on their new knowledge through discussion and questioning
- identify purpose of activities and make clear the link to the learning objective
- use strategies to check for understanding
- provide timely and explicit feedback
Student:
- clearly understand the learning task they are completing and its purpose in the learning sequence
- explore new learning and begin to internalize
- successfully practice learning at the level required by the success criteria in multiple ways
- seek specific assistance and feedback related to their learning task from the teacher and/or peers
Independent Practice
Teacher:
- purposefully select differentiated and engaging tasks matched to students needs as identified in the data
- provides multiple opportunities for students to elaborate on their new knowledge through discussion and questioning
- provide timely and explicit feedback
Student:
- clearly understand the learning task they are completing and its purpose in the learning sequence
- refine their skills and demonstrate their understanding of the learning intention independently
- seek specific assistance and feedback related to their learning task from the teacher and/or peers
End of the lesson
Teacher:
- provide opportunities for students to reflect on their learning in a variety of ways
- provide opportunities for student to teacher feedback
Whole class reflection and feedback time
Student:
- articulate what they are learning and make connections to the explicit learning intention articulated at the beginning of the lesson
- refer to and discuss the success criteria in relation to the learning that has occurred and product of learning is evident
- articulate new learning goals (if required)
- provide feedback about the teaching
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Interaction Design for Electronic Musical Interfaces
Bert Schiettecatte [firstname.lastname@example.org], Vrije Universiteit Brussel (ETRO/DSSP), Belgium
CHI AND MUSICAL INTERFACES
ABSTRACT: We propose a new Tangible User Interface, which is to be used by musicians and performers to create sounds and music in real-time and stimulate their creativity through experimentation. The interface consists of a number of programmable cubes, made of a translucent material. By positioning the cubes relative to each other, an optical audio processing network of audio signal processing algorithms can be created. The nature of the interface allows the user to achieve a level of interaction hard to achieve using audio software.
Problem with existing audio/music soft-and hardware: complex user interfaces with lots of parameters. Existing hardware interfaces often try to control software through simple gesture to parameter mappings [1]. Is this a user-centered design?
A NEW APPROACH: AUDIOCUBES
We want to offer the musician or performer a better, more creative, easier way of working with sound and music. Classical tools: offer alternative interface to a sound processing algorithm. How can we do better?
- Performer creates audio processing algorithm by arranging cubes (sound transmitted using light)
- Re-positioning cubes = Changing DSP algorithm
- Similar to BlockJam [2] (Sony CSL Interact. Lab) and Audiopad [4] (MIT Media Lab) BUT Audiocubes can process audio signals, they are not a new interface to control existing software on a computer!
New tool for stimulating creative process needed!
- Force the musician into re-thinking this creative process = persuasive technology?
- Requires instrument that is completely unfamiliar ...
- 'Reset' learning process: how does an artist work with sound and music? Let's start with simple gestures ...
We now introduce the Audiocube:
- Cube made of translucent material
- Battery powered digital signal processor (DSP)
- Programmed before performance from a PC
- Optical emitter, sensor and full colour LED behind each face
How can we implement the Audiocube and perform user testing? We will need to:
- find a technically feasible way to build Audiocubes: first, a test platform using basic (opto)electronics
- find musicians and artists willing to experiment with the Audiocubes and integrate them into performances
- their feedback can be used to learn more about musical interface design and relevant CHI issues
FUTURE RESEARCH
Questions...
- How do musicians interact with electronic musical instruments?
- How to design instruments to improve this interaction?
- What tools of CHI can be used when designing musical interfaces and what tools need to be modified in order to become useful?
Audiocubes:
- Can a musician understand the interaction between the cubes?
- How can the game (entertainment) aspect contribute to the creative process, efficiency and satisfaction of the musician?
- How can a set of Audiocubes stimulate social contact between musicians meeting each other?
- How can children learn about sound design using the Audiocubes?
REFERENCES
[1] Hunt A., Wanderley M.M., Paradis M. The Importance of parameter mapping in electronic instrument design. In Proceedings of the New Instruments for Musical Expression conference, 2002.
[2] Newton-Dunn H. et al. (2003) Block Jam: A Tangible Interface for Interactive Music. In Proc. of NIME 2003.
[3] Orio N., Schnell N., Wanderley M.M. Input Devices for Musical Expression: Borrowing Tools from HCI. At the workshop on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2001).
[4] Patten, J., Recht, B., Ishii, H., Audiopad: A Tag-based Interface for Musical Performance, in Proceedings of Conference on New Interface for Musical Expression (NIME '02), (Dublin, Ireland, May 24 - 26, 2002) | a198dd2c-5273-4d8a-8bda-9c53edc48986 | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | https://modin.yuri.at/tangibles/data/VUB_schiettecatte_audiocubes.pdf | 2021-03-09T10:32:40+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178389798.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20210309092230-20210309122230-00586.warc.gz | 461,459,216 | 817 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.98193 | eng_Latn | 0.98193 | [
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Inadequate water and sanitation services result in an estimated 4 billion cases of diarrhea and 2.2 million deaths each year (WHO/UNICEF 2000). In areas where there is no access to potable water, household water treatment can contribute significantly to reducing water related health problems. The most effective water treatment methods follow a process of sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection to remove bacteria, viruses, helminthes, and protozoa.
Filter Details
The first known sand filter was made in Scotland in 1804 and since then slow sand filtration has been a common filtration method in the water treatment process. The BioSand Filter has adapted this technology to work at the household level, providing clean water at a maximum flow rate of 0.63qt (0.6lt) per minute. In the BioSand Filter, contaminated water is poured in at the top and is cleaned as it passes through a biological layer, a fine sand layer, a pebble layer, and a small stone layer. When additional water is poured in at the top, the filtered water is forced into the bottom PVC and up to the outlet. The BioSand Filter uses both physical and biological mechanisms to remove the following contaminants: more than 96% of fecal coliforms, 100% of protozoa and helminthes; 50-90% of organic and inorganic toxicants; more than 75% of iron and manganese; and suspended sediments (CAWST). BioSand Filters are typically made from plastic containers or poured cement.
A key part of the BioSand Filter is the formation of a biological film on top of the fine sand layer. When contaminated water is poured in, particles are trapped on the surface of the fine sand and colonized to form a biological layer or “schmutzdecke.” Once established, this biological layer acts as a physical barrier by simply trapping particles in the film. It also actively destroys contaminants by consuming bacteria and other pathogens. It needs...
moisture, oxygen and a supply of nutrients to remain active. To provide moisture, the filter outlet is positioned at least 1in (2.5cm) above the layer of sand so that the water level never drops below the sand layer. To provide oxygen, the filter outlet is positioned so that the water level never exceeds 2in (5cm) above the sand layer. To provide nutrients, it needs a regular supply of contaminated water (preferably from the same source). This biological layer takes 1-3 weeks to develop in a new filter or to reestablish if disturbed.
The layer of fine sand acts as a physical barrier to trap suspended particles, protozoa and helminthes. These contaminants become trapped between the grains of sand and fill in the spaces allowing the filter to trap smaller particles over time. For best results use fine sand (particle size of 0.0059- 0.0138in; 0.15-0.35mm) to form a layer that is at least 16in (40cm) deep. As sand particle size increases, the depth of the sand layer should also be increased. The pebble and stone layers help to further filter the water and to keep the fine sand from washing out or plugging the outlet.
**Materials Needed For Construction**
- One plastic container with lid to be the filter container; should be at about 24in (60cm) tall
- One plastic container that can sit on the lid of the filter container to be the supply container; best if it has a raised bottom, not a flat bottom
- One piece of 3/4 inch (2 cm) PVC pipe about equal to the height of the filter container
- One piece of 3/4 inch (2 cm) PVC pipe about equal to the bottom width of the filter container
- One 90 degree 3/4 inch (2 cm) PVC fittings
- One 90 degree 3/4 inch (2 cm) threaded, female PVC fittings
- One 3/4 inch (2cm) threaded, male PVC connector
- Two washers cut from inner tube or other rubber
- Rubber strapping, string or wire
- Small stones (marble size), enough to fill half of the supply container
- Coarse sand or small pebbles, enough to fill 1/4 of the filter container
- Fine sand (0.0059- 0.0138in; 0.15-0.35mm), enough to fill 2/3 of the filter container
**Filter Construction**
**Filter Body:**
1. In the filter container cut a hole for the male PVC connector 1/2 in (1.27cm) from the bottom of the container.
2. For the bottom PVC pipe, pierce holes or cut slits along one side for the water to enter and plug one end with a cap or other material.
3. Put a washer on the male PVC fitting and then put the fitting inside the container and through the hole.
4. Put a washer on the male fitting on the outside of the container and connect the threaded female PVC fitting so the elbow points up. Use more washers if needed to make a water tight seal.
5. Connect the bottom PVC pipe inside the container to the male threaded PVC fitting; make sure the holes on the inner PVC are toward the bottom of the container.
6. Cut the side PVC pipe so the top of the pipe will rest 3in (7.6cm) from the top of the container.
7. Connect the side PVC pipe to the outside elbow fitting and top with the remaining elbow fitting.
8. An additional short section of PVC pipe can be attached to the top elbow fitting for the outlet and the pipe can be secured at the top with rubber strap, string or wire.
**Diffuser Lid and Supply Container:**
1. Place the supply container on the lid of the filter container and trace around the base.
2. Inside this area on the lid pierce small holes to make the diffuser lid (pattern shown below at left; holes can be made with a hot nail or drill).
3. Put 2-6 holes in the bottom of the supply container to make the filter supply (pattern at right). To prevent overflow between containers, start with 2-3 small holes and add more if needed.
Filter assembly:
1. Collect and rinse the fine sand, small pebbles and stones.
2. Put a thin layer of stones in the bottom of the filter container, under and around the bottom PVC (be careful not to disturb the water tight seal).
3. Cover layer of stones with 2in (5cm) of coarse sand or small pebbles.
4. Fill remainder of the filter container with the clean fine sand to 2in (5cm) below the top of the outside PVC pipe and seal with the diffuser lid.
5. Put the remaining stones in the supply container and place on top of the filter container; this serves as a pre-filter to remove any large particles.
Filter Use
The filter is now ready to be filled with water. Water should be added gradually to the supply container to prevent overflow from the area where the two containers are connected. As water fills the filter container, gradually add more to the supply container until water comes out of the outlet PVC.
To establish the biological layer in a new filter pour about 1 gallon (4 liters) of water through the filter each day for 3 weeks. In these first 3 weeks the water coming out will appear clean but will not be sufficiently filtered and should not be consumed without further disinfection. Once the biological layer is established the filter can be used as needed. For best results use water from the same source to maintain the biological layer; keep the filter protected from dust and sunlight; keep the outlet clean; use a clean container for catching the filtered water. If the water to be filtered has lots of sediment or is very cloudy it should be allowed to settle before pouring it into the filter.
The BioSand Filter removes most contaminants but a further disinfection step, such as SODIS or chlorination, is recommended- especially for households with infants, elderly, or those with weakened immune systems.
Filter Maintenance
Over time the top of the fine sand layer will become clogged with sediment and debris and the flow rate will decrease. To clean the filter, the surface of the sand is stirred which moves the captured material into the water and this dirty water is removed using a small cup or can. Fresh water is added and this process is repeated until there is no more debris. Cleaning frequency will depend on the amount and quality of water used- if the water is relatively clear the filter will run for several months before cleaning is required. After cleaning, and any time the top biological layer is disturbed, it must be allowed to reestablish by pouring 1 gallon (4 liters) of water through the filter each day for 1-3 weeks, depending on how severely the biological layer was disturbed. Again, during this time the water is not sufficiently filtered and should not be consumed without further disinfection.
Additional Resources
www.cawst.org
www.biosandfilter.org
www.who.int/household_water/en/
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Family Handbook
The Y Canberra Region
Children’s Services
Y Canberra Region
p: (02) 6242 4040 w: www.ymcacanberra.org.au
“We are influenced by a global mission to provide opportunities for all to grow in body, mind and spirit. The Ys of Australia are guided by a belief in the power of inspired young people.”
# Table of contents
| Page | Section | Topics |
|------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 04 | Welcome to the Y | Mission Statement, Our Values, Our Commitment, CECA & ECECD, ACECQA, Early Learning Code of Ethics, National Quality Framework, National Curriculum Framework, Children’s Services Objectives, Our Y People, Safeguarding Children & Young People, Safe Environments, UN Rights of the Child |
| 10 | Customer Care | Permanent Bookings, Casual Bookings, Custody / Care & Protection Orders, Orientation Procedure, Signing In & Out, Cancellation Policies, Fees & Overdue Fees, Immunisation, Family Assistance, Late Collection of Children |
| 14 | Inclusion & Diversity | Core Objectives, Collaborative Approach, Commitment to Reconciliation |
| 16 | Policies & Procedures | Emergency Response, Sun Safety, Medical Conditions, Hygiene, Illness, Accident & Infectious Disease, Exclusion Periods, Food & Nutrition, Excursions, Incursions & Outings, Smoke & Alcohol Free Environment |
| 19 | Privacy Policy | Photography & Videography |
| 22 | Early Learning Care | Hours, What to Bring, What We Provide, Education, Key Program Elements, Early Learning Years Framework |
| 26 | Outside School Hours Care | What to Bring, Experiences Include, Arrival & Departure, Children & Young People’s Voices, My Time, Our Place, Vacation Care Programs |
Welcome To the Y Canberra Region!
YMCA Canberra Region has been working with young people ever since we became a part of the Canberra community in 1941.
We passionately believe in the power of inspired young people. At our Y Canberra Region Children’s Services, we are committed to enriching the lives of Children and Young People by providing a warm and secure environment where they can thrive.
It has long been said that “it takes a village to raise a child” and we couldn’t agree more. The partnerships that we form as parents/guardians, Y People and with the wider community are integral pillars of each Child and Young Person’s sense of self and ability to thrive.
We look forward to being partners in the wonderful journey that is childhood. The future is in our hands.
Mission Statement
The YMCA’s of Australia work together to provide opportunities for all people to grow in body, mind and spirit.
Our Values
The YMCA’s of Australia are guided in our values:
- The whole person, consisting of body, mind and spirit;
- Diversity of people, communities and nations;
- Equality of opportunity and justice for all;
- Healthy communities based on relationships characterised by love, understanding and mutual respect; and
- Acceptance and personal responsibility.
Our Commitment
The Y Canberra Region is committed to the provision of quality childcare and we implement the following:
- Quality assurance systems which take into account participant requirements and satisfaction, high performance levels measured against set standards and a process of continuous improvement.
- Monitoring and review of the service to our children, young people, parents/guardians to ensure efficient, effective and responsive delivery use of resources.
Image above: YMCA OSHC Services
Children’s Education & Care Assurance (ACT) / Early Childhood Education & Care Directorate (NSW)
The Children’s Education & Care Assurance (CECA) and Early Childhood Education & Care Directorate (ECECD) are responsible for administering the National law and regulations including:
- Licensing Children’s Services in the ACT & NSW e.g. Early Learning and Outside School Hours Care;
- Auditing and compliance;
- Announced and unannounced visits to services regularly to ensure they are operating in accordance with the legislation;
- Advice and support for parents/guardians, Children’s Services and the community;
- Investigating complaints or concerns lodged with ACECQA;
- Professional advice on planning, design and establishment of new services.
ACECQA
The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority works with all governments to provide guidance, resources and services to support Children Services to improve outcomes for Children and Young People.
Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics
The ECA Code of Ethics is a set of statements about appropriate and expected behaviour of early childhood professionals.
Designed especially for early childhood education and care environments, and based on the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1991, the ECA Code of Ethics reflects current pedagogical research and practice, providing a framework for reflection about the ethical responsibilities of early childhood professionals who work with or on behalf of children and families in early childhood settings.
National Quality Framework
The National Quality Framework (NQF) provides a national approach to regulation, assessment and quality improvement for Early Childhood Education and Outside School Hours Care across Australia.
National Curriculum Framework
The council of Australian government has developed the My Time, Our Place and Early Learning Years Framework to assist educators to provide Children and Young People with opportunities to maximise their potential and develop a foundation for future success in life.
All children have the best start in life to create a better future for themselves and for the nation.
Investing in the Early Years
Council of Australian Governments
Children Services Objectives
We aim to achieve the following:
• To work in partnership with parents/guardians and the community to provide quality care and offer opportunities for participation.
• To provide a caring environment that is accepting of diversity, is complimentary to a Child or Young Person’s home and community life, and creates a sense of freedom, trust and security.
• To respect the parents/guardians by promoting their participation in the planning, development and evaluation of the service.
• To foster the development of each Child or Young Person’s self esteem and pride in their cultural heritage.
• To encourage Children and Young People to be active, enthusiastic and creative explorers of their environment.
• To encourage and support individuals to express themselves creatively.
• To support independent, confident and inquisitive learners, considering the needs of the Child or Young Person as an individual and as a member of the group.
• To provide a service that is flexible and responsive to the changing needs of the Children and Young People, and their parents/guardians.
• To foster non-discriminatory, anti-biased environments that are inclusive of all children, young people, parents/guardians.
• To provide and support opportunities for the professional and personal development of our Y People.
Our Y People
We recognise the provision of quality care requires Y People who are skilled, experienced, caring and knowledgeable about development. This includes:
• Actively supervising Children and Young People at all times;
• Consistent communication;
• Complying to policies and procedures;
• Promoting positive interactions and learning;
• Undergoing Safeguarding and Mandatory Reporting training;
• Holding a Working With Children Check and/or a Working With Vulnerable People Card;
• Complying with Child Ratios:
- Under two years - 4:1
- Two to three years of age - 5:1
- Over 3 years - 11:1
Image above: YMCA Belconnen Early Learning Centre
Safeguarding Children & Young People
The Y Canberra Region recognises that we are an organisation which works extensively with Children and Young People.
Therefore, we have a fundamental role to play in the health, wellbeing, physical and social development of the vulnerable within our community.
The Y Canberra Region is committed to achieving the safeguarding vision of the Australian Childhood Foundation (ACF). This is achieved by participation in the independent ACF review process.
Y People consider any form of abuse including emotional, physical and sexual abuse, family violence or neglect as intolerable under any circumstances. We have a legal, moral and mission-driven responsibility to protect Children and Young People from harm. All incidents of suspected abuse are promptly and appropriately dealt with.
Y People are mandated to report any form of suspected child abuse.
Safe Environments
The Y Canberra Region creates a safe culture that empowers Children and Young People. Our leadership and governance promotes safeguarding in all that we do at the Y.
As an organisation, we obtain and provide:
- WWVP Card / WWCC
- National and International Police Checks
- Recruitment Screening Procedures
- Safeguarding and Safe Behaviours Training
- Child Protection Training
Safe environments are our highest priority. We believe in the power of inspired young people and want Children and Young People to hear our message of “Feel Safe, Be Safe” in our services and programs. To accomplish this, we are guided by the National Y Safeguarding Framework and Vision and licencing standards.
Children have the right to say what they think should happen when adults are making decisions that affect them and to have their opinions taken into account.
The Y Australia has a strong commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, amplify the child’s voice and ensuring they are truly heard.
Quick Tip
Please see our Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy for further information: https://bit.ly/3fOEdcH
UN Rights of the Child
Developed in 1989, world leaders came together and made an historic commitment to the world’s Children and Young People. They made a promise to every child to protect and fulfil their rights by adopting an international legal framework - the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child. They believed that children are not just objects who belong to their parents and for whom decisions are made, or adults in training. Rather, they are human beings and individuals with their own rights. The Convention says childhood is separate from adulthood, it is a protected time in which children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity. The Convention went on to become the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history and has helped transform children’s lives. 196 countries have signed up to the UN Rights of the Child since 1989, with Somalia, South Sudan and the United States being the only countries to have not embraced the treaty.
Customer Care
The My Family Lounge portal is where you can update your enrolment details and contact information, manage your permanent bookings or request changes to enrolments and bookings.
My Family Lounge is also available to download as an easy-to-use app on Apple or Android phones and tablets. Your My Family Lounge account can manage multiple children, across our different programs, including Early Learning, Before and After School and Vacation Care programs.
All requested information and authorisations is mandatory to enable us to provide the best care for your Child or Young Person. We understand flexibility is important to our parents/guardians and are able to offer both permanent and casual bookings where available.
Head to our website to register: www.ymcacanberra.org.au/early-learning-care/enrolments
Permanent Bookings
Permanent bookings ensure a guaranteed place and helps give them a sense of stability and belonging in the environment.
Once you have created your My Family Lounge account, head to ‘Create a Booking Request’ and select your preferred start date along with the days you would like your Child or Young Person to attend. Pending availability, we will send you an ‘Offer of Place’ within 4 weeks of your preferred start date. Once you accept the offer your Child or Young Person will be officially enrolled and our Y team will be in touch with you to discuss orientation options.
Permanent days cannot be swapped. A request in writing should be submitted to your nominated supervisor / Customer Care Team. Please note, 2 weeks notice is required and the request is not guaranteed until confirmed by our Y team.
Casual Bookings
To ensure the safety of Children and Young People in our care, we are unable to operate above the licensed number of places for each service.
Bookings are limited to one service or room and not across multiple services.
Casual bookings are subject to availability. Permanent bookings are recommended if you wish to secure your preferred day.
For information on availability of casual places or to make a casual booking please contact your nominated supervisor (ELC) or the Customer Care Team (OSHC).
Custody / Care & Protection Orders
Parents/guardians have legal access at all times unless a Court or Parenting Order, Restraining Order or information / documentation is supplied by the police or regulatory body relating to the Child or Young Person states otherwise.
Parents/guardians are to ensure they provide a copy of current and relevant documentation to their service.
If a parent/guardian is experiencing problems associated with custody and access, please discuss this with your service’s nominated supervisor. A copy of any current Care and Protection Orders are required on enrolment and any updates should be provided to the service.
Orientation Procedure
Orientation visits are strongly recommended prior to commencing care. This will assist your Child or Young Person in becoming familiar with the service.
A visit will be organised with parents/guardians once enrolment forms are returned and a deposit has been paid. A visit must be prearranged, this allows:
- Parents/guardians to become familiar with their service and environment;
- An opportunity to become familiar with the team, peers, routines and experiences;
- An opportunity to ask questions and share information with Y People.
Signing In & Out
Parents/guardians are required to sign their Child or Young Person in and out of the service at the time of arrival and departure. QikKids iPads are at each service for parents and guardians to sign in and out daily.
Parents/guardians are required to notify a Y Person of their arrival and departure for safety reasons. Children and Young People will only be released to people authorised by the parents/guardians on their enrolment form. Persons unknown to staff will be asked for photographic identification to be checked against enrolment.
Cancellation Policies
Two weeks’ prior notice in writing must be received by your nominated supervisor or the Customer Care Team for any changes or cancellation to bookings.
Fees
Fees are payable two weeks in advance. Accounts are emailed fortnightly on the Wednesday of government pay week, with payment due on the Friday of government pay week. Additional days for part-time bookings will be added to your account. Full payment is required for all absences, including illness and vacations. Fees are NOT payable for the days between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day when the Y Canberra Region observes a shutdown period.
Overdue Fees
When fees are one week overdue, customers will receive a phone call to request payment. After an account becomes two weeks in arrears, customers will be advised in writing of their booking being cancelled if the account is not settled within 7 days.
Immunisation
It is a requirement upon enrolment that immunisation certificates are uploaded prior to acceptance of enrolment.
To find out more about the legislation in relation to Child Care Subsidy entitlements and immunisation requirements, visit the Department of Health and Human Services websites.
In the case of an outbreak of a vaccine preventable disease the nominated supervisor may direct any unimmunised Children or Young People to be excluded from the service for the duration of the outbreak. Fees are still payable.
Family Assistance & Childcare Subsidy
Y Canberra Region’s services are approved child care providers. For information regarding your Family Assistance and Child Care Rebate (CCR) visit: www.familyassistance.gov.au or please phone the Family Assistance Office (FAO) on 136150.
It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to register and provide the details to the service. Without this information subsidies cannot be deducted from your account. Until notification of details you will be charged full fees.
Late Collection of Children
A late fee of $5 per child, per minute will apply if children are not collected by 6pm. If a child has not been collected by 6.30pm (approximately 30 minutes after closure) and all listed contacts have been exhausted, the Y People will inform police / Office for Children, Youth and Family Support - Care and Protection Services or the Department of Community Justice.
Image above: YMCA Holt Early Learning Centre
The Y Canberra Region is committed to promoting an inclusive and accepting community that values the dignity and intrinsic worth of all people regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, belief or other difference.
Our primary role is building strong people, children, families and communities. We aim to enhance connections, increase access, build social inclusion and encourage individual empowerment and participation in our community. Y People will create environments that support and promote inclusive attitudes and practices.
Inclusion is also about creating a workplace where individuals can feel free, comfortable and safe to be who they are, and where the diversity that a person brings to a workplace or team is celebrated.
“Diversity is a fact. Inclusion is a choice” - Justin Trudeau
Core Objectives
• To acknowledge, include and respect Children and Young People, parents/guardians, participants and Y People regardless of their age, gender, LGBTQIA+ preferences, culture, beliefs or abilities.
• To encourage inclusive attitudes and practices
• To ensure Children and Young People, parents/guardians, participants and Y People are treated with dignity and respect
• To uphold and advocate the principles and values of social justice.
• To work towards removing barriers to full participation in community life and advocating for social change.
• To provide quality environments which are inclusive and responsive to the needs of the participants using them.
The Y Australia values the individual worth, uniqueness and diversity of all people.
We seek to remove barriers to participation in programs and activities that will enable all people to meet their full potential, and experience meaningful involvement in The Y Movement and the community, according to the Mission statement and values The Y Australia.
YMCA Australia Commitment to Social Inclusion Statement
Collaborative Approach
We promote a culture of respect for all parents/guardians and Y People. The program will present positive experiences for the Children and Young People which reflect gender equity and diversity. We aim to create an atmosphere in which all Children and Young People feel comfortable, secure and happy.
We will engage the support of advisory agencies, visiting entertainers, members of the community, parents/guardians to support the program and enhance Children and Youth’s understanding of diversity. While not directly involved in the management of the centre or service, all parents/guardians are encouraged to participate in other ways such as excursions, program planning, and experiences with the Children and Young People, including the sharing of any special skills, talents or cultural diversity that will enhance the interactions and activities at the service.
We encourage parent/guardian involvement and communication. Some of the ways this is achieved is through surveys, feedback forms, meetings, and social functions, input into programs, menus and policies and procedures.
Regular newsletters, digital messages, as well as information displays are all means of trying to keep parents/guardians informed.
Commitment to Reconciliation Practices
The Y Canberra Region acknowledges that our programs take place on traditional Aboriginal land across Canberra, Queanbeyan and surrounding regions. Specifically, the Ngunnawal, Ngambri, Ngambi-Guumaal, and Ngarigu Peoples. We pay our respects and share knowledge with the local and national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to enhance and guide our practices. Educators, Children and Young People at the Y Canberra Region “respect the multiple ways of knowing, seeing and living, celebrate the benefits of diversity and have the ability to understand and honour differences”
The Y acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community.
We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
The Y recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of this continent and the islands of the Torres Strait. In doing so, we acknowledge our shared history; recognise the right to self-determination and the importance of connection to country. We acknowledge and respect the distinct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural differences, beliefs, values and languages.
Policies & Procedures
The Y Canberra Region’s Policies and Procedures have been developed in accordance with the Education and Care Services national law, regulations and professional standards.
Full versions of our policies are available at: https://ymcacanberra.org.au/policies/
Emergency Response
To ensure the safety of all Children, Young People and staff, emergency responses will be practiced on a regular basis. These include evacuations and lockdowns. If parents/guardians are present at the service during an emergency procedure they are required to participate.
Emergency evacuation procedures are displayed at all exit points. In the event of an emergency the priority is to remain calm, and ensure participant’s safety in the service. Please follow the direction of your Y People and assemble at the assembly area where staff will conduct a head count to ensure all are present.
Image above: YMCA Holt Early Learning Centre
Sun Safety
The Y Canberra Region is committed to the education, promotion and practice of positive sun protection through the implementation of SunSmart behaviours across all Y services and programs. This is to protect the health and safety of Y People, volunteers and participants from the long term harmful effects associated with over-exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR).
This is achieved through:
- Providing and applying SPF30+ Broad Spectrum sunscreen;
- Implementing outside play during low UVR times;
- Following Sun Safe practices - Slip, Slop, Slap. Seek and Slide;
- Ensuring Children wear the recommended sun safe hat (broad-brimmed, legionnaire and bucket options)
Medical Conditions
If a Child or Young Person requires medication whilst in care, parents/guardians are required to complete on enrolment:
- Authority to Give Medication form;
- Medical Conditions and Dietary Requirements form
If all forms are not filled in correctly, medication will not be administered. If the form is not filled in correctly medication will not be administered, this form must be signed and dated.
Please note all medication:
- Is required to be handed to a Y Person;
- Is required to be in its original packaging;
- Needs the time of last dosage to be recorded;
- Requires the pharmacy-issued sticker clearly visible with child’s name and dosage;
- Administration will follow the prescribed dosage and time;
- That is not in original packaging or past expiry will not be administered;
- That is non-prescription medication must be accompanied by medical authorisation in order to be administered.
Also note that Children and Young People are unable to attend their centre or service for 24 hours after commencing an course of antibiotics.
For medical conditions such as asthma, anaphylaxis and diabetes, etc. please provide a current medical action plan from a medical practitioner. If there is a need for long term or emergency medication the service will require additional information from parents/guardians.
All medical forms and action plans are required to be reviewed annually.
Hygiene
Hand washing is one of the most effective ways of controlling infection. Parents/guardians are asked to wash their Child or Young Person’s hands on arrival and departure from the service. Please take advantage of our hand sanitiser at the entry of each service.
Illness, Accident & Infectious Diseases
When a Child or Young Person becomes unwell at a service the parents/guardians will be contacted. If they are not able to be contacted, the emergency contact person will be notified.
In the event of an accident/incident occurring, first aid will be provided by a first aid qualified staff member. A courtesy call will be given if a Child or Young Person receives a head injury. They may not need to go home; however, the parent/guardian may decide to seek further medical advice. Staff will continue to monitor closely whilst at the service.
If the parent/guardian is not contacted at the time of the accident/incident, they will be informed when they arrive to collect their Child or Young Person. Details about the accident will be written on the first aid register which parents/guardians will be asked to read and sign.
Exclusion Periods
In order to protect the health of our Y People, Children and Young People, it is necessary to minimise the risk of cross-infection by infectious diseases. Anyone with an infectious condition are not permitted into the service.
A list of infectious diseases and their appropriate exclusion period is on display at each service.
If a Child or Young Person has been sent home due to a suspect illness, we require a doctor clearance before they can return to the service. If unwell at home, they should not attend that day.
The Y Team under the guidance of the nominated supervisor, reserve the right to ask the parent/guardian to collect their Child or Young Person if they feel they are unwell.
Food & Nutrition
We believe that healthy, nutritious food is essential in supporting Children and Young People to learn, develop and lead a happy life. Our services provide meals prepared fresh daily using seasonal produce by our qualified food services team.
Our menus are reviewed regularly and guided by Y Canberra Region’s Nutrition Policy. We cater for dietary requirements including allergies, cultural and religious preferences.
To support healthy relationship with food we aim to do more than provide nutritious meals. We include food education in our programs and provide opportunities to have positive interactions with food through cooking experiences.
Excursions, Incursions and Regular Outings
Excursions, incursions and regular outings are opportunities offered to provide a broad range of learning for Children and Young People.
Parents/guardians will be given prior notice of these opportunities which may require an additional consent form for participation. The consent form will provide parents/guardians with details about travel arrangements, destination and experiences provided. Children and Young People will not be able to participate in these opportunities without authorisation.
Smoke & Alcohol Free Environments
The Y Canberra Region services and buildings, including outdoor areas and car parks are smoke and alcohol free environments.
Privacy Policy
Our services protect the confidentiality and privacy of its participants by ensuring records about Y People, Children and Young People, and parents/guardians are kept in a secure place.
This information is only accessed by or disclosed to those people who need the information to fulfil their responsibilities at the service or have a legal right to know. All confidential conversations will be conducted in a quiet area away from Children and Young People, parents/guardians and staff. The service is required to keep records about Y People, parents/guardians, Children and Young People to fulfil their legal responsibilities. Personal forms and information will be stored securely.
Photography & Videography
Photographs and videos will only be taken of Children and Young People at service with parent/guardian permission. On enrolment you are requested to authorise whether you allow photos or videos to be taken.
Photos and videos are used internally to document and record your Child or Young Person’s learning and development.
If we wish to use imagery for external marketing and promotional purposes, the Child or Young Person’s enrolment form will be consulted prior to this occurring.
Parents/guardians, Y People, visitors are asked to not take photographs or videos of Children or Young People while at the service with personal cameras or mobile phones.
Image above: YMCA Kaleen OSHC Service
KALEEN PRIMARY SCHOOL
Early Learning Care (ELC)
Early Learning is a place where every experience presents an opportunity to grow.
Your child will be encouraged to take on challenges, try new things and have fun within a safe and supportive environment. Our early learning programs allow your child to explore and learn in an environment that is designed to support their needs, interests, learning and developmental areas.
Hours
The Y Canberra Region Early Learning Centres are open Monday to Friday from 7am-6pm. They close on all official ACT public holidays and for an additional shut down period between Christmas Day and New Years Day each year. This Christmas to New Year shutdown period does not incur fees, however fees are charged to parents and guardians on public holidays in accordance with our fee and enrolment policy. Our centres operate at the following locations:
YMCA Early Learning Centre - Jamison
YMCA Early Learning Centre - Belconnen
YMCA Early Learning Centre - Holder
YMCA Early Learning Centre - Gungahlin
YMCA Early Learning Centre - Holt
What to Bring
• Change of clothes appropriate to the season.
• Hat and coat suitable for cold weather.
• Shirt with elbow length sleeves for outdoor play.
• Bed linen (fitted cot sheet and blanket) in a cloth bag e.g. pillow case.
• If applicable: clean bottles, formula or breast milk (cow’s milk is provided).
• Drink bottle.
Please label everything that comes to the Centre with your child’s name.
What We Provide
• Nappies
• Meals including breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and snacks.
• Sunscreen
• Bucket Hat
• Milk or milk alternatives.
• Learning and educational resources.
• Incursions and excursions.
Education
At Early Learning we provide a safe and supportive space for your child to develop independence, confidence, communication and social skills which will benefit them throughout their life.
We know learning occurs naturally and that your child will thrive and learn best when their interests are incorporated into their time spent with us. To encourage this development, we plan our programs to complement your child’s passions and needs.
Key Program Elements
Some key elements featured in our programs include:
- Child Initiated Learning - allowing your child to guide their own learning, supporting their ideas and interests helps them feel valued, develops their individuality, communication skills and builds an enthusiasm for learning.
- Learning through play - through play, your child will organise and make sense of their world while being engaged with people, the environment and tools for learning.
- Risk-based play - creating opportunities for your child to explore and test their capabilities in an environment that encourages them to take on challenges and develop new skills.
- Nature play and appreciation - being able to get outside and explore nature is a big part of childhood. Outdoor play and immersion in nature are essential to the health and wellbeing of your child.
- Indoor / Outdoor play - all of the rooms in our centres open out to our outdoor play space and we aim to keep these doors open most times of the day.
- Creative Play - gives children the opportunity to explore objects and materials such as sand, water, chalk, paint, playdough and paste in an exploratory and unrestricted way without being constrained by the one right way to use them.
- Sensory Play - Sensory experiences such as these enables your child to understand how things feel, smell and taste while supporting their physical development, curiosity, imagination, experimentation and concentration.
Early Years Learning Framework
The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) describes the principles, practice and outcomes essential to supporting and enhancing young children’s learning from birth to five years of age, as well as their transition to school. The Framework has a strong emphasis on play-based learning, as play is the best vehicle for young children’s learning providing the most appropriate stimulus for brain development. The Framework also recognises the importance of communication and language (including early literacy and numeracy) and social and emotional development.
The Learning Outcomes of the Framework:
- Children have a strong sense of identity.
- Children are connected with & contribute to their world.
- Children have a strong sense of wellbeing.
- Children are confident and involved learners.
- Children are effective communicators.
Working in partnership with parents and guardians, educators use the Learning Outcomes to guide their planning for children’s learning. In order to engage children actively in learning, educators identify children’s strengths and interests, choose appropriate teaching strategies and design the learning environment. Children thrive when parents/guardians and educators work together in partnership to support young children’s learning.
Image above: YMCA Jamison Early Learning Centre
DIY Outdoor Digging Station for Kids
Starting in Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) programs is another big step in your young person’s life.
Our role each day is to provide your Child or Young Person and their peers a safe space before and after school to allow them to continue developing, socialising and enjoying themselves.
We encourage parents/guardians to accompany their Child or Young Person to orientation. During this time you can familiarise yourselves with our educators, peers in the program and learn what to expect during their time with us.
**What to Bring**
- A sun safe hat.
- An extra jumper or coat and a warm hat during colder months.
- Vacation Care - bring lunch & snacks (nutritious & nut free)
**Experiences Include**
- Sports, ball games and team games.
- Arts and crafts.
- Cooking.
- Creative and expressive arts such as drama, singing and dancing.
- Board games and puzzles.
- Quiet space.
- Gardening and recycling.
**Arrival & Departure**
When you arrive at the program, and when you pick your Child or Young Person up we encourage you to talk to us about how they are going at home and hear about their day at the service. This communication helps to ensure their development between home and our program is consistent and that we are making their time with us enjoyable.
To ensure safety is maintained at all times, our service follows a delivery and collection procedure. All Children and Young People must be signed in and out of the program by an authorised person.
The names and contact numbers of all people authorised to collect your Child or Young Person must be included in the Enrolment Record. Any changes to these details must be given to your program in writing or via your My Family Lounge account, as soon as possible. The person collecting your Child or Young Person must provide photographic identification such as a current driver’s licence.
Children and Young People’s Voices – ‘the Heart of the Y’
We respect the views of Children and Young People at the Y and understand the importance of providing opportunities for them to contribute to decisions and be the experts of their own lives.
We believe it’s important to empower their voices by enabling them to express themselves and give meaning to their ideas and emotions. This is achieved with caring relationships and conversation, as well through visual arts, dance, movement, song, music, poetry, photography, drawing, drama and writing.
We understand that by listening and actioning the voices of Children and Young People, we show them that we value their knowledge and contributions, and protect their rights as valued citizens and learners in the community.
My Time, Our Place
In school aged care settings educators collaborate with children to provide play and leisure opportunities that are meaningful to children and support their wellbeing, learning and development. Children in school aged care services have choice and control over their learning as they collaborate with educators to extend their life skills and develop dispositions toward citizenship.
The Learning Outcomes of the Framework:
- Children have a strong sense of identity.
- Children are connected with & contribute to their world.
- Children have a strong sense of wellbeing.
- Children are confident and involved learners.
- Children are effective communicators.
When enrolled in our OSHC programs, your Child or Young Person continues their development outside of school through other forms of learning. Through planned and unplanned, children extend their learning by using their cognitive development in different capacities than just thinking, but by actually doing. Learning in the OSHC focuses on problem-solving, regulating emotions and resolving conflict with their peers. This learning supports children's ongoing development giving them life skills.
Vacation Care Programs
We run Vacation Care programs between each school term for primary school aged youth. These programs are open to all Children and Young People, regardless of if they attend our before and after school programs.
Our Vacation Care programs have been designed with a focus on youth having fun while they learn new skills, make friends and have new experiences. Each day includes an exciting planned activity which could be a service-based day, an incursion, or an excursion.
If an incursion or excursion is unable to run due to unforeseen circumstances, an alternative activity will be organised. If a replacement incursion or excursion is unable to be planned in time, parents/guardians will only be charged for an in-centre day.
Children and Young People participating in incursions can enjoy the main program of the day, and are also offered other activities such as:
- Art & craft.
- Puzzles/board games.
- Books/quiet corner.
- Music & movement area.
- Outdoor/physical space.
- Science, nature & sensory activities.
The Vacation Care Program is released shortly before the end of term and informs you of the program and prices for each day. You can book days in the holiday program via the My Family Lounge online portal or app. If you are eligible, you can claim for childcare subsidies, meaning the out of pocket expense for you can be less than advertised.
Please ensure Children and Young People are dressed appropriately for the weather and the programmed experience for the day. Please bring the following to any Vacation Care Program:
- Lunch & snacks (nutritious & nut-free)
- Water bottle & a sun safe hat
Image above: YMCA Sacred Heart OSHC Service
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Lesson Eight Intentions:
- Students explore connections between music, art, storytelling, and activism
- Students consider activism and action across generations
- Students investigate the role of storytelling in change-making
- Students examine decision-making in local community
Lesson Eight Overview:
This lesson invites students to explore the ripple effects/impacts of actions (felt, heard, seen, noticed, and unnoticed impacts), the human capacity for listening, and the quality of the air we all breathe and share. If every sound we make is patterning the air we all breathe, how do we want to speak of/to the Earth, and each other? Further, what is happening to the atmosphere; what about conflicting priorities over land and new building, or light pollution and impacts on health in local and global communities?
Through stories, science, considerations of change over time, advocacy, and music, students are given opportunities to consider how the health and priorities of a community are determined, expressed, challenged, changed, and expanded. When a disagreement arises in a community, who speaks for the “community,” and whose voices are not heard? Students are also given the opportunity to outline a story they might tell about an issue directly impacting their local community.
Key Themes:
- Reflection, observation and dialogue
- Human impact on the natural world and human communities
- Scientific investigation and the development of new technology
- Understanding diverse needs and priorities in community
- Participating in local issues and decision-making
Duration: This lesson is designed for 30 mins., but can be done in 15-20, or expanded to 45-80 mins.
Lesson Components:
- Slides (in Google slides format; adaptable for educator needs/preferences)
- VIDEO: “Xiuhtezcatl Martinez”; “Inventing Tomorrow”; “Youth V Gov”
- WRITING/REFLECTION: understanding/engaging local community
- Resources and extension ideas (see end of lesson)
Materials:
- Educators: Lesson PDF, access to online media (for video viewing), slide deck (customizable)
- Students: pencil/pen and paper
Connections (see extensions/resources and standards below; full standards for this project [here]):
Justice, Environment; Film, Reading/Writing; History; STEM
Mini-challenge (can be used as a way of assignment/assessment); Further Reading; Watching; Exercises
Invite a student to read the quotes on this slide from Leah Thomas:
“When scrolling through your social media feed, share and amplify the messages you believe the world needs to hear. Who knows—maybe it’ll surge like a waterfall and change the hearts and minds of enough people to positively alter the future. That’s an incredible responsibility. I hope we use it wisely.”
Whether students are on social media at this time or not, you might consider questions like:
- What do you think Leah Thomas means when she uses the word “amplify” here to refer to amplifying “the messages you believe the world needs to hear”?
- What are some of the messages you see or hear, in social media or otherwise, that inspire you? What is it about these messages that affects you?
- If you’re on social media, are people talking what’s happening in the world – in what ways?
- Do you see/hear stories about being outdoors, or about what’s happening to neighborhoods, or to communities, or to people that challenges their quality of life?
- Are the majority of things you see representative of many peoples’ experiences?
- What do you feel like Leah Thomas is referring to as “an incredible responsibility”?
- If you think of something as “a responsibility,” how did you come to see it that way?
- If you could invent a technology right now that changed a problem you see (without even knowing how), what would it address? What inspired you to choose this problem?
- Does anything like this exist? How could you find out?
Leah Thomas Bio: “Leah Thomas is an eco-communicator, aka an environmentalist with a love for writing + creativity, based in Ventura, CA. She’s passionate about advocating for and exploring the relationship between social justice and environmentalism.”
Yale Climate Connections: [Interview with Leah Thomas](#)
National Geographic: [Broadening the Face of the Environmental Movement](#)
Last year, student Eloise Sent encouraged young people to raise their voices as part of the environmental movement in her Challenge film, [Youth Activism](#). Throughout this lesson, we’ll explore several examples of youth activism.
---
**Inventing Tomorrow (possible video)**
**Slide 4**
*Inventing Tomorrow* follows young scientists from Indonesia, Hawai‘i, India, and Mexico who propose innovative solutions to fix some of the most complex environmental issues facing humanity today - right in their own backyards. The students are preparing original scientific research projects they will defend at ISEF, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a program of the Society for Science & the Public. The students travel to Los Angeles from all corners of the world to participate in ISEF 2017. The film follows them as they participate in social activities, field trips, and judging. No matter who wins a prize, the students all make connections many call life changing. These young scientists invite a worldwide role reversal, where the youth show the way towards a more sustainable future.
*Inventing Tomorrow* (clip): [https://www.pbs.org/video/lesson-plan-clip-2-inventing-tomorrow/](https://www.pbs.org/video/lesson-plan-clip-2-inventing-tomorrow/)
Share the above clip from *Inventing Tomorrow* with students. Let students know that in this clip they will hear a small part of the story of Fernando, Jesus, and José, a team from Mexico preparing to attend ISEF. As they watch the clip, can they catch what Fernando, Jesus and José are working on; and why?
*Inventing Tomorrow* website: [https://www.inventingtomorrowmovie.com](https://www.inventingtomorrowmovie.com)
Note from filmmaker Laura Nix: this full film can be made available to interested teachers/schools.
Some questions you might explore after watching the clip of Fernando, Jesus, and José.
- This is a small clip from a larger story that follows students from Indonesia, Hawaii, India, and Mexico to an international science and engineering fair. Even in this clip, how is the story narrated?
- What do you learn/feel about Fernando, Jesus, and José?
- Why do you think this film was made? Just based on this clip, what are some of the impacts you can imagine that director Laura Nix was/is interested to inspire?
Creating Solutions
Laura Nix, the director of *Inventing Tomorrow*, recalls: “When we were casting for the film…we discovered that in developing countries, approximately 60-70% of student projects we reviewed were intended to have an environmental impact in their own communities. But when we dug into the projects in the United States, that number fell to around 10%.” *Why do you think this is?*
She goes on to say: “We interviewed over 100 ISEF finalists around the world, and learned that most of the students who were focusing their research on environmental solutions were motivated by an issue that was facing their local community. Over time, we realized young people who live in American frontline communities, mostly urban and rural students who are directly impacted by environmental injustice, don’t have access to the type of advanced STEM education that trains students to qualify for the top science fairs.
…Our [film] and program is designed to inspire young people to create solutions that lead to cleaner air, potable water, reducing industrial contamination, renewable energy, and improved quality of life for their families and communities.”
Frontline Youth
(video)
Slide 6
While Laura Nix’s research in casting for *Inventing Tomorrow* surfaced a significant underlying cause of an observable difference in the orientation of science projects (explicitly concerned with environmental impact or not), “frontline youth” across the world, and in the United States, have been increasingly active in calling for environmental justice, and for greater understanding of the social impact of climate change; as well as for innovative, community-inspired and/or community-based solutions.
Watch *Frontline Youth: Fighting for Climate Justice*.
You might consider some of the following questions:
- Reflections on this video? What feeling(s) did you experience watching it?
- What does it mean to be in a “frontline community”?
- How do you think the pandemic continues to impact communities disproportionately facing challenges like fossil-fuel pollution, reduced/lack of access to clean air or clean water?
- Did you recognize issues of concern in this video that are also impacting your local community?
- How do you think about the notion of “your community” (where does it start/end?)
- What do you think is meant by the phrase “just recovery”? (*also see film included in Slide 7*)
- Recovery from what? Toward what?
- What could have “recovery” be “just”?
- Community gardens and food growing were mentioned multiple times in this video, why?
- What are some possible connections between community organizing, food systems and environmental justice?
- How were young people portrayed in this video?
- Were they talked about? Speaking for themselves?
- What priorities did the young people in this video express?
How are youth and older adults/elders shown working together in this video?
- Why do young people in this video reference “climate justice” as being part of “a movement”?
- What makes something “a movement”?
- How can more “frontline communities” speak up for their own needs, and also feel empowered to share their knowledge, ideas, innovations, and creative solutions?
Youth Activism: BESE Meets: Xiuhtezcatl Martinez (video)
Slide 7
In the film, she states that young people do not need to wait until they are older to have an impact. At the age of 9, Xiuhtezcatl (“shoo-TEZ-kawt”) Martinez worked to ban the use of pesticides in Colorado parks. Today, he’s a hip-hop artist fighting for environmental justice, largely through the medium of his music… What’s the connection for him between music, art, storytelling, and activism? Show the Xiuhtezcatl Martinez video.
- Reflections on this video?
- Xiuhtezcatl’s activism extends forth from/through his love for music – how is this reflected in the video?
- What’s the connection for him between music, art, storytelling, and activism?
- What could it be? How could the connection be further developed?
- What different elements come into this video?
- Sound? Images?
- Historical references?
- Narration?
- Types of shots - groups, individual, action?
The Power of Collective Community
Slide 8
How closely, and how often, do we consider the ripple (impact) of a word or action?
And when a decision is made – whether for a family, neighborhood, city, county, state, country, of beyond – what is done to ensure that the needs, rights, concerns, priorities, and health and wellbeing of all people are understood and given fair voice and consideration?
Watch this clip from Youth v Gov, a film about youth suing the U.S. government for their failure to take action on climate change. Consider the following:
- How does taking action in a group differ from taking individual action? (consider power relations, comfort, accessibility, etc)
- Who gets to speak for a “community”, and for the interests of a community? What if there is a dispute?...How do
Lesson Eight Challenge Prep: Using Film for Impact
Introduction:
If you were going to make a film about an issue impacting your local community, or an area in your county, involving land, water, or air, how would you research the issue and develop the story? How would you find out what is happening in your community, and the history of the issue you choose? If there is a dispute surrounding this issue in some way, what caused/is causing a dispute? More broadly, who makes decisions that impact your neighborhood, city, county? How does a citizen make their experience, voice, opinion heard/understood? What if that citizen is too young to vote - how else can young people participate in their local communities? How have citizens engaged with the issue you are researching?
Challenge:
After conducting some initial research, create a short one-page outline of the film you would make. Remember that stories should include an introduction, supporting statements and research, and a conclusion or a call to action. In your outline be sure to include the following:
1. What is the issue at the heart of your story?
2. Who is involved – Who is impacted? Who are the decision-makers? Who is actively participating?
3. Whose point of view/voices would you include in this story? How (interview, narrator)?
4. What shots/images would you want to collect to help you tell this story?
5. Who would your intended audience be for this film?
6. What action(s) would you want your audience to take after viewing your film?
Additional Video/Discussion: Light Pollution
National Geographic video you might explore: HERE
Ever since the light bulb was invented some 150 years ago, artificial light has illuminated homes, streets, and skies -- but with some unintended consequences. Learn about the major types of light pollution, their impact on human health, and how the worldwide glow from artificial light may continue to grow.
- Who do you think is most impacted by light pollution?
- What can communities and individuals do to decrease light pollution and its impacts?
- Is this a type of pollution you’ve thought about/hear about?
- What actions can change the presence of so much artificial light in communities?
What’s the impact on natural systems and wildlife?
Environmental Justice and Youth Advocacy
(possible video)
Explore this short video about Vic Barrett.
- What is the issue that especially inspires Vic’s advocacy/activism?
- How did awareness of this issue begin?
- What are some of the capacities/skills/qualities Vic identifies as important in advocacy?
- How has environmental advocacy work impacted Vic’s life – just from the little bit shared here?
Optional Activity:
Invite students to find/share a news story (maybe within the last 10 years; or last 3-5 years) that highlights a youth-led innovation or initiative, or a community-based solution.
You might do this on a Jamboard, or other shared space (electronic or otherwise).
Suggested Standards: Language Arts and History/Social Studies
This lesson gives students multiple opportunities to engage with language, images and text, with particular focus on how point of view impacts the story one tells. Students also have a chance to reflect on their own experience and point of view in conversation and writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2
Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.3
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.7
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.9
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.1
Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2
Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.4
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Suggested Standards: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
Throughout this lesson students are encouraged to understand the primacy of **observation**, and the need to attend closely to **patterns and relationships**, and to be able to envision **the impact of actions**.
- Patterns and relationships
- Precision and depth in observation
- Inference and probability
- Ratios and proportional relationships
Suggested Connections: NGSS/Environment
Students are encouraged to make connections between the health of natural systems and the health of human beings and human communities. In addition, phenomena and change may be observable at one scale and not another, or
may require a different way of inquiry and attention to detect and understand.
- Health of human lives and health of natural systems
- Flow of energy and matter at the scale of the entire planet
- Exchange of matter between natural systems and human societies affects long-term functioning of both
- Phenomena that can be observed at one scale may not be noticed/observable at another scale
- Systems interact with other systems
- Stability might be disturbed either by sudden events or gradual changes that accumulate over time
**Suggested Connections: Social Justice**
The integration of perspectives and voices in this lesson is intended to encourage greater appreciation for the depth of one’s own identity, and respectful curiosity about others’ lived experience.
**Diversity.** Students will respectfully express curiosity about the history and lived experiences of others and will exchange ideas and beliefs in an open-minded way.
**Action.** Students will recognize their own responsibility to stand up to... injustice.
**Suggested Connections: Social Emotional Learning Competencies**
Components of this lesson are meant to support students’ sense of **confidence and agency**, as well as their social-awareness and sense for relationships; as well as how much relationships need tending, both with **respect** to our relationship with the natural world and each other.
- Self-awareness (confidence, self-efficacy)
- Social-awareness (perspective-taking, appreciating diversity, respect for others)
- Social skills (communication, relationship building)
- Responsible decision-making (evaluating, reflecting)
**Suggested Connections: UN Sustainability Goals**
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Wholebeing Happiness
A Mini Workbook on SPIRE: The Five Dimensions of Well-Being
by Megan McDonough
wholebeinginstitute.com
©2016-2017, Wholebeing Institute
This ebook is protected under the Creative Commons license. Feel free to share it, post it, print it, or copy it. No commercial use, no edits/changes.
This ebook is available for free at wholebeinginstitute.com.
The Renaissance gave birth to creative genius. For roughly 300 years, the most breathtaking art was created, including Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine Chapel and da Vinci’s *Last Supper*.
The word “renaissance” means “rebirth” in French. Intellectually, culturally, and artistically, it was a time of ripe blossoming.
Science and art became closely connected as artists took the newly discovered rules of geometry and applied them to perspective. Using linear perspective, artists rendered incredibly real scenes that pulled the viewer in. Setting a vanishing point directed attention in a certain way; the use of horizon and orthogonal lines produced depth and authenticity.
By understanding the mathematical model that described perspective, artists recreated life on canvas, on ceilings, and in marble.
**Perspective creates great art, and it creates a great life.**
An Inspired Perspective
The perspective of focusing on what works—what’s good in our lives—takes effort. Well, maybe not so much effort as a willingness to look at life through a different lens.
The Renaissance artists used linear perspective to draw great art. We can use a five-dimensional perspective of well-being to draw our inspired life. We call it SPIRE.
SPIRITUAL
Leading a meaningful life and mindfully savoring the present.
PHYSICAL
Caring for the body and tapping into the mind/body connection.
INTELLECTUAL
Engaging in deep learning and opening to experience.
RELATIONAL
Nurturing a constructive relationship with self and others.
EMOTIONAL
Feeling all emotions, reaching towards resilience and optimism.
There’s a natural tendency we humans have to focus on what’s broken—what’s not working. This tendency is called the negativity bias. For example, health care is not so much about health as it is about fixing illness. Therapy concentrates on anxiety, depression, and mental illness. We’re tough on ourselves, too, focusing on perceived imperfections in our body or within our being. The same holds true for those we love—it’s easy to overlook the good and harp on what’s wrong. As Dr. Rick Hanson says, “In effect, the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones.”
An inspired perspective aims towards the best—towards lifting ourselves up.
When you gaze at Raphael's painting *The School of Athens*, you feel as if you’re inside this grand hall, looking through soaring arches and catching a glimpse of blue sky and clouds beyond. You can feel the engagement of Plato and Aristotle as they walk towards the stairs, and the groups of learners nearby, all deep in conversation or concentration. You can see the whole picture, and you can see the individual parts of the visual story.
When we use an inspired lens to look at life from the five perspectives, we begin to see ourselves from new angles. We begin to see the interplay of all the SPIRE parts that make up the whole.
We call that big-picture view wholebeing—the wide perspective of whole-person well-being (yes, wholebeing is a mashup of the two words).
Simply put, wholebeing is our definition of happiness. Rather than smiley-face happy-ology, wholebeing fits with Aristotle’s definition of human flourishing, which he called eudaemonia.
Wholebeing is whole-person happiness. Who wouldn’t want that every day? Let’s get to work on that …
Whole-Person Happiness, Every Day
We hear this question, or even ask it, several times a day: “How are you doing?”
If you’re like most of us, you rarely answer in detail, and the person who asks is probably fine with that. We’ve become used to not really knowing, or being known by, others.
Yet, knowing and explaining how we’re really doing gets to the heart of where we’re at in our lives. Answering this question takes some thought and reflection.
The truth is, the question isn’t just one question—it’s five. That’s where this mini workbook comes in.
When you understand the five perspectives that create the whole of your well-being, you can see more clearly how you are doing—how you are REALLY doing—in each aspect of life. These perspectives are your Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Relational, and Emotional (SPIRE) well-being.
By looking at each facet individually, you can more clearly track your progress over time and put in place action plans to appreciate what’s best in your life. You can then bring the positive energy from these successes to address whatever concerns you have in other parts of your life.
The SPIRE check-in is an easy way to see a bigger perspective of well-being. Start now by printing out page 10. Then follow the steps outlined below.
The first step of the check-in is drawing lines to represent where you rate yourself on each aspect. The higher up the line is, the more positive the rating. This is not rocket science. It’s a best guess of where you think you are in this moment, on this day, in each aspect of SPIRE. It’s cultivating self-awareness. How do you feel spiritually (meaning, purpose, or mindful living)? Physically? Intellectually (engaged in deep learning, interested, or open to experience)? Relationally? Emotionally?
STEP TWO: What else can I be aware of?
Explore the ratings you just made. What more is behind each of them? Name some drivers behind your assessments. Write the reasons on the line. In this personal example, I did the SPIRE check-in while getting ready for a lecture. By looking more deeply into my experience, I could see that the topic I was speaking about was fully engaging my intellect, compromising my physical health, and distracting me from an important relationship. I was emotionally stable and doing meaningful work. This SPIRE check-in gave me a snapshot of my wholebeing.
Once you see the whole, you can take constructive action. In this case, I could see that the most helpful thing I could do was to take a nap! Look at your own check-in. What action would raise your overall sense of well-being, even if only slightly? What holds the greatest leverage towards wholebeing? It might not always be the lowest rating that drives action: It could be that the highest rating is pushing others to be low, and that’s where you want to focus. Or, you recognize that the relational aspect holds such leverage for you that going to dinner with friends would be most nourishing. Experiment, test, and play with your experience. Now use the blank sheet on the following page to do your own check-in.
My SPIRE Check-in
S SPIRITUAL
Leading a meaningful life and mindfully savoring the present.
P PHYSICAL
Caring for the body and tapping into the mind/body connection.
I INTELLECTUAL
Engaging in deep learning and opening to experience.
R RELATIONAL
Nurturing a constructive relationship with self and others.
E EMOTIONAL
Feeling all emotions, reaching towards resilience and optimism.
Examples of actions
**S** SPIRITUAL
Leading a meaningful life and mindfully savoring the present.
- Notice the breath coming in and out.
- Be aware of sensation, thoughts, and emotions.
- Identify what is meaningful to you.
- Remind yourself of your deeply held values.
**P** PHYSICAL
Caring for the body and tapping into the mind/body connection.
- Go for a walk, dance, or jog.
- Connect with nature.
- Eat a healthy meal.
- Take a nap.
**I** INTELLECTUAL
Engaging in deep learning and opening to experience.
- Re-read a meaningful text, seeing it anew.
- Follow your curiosity towards an interest.
- Visit a museum and look closely at what you see.
- Do something you’ve never done.
- Notice something new in the mundane.
**R** RELATIONAL
Nurturing a constructive relationship with self and others.
- Hug a loved one with full attention.
- Tell another what you appreciate in them.
- Notice what you appreciate in yourself.
- Share how your teachers have impacted you.
**E** EMOTIONAL
Feeling all emotions, reaching towards resilience and optimism.
- Smile!
- Recall a time when you successfully overcame difficulty.
- Accept all your emotions as valid.
- Ask yourself what will increase your joy, now.
Writing can give us a richer story about our well-being. It can also provide a more complex understanding of our relationship to our well-being. Here are some prompts to generate deeper exploration.
- What story does your check-in tell?
- What insight does it provide?
- How does it apply to your life in general, above and beyond this moment?
- How does today’s check-in relate to yesterday’s check-in?
- What patterns can you see?
- How does one aspect of your life influence others? For example, how does your physical well-being affect your emotional well-being? How does your emotional well-being play a role in your relationships?
- When you engage all five elements of well-being (when you don’t sorely neglect one or more aspects), what happens? How does this engagement affect your life?
- Connect with the personal meaning behind each aspect of SPIRE. Why is it important to you to cultivate spiritual well-being? Why do you need this in your life? Do this for each of the SPIRE perspectives.
In *The School of Athens*, the two main characters in the center of the scene, Plato and Aristotle, are holding their hands in different positions. Plato, on the left, points his fingers to the sky. Beside him, Aristotle holds his hand open, palm down, towards the earth. Each physically represents his philosophical take on life. Plato points to the higher, ephemeral, and ultimate reality—the ideal, of which this earthly realm is but a mere shadow. Aristotle, on the other hand, holds that the only reality is right in front of us—the earthly connection to self and others, to what we can see, taste, hear, and smell.
Whole-person happiness holds both truths—that we can see a vision of the ideal self, and also be fully grounded in the real self.
The word SPIRE is within the word "respire," meaning "to breathe." It’s also within the word "inspire," which literally means "to take in air." Whole-person happiness—wholebeing—is elemental to life itself. Wholebeing is fundamental.
To feel inspired also means being filled with the urge to do or create something. And then there's the word "aspire," also containing SPIRE, which refers to reaching higher or directing one’s vision toward achieving greater goals.
It’s my hope that this mini workbook has given you a sense of both groundedness and greatness. You can have roots to hold yourself stable and also wings to lift yourself to new heights.
Wishing you all the best, always,
Megan McDonough
CEO, Wholebeing Institute
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10 simple but effective ways to create a better you
The impact of Covid-19 on our day-to-day life cannot be understated. Since the first lockdown in March 2020, we have had to become accustomed to spending more time in our homes, be that for work or leisure.
While the pandemic has brought with it emotional, and in some cases, physical challenges, it may have prompted you to reassess your way of life in search of a calmer existence, and better work-life balance.
If you search the internet you’ll find a myriad of self-help sites aimed at helping you to deal with stress and get into better physical shape. As increased numbers of people turn to meditation, yoga, and other forms of healthy living, it’s never been easier to discover ways to enjoy a happier, more physically active, and stress-free way of life.
According to recent research by Aegon, a key part of finding happiness and peace of mind is to have the right mindset towards your money. Fundamental to this, it reveals, is understanding what brings you happiness and joy, helping you live a more fulfilled life.
Read on to discover 10 simple but effective ways to create a better you, helping you make the most of life.
1. Set goals and plan for tomorrow
Feeling good about the future is key to our happiness. Goals motivate us if they are challenging enough to excite us and are achievable, as the unachievable ones only create unnecessary stress.
Goals provide direction and bring a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when they’re achieved. According to Action for Happiness, the organisation that aims to build a happier society, having a goal gives us the following benefits:
- Provides something of interest, engagement or pleasure
- Provides us with a sense of meaning and purpose
- Brings a sense of accomplishment when it is achieved
- Builds confidence and belief in ourselves
- Focuses our attention.
Having targets and hitting milestones along the way could be as important for our wellbeing as achieving the target itself.
An effective way to achieve this is to create a financial strategy, onto which you can add your personal and financial targets and create milestones. Working with a financial planner will not only help you measure your successes, but will also improve your ability to reach them, providing you with the confidence boost that comes with it.
Research by protection and pension provider Aegon shows that people across all age groups think about life goals and how they could afford to achieve them.
Even though a strategy could help achieve those goals, the graph below shows few people actually create one, something a financial planner can help you to do.
| Age Group | Percentage who have thought about how to financially meet their goals | Percentage who have a plan |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| 16-24 | 32% | 8% |
| 25-34 | 32% | 10% |
| 35-44 | 28% | 11% |
| 45-54 | 26% | 15% |
| 55-64 | 34% | 16% |
Source: Aegon
2. Exercise to keep your body and mind healthy
While many are familiar with the “endorphin rush” released when exercising, it also increases happiness by:
- Lowering stress levels
- Reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation
- Helping to relieve anxiety and depression.
Through exercise, you release natural cannabis-like brain chemicals to enhance your sense of wellbeing. Apart from taking your mind off worries as you concentrate on your exercise regime, it helps improve confidence as you meet goals and challenges.
Just walking can improve your health and be beneficial to your mood. According to one study, 150 minutes of exercise per week can help ease mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression.
But mixing exercise with something you enjoy can give the biggest boost to your mood. Dancing, yoga, working out in the garden and hiking are all superb forms of exercise that have the additional mental boost of enjoyment.
Dancing can burn more energy and make you feel better about yourself than running. That’s according to the University of Brighton, which found you could expend more than 300 calories every half-hour when you’re dancing – more than the energy burnt during a run or swimming.
3. Boost your mental wellbeing by looking after yourself
At a time when we live increasingly busy lives, looking after yourself can boost your mental and physical health, helping you feel better about yourself in every area of your life.
BMI Healthcare explains that better self-care can improve your physical health as it involves looking after your body, while also reducing stress and anxiety. This, it reveals, protects mental health as you give yourself time to relax, ultimately providing you with increased resilience and an improved ability to overcome setbacks.
Whether participating in a sport or hobby, playing a musical instrument, gardening, or taking a soothing bath it must help you feel more relaxed and lift your mood.
But this is not the only way to boost mental wellbeing. According to recent research by Aegon, working with a financial planner can help develop five “mindset building blocks” that could help boost your overall financial wellbeing and reduce stress.
The building blocks include:
1. **Knowing what makes you happy**. As only 4 out of 10 people consider the things that give them joy, the research suggests considering what provides joy and makes you feel useful.
2. **A solid picture of your future self**. One-third of people have a clear idea of their future self. Asking what future you would thank yourself for 10 years from now could help you make better financial decisions.
3. **Having savvy social comparisons**. As your financial wellbeing can change when you compare yourself to others, find a suitable role model.
4. **Having a long-term plan**. As already discussed, if you do not have a long-term strategy or plan you’re not alone, but creating one could help you achieve your goals.
5. **Having a strong nerve in a crisis (resilience)**. As bad news can result in knee-jerk decisions you later regret, speaking to a financial planner can help avoid this, and better manage investments and wealth.
Research by Royal London found that those who use a financial planner worried less about financial issues and suffered reduced anxiety.
- 34% said that having access to financial expertise makes them feel more confident in their financial plans.
- 34% said that receiving professional financial advice helps them feel in control of their finances.
- 32% said that having regular contact with a financial adviser gives them peace of mind.
Here are five simple yet effective ways to practise self-care.
Get a good night’s sleep (7-8 hours)
Have a relaxing bath
Enjoy a brisk walk
Listen to your favourite music or watch a favourite film
Spend time with loved ones
4. Do the things that make you happy
Feeling great about what you are doing makes a world of difference to the way you see it, and yourself. Having a career you enjoy, or a hobby that takes you to a place of joy, makes a huge difference to your mental and physical health.
Scientific evidence also suggests that being happy boosts your immune system, protects your heart, and may help reduce pain. If those aren’t good enough reasons to do things that make you happy, according to the Harvard Medical School, it may help increase your life expectancy.
Key to feeling happy is laughter. Research suggests this could be good for you as it has several physical health benefits, including:
- Relaxing the body. A hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes afterwards.
- Boosting the immune system by reducing stress hormones and increasing immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies.
- Releasing endorphins, which are the body’s natural feel-good chemicals, promoting a sense of wellbeing that can temporarily relieve pain.
- Protecting the heart as it improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow.
According to research by Aegon, enjoying a better lifestyle is about concentrating on what makes you happy, not having more. Indeed, striving for a higher income could mean you’re too exhausted to actually enjoy the possessions you can afford to buy.
Working with a financial planner could help identify ways to provide a life that will make you happy, without the additional stress of a higher paid role.
5. Get outside – it’s good for you
According to Mind, getting out into the countryside, working in your garden, or volunteering to work in the great outdoors can help to:
- Improve your mood
- Reduce feelings of stress or anger
- Improve concentration
- Improve physical health
- Boost self-esteem.
It adds that the benefits of walking or running are emphasised when done in natural environments rather than indoors, helping reduce feelings of anger, fatigue, and sadness. But you don’t have to exercise or be out in the great outdoors: getting out into your garden offers mental and physical health benefits, as can planting vegetables in your garden or tending an allotment.
The Mental Health Foundation explains that, while the reasons behind nature’s positive impact on our wellbeing are still being understood, research continues to confirm the link between the great outdoors and feeling great physically and mentally.
Looking for ways to connect with nature? Try the Mental Health Foundation and WWF’s Thriving with Nature guide, which provides suggestions.
6. Give back in some way
According to Action Mental Health, giving to others stimulates the reward areas in the brain, creating positive feelings.
Studies have shown that giving in all its forms provides feelings of improved wellbeing and can help combat feelings of stress, depression, and anxiety. It can also provide mental stimulation and improve self-confidence through increased sense of purpose.
Giving your time to volunteer for a charity can also help provide physical benefits such as working in a shop or working outside doing activities such as coppicing or maintenance of green spaces.
Another way you may want to give back is by leaving part of your estate to charity. This can reduce the rate of Inheritance Tax from 40% to 36% if you leave more than 10% of your entire estate to charity. Speaking with a financial planner can help you leave money to a good cause and your loved ones in the most tax-efficient way, potentially allowing you to leave more money to both.
7. Practise mindfulness
Visit the NHS website and you may be surprised to see that it promotes mindfulness, which is the total awareness of everything happening inside you and around you. The website explains that being mindful can help you take enjoyment from a wide range of situations, providing more fulfilment from life.
“Awareness of this kind also helps us notice signs of stress or anxiety earlier and helps us deal with them better,” explains Professor Mark Williams, former director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre.
The NHS provides several simple steps to be more mindful, including:
- Reminding yourself to take notice of your thoughts, feelings, body sensations and the world around you.
- Noticing everyday things, from the food you eat to the air moving past your body, as being more aware can provide a different perspective.
- Trying something new by sitting in a different seat or going somewhere different for lunch, as this can help you to notice the world in a new way.
- Watching your thoughts: when you have lots of thoughts and worries, try to see them as “thought buses” coming and going without you having to get on them and be taken away.
- Practising yoga and tai-chi, as this can help develop an awareness of breathing and being present.
8. Try something new
Trying something new not only enriches your life by connecting you to others, but it helps boost your confidence and self-esteem, providing a sense of purpose.
Whether it’s cooking, learning to play a musical instrument, writing a blog, or starting a new sport, finding the time to start a new hobby or pastime could give you a boost.
Starting a sport or activity also provides physical benefits that can improve fitness and strengthen your heart, improving circulation. This lowers risks of heart disease such as high cholesterol, coronary artery disease and heart attack.
9. Make time for relationships
If there is one thing that the Covid lockdown may have done, it’s to appreciate the time we spend with friends and family. Indeed, not being able to see loved ones has probably been one of the main reasons for increased anxiety during the pandemic.
The Mayo Clinic reports that being with those we enjoy spending time with provides mental and physical health benefits. Dr Craig Sawchuk, a psychologist at the clinic, explains that socialising is key to good health.
“We are social animals by nature, so we tend to function better when we’re in a community and being around others,” he says.
Dr Sawchuk goes on to explain that those who spend a lot of time alone have an increased risk of depression and lower quality of life. This is because socialising stops feelings of loneliness, helps to sharpen memory and cognitive skills, and increases happiness and wellbeing.
10. Work with a financial planner
A major new report by Aegon reveals that your mindset around money can boost financial wellbeing. Researchers found that just 8.6 million people (16% of the population) combine healthy finances and a positive money mindset.
The research also revealed that:
- Only 13% of us have a plan to achieve our long-term money goals
- Just 40% of us think about what gives us joy and purpose in life
- 55% of average earners and more than one in three top earners worry about money.
Having a financial planner can help you improve your mindset around money, by helping you to develop strategies with clear ideas about where you want to be in the future.
In addition to this, working with a financial professional will enable you to understand your investments and wealth, providing peace of mind and confidence that will bring you more enjoyment in life.
To discuss your financial plan, please contact us:
📞 01937 223055
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Japanese pine sawyer beetle (Monochamus alternatus)
EXOTIC PEST DETECTION & SAMPLING GUIDE
This resource has been developed as part of the collaborative program ‘Boosting diagnostic capacity for plant industries’. Funding for this project is from the Rural R&D for Profit Program, Federal Department of Agriculture and Water, and the Grains Research and Development Corporation, with funds from other RDC’s – Sugar RDC, Wine Australia, Cotton RDC, Forestry RDC, and Hort Innovation.
Background
Pine sawyer beetles (Monochamus spp.) attack many types of pine tree and some other conifer species. Although none of the known pest species of this group are currently found in Australia, the Japanese pine sawyer beetle is of particular concern – it is a significant problem in many parts of the world and is the species of pine sawyer beetle that is most likely to invade Australia. It is native to Japan but is now widespread across the temperate parts of east Asia. These beetles pose a major threat to commercial pine and other conifer plantations because they are highly effective vectors of Pine Wilt Nematode infection. This disease can kill infected trees in a matter of months.
How would I identify Japanese pine sawyer beetles?
Identification by morphology
At up to 30 mm in length Japanese pine sawyer beetle adults are fairly large and long-bodied. They also have very long, prominent antennae that are longer than their body. Their appearance is quite distinctive with mottled black and pale grey patches and thin orange-brown stripes down the body length.
The other life stages are harder to identify by appearance. Eggs are around 4mm long and slightly curved. Larval stages are long, almost translucent white grubs up to 43 mm long, with small brown heads that are narrower than the rest of their body.
Identification by damage
Adult female pine sawyer beetles chew a small hole in the bark of host trees and lay a single egg in each hole. After hatching, developing grubs will tunnel through and feed on wood tissue. Once mature the grubs pupate within one of these tunnels. Newly emerging adults will then chew an exit hole around 9 mm wide.
On their own, pine sawyer beetles have limited impact on the host trees they infest and mostly attack trees that are already stressed or recently killed. The biggest risk these beetles pose is their potential to carry and spread exotic species of pine nematode (Bursaphelenchus spp.). Pine Wilt Disease caused by these nematodes can lead to rapid death of host trees, often within a few weeks or months.
How do I scout for Japanese pine sawyer beetles?
It may be necessary to peel away some of the outer bark of an infested tree to reveal tunnels and wood pulp frass created by pine sawyer beetle grubs. This feeding damage, along with exit holes created by emerging adults may be far more obvious than the actual grubs or beetles themselves (Figure 1). If you have pine trees or other conifers that show unusual signs of damage, and find evidence of tunnelling beneath the outer bark, dig or chop through the damaged wood to try to find any live grubs.
Could it be confused with an endemic species?
Australia actually has hundreds of native species of long-horned beetles. Adults of some of these beetles are somewhat similar in size and shape to Japanese pine sawyer beetle, but there is no evidence that any of these native species attack commercially grown pine trees, or are vectors for pine nematodes.
However, other exotic pine sawyer beetles from the same genus (Monochamus) can cause very similar damage to the Japanese species. These other exotic species tend to have the same general size, shape and life cycle as Japanese pine sawyer beetles, but with more plain or black body colours. These other exotic species primarily occur in Europe or North America and are not found in Australia.
What should I do if I suspect Japanese pine sawyer beetles?
Japanese pine sawyer beetle is a priority plant pest, exotic to Australia. If you have pine trees or other conifers that show unusual signs of damage, and find evidence of tunnelling beneath the outer bark, call the Exotic Plant Pest hotline on 1800 084 881. The hotline will divert you to the appropriate state biosecurity agency, which will investigate the suspect detection further. To support an investigation you should take note of:
- The detection location (take a GPS coordinate using your phone);
- The host plant on which the suspect detection has been made;
- Damage symptoms (e.g. tunnelling and wood pulp frass under the bark); and
- A photo of all life stages observed (taking close-up photos of the same specimen from multiple angles is most useful for identification).
Taking a sample
Taking a sample will also assist in a biosecurity investigation. If possible, collect grubs in a ziplock bag – double bagging of specimens is ideal. Label the bag with the date and collection location and keep in the fridge in case a larval sample is needed by the biosecurity agency.
Figure 2. Reporting decision making for Japanese pine sawyer beetle (*Monochamus alternatus*)
You have detected **unusual tunneling damage** or **rapid death of trees** in your pine plantation. Should you report it?
If you answer yes to EITHER of the following questions, it could be the exotic **Japanese pine sawyer beetle** (*Monochamus alternatus*) which can carry the **pine wilt nematode**. Report it!
1. When you peel away outer bark, do you find tunnels and wood pulp?
- Yes
2. When you split open pieces of wood with signs of tunnelling, do you find eggs, white grubs, pupae or adult beetles?
- Yes
There are hundreds of wood boring beetle species in Australia, but none are known to damage commercial pine plantation trees or spread pine wilt nematodes. Any sign of boring inside pine should be reported!
---
More information
NSW Department of Primary Industries, Sawyer beetles
References
Walker, K. (2005) Pine Sawyer beetle (*Monochamus alternatus*) Updated on 8/30/2021 Available online: PaDIL
---
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Chakalyn
Community Member
CommunityHealthChoice.org
713.295.2294 | 1.888.760.2600
Community Health Choice is monitoring the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the most updated information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Texas Department of State Health Services, and the Harris County Public Health Department, to help keep you and your family healthy.
If you think you are sick with Coronavirus (COVID-19), call your doctor. To prevent the spread of the infection, follow these recommendations from the CDC: http://publichealth.harriscountytx.gov/Portals/27/Documents/Resources/2019%20nCoV/what%20to%20you%20do%20if%20you%20are%20sick/sick-with-COVID-English.pdf?ver=2020-02-26-093838-047
We will continue to update you as more information is made available. For COVID-19 updates please visit, https://www.communityhealthchoice.org/en-us/coronavirus/
Visit the following pages for resources and guidance on how to stay healthy.
• Texas Department of State Health Services
http://publichealth.harriscountytx.gov/Resources/2019-Novel-Coronavirus
• Centers of Disease Control (CDC)
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
• Harris County Public Health
https://publichealth.harriscountytx.gov/Resources/2019-Novel-Coronavirus
• Houston Health Department
https://www.houstontx.gov/health/Epidemiology/2019-nCoV.html
The census counts every person living in the United States. The government uses this count to send money to the states and cities that need it for schools, hospitals, roads, parks, and other important programs.
The count started on April 1.
YOUR COMMUNITY COULD LOSE ABOUT $1,500 FOR EVERY PERSON WHO IS NOT COUNTED.
That money could be spent on assistance like healthcare, student loan money, SNAP, and Head Start that help your whole family.
YOUR PRIVACY IS PROTECTED.
It’s against the law for the Census Bureau to publicly release your responses in any way that could identify you or anyone in your household. By law, your responses cannot be used against you and can only be used to produce statistics.
THE CENSUS WILL NOT ASK ABOUT YOUR CITIZENSHIP OR IMMIGRATION STATUS.
We see and hear about hearts everywhere. A long time ago, people even thought that their emotions came from their hearts, maybe because the heart beats faster when a person is scared or excited. Now we know that emotions come from the brain, and in this case, the brain tells the heart to speed up. So what’s the heart up to, then? How does it keep busy? What does it look like? Let’s find out.
**THE HEART IS A MUSCLE**
Your heart is really a muscle. It’s located a little to the left of the middle of your chest, and it’s about the size of your fist. There are lots of muscles all over your body — in your arms, in your legs, in your back, even in your behind.
But the heart muscle is special because of what it does. The heart sends blood around your body. The blood provides your body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs. It also carries away waste.
Your heart is sort of like a pump, or two pumps in one. The right side of your heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side of the heart does the exact opposite: It receives blood from the lungs and pumps it out to the body.
[https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/heart](https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/heart)
WELLNESS CORNER
Health Education During Wellness Checkups
Age appropriate Health Education/Anticipatory Guidance is one of the important component of your child’s wellness checkup. Your child’s doctor will provide health education specific to your child’s age, which includes information about the benefits of healthy lifestyles and practices that promote injury and disease prevention. It also gives you a chance to ask questions and discuss any issues or concerns you might have regarding your child’s overall health and development. Please make sure to take a list of questions that you want to ask your child’s doctor at their next appointment.
Children of Traveling Farmworkers
If you have traveled to work on a farm or fields to prepare crops, grow fruits and vegetables, plant trees, raise or care for livestock, or prepare dairy products in the past 2 years then your children enrolled in STAR program, birth through age 17, are considered Children of Traveling Farmworkers. Your children can receive their wellness checkup before they travel with you to the next farm job. Call your child’s doctor today or Wellness Services at 713.295.6789.
Visit our Wellness Corner for even more helpful information!
CommunityHealthChoice.org > Member Resources > Wellness Corner.
COMMUNITY HEALTH CHOICE
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Overview and origins
Much of Weardale’s landscape today is far from natural, shaped by a long history of human intervention. Of the area around Stanhope, in 1880, William Morley Egglestone wrote, “We find along the margin of the river Wear excellent meadow land, on the brow of the hills we have summer pasturage for cattle, and on the mountain tops extensive heather clad sheep-walks… There is some tillage land about Stanhope and westward to Eastgate, but the largest portion of cultivated land is meadow.” He also noted that, “the valley was the great iron and lead mining field, and hunting ground of the Bishops of Durham and here were forests and forest
castles, deer and deer parks.” Though far less well known than the Arctic-Alpine assemblage found in Upper Teesdale, one river catchment to the south, Upper Weardale has plenty of botanical interest of its own, shaped by its unique history.
Changes in the vegetation still further back in time can be seen by looking at the pollen record since the end of the last ice age, some 10,000 years ago. Pollen grains have a thick, waterproof coat of the polymer sporopollenin, which gives them great longevity but also provides distinctive surface patterning, specific to particular genera or even species of plants. Pine pollen, for example, is easily recognised by the two air-filled bladders which allow it to travel long distances on the wind. Pollen which falls onto damp ground can end up trapped in mosses such as *Sphagnum*. Under cold, wet conditions *Sphagnum* often fails to decompose and will eventually accumulate as peat, which will preserve at least some of the pollen grains within it. By coring down through layers of peat in boggy areas and looking at the type of pollen in slices taken at different depths, scientists can start to see how the vegetation of a particular area has changed over time.
Brian Roberts, Judy Turner and Pamela Ward from Durham University (Roberts *et al.*, 1973) have looked at two small boggy areas on the margins of occupied land in Weardale to get a picture of how vegetation in the area has changed over the last 3,000 years, when peat started to accumulate as the climate cooled. Steward Shield Meadow lies in an exposed part of the upper catchment of Stanhope Burn, which flows into the Wear from the north, whilst Bollihope Shield lies near Bollihope Burn, south of the Wear. If the vegetation is
divided into broad categories of ‘trees, shrubs and herbs’, pollen cores from both sites show that the area was largely mixed deciduous woodland, with some pine trees, until around 2,100 years ago. Although Neolithic and Bronze age artefacts have been found in Weardale, including a hoard found in Heathery Burn Cave, just a mile or so south east of Steward Shield, humans seem to have had limited impact on the vegetation until around 2,100 years ago, well into the Iron Age. The pollen diagram from Steward Shield suggests that, by the late Iron Age, these upland areas had largely been cleared of their Scots pine and, at that point, pollen from the daisy, heather, grass and plantain families became much more abundant at both sites. For over 1,000 years, the land was largely pasture or heath, with some possibly under cereal cultivation. A Roman altar from Bollihope records the bagging of ‘a boar of outstanding proportions’ suggesting ‘pig-sticking’ by army officers amidst the groves and open tracts of the valley sides.
There is documentary evidence in the Boldon Book of 1183 for farming communities at Wolsingham, Frosterley and Stanhope and it seems likely that these same farmers used more upland areas for pasture in the summer, before these eventually became more permanent settlements; the name ‘shield’, comes from the Middle English for ‘summer pasture’. The Bishops’ Master Forester’s accounts record the keeping of both cattle and sheep, with horses, on large designated grazing areas linked to valley bottom settlements. Eventually, probably during the thirteenth century and as populations increased, locations such as Steward Shield and Bollihope Shield became upland islands of ‘improved’ agricultural land, set in favourable spots away from the spreading arable fields and meadows.
infilling the valley flanks (Roberts, 2008). At Catterick Moss, near Bollihope, the old field boundaries, ridges and furrows are still evident.
Along the valley bottom and sides, land east of Eastgate was also gradually improved in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, enclosing new farmland up the valley sides to create chains of steadings still present today. These were set above the frost hollows, where cattle could readily walk uphill to graze but from where their dung, accumulated in byres during the winter months, could also be carried downslope on sledges to fertilise arable fields and meadows. However, by the early fourteenth century, upland areas were being left to revert to scrubby woodland during a period of agricultural depression. A general recession, reinforced by famine and plague, and cooler wetter climatic conditions, was further compounded in Weardale by attacks from Scottish armies in 1317 and 1327. Cattle were slaughtered and outlying farmsteads abandoned. Tree cover increased again as a result, though not to previous levels, before decreasing to current levels around 200 years ago.
West of Eastgate, upland areas of Weardale were reserved for hunting by the Prince Bishops of Durham and an enclosed deer park was created in the upper Dale in the late-fourteenth or early-fifteenth century. Although parts of the forest were protected, rapid deforestation occurred throughout the fifteenth century as economic activity accelerated and timber was cut and used for smelting lead ore. By the mid-fifteenth century, the woodland resources of upper Weardale were seriously depleted. As economic activity increased, so did the population and the number of farms and small
homesteads on the edge of the moorland. By the early-nineteenth century, much of the lower moorland was enclosed for use as pasture and cereal cultivation and new pine and spruce woodland was planted, giving a landscape similar to that we see today. You can still see ridges and furrows in abandoned fields in the upper part of the dale around St John’s Chapel where optimistic farmers tried to grow barley and oats with rather limited success.
The importance of lead in Weardale is covered in chapters 1 and 3. The legacy of mining remains today — waste heaps and contaminated land sparsely vegetated by a range of specialist metallophyte plants which can tolerate, or even thrive on, high concentrations of heavy metals such as zinc and lead.
**Notable botanical finds**
Some rare Lady’s Mantle species, such as the vulnerable and declining Starry Lady’s Mantle and endangered Velvet and Large-toothed Lady’s Mantles respectively, have an English population almost entirely located in County Durham. Clustered Lady’s Mantle is also vulnerable and declining. Dr Margaret Bradshaw MBE has done much work on this complex genus in Weardale and Teesdale. Starry Lady’s Mantle has been recorded on roadsides and in meadows in the upper Dale, from Wearhead to Wolsingham, around Tunstall reservoir and in Hamsterley Forest, though it has become much more scarce over the last 50 years. Clustered, Velvet and Large-toothed Lady’s Mantles are also declining in both valleys and mostly restricted to Teesdale now. The main population of the latter was lost when Hamsterley village green was ‘tidied’ over-enthusiastically.
According to County Durham Rare Plants Register (Durkin, 2016), Durham has some 126 species of vascular plants that are nationally rare and/or declining; 91 ‘Critically Endangered’, ‘Endangered’, ‘Near Threatened’ or ‘Vulnerable’, and 35 species ‘Rare’ or ‘Scarce’. This high number is mainly due to the remnant Arctic-Alpine flora for which Teesdale is renowned but Weardale also offers a diverse enough range of habitats to have a number of nationally-scarce species of its own, including those found in Calaminarian grassland.
Weardale is the northernmost extent of the range for two nationally scarce ferns – Limestone Oak Fern and Rigid Buckler Fern. Both are associated with old mine workings: Limestone Oak Fern on an old mine wall near Swinhope and Rigid Buckler fern near old mine workings by Ireshope Burn.
At the northern end of Tunstall reservoir, there is a small marshy area where the nationally-scarce Thread Rush is found – Northumbrian Water has designated the marsh a private nature reserve to protect it. It is also found near Burnhope reservoir; a rare example of a scarce species slowly spreading in the region. Marsh Speedwell, also found around both reservoirs, is sadly not faring so well.
Pale Forget-me-not is another water-loving rarity found both in Teesdale and around Killhope, in fellside flushes, whilst base-rich flushes make Sallygrain Head, in the hills between upper Weardale and the South Tyne valley a good site for rare saxifrages such as Marsh Saxifrage and Mossy Saxifrage as well as the more common Starry Saxifrage and Yellow Saxifrage. Chickweed Willowherb is found in this area. Nationally near-threatened Ivy-leaved Bellflower, which prefers damp acidic soils, is well established in Weardale, in the upper part of Stanhope Burn and around Burnhope Burn. Bog Rosemary is also found, rarely, on Stanhope Common SSSI on wet peaty heathland.
Both Common and Intermediate Wintergreen are amongst the less common species found in Hamsterley Forest, one of the few areas where Intermediate Wintergreen occurs in England.
From a conservation point of view, the good news is that many species which are declining nationally, or at least in England, are finding refuge in the wet, infertile
upland soils of Weardale and populations are relatively stable. Species include Hairy Rock-cress, Harebell, Star Sedge, Flea Sedge, Carline Thistle, Melancholy Thistle, Marsh Cinquefoil, Crosswort, Wood Cranesbill and Mountain Pansy.
About 60 per cent of the listed records in the County Durham Rare Plants Register are in SSSIs or NNRs, just over 20 per cent are in Local Wildlife Sites and just under 20 per cent are in sites with no designation. Being within a designated site is not the only important factor in conservation of a rare species, but it certainly helps. Some rare species, such as the Lady’s mantles, are mostly found in undesignated sites and ploughing of meadows and close grazing of pastures seems to be largely responsible for their recent decline.
Grasslands in Weardale, especially lower down the valley around Auckland Park, host many of the brightly coloured Waxcap fungi (*Hygrocybe* spp.), such as Blackening Waxcap (*H. conica*), whose fruiting body develops as a bright orange cone and slowly blackens with age. Waxcaps grow in short-sward, nutrient-poor grassland and are seen as a good indicator of unimproved land. Like hay meadows, waxcap grasslands are declining as a result of modern agricultural practices so efforts are now being made to conserve this habitat and its fungal flora (Rotheroe *et al.*, 1996).
**Flora and vegetation of upper ground**
Upland grazing lands and the moorland margins
Fringing the majority of the moorlands in Weardale, as elsewhere in the northern Pennines, are large semi-improved grassland allotments and pastures leading upwards to extensive, unenclosed, rough grazing.
Rush-pasture occurs in these less improved allotments, pastures and wetter intakes, where drainage is strongly impeded. This is characterised by an abundance of Soft Rush or Sharp-flowered Rush. Yorkshire Fog is often the most common grass, with Creeping Bent sometimes common in the drier areas. Herbs include damp-loving Lesser Spearwort, Marsh Bedstraw and Cuckoo Flower. The sward is quite easily distinguishable. Prominent tussocks of rushes are surrounded by generally species-poor, short grassy ground due to heavy grazing between the clumps of rushes. *Festuca ovina* – *Agrostis capillaris* – *Gallium saxatile* grassland, typical of such areas, is found on the steeper, unenclosed slopes of Weardale, recognised by its short, closed sward, sometimes rough and tussocky in nature. Coarse tussocks of Mat Grass are found on poorer quality, ill-drained, impoverished acid upland soils. When a strong grazing pressure has eliminated heath species, Mat Grass can almost be present in monoculture (often being termed ‘white moor’, in contrast to the ‘purple’ moor dominated by heather).
Grouse moor management acts as an economic driver for habitat management in upper Weardale and Heather is rotationally burned in spring or autumn (Muir burning) as part of this. The rationale is that
areas of more mature vegetation provide cover for the game birds whilst the new re-growth, stimulated by burning, is a more palatable food source. The effects of this are clearly seen in the patchwork of burned areas of varying ages across the landscape.
Burning initially results in a species-poor, tussocky grassland dominated by Wavy Hair Grass, with few herb species; often just scattered plants of Heath Bedstraw and Tormentil with the regenerating Heather. Grazing is, once again, important in maintaining this community.
On shallow gradients with wetter soils and on the high plateaux above the Dale, Heath Rush becomes a dominant component of the vegetation. It can often be seen from roadsides on the wet ground of the moorland edges, where strong grazing pressure is being exerted, or grading into blanket bog, where species associated with bogs persist in small quantities.
The moorlands
Above the limit of fields enclosed for grazing, you approach the moorlands that are such a striking feature of the North Pennines around mid- and upper-Weardale. Cooler temperatures at altitude combine with exposure to the prevailing westerly winds to reduce the length of the growing season compared to lower in the valley. Bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) and lichens, which depend on external moisture in their environment, then become an increasingly important
component of the vegetation. Some such species have, over millennia, played a key role in determining the dominant vegetation of the Weardale uplands, the peatlands. Here the soil is largely organic, formed from the very slowly decaying remains of mosses, mainly of the genus *Sphagnum*.
These mosses have indeterminate growth — they just keep on growing slowly, accumulating peat at a rate of 0.5 to 1 mm per year, under ideal growing conditions. The older plant parts become buried as the plant grows upwards from the tip, or capitulum, and are eventually compressed beneath the younger growth. Their decay is limited by the cold, often waterlogged and oxygen-poor ground conditions, as well as by the chemical composition of these mosses. *Sphagnum* contains large amounts of phenolic tannins, and a chemical with antiseptic properties, sphagnan, which prevents microbes and fungi from breaking down the plant matter. *Sphagnum* was often used as a field dressing, to pack the wounds of casualties of the wars of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. In addition, these plants encourage peat formation (paludification) by exchanging ions held on their surfaces with the environment, lowering the pH considerably to around pH4.5. This limits the number of species which can compete with them to a minimum and maintains the open habitat in which mosses thrive. The resulting partially decomposed, compressed organic medium is very low in both nutrient content and in hydraulic conductivity (hindering water flow downwards). This, in turn, maintains the wet or waterlogged surface the mosses need.
**Blanket Bog**
Blanket bog, a mantle of peat greater than 40 cm deep,
is a specific type of internationally-rare peatland. As the name suggests, blanket bogs cover the landscape, for example on the high ridges of Burnhope Moor. The depth of peat in blanket bogs isolates the vegetated bog surface from the mineral bedrock on which it initially formed starting approximately 8,000 years BP (before present) and allows the surface retention of water. Development of a wetter, colder climate in the North Pennines about 3,000 years ago (see section 1) first saw blanket bog replace existing forest.
Blanket bogs are, by definition, entirely precipitation-fed, or ombrotrophic, systems. They are nutrient-poor, as water has no opportunity to run over mineral soils and pick-up dissolved nutrients. Their low nutrient status is key in determining their species composition, with *Sphagnum* moss predominating. *Sphagnum cuspidatum* grows partially submerged in pools of water on the bog surface whilst others such as *S. capillifolium*, *S. fuscum* and *S. papillosum* as densely packed hummocks, rising a little above the surface water-table. *S. fallax* grows as ‘lawns’ on the bog surface.
Common Cotton Grass competes with carpets of moss in the wettest parts, whilst Hare’s-tail Cotton Grass and Heather are found in slightly drier parts. Sometimes, there is also Purple Moor-grass, where peat growth is no longer active. Other notable species include Deergrass, Crowberry and Round-leaved Sundew. Blanket bog often now, in upper Weardale as elsewhere, occurs in a mosaic with other habitats such as upland heathland, acid grassland and flushes. Bogs in which peat is still accumulating through the growth and impeded decay of *Sphagnum* and Cotton Grass are described as active. However, many bogs have been degraded through drainage and inappropriate
management and are no longer forming peat (Brodin, 2001).
**Upland heath**
Heathland vegetation occurs widely on mineral soils and thinner peats than blanket bog. Heather is often the dominant plant visible at a distance, giving a purple hue to much of the upland peatlands of the area in late summer. With it are the occasional Bell Heather, Bilberry and Crowberry with an understorey of bryophytes and lichens, protected in the moister micro-environments beneath the open heather canopy. Upland heath in Weardale is a key habitat for a range of native birds, including raptors, reptiles such as Adders and a range of amphibians.
Heavy grazing of such heath, especially by sheep, can lead to the suppression of dwarf shrubs and ultimately to its conversion to acid grassland. In the Wear valley locality there is about 8,000ha (hectares) of upland heath-acid grassland mosaic present. As mentioned earlier, Muir burning in spring or autumn is carried out to manage the land for grouse. This surface burn of vegetation is carried out during damper periods of the year to try and avoid the loss of surface peat layers, with their attendant moss and lichen cover (Brodin, 2001). However, the amount of mature heather is reduced as a consequence, reducing the natural matrix of diverse plant ages in ‘pristine’ upland heath. Little such unmanaged heath remains in the Weardale area.
**Upland flush vegetation**
Set within the different grass, heath and blanket-bog components of this upland landscape, like a number of bright jewels, are flushes of different vegetation
composition. They include soligenous mires (receiving water and nutrients from surface and/or groundwater sources, as well as from rainfall) and the Molinia grasslands and rush pastures mentioned earlier. The soil, which may be peaty or mineral, is waterlogged — the water table lies close to, or above, the surface for most of the year. Waters here contain higher concentrations of dissolved nutrients from passing through or over the bedrock. Acid flushes are generally species-poor but support a number of species including, for example, Flat-Topped Bog Moss (*Sphagnum fallax*) that can tolerate higher nutrient concentrations in their growing medium. This species often forms a bright green carpet which, combined with the deep reds of other *Sphagnum* species, stands out from the more muted greens and browns of the remainder of the local landscape.
Here too might be found an abundance of Soft Rush and grasses such as Red Fescue, often with an understorey of other mosses, including Hair Moss (*Polytrichum commune*). If waters locally pass over/through base-rich materials then a richer moss and liverwort flora can be seen, as well as some of the rarer saxifrages mentioned in Section 2. Usually sheep graze this habitat, along with the surrounding grassland/heath. Generally, these flush habitats are too wet to be burned and so have remained relatively unmodified in the recent past. They remain important as a nesting habitat for waders as they
Acid flush in upland, unenclosed grassland above St John’s Chapel, upper Weardale © Bob Baxter
support a varied invertebrate fauna, feeding both adults and chicks.
The uplands of a Weardale of the future? Peatland restoration
The peatlands surrounding the Wear valley today are mostly in various states of degradation, partly as a result of historical local and national atmospheric pollution. Local smelting of ores was followed by national use of coal, oil and gas for power generation and by industry. Phytotoxic gases such as oxides of sulphur and nitrogen in the atmosphere and their solution products (sulphuric and nitric acids, sulphate and nitrate ions) in precipitation have led to loss of the *Sphagnum* species vital for peat formation.
Legislation and a move away from fossil fuel burning for power generation in recent years has reduced the deposition of atmospheric pollutants but the degraded landscapes remain. There are some 9,000 ha of bare peat today in the northern Pennines, with clear examples to be seen from the roads leading out north, south and west from the Weardale valley. The impact of pollutants has been exacerbated by land management practices between the 1960s and mid-1980s, when upland peat was drained wholesale, using drainage ditches or grips, to dry the surface for more productive sheep grazing. The North Pennine peatlands remain some of the most heavily drained in Europe, with ditches visible as linear or herringbone features across the landscape above the Weardale valley. Drying of the surface and subsequent erosion leads to extensive areas of bare peat and ‘haggging’ — islands of un-eroded peat in a complex network of gullies.
Pristine, intact, upland heath and blanket bog and the
peat-forming plant growth they support play a vital role in the management of water supply and flood prevention, as well as in the sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis and plant growth. This carbon can be locked in the peat for millennia, keeping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere for extended periods. Consequently, there is presently much interest in reversing drainage to promote the growth of peat-forming species and so promote carbon sequestration as part of the UK mitigation response to climate change.
Blocking grips to retain water encourages the silting up process and grips can become rapidly recolonised by *Sphagnum* and other plant species (RSPB). This can be done using ‘peat dams’ (plugs of cut peat) to block the drain at intervals, using ‘solid dams’ of wood or plastic, for long-term service especially in wider drains, or bales of plant material such as heather and rushes. Each raises the water table to the surface once more and, in time, promotes further re-vegetation by, for example, Bog Asphodel, Cloudberry and Round-leaved Sundew. As well as sequestering carbon, the reinstatement of wet flushes (see earlier) in this manner also boosts numbers of invertebrates such as cranefly and chironomid larvae.
which are food for both managed Red grouse and other upland birds.
The North Pennines AONB Partnership’s Peatland Programme has run since 2006, aiming to restore damaged blanket bog, to raise understanding of the issues and to promote both scientific research and best-management practices. Early work focused on addressing the thousands of kilometres of drains (‘grips’) dug into the peat in the second half of the twentieth century; more recent efforts have focused on the slow process of revegetation of bare peat, to stabilise it against further erosion and promote a fully vegetated growing peat surface once more. An example of this restoration can be seen on Wolfcleugh Common, above Rookhope in the AONB Partnership’s collaboration with the landowner, Natural England and the Environment Agency, to restore extensive areas of bare peat. Here coir rolls and stone dams have been used to slow down the flow of surface water over the bare peat. Steep sided erosion gullies have been reshaped to encourage revegetation, and seed-rich Heather brash has been harvested and spread over the bare peat. This helps protect it against further damage from wind, rain and frost and creates a hospitable environment for seeds to germinate. In addition, active regeneration is taking place by reintroducing *Sphagnum* moss. This is being done using clumps of moss (handfuls transplanted from healthy donor sites), plugs (nursery-grown strands of moss), pellets (spores of moss coated in clay) and beads, gel or slime (fragments of moss suspended in various substances to allow for easy spreading by hand or spray pump).
Despite this work, a combination of the direct impact of changes to precipitation and temperature and the
indirect impacts of changes in water management and drainage continue to pose a threat to these habitats, in Weardale and beyond. Peat uplands are particularly vulnerable to higher temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and wild fires associated with droughts and heat waves so more global mitigation measures are crucial for their future.
**A journey down the Wear**
To give a sense of how the more lowland flora changes throughout the valley it makes sense to follow the river down from Killhope Lead Mining Centre to Wolsingham, with some diversions on the way.
**Killhope to Wearhead**
Killhope, though above the confluence where the river truly becomes the Wear, sits firmly at the upper end of the catchment at 480 m OD (above ordnance datum) and serves as a stark reminder of how much humans have influenced the landscape hereabouts, with its mine entrances, hushes and piles of spoil. These have a Calminarian flora of metal-tolerant plants such as Spring Sandwort, Mountain Pansy and Alpine Pennywort.
Spring Sandwort and Alpine Pennywort are both metal hyperaccumulators; they take up and move heavy metals such as Zinc, Lead and Cadmium rapidly through the plant and sequester them where they do no damage, both in the relatively inert cell walls and by excreting them onto the surface of the leaves through pores known as hydrathodes (Neumann *et al*, 1997). They do this by means of enhanced levels of metal transporter proteins in critical cell membranes. The leaves are shed when overloaded with metals. One
theory is that these high levels of toxic metals deter grazing herbivores. Nationally, Spring Sandwort has ‘Near Threatened’ status and County Durham has a significant proportion of the national distribution. Mountain Pansy has an alternative strategy, making use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with their roots. These bind the metals and protect the roots from taking them up (Bothe & Slomka, 2017).
There are many other patches of Calaminarian grassland in Weardale — on ore washing floors by Middlehope Burn above Slitt Wood, by Bolt’s Burn at Rookhope and on the hillside between West and East Blackdene, for example.
The hillside above Killhope was planted with conifers by the Forestry Commission in the twentieth century but, where those have been felled, they are now being replaced with native species such as Hawthorn.
The open banks of Killhope Burn itself host an array of damp-loving plants such as Marsh Thistle, Pale Forget-me-not, Northern Marsh-orchid and Water Avens. Out-crossing, bee-pollinated Water Avens hybridises freely with its inbreeding relative, Wood Avens, producing a wide range of odd looking intermediate flowers (*G. x intermedium*) in so called ‘hybrid swarms’ (Jordan et al., 2017).
Above Wearhead, the burn wanders through more mining spoil heaps set in grassland rich in buttercups, Pignut and Wood Cranesbill.
Wood Cranesbill is another plant with an unusual breeding system; populations can contain plants with both regular hermaphrodite flowers (as above) and female flowers. This is known as gynodioecy and is an
intermediate stage between hermaphrodite and fully dioecious plants, where the sexes are in separate plants. The flowers and stigmas on female plants are longer-lived than on their hermaphrodite neighbours, giving them the reproductive advantage needed to keep both types in the same population (Elzinga & Varga, 2017).
**Wearhead to Westgate**
Downstream from Wearhead, where Burnhope Burn joins and the River Wear formally starts, is a stretch of riparian woodland characterised by Cow Parsley, aniseed-scented Sweet Cicely, Red Campion and more Pignut and Wood Cranesbill.
Beyond that are a series of species-rich upland hay meadows, full of Yellow Rattle, Red Clover, Germander Speedwell, Meadow Cranesbill, Ox-eye Daisy, Eyebrights (*Euphrasia* spp., including *Euphrasia arctica* subsp. *arctica*) and Pignut, alongside the usual grasses, Common Daisy, Meadow Buttercup and Plantains.
Upland hay meadows such as these, found scattered along the upper part of the Wear valley particularly upstream of Westgate, are nationally rare — the North Pennines is home to some 350ha of the 900ha found in the UK as a whole. As a UK priority habitat for biodiversity and an Annex 1 habitat of the European Union Habitats Directive, maintaining and enhancing them is important. Their value lies as much in their species richness (up to 30 species per square metre) as in the fact they are home to rare plants such as Globeflower and Starry Lady’s Mantle.
Between May 2006 and October 2012, North Pennines AONB Partnership ran the *Hay Time* project to restore and enhance some of these hay meadows,
previously damaged by agricultural improvement. Adding nutrients in the form of fertilizers to soils, as well as herbicide use, reduces biodiversity by selectively enhancing the growth of some vigorous plant species (often grasses). Other species, which can survive in harsher environments but may be slower growing and unable to take advantage of higher nutrient levels, will not be able to compete.
Restoration was carried out by spreading green hay from the most diverse meadows locally across 93 other fields; an area of 236ha in total. Baseline and monitoring surveys showed that species richness (the total number of species found) increased in meadows where green hay had been spread and so did the presence of ‘positive indicator’ species characteristic of upland hay meadows; grasses such as Common Bent, Sweet Vernal-grass, Crested Dog’s Tail, Red Fescue and Yellow Oat-grass as well as herbs such as Pignut, Eyebright, Meadow Buttercup, Yellow Rattle and Red Clover.
One of the problems with a project with finite funding is sustainability, so the Hay Time project went on to provide landowners and farmers with advice on how to manage the restored meadows. Traditionally this has involved grazing livestock in the fields in spring and autumn — their dung and trampling provides a wide variety of habitats in a small space. Without livestock, the meadow needs to be cut several times a year to prevent rank grasses dominating but should be left uncut between mid-May and August to allow flower seeds to ripen. When it is cut, the hay should be dried in the field so seeds fall to the ground, adding to the soil seed bank, but the cut vegetation should then be removed, to remove nutrients from the meadow.
Management like this is labour intensive, so much of the latter part of the project involved working with farmers, local residents, young people and visitors to educate them about the special qualities of upland hay meadows and try to get them involved in looking after the habitat. The AONB Partnership’s successor to *Hay Time*, *Plugging the Gaps* Project trained volunteers from various groups, including schools, smallholdings and local organisations, to carry out conservation activities. The volunteers collected wildflower seeds from roadside verges and wildflower-rich meadows in summer 2017, focussing on declining species such as Wood Cranesbill, Globeflower, Melancholy Thistle, Lady’s-mantle and Great Burnet. Volunteers were trained in seed sorting, storage and propagation and grew the collected seeds over winter in their own gardens before planting out the year-old plug plants into carefully chosen upland hay meadows and local community spaces in autumn 2018. The aim was to link together existing flower-rich sites to create an unbroken network. In summer 2018 a wildflower nursery was created on the old Allendale First School playing field, with the help of local communities, to create a space for wildflower plug plants to be nurtured. This continues to be run as a community project, led by volunteers and supported by an Allendale-based social enterprise, although the project ended in April 2019.
Equally importantly, the *Nectarworks* project, run by the AONB Partnership between March 2013 and summer 2017, focussed on the role which flower-rich banks, some within upland hay meadows, play in supporting pollinators. Surveys found large numbers of hoverflies, beetles and bees associated with the banks, include rare
species such as the Moss Carder Bee (*Bombus muscorum*). Current concerns over plummeting invertebrate numbers mean that looking after these habitats is a more pressing concern than ever and maintaining species-rich grassland is a priority within the North Pennines AONB Management Plan for 2019-2024.
Away from the River Wear itself, a series of wooded valleys known as denes surround the tributaries running into the Wear from the north and many of these have their own interesting floras. Deciduous woodland lines the lower sections of Middlehope Burn which joins the Wear at Westgate, Rookhope Burn which joins at Eastgate, Stanhope Burn and Waskerley Beck, which flows into the Wear at Wolsingham.
**Slitt Wood**
Slitt Wood, along Middlehope Burn, is a mass of flowering Primrose, Common Dog Violet and Barren Strawberry in the spring, with plenty of Ramsons, Wood Anemone, Dog’s Mercury and Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage too.
However, the site is a SSSI largely because of the Calaminarian grassland found around the remains of Low Slitt and Middlehope Shield mine workings and ore works. Spring Sandwort and Mountain Pansy flourish on the thin, metal-rich soils, as at Killhope.
The area also has a rich lichen flora. Blackthorn trees near Middlehope Shield are blanketed in *Usnea* and *Evernia*, testament to the cleanliness of the air nowadays — another big change since the heyday of mining here, in the nineteenth century, when the smoke of mineral line steam engines would have filled the valley.
The lichens include some metallophytes associated
with the Calaminarian grassland such as *Peltigera* species and rarities such as *Dirina massiliensis sorediata* (only the second modern record for County Durham).
Wetland areas, once the site of reservoirs for waterwheels used to crush metal ores and now sustained by mine drainage water, support abundant growth of Watercress, Marsh Marigold, sedges and rushes.
Rookhope Burn also flows through patches of deciduous woodland and semi-improved grassland with species such as Common Knapweed, Tormentil, Harebell and Devil’s-bit Scabious before it joins the Wear at Eastgate. Nationally scarce Shady Horsetail flourishes by the burn.
**Eastgate to Stanhope**
The Wear itself between Eastgate and Stanhope passes through more open riparian woodland with Bird Cherry amidst the Alder and Hazel trees and a rich understorey of herbs; Primrose, Red Campion, Cow Parsley, Bluebell, Crosswort, Water Avens, Goldilocks Buttercup, Cuckoopint, Wood Forget-me-not, Lady’s Mantle and more Wood Cranesbill.
Red Campion, though very common, is an interesting, dioecious species with the sex of individual plants determined by visibly different X and Y chromosomes, as in humans (Charlesworth, 2016).
The theory goes that plants evolved distinctive sex chromosomes as a result of two, separate mutations; the first creating female plants and the second male plants. This seems to have occurred many times in different species so some species have been dioecious for much
longer than others. Natural selection will only allow a mutation to spread in a population if it confers some sort of advantage. The suggestion is that a male-sterile (female) plant might benefit in a population which consists largely of hermaphrodite plants because it will avoid the effects of a reduced gene pool (inbreeding depression) which can follow from self-pollination and so will produce ‘fitter’ offspring than other individuals of the species. In addition, reallocating resources from the production of male parts to female parts may allow the plant to pour more resources into its offspring producing more, or larger, seeds. For a species to become fully dioecious it requires a second mutation to produce male only plants. In Red Campion these changes are believed to have taken place about 10Ma (million years ago), relatively recently in evolutionary terms when you consider that flowering plants first appeared around 130Ma.
Goldilocks Buttercups are unusual in the Buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, in having imperfect flowers, with deformed petals of various lengths. This species (or, more accurately, aggregation) reproduces by apomixis, ie. it produces seeds asexually, without fertilisation. This lack of exchange of genetic material has led to the existence of several hundred subtly different agamospecies.
Some of the floral diversity along this stretch of the Wear is due to the alkaline soils. The river cuts through a deep layer of Carboniferous limestone, though quarry ponds to the west, north and south of Stanhope are all that remain to show where the ‘Great Limestone’ was extracted on an industrial scale in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.
Stanhope Dene
The lower part of Stanhope Dene, which carries Stanhope Burn to the Wear, is home to mixed deciduous Beech-Oak woodland which, though it looks natural was ‘laid out’, complete with seating, rustic bridges and a bandstand, during the Durham coal strike of 1892. The woodland floor on the east side of the burn is carpeted with Lady’s Mantle and there are Northern Marsh-orchid by some of the old quarry ponds near the path. There is also Bird’s-nest Orchid to be found, if you are lucky.
This pallid-looking orchid, rare in the north of England, is a parasite, almost devoid of chlorophyll and so unable to photosythesise for itself. It only emerges above the ground to flower and will not do that every year. Many orchids rely on a fungal, mycorrhizal, partner for germination but Bird’s-nest Orchid takes things a step further, relying entirely on a specific *Sebacina* fungal partner to supply all the sugars it needs throughout its life. The fungus, in turn, relies on a green plant partner (usually a Beech tree) to supply it with carbohydrates in exchange for the mineral nutrients and water it helps the tree obtain. In effect, the orchid is parasitising the trees around it, using the fungus to connect it. Bird’s-nest Orchid is so dependent on its fungus that its ability to produce flower spikes at all is limited by weather-dependent fungal growth, so some years it remains entirely below ground.
It is worth remembering that woodland like that at Stanhope Dene depends heavily on its network of mycorrhizal fungi, which also remains out of sight beneath the ground for most of the year, with only the emergence of fruiting bodies in the form of mushrooms.
and toadstools in autumn to show its existence. Most plants, especially trees, form symbiotic relationships with fungi. These help plant roots scavenge for nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen by vastly increasing their surface area and by secreting enzymes into the soil which break down organic material. In return, the tree supplies the fungus with the sugars it needs to grow. Not only that, but more recent research (Gilbert & Johnson, 2017) has shown that mycorrhizae can connect different plants into networks which can help prepare individual plants for attack by herbivores and pathogens. If one plant in a network is attacked, signals can be sent via the fungal hyphae to prompt others in the network to beef up their defences.
Higher up Stanhope dene, on the west side, the limestone is exposed around an old quarry and here there is grassland and wood-margin vegetation; Common Dog Violet, Bitter Vetchling, Pignut, Wood Cranesbill and more Lady’s Mantle. Further up still are the remains of Stanhopeburn lead mine workings, with the tunnel flues from the smelting mill still visible where they run up the fellside. The bedrock here is sandstone,
producing more acidic soils and the landscape is dominated by typical upland heath vegetation mentioned on p116; Heather with patches of Heath Bedstraw, Heath Speedwell and Tormentil. Steward Shield meadow, where the pollen cores mentioned on p106 were taken, sits amidst this heathland.
**Stanhope to Wolsingham**
Downstream of Stanhope the Weardale Way spends less time by the river and more in the upland heath areas. The iconic ‘Elephant Trees’ (Beech) on the skyline between Frosterley and Wolsingham are all that remain of the woodland hinted at in the name Forsterlegh (a forester’s clearing). First recorded in 1239, this name indicates just how much the landscape in this part of Weardale has changed.
The disused limestone quarries here are where decorative ‘Frosterley marble’ (dark limestone rich in fossils of solitary corals such as *Dibunophyllum bipartitum*) was extracted from at least the fourteenth century and used in both local churches and Durham Cathedral. The waste tips around the quarries provide another good habitat for calcicole (lime-loving) plants, including Autumn Gentian in later summer.
**Tunstall Reservoir, Waskerley Beck, Backstone Bank and Baal Hill Woods**
Waskerley Beck flows from Northumbrian Water’s Tunstall Reservoir into the Wear at Wolsingham, though Backstone Bank and Baal Hill Woods. The relic of ancient upland Oak and Birch woodland was once part of the much larger Wolsingham Park estate belonging to the Prince Bishops of Durham from the fourteenth century, managed both as a deer park and for
timber and charcoal. The ‘Bishop’s Oak’, at the north end of Baal Wood, is believed to be about 400 years old.
The woodland is now semi-natural due to planting of some exotic species before Durham Wildlife Trust bought the site, however diversity remains high, in part because of differences in soil and drainage down the valley. Alder trees predominate in wetter areas, with a small population of Small-leaved lime in one side valley and Hazel where the ground is drier. On basic soils there is Ash, Wych Elm, and Bird Cherry; on more acid soils, Sessile Oak, Birch species, Holly, Rowan and Hawthorn.
Ground cover is also diverse, particularly on the damper and more basic soils. Soft Rush, Meadowsweet and Tufted Hair-grass occupy wetter areas and ferns such as Male Fern, Hard Shield-fern and Lady-fern in the drier areas.
In spring, the ground is carpeted with Bluebells and Ramsons, with Common Dog Violets, Wood Anemones, Sanicle, Woodruff and Bilberries where the tree cover is more sparse.
**Hamsterley Forest**
Away from the Wear itself, to the south of Wolsingham, the 2,200ha of Hamsterley Forest also deserves a mention. The commercial part of the forest, planted by unemployed miners and shipbuilders on behalf of the Forestry Commission in the 1920s and 30s, consists largely of Sitka Spruce, Larch and different Pine species but stands of Beech and other broadleaved trees increase diversity on the lower ground. The trees host a wide range of mycorrhizal fungi many, such as Fly Agaric with spectacular fruiting bodies in autumn.
Hamsterley also hosts some less common fungal species, such as the tiny Apricot Jelly or Salmon Salad fungus, now known as *Tremiscus helvelloides*. The fungal mycelium grows in buried, rotting wood which make the small clumps of ear-shaped, gelatinous fruiting bodies appear to be growing on the soil.
There are around 300ha of open ground in Hamsterley Forest, mainly around Bedburn Beck, and these include Low Redford meadows and Frog Wood Bogs SSSIs. Low Redford meadows, in the floodplain and on the slopes above the beck, is notable for its rich assemblage of plant species including Wood Cranesbill, Great Burnet and Cat’s-ear. Frog Wood Bog is important for its mire vegetation, rare in County Durham. One part of the site is dominated by bog mosses such as *Sphagnum* and the other by Soft Rush and Hare's-tail Cottongrass. There are also areas of grassland with Purple Moor-grass and a secondary woodland of Downy Birch is developing.
The current Forestry England management plan for the forest aims to protect these SSSI sites, to maintain remnant semi natural sites and to convert other areas back to native broadleaf species, grown as continuous cover, to create a more diverse and resilient woodland, with a greater range of species and habitats. This has to be done at the same time as maximising the value of sustainable timber production so some hardwood trees will also be planted. A more diverse woodland will have greater resilience to potential pests and diseases and a broader suite of commercial species will provide long term sustainability and the potential for local woodfuel production, contributing towards climate change mitigation.
Baal Hill Wood
This reserve, near Wolsingham, is a surviving relic of ancient woodland and designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Originally upland oak and birch woodland, it now has large areas of birch with some exotic species (giant redwoods and monkey puzzle) planted under previous ownership. It is home to the famed ‘Bishop’s Oak’, a magnificent English Oak over 400 years old. Small-leaved Lime is an uncommon find. It is perhaps best seen in spring, with bluebells and wild garlic in flower and later when the delicate flowers of Enchanter’s Nightshade bloom on a Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night!
Low Barns
This wetland reserve, bordered by the River Wear, contains mixed woodlands and species-rich grasslands. It is a SSSI to protect wet woodland dominated by Alder. There is a good range of plants, many of which like Cuckoo Flower are the food source of butterflies and other insects. It’s a great place to learn how to identify trees from their buds in winter – Alder with dull grey/purple ‘boxing gloves’, Beech with ‘cigars’, Horse Chestnut with chunky bright dark-brown sticky buds and Oak with clusters of rounded dull-brown buds. In late spring look out for small low patches of Moschatel, also known as ‘Town Hall Clock’ because its flowers, likewise, have four sides (and another on top)! A recent find by volunteers clearing overgrown vegetation was Skunk Cabbage – an unwelcome alien that can cause problems.
Summary
It should be clear from this chapter that Weardale is home to many important plant species and that the future prospects for many of these remain rosy, as increasing attention is paid to protecting their habitats and restoring habitats degraded over time. The AONB Partnership will soon launch its *Tees-Swale: naturally connected* project, inspired by the government’s *Making Space for Nature* report. With a substantial grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund, the project will seek to restore, ‘expand and connect habitats across the uplands of Teesdale and Swaledale, enhancing wildlife and delivering multiple public benefits’. Project staff will support farmers, landowners and conservation agencies in developing the skills needed to sustain the High Nature Value farming systems which work so well in upland areas. Although this project does not involve Weardale directly, lessons learned will no doubt be applied throughout the North Pennines AONB Partnership.
On a less positive note invasive plant species, particularly those associated with riparian environments, continue to travel westwards up the valley. Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed have been found as far west as St John’s Chapel. Keeping these species in check to avoid them damaging valuable habitats is clearly an increasing challenge.
Climate change means we will increasingly see our native flora at risk as their range is curtailed and invasive species thrive. It must be tackled urgently for many reasons, not least to avoid making all our local conservation efforts worthless. The good news is that changes to the Weardale flora, by restoring peatland to sequester carbon, can be key to this process.
Further information
Plant and animal names change over time as new classifications emerge and common, vernacular names can be confusing. For clarity, binomial names (common and scientific) for all species mentioned in this chapter are listed online at livinguplands.com.
Bothe, H and Slomka, A, 2017, *Divergent biology of facultative heavy metal plants*, J. Plant Physiol., 219, 45-61.
Charlesworth, D, 2016, *Plant sex chromosomes*, Annual Review of Plant Biology, 67, 397-420.
Durkin, J, 2016, County Durham Rare Plants Register.
Egglestone, W M (1882-3), *Stanhope and its Neighbourhood*, Stanhope, via Darlington.
Elzinga, J A, and Varga, S, 2017, *Prolonged stigma and flower lifespan in females of the gynodioecious plant Geranium sylvaticum*, Flora, 226, 72-81.
Gilbert, L, and Johnson D, 2017, *Plant-plant communication through common mycorrhizal networks*, in *How Plants Communicate with their Biotic Environment*, Ed. G Becard, Advances in Botanical Research, 82, 83-97.
Hamsterley Forest current management plan (on forestryengland.uk website)
Jordan, C Y, Lohse, K, Turner, F, Thomson, M, Gharbi, K and Ennos, R A, 2017, *Maintaining their genetic distance: Little evidence for introgression between widely hybridizing species of Geum with contrasting mating systems*, Molecular Ecology, 27, 1214-1228.
NNRs - National Nature Reserves, managed by Natural England.
Neumann, D, Zur Nieden, U, Schweiger W, Leopold, I and Lichtenberger O, 1997, *Heavy Metal Tolerance of Minuartia verna*. J. Plant Physiol., 151, 101-108.
North Pennines AONB Partnership *Hay Time project*
Roberts, B K, Turner, J, and Ward, P F, 1973, *Recent forest history and land use in Weardale, Northern England*, in *Quaternary plant ecology. The 14th symposium of the British Ecological Society*, 14, 207-221. | b11de870-0734-4634-a518-be3dbcbc8f75 | CC-MAIN-2021-49 | https://livinguplands.com/files/bookFiles/21.pdf | 2021-12-06T15:04:19+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-49/segments/1637964363301.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20211206133552-20211206163552-00228.warc.gz | 409,866,511 | 11,280 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.989368 | eng_Latn | 0.997928 | [
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For novice gardeners a few herbs grown in pots can be the perfect introduction to the joys of ‘growing your own’. For those more experienced gardeners, get inspired in the kitchen and try growing different herbs that suit your culinary style.
- Most herbs in pots can be grown indoors and outdoors – choose a sunny windowsill when growing indoors.
- If you want to try something different, plant a combination of Vietnamese mint, Thai basil and lemongrass – all wonderful additions to Asian cooking.
- Over summer some herbs like coriander, parsley and basil are prone to go to seed. To avoid, water your herbs consistently, regularly pick, remove flowers and remove parts of the plant that go to seed. If your herbs do go to seed there is an upside – the flowers are great for beneficial insects like bees, and if you let them fully dry out you can collect the seeds for next season!
- Pick fresh herbs and add to your salad or stir-fry.
- If you have an excess of herbs, chop them up and freeze them in ice cubes – these can then be used in drinks and meals later in the year. Mint is especially good for this.
- Hyssop deters white butterfly from brassicas like cabbages and Brussels sprouts.
- Basil improves the flavour of tomatoes when planted alongside.
- Some herbs tend to take over the garden once planted like mint. To avoid, plant in pots rather than garden beds.
Grow a bumper crop of garden-fresh herbs with Tui’s 4 steps of herb care.
Fragrant herbs will add a flavour punch to any meal, particularly when they are freshly snipped from your own garden. Plant in your garden beds, pots and containers, and you’ll be harvesting a bumper crop of homegrown herbs this season.
**PREPARE**
Choose a spot outside that is close to your kitchen, or put pots on a sunny windowsill inside, for easy access. Like building a house a good foundation is the key to success in your garden. The better the soil, the better your plants will grow. If you are starting with an existing garden bed dig in organic matter like sheep pellets and **Tui Compost** to your soil. Then you can add a layer of **Tui Herb Mix**, a free draining planting mix, rich in nitrogen to promote green, leafy growth and continuous harvesting. If planting in pots and containers, fill with **Tui Herb Mix**.
**PLANT**
If you’re a first time gardener you may find it easier to grow from seedlings, rather than seeds, although seeds are a more economical option. Some herbs are best grown from seed in your garden or pots, such as coriander and parsley. Check seed packets or plant labels for individual planting instructions. The best times to plant are early in the morning or late in the day, so the plants aren’t exposed to the hot sun straight away. Always water plants well before and after planting. Don’t be shy when planting herbs as they quite like close neighbours, and you can always plant herbs in between other plants as they make great space fillers and companion plants.
**Directions for planting in garden beds:**
- Dig a hole, approximately twice the size of the root ball of your plant.
- Partly fill hole with **Tui Herb Mix**
- Fill a bucket with water and add two capfuls of **Seasol**, a seaweed based plant tonic that promotes strong root growth and reduces transplant shock.
**NOURISH**
Feed your herbs and they will feed you. Plants use nutrients from the soil as they grow, so replenishing the nutrients ensures your plants grow to their full potential. Feed your herbs with **Tui NovaTec Premium** fertiliser. Well watered, well nourished herbs will have a better chance of keeping insect pests and diseases at bay.
**PROTECT**
The weather, weeds, pest insects and diseases can all impact on the success of your herbs. Protect your plants from the elements with layers of mulch, to help keep their roots moist and keep your garden weed free. Herbs aren’t generally affected by pests and diseases, although if your herbs are indoors, lack of sunlight and airflow can reduce plant vigour and attract insect pests like whitefly. To combat, move your herbs outside when you can, and if you get an infestation treat with **Tui Insect Control for Fruit & Veges**.
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It’s a pleasure to be here.
Today I would like to present the pioneering acoustic tools and concepts which we have developed for monitoring and reducing the impacts of underwater noise in our sanctuary — Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary is one of the most urban sanctuaries, situated at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, off the coast between Cape Cod and Cape Ann. Our boundaries are located approximately 25 miles from Boston, and 3 miles from Provincetown and Gloucester. The sanctuary encompasses 842 square miles (638 sq nautical miles).
The bank itself, which is the central feature of the Sanctuary, is an underwater plateau of sand and gravel that produces upwelling of nutrients, leading to high productivity that has, until very recently, supported one of the oldest and highest capacity fisheries in the world.
You can see from this map why we refer to Stellwagen as an urban sanctuary, as it is located in close proximity to a large population density coastal zone.
The Sanctuary is home to diverse marine life. The same upwelling and productivity has also made the Bank a seasonal migratory destination of feeding baleen whales, including several endangered species.
At least 22 species of marine mammals visit or reside in the Sanctuary, including 6 species of baleen whales, 11 species of odontocetes (common dolphin, striped dolphin, harbor porp, etc), and 5 species of phocid seals (harbor, gray, harp, hooded, ringed).
The Sanctuary is also home to a variety of human marine activities, including whale watching, fishing, shipping, and other commercial activities. In addition to recreational and commercial traffic, a variety of commercial activities take place on the western boundary of the Sanctuary, in what we are increasingly terming the “industrial triangle”. These activities include two LNG terminals, Boston Harbor Outfall tunnel, Mass Bay ocean disposal site, and shipping lanes into Boston.
(Background map info: This triangle is created between the line between the three nautical mile line designating state and federal waters, two state-designated marine sanctuaries, and the national marine sanctuary. The southern boundary of the sanctuary is created by the traffic separation scheme or shipping lanes that are designated suggested routes for traffic arriving and departing to the port of Boston. There are also a few other features of note here including
The current location of the Massachusetts Bay ocean disposal site is in orange, and shipping lanes into Boston are in purple. In addition you are seeing a green line represents the Boston Harbour Outfall Tunnel which discharges ~300 million gallons of treated effluent per day twelve miles west of the Sanctuary’s western border, and the Hub line which transports gas down the coast.
Finally, the U.S. Coast Guard has been evaluating two proposals to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in Massachusetts Bay. This map shows the locations proposed by two companies on the western border of the Sanctuary. Excelerate’s proposals in green and Neptune’s proposals are in yellow.)
And our activities are widespread. To give you an idea of their distribution:
...on the left, we are looking at a plot of large commercial shipping traffic in the Northeast for two months in spring, (April and May 2006) tracked using the US Coast Guard’s Automatic Identification System or “AIS”.
... on the right, we are looking at the density of mobile fishing gear throughout the sanctuary. Approximately 440 *commercial* fishing vessels traverse our waters each year using mobile and fixed gear throughout the water column and on the bottom.
What are the potential effects of human activities on the marine mammals that inhabit Sanctuary waters? In particular, what are the potential impacts of human-produced noise?
Human activities may come at a cost to marine life in the area. The risk of being struck by ships, harassment by tourists, and disruption of critical feeding and breeding activities are among the more obvious costs.
However, in recent years concern over the impact of human-generated sound on marine mammals has been steadily increasing, as our oceans get noisier. This is especially of concern in areas that suffer from high levels of human activities, such as our urban sanctuary. Much of our current research is geared towards better understanding the impacts that anthropogenic noise may have on marine mammals.
The bottom line is that animals and humans share this space and often overlap here.
But why are we so concerned about underwater noise in particular? As you can see from this picture, light does not travel very well underwater, which means that vision is not very effective for communicating in the sea. Sound, however, is a highly efficient means of communication over long distances in the water, and marine mammals are highly adapted to their aquatic environment.
Sound is therefore very important for communication, and human activities that interfere with animals’ abilities to hear one another may cause serious problems. You can think of this as “acoustic masking”.
NOISE POLLUTION – ACOUSTIC SMOG
Acoustic masking may interfere with successful communication between animals
Frequency overlap between marine animal communication and shipping noise
You are already familiar with the concept of acoustic masking – this is what happens when you are standing in a crowded room and can’t hear the person talking next to you because of the noise all around you.
The same phenomenon happens in the ocean – only instead of a hundred people talking, we have a hundred ships traveling into Boston harbor. In the frequencies where this noise overlaps with animal communication, it may impede their ability to hear one another – potentially affecting communication involved in foraging, mating, or migrating. As you can see from the diagram on the top, shipping noise overlaps with the frequencies used by baleen whales, as well as some fish and pinnipeds.
To better understand the soundscape of our sanctuary and the overlap between human and cetacean activities, we are engaged in multidimensional research incorporating a number of different data collection techniques, including vessel tracking, passive acoustic recording, the use of digital recording tags, and the modeling of sound transmission (or sound propagation modeling).
Beginning with information that we can gain from vessel tracking: the use of AIS (automatic identification system) data allows us to look at traffic patterns for all large commercial vessels over 300 gross tons or carrying more than 165 passengers.
(Background from Leila: United Nations’ International Maritime Organization mandates that all large ocean-going vessels (see below) carry AIS transponders so that they can be tracked in coastal waters by shore-based receivers and so that they can see each other when in range. The system is mandated mainly for collision avoidance and for after the fact investigations by national coast guards when collisions occur.
Carriage A requirements:
AIS tracks all tugs and towing vessels, all commercial tankers and cargo ships over 300 gross tons and all passenger vessels carrying over 165 passengers.
Developed as a system to aid in collision avoidance and accident reconstruction, AIS reports location data, including position accuracy and vessel attribute information, as often as every 2 seconds
These data can be received over an average of 40 nautical miles from shore-based receiver stations, transmitted via VHF, which allows the Coast Guard to use them monitor coastal vessel traffic real-time.
Carriage B has more recently been mandated for medium-sized vessels and is slowly being implemented in coastal waters around the world.)
Now, since we know ships are the main problem in ship strike 😊
We needed to come up with a better way of analyzing ship traffic.
Starting back in 2005 the sanctuary worked with the Coast Guard Research & Development Center to install an Automatic Identification System or AIS to record ship traffic in and around the sanctuary.
We did this by installing 3 receivers around the sanctuary to make sure we’d get full coverage.
One was installed at our office in Scituate followed by another Cape Cod and Cape Ann.
Under the current IMO regulations, all 300 gross ton or larger vessels are required to carry AIS transmitters. So, as ships travel across the Sanctuary it continually transmits its time, location, and speed as every two seconds.
As those signals are received at each site, they are then sent to our AIS server at the Sanctuary Office. Where we are able to load the .... LARge amounts of data into GIS. Which....
AIS
Automatic Identification System
AIS Attributes
- Vessel Name (MMSI#, IMO#, Call Sign)
- Vessel Length/Beam/Draught
- Vessel Type
- Position
- Speed
- Timestamp
Types of information or attributes of AIS data include:
The vessels shown in the lower right hand side of the slider are 916 vessels tracked with these attributes over a year.
AIS can give a clear picture of traffic patterns. The density of vessel use is shown on the left and speed of vessels is shown on the right. One can clearly see the high use through the shipping lances.
Ends up being A LOT of data! Each year we collect over 150 million records from our three sites alone. It quickly becomes a daunting task to visualize or analyze the data.
The graphic on left is showing a sample of only two months of AIS data. April and May. (May in red)
And the almost all black graphic on the right is a screenshot of all the 150 million data points we logged that year.
Background: Of course looking at data this way isn’t very helpful, so we generated these two maps to help us better understand what we’re seeing. Ship tracks in the SBNMS and western GoM for the months of April and May 2006 (derived from USCG AIS). The data consist of more than 36 million position records generated along vessel paths at several second intervals from a total of 916 ships. Yellow represents the April tracks overlaid by the May tracks in red.
Collision with large commercial ships constitute the majority of human-cause mortality of Eg. NOAA Fisheries and the USCG established the Mandatory Ship Reporting System (MSRS) in July 1999 to reduce this threat. Under this system, all commercial ships, 300 gross tons or greater, are required to report to a shore-based station when entering critical habitat areas (i.e., Great South Channel).
SBNMS is working in partnership with the USCG to adapt the AIS, originally developed for tracking vessels in real time to reduce the risk of vessel collisions, as a means to analyze vessel traffic patterns across the sanctuary.
The AIS data portrayed indicate that the sanctuary, because of its proximity to the port of Boston, received more commercial shipping traffic than any other location within U.S.
We compared traffic pattern data to baleen whale distribution within the sanctuary and found that the shipping lane into Boston harbor passed directly through the areas of highest whale density.
...So we embarked on a mission to shift the shipping lane through an area with lower whale density. This had the direct conservation result of reducing the risk of ship strike to whales by 81%, as well as generally decreasing the amount of ship noise that many animals may be exposed to.
The cornerstone of much of our work involves acoustic monitoring, which is conducted using Marine Autonomous Recording Units, or MARUs, which were developed by Cornell University. These units essentially include a glass sphere which encloses a laptop hard drive and some sophisticated circuitry, connected to a hydrophone and enclosed in a protective hard plastic casing. The units can record continuously for up to several months, can be deployed to the seafloor and left in place, which gives us great flexibility in our ability to collect data.
(some info: units are currently programmed to record at a 2kHz sampling rate, which gives us a 1kHz bandwidth. This is fine for right whales and ship noise, and gives us about 3 months of recording time. However, in the summer we had them programmed at 10kHz, to give us a 5kHz bandwidth, more appropriate for humpbacks – we had those deployed for only 3 weeks but were able to capture much more of the frequency information in their vocalizations.)
Most ubiquitous problem in the S is ocean noise. To try and understand ocean noise, we started a project to determine WHAT is the noise budget for the S, both biological and anthropogenic—(these components include different types of ships, whales, fish, etc.
So partnering with Cornell University, we put down an array of pop up buoys capable of Continuous recording from 5-1000 HZ,
Cappable of receiving sound from between 5-10 nm from the units
And deployable for 3 months.
Buoys are tethered/anchored to burlap-covered sand bags. Upon retrieval, they send an acoustic signal which burns the release mechanism to let buoys come to the surface so that we can retrieve data. (Each sonobuoy cost @ $12,000.)
In 2006 we began a pilot project in which we deployed these units across the sanctuary to look at broad-scale spatial and temporal distribution of marine mammals.
We are currently building on this effort through a three-year project to map underwater noise throughout the sanctuary (title: An Ocean Observing System for Large-Scale Monitoring and Mapping of Noise Throughout the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary).
To look at distribution of whales and calculate a noise budget (AIS = ships going through, we deployed 10 buoys in the sanctuary in 2006. There is 85% coverage in the S.
Depending on db level and frequency, they can pickup things up to 8 nm (5 m really) away …
Our current array can triangulate on right whales only 3 miles apart.
(Info: Most of our deployments are 3 months, with the exception of the summer deployment which is usually about 3 weeks (see previous slide). We move the position of the array and spacing between units depending on who we are targeting. For example, in the winter we are targeting right whales near Jeffrey’s, and right whales are not very loud, so we have a pretty tight array in the northeast corner of the sanctuary, with the units about 3 nmi apart. In the summer we are targeting humpbacks on the bank itself, so we are trying to cover more area and therefore put the units about 6 nmi apart…)
By combining the passive acoustic data with modeling of sound propagation, we can calculate the acoustic footprints of different types of vessels and evaluate the extent to which they are heard throughout the sanctuary. So, for example, you can see that the LNG tanker on the left has a much larger acoustic footprint than the research vessel on the right. You can see visually the area of the sanctuary throughout which it is heard.
The kriged acoustic footprints of two vessels at their closest points of approach (CPAs) to an ARU in the array: (a), a liquefied natural gas carrier (b), and a NOAA research vessel. The color scale, from blue (low) to red (high), represents the intensity of sound at each location in dB referencing 1 µPa at 1 meter. The light blue rectangle represents the current shipping lane for the port of Boston.
Source level to Tanker = 189.7 dB (Distance to 120 dB = 23.8 nautical miles)
Source level of NOAA research Vessel 176 dB (distance to 120 dB = 3.1 nautical miles)
This slide shows intensity of vessel traffic, recorded from one unit in the sanctuary, over a 24 hour period.
We are using these data to analyze the “acoustic ecology” of various species. For example, using the data from the pilot year (2006) we were able to evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of large whale species within the sanctuary. Collaborators in the NEFSC analyzed these data to learn when and where right whales are found in the sanctuary – and we can clearly see both a change in the spatial distribution of animals (seen by the blue circles in the upper figure) as well as a seasonal difference in the numbers of “up calls” detected (yellow bar graph).
Just a thought: These types of analyses can be extrapolated to any area, for any species, depending on the question…
We have also used these data to look at the seasonal occurrence of humpback song on the feeding grounds and compare it to song collected from the breeding grounds. Humpbacks return from the breeding season still singing (as seen by the occurrence of song in April), and then ramp up again before the next breeding season in late fall (as seen by the occurrence of song in November/December). In the height of the feeding season, they are not singing at all.
Moving on to looking at noise and the acoustic overlap between vessels and marine animals...
This slide is just an example of how we can pick out different acoustic sources in our spectrograms. The spectrogram at the bottom is showing 24 hours of sound recorded from one unit, and we can highlight the different biological and anthropogenic contributors.
For example, we can see the high sound intensity produced by the passage of a large tanker. We can also pick out fin whale song, right whale calls, and fish vocalizations.
This is a compilation of much work that is still in progress. We are now able to pull together our different “acoustic layers” to actually calculate the degree to which a vocalization by a particular animal is masked at any point in time.
The two images above show snapshots of the acoustic scene in Stellwagen Bank at two separate moments of time in April 2008.
In the image on the left, we see a relatively quiet scene, in which the positions of right whales are shown by the small blue dots and a small vessel that is to the north of the sanctuary is represented by the brighter circle. We can see that this vessel is having little effect on the calling animals within the sanctuary.
In contrast, in the image on the right, we see the combined acoustic fields of three vessels located within the sanctuary and our right whales are almost completely overshadowed by this noise. In this case, the “acoustic masking” is very high for almost all animals in the sanctuary. We are in the process of doing these analyses for different species at different times of year.
Finally, we can put these two acoustic players together—boats and whales—to ask about the response of individual animals to vessels. This research is being done by a team of collaborators from the Sanctuary, WHOI, NOAA Fisheries, Duke University, the University of Hawaii and the University of New Hampshire.
This work involves the use of a digital recording tag, which is attached to the animal’s back with suction cups, and stays on for hours a day and provides very detailed information on the animal’s movement in 4 dimensions (including pitch, roll, depth, time), and it also records the acoustic environment at the whale.
One of the most ubiquitous threats in the S is ocean noise. Stellwagen and research partners are pioneering acoustic techniques to monitor humpback whales. Until recently, we could only interpret behaviors that we see above the water; the acoustic tagging now allows us to “SEE” under water dimensions.
This is a D-tag … a suction cup with a recording unit, which is placed on the dorsal surface of the animal behind its blowholes. The acoustic tag measures 1) pitch (inclination), 2) roll, 3) heading and 4) depth …. multiples times per second, while simultaneously recording the sound the animal makes and hears. The tag stores @ 20 hours of data; the tag is programmed to come off and is then retrieved by locating the VHF transmitter.
using a shorter hand pole to approach the whale from the side and attach the tag as high up on the whale as possible. Here’s a successful tag attachment made of the small inflatable by Ari Friedlander of Duke University.
And here’s a quick clip of a successful tag attachment off of the inflatable, Baleena, using the 40 foot pole.
Next Slide...
And …
Although deeper divers, humpback whales are also very vulnerable to ship strikes.
This dive profile for a tagged whale shows the proportion of its time spent at different depths, so the amount of time it spends within a “ship strike” zone can be calculated. The red line in this case indicates average keel depth of the largest ships coming into Boston (about 12m deep).
Humpback whales fed using bubble nets in the upper water column during the day and side rolls along the bottom at night. Constant vulnerability to ship strike or entanglement.
This figure shows you what the tag can do when combined with data visualization software, called Track Plot
Here’s a time/depth plot of this whale’s behavior over the course of the day. On the left you can see the surface-feeding, and a bubble net event during daylight hours.
And on the right (at night), one can see the mowing-the-lawn feeding along the bottom and side-roll behavior. What’s nice about having all the data spatially time series’d is that we know that at 16:00 the whale was bubble netting and at 1:30 in the morning it was feeding along the bottom.
The two lines here indicate sunrise and sunset. So the thought is that during the day their using the sun’s light to locate and corral bait. Where all of the bottom feeding is done during the night. Now what they’re doing at night is very interesting because we always knew they were feeding at night but not sure how.
1) The video clip on the right, shows the preferred prey for humpbacks—these are sand lance or sand eels (Ammodytes americanus) burrowing on sandy substrate.
2) The image in the left hand corner illustrates a D-tag on a humpback, and
3) Below the visualization data as the whale swims along the bottom, rolling on its side, presumably flushing the sand lance from the bottom…. Scars on lower jaw confirm behavior.
We can also combine the multi-dimensional data from the tags with the acoustic data to address various questions.
In this case, we are using the tag data to better understand the production of bubbles (shown in the spectrogram in the top) with respect to feeding dives (a spiral net is shown on the left). The aerial photo on the right shows what the bubble pattern looks like from the surface.
These type of analyses can also be done to evaluate movement and acoustic responses of individuals to anthropogenic stimuli, such as ships.
This brief clip (courtesy of our collaborators in the University of New Hampshire) is the animation of real data collected from two animals who were tagged simultaneously, and were feeding together. We are using data such as these to understand how animals interact underwater.
Do animals feed cooperatively? Note animal in pink line is blowing bubble net; animal following white line will RAID the bubble net.
This is another short animation of real data, this time visualized in a program called “track plot”, also courtesy of our collaborators at the University of New Hampshire. This type of ribbon display better indicates the pitch and roll of the animal, as recorded on the tag.
(movie = mn06_192a_2.wmv)
(movie file = Mn08_189_Teambubble.wmv)
And lastly, Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) tankers are not an uncommon site crossing through the sanctuary.
They proposed to build ports right outside of our sanctuary.
Our sanctuary is governed by the US National Marine Sanctuaries Act (passed in 1972), which provides multiple tools for protecting designated Sanctuaries. If the Secretary of Commerce finds that an action is likely to “destroy, cause the loss of, or injure a sanctuary resource”, the National Marine Sanctuary Program is required to recommend reasonable and prudent alternatives that will protect sanctuary resources. (even those outside the sanctuary that could affect resources).
To protect marine resources, one must first identify possible threats that they face, thus, the Act calls on managers to identify activities that are likely to destroy cause the loss of, or injure a sanctuary resource.
As an example of what can be gained through effective monitoring, I wanted to introduce you to the monitoring associated with the development of LNG ports adjacent to the sanctuary.
To capture the full acoustic footprint of the construction and operation of these ports (various components of which are shown in the photos at the bottom), they are required to install a large array of marine autonomous acoustic recorders (MARUs or popups) on the ocean floor around the site of the port (indicated by the yellow dots on map). These data can be then be used to monitor the port’s acoustic footprint as well as understand how noise associated with this port may affect the distribution of vocally-active species in the area.
At nearest, these ports would be 1.4 miles from the western border of the Sanctuary and 3 miles at closest to each other. As the companies applied for licenses for these ports through the Maritime Administration and US Coast Guard, these federal agencies were required to consult with NOAA regarding their impact on marine species. The Sanctuary also entered formal consultation under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, which mandates that the Sanctuary Program recommend specific actions that should be taken by the federal action agency, in this case the licensing agencies—the Coast Guard and Maritime Administration—to minimize or mitigate impacts on sanctuary resources.
Before LNG claimed that only small percentage of right whales in the area. After use of acoustic deployments, shown that 50% of Right whale up calls in the area.
Real-time acoustic detections in the Boston area utilize surface buoys called automatic detection buoys, developed by Cornell University’s Bioacoustics Research Program and moorings developed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution....
These buoys detect right-whale up calls (or sounds that are similar) and transmit all likely detections to Cornell University via satellite. Analysts at Cornell examine the candidate calls, and if right whales are detected, they transmit that information to any LNG vessels that may be transiting within the shipping lanes. When that occurs, the vessel operators are required to slow to 10 kts and heighten visual observations on deck.
Shows 227 right whale calls detected within 24 hour period. Can go to listening network at: www.listenforwhales.org
Our research was recently highlighted in the Presidents Ocean Policy Task Force … a revolutionary tool for effective coastal and marine spatial planning,
In Summary:
Many new tools have been developed that enable us to learn about and evaluate the status of our marine acoustic environment.
Future Vision:
Joining forces between SBNMS and MM MPAs to better understand the impacts of noise on the endangered humpback whale and other species throughout an ocean basin.
Thanks to our collaborators:
I want to thank all of these collaborators for their work and for their help with this presentation.
Thanks to our funders:
NOOP National Oceanographic Partnership Program
Promoting Partnerships for the Future of Oceanography
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
IFAW www.ifaw.org
National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
MASSACHUSETTS ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST
Merci pour votre attention!
Nathalie Ward, PhD
NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuary Program
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
firstname.lastname@example.org
Fulcrum dorsal before and after small vessel strike
National Marine Sanctuaries
Gerry E. Studds
Stellwagen Bank
http://stellwagen.noaa.gov
YOCAH
Year of the Caribbean Humpback
(AGOA, DMMS, EC matching to SBNMS/GoM population)
I. Education/Outreach
• Citizen science
• Signature calf per island
II. Research (i.e., acoustic, aerial, satellite.radio tagging)
III. Management
• CAR/SPAW–MMAP: ecoregion framework for WCR
Marine Mammal Protection
Here’s a great shot taken from last year’s Humpback Whale tagging cruise of Teapot and Tectonic surface feeding. One of the most intensive Geospatial projects we have is…
Next Slide
By compiling all of our data, we can look at the contributions of different sources to the acoustic landscape of Stellwagen Bank.
Again, we are looking at the sound fields produced by different sources in the sanctuary. The upper left-hand square shows the average sound produced by wind, the upper right-hand box shows the combined sound fields from a couple of vessels in the sanctuary. Compare this image to the one at the lower left, which shows the sound fields produced by calling right whales, and you can see that the vessels are not only much louder but are heard over a much bigger range than the whales. When we combine all of these data (lower right), you can see that the “soundscape” is dominated by the ship noise. What this means for marine mammal communication is of great concern. | 75305459-1c4e-4626-a905-041d51806898 | CC-MAIN-2024-33 | http://eccea.com/uploads/File/AGOA%20Acoustics-FV2.pdf | 2024-08-15T11:51:10+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-33/segments/1722641291968.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20240815110654-20240815140654-00184.warc.gz | 8,682,349 | 5,883 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.944272 | eng_Latn | 0.998114 | [
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SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS POLICY
HOLLYBANK PRIMARY SCHOOL
Engage, Empower, Excel
| Date of next policy review | APRIL 2022 |
|---------------------------|------------|
| Name of person responsible for this policy | N McIlwain |
| Issued to | Staff, Governors, Parents |
| Date of issue | APRIL 2021 |
Hollybank Primary School has an inclusive ethos and acknowledges that the needs of all children must be considered. All children have a right to access a broad and balanced curriculum. We work to provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment which fosters equality of opportunity for all children and their families. We work in partnership with parents to minimise barriers to learning, celebrate achievement and promote positive self-worth and self-esteem. We strive to ensure that no child with a disability/Special Educational Need (SEN) is treated less favourably or disadvantaged in any way in comparison to those who have no disability/SEN.
**Definitions of SEN and Disability**
**Definition of SEN**
“Special Educational Need is defined as “a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made”. A child has a learning difficulty if s/he has significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of his/her age and/or has a disability which either prevents or hinders him/her from making use of educational facilities generally provided for children on his/her age in ordinary schools (CoP 1998 para.1.4)
**Definition of Disability**
“Someone who has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out normal day to day activities”. (Part 1 of Disability Discrimination Act 1995)
SEN Provision of SENDO
‘The new law will strengthen the right to an ordinary school place for children with a Statement, unless it is against the wishes of parents or it is incompatible with the efficient education of others.’ ‘Children who have Special Educational needs but do not have a statement, must, except in specific circumstances, be educated in an ordinary school.’ Article 3(1) SENDO 2005
Key Principles of Inclusion
‘Inclusion is about the quality of children’s experience; how they are helped to learn, achieve and participate fully in the life of the school’.
Removing Barriers to Achievement (2004)
In order to make sure that we meet our pupils’ needs and include them in all aspects of school life, this SEN policy links closely with all our other policies in supporting pupils such as; Assessment, Teaching and Learning, Positive Behaviour, Child Protection, Health and Safety and Medical Needs.
Categories of SEN/Disability
1. Cognitive and Learning
a) Dyslexia (DYL) or Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) – Language/Literacy
b) Dyscalculia (DYC) or Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) – Mathematics/Numeracy
c) Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD)
d) Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD)
e) Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD)
2. Social, Behavioural, Emotional and Well-Being (SBEW)
a) Social and Behavioural Difficulties (SBD)
b) Emotional and Well-being difficulties (EWD)
c) Severe Challenging Behaviour (SCB) associated with SLD or PMLD
3. Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)
a) Developmental Language Disorder (SEN) (DLD)
b) Language disorder (LD) associated with a differentiating biomedical condition
c) Communication and Social Interaction Difficulties (CSID)
4. Sensory Difficulties (SE)
a) Blind (BL)
b) Partially sighted (PS)
c) Severe/Profound Hearing Impairment (SPHI)
d) Mild/Moderate Hearing Impairment (MMHI)
e) Multi-sensory impairment (MSI)
5. Physical
a) Physical (P)
Guidance for Schools: Recording Children with Special Educational Needs – SEN Categories (Department of Education)
In addition, as a school, we include the following areas of need on our Learning Support Register:
6. Additional Needs
a) English as an Additional Language (EAL)
b) Gifted and Talented pupils (G&T)
Hollybank Primary School SEN policy operate in line with legislation (Disability Discrimination Act, Special Educational Needs Discrimination Order and Code of Practice)
Medical Diagnosis (Including Physical Conditions) Categories (not necessarily an SEN need)
1. Epilepsy
2. Asthma
3. Diabetes
4. Anaphylaxis
5. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
6. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
7. Dyspraxia/Development Coordination Disorder (DCD)
8. Developmental Language Disorder (Medical) (DLD)
9. Global Developmental Delay
10. Down’s Syndrome
11. Complex Healthcare Needs
12. Anxiety Disorder (includes social anxiety, phobia, school refusal, obsessive compulsive disorder)
13. Depression
14. Eating Disorder
15. Psychosis
16. Other Medical Disorder
17. Cerebral Palsy
18. Spina Bifida – with Hydrocephalus
19. Spina Bifida – without Hydrocephalus
20. Muscular Dystrophy
21. Acquired Brain Injury
22. Visual Impairment
23. Physical Disability
24. Other Medical Condition/Syndrome
25.
Arrangements for Co-ordinating SEN Provision
Roles and Responsibilities
SEN provision will be the overall responsibility of the Board of Governors and Principal of the school. However, in order to facilitate the day-to-day running of the provision the Board of Governors have delegated responsibility for pupils with special educational needs to Miss Nora McIlwain (SEN Co-ordinator)
Board of Governors
In ‘Every School a Good School’ (DE) – The Governor Role (2010) Chapter 12 of the document relates specifically to the Governor role for pupils with special educational needs.
The following section provides an overview of Governor’s responsibilities from this document as highlighted in the SEN Resource File (2011):
The role of the Board of Governors of a mainstream school is to exercise its functions in relation to the school with a view to ensuring that provision is made for registered pupils with special educational needs. The Board of Governors has a statutory duty to:
• Take account of the provisions in the DE Code of Practice on identifying and assessing special educational needs;
• Use their best endeavours to provide for pupils identified with SEN and that parents/guardians are notified of their child’s special needs;
• Maintain and operate a policy on SEN;
• Ensure that where a registered pupil has special educational needs, those needs are made known to all who are likely to teach them;
• Ensure that the teachers in the school know the importance of identifying those registered pupils with SEN and of providing appropriate teaching; and
• Allocate funding for special educational needs and disability; and prepare and take forward a written accessibility plan.
Principal (Code of Practice 1998)
The Principal should:
• Keep the Board of Governors informed about SEN issues;
• Work in close partnership with the Special Needs’ Co-coordinator;
• Liaise with parents/guardians and external agencies as required;
• Delegate and monitor the SEN budget;
• Ensure the Senior Management Team (SMT) is actively involved in the management of SEN within the school. SMT members should ensure consistency of practice and contribute to the realisation of the SDP
• Provide a secure facility for the storage of records relating to Special Educational Needs.
**SENCo**
In all mainstream schools, a designated teacher should be responsible for:
• The day to day operation of the school’s Special Educational Needs’ Policy
• Responding to requests for advice from other teachers;
• Co-ordinating provision for pupils with Special Educational Needs;
• Maintain the school’s Learning Support Register and oversee all the records on pupils with Special Educational Needs;
• Liaison with parents of children with special educational needs;
• Establishing the SEN in-service training requirements of the staff, and contributing as appropriate to their training;
• Liaison with external agencies; and
• Co-ordinating and managing the annual review process alongside the Principal.
Teachers
- Responsible for meeting the needs of children in their class by developing and promoting inclusion.
- Work closely with all staff supporting the child with SEN to ensure a consistent approach in meeting the child’s needs.
- Present materials appropriate to children’s age, maturity, learning need/disability.
- Identify barriers to learning (observation and assessment).
- Implement appropriate program/IEP to address the needs of children.
- Monitor progress on an ongoing basis.
- Review IEPs regularly.
- Liaise with SENCo and other support services.
- Be sensitive to the needs of a parent/guardian in understanding the process and plans designed to support their child.
- Involve parent/guardian(s) in the child’s IEP and review process.
- Keep records of all meetings with parent/guardian(s).
- Support smooth transition by the sharing of all relevant information throughout the child’s school career.
- Be aware of current legislation.
- Attend Annual Review when appropriate.
Classroom Assistants
- Work in partnership with the teacher.
- Support the implementation of the child’s IEP.
- Complete observations.
SEN Support Staff
Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) should:
- Work under the direction of the SEN Co-ordinator and class teacher;
- Be involved in planning, monitoring and reviewing of IEPs;
- Be involved in planning or target related activities to meet the objectives as stated in IEPs or Stage 5 statements;
- Look for positives by talking to the child about his/her strengths;
- Provide practical support to the child and teacher;
- Listen to the child/speak to staff on the child’s behalf;
- Explain boundaries and operate these consistently and fairly;
- Keep records and attend meetings; and
- Share good practice.
NB: As a term of reference, classroom assistants designated to children at stage 5 on the code of practice are referred to as Learning Support Assistants.
Pupil
‘The child should, where possible, according to age maturity and capability, participate in all the decision making processes which occur in education.’
(Supplement to the Code of Practice – pars 1.19)
Key decisions for a particular pupil might include:
- Contributing to the assessment;
- Contributing to education plans through setting targets;
- Working towards achieving agreed targets; and
- Contributing to the review of EPs, Annual Reviews and the Transition process in Year 7.
Parent/Guardian
‘The relationship between the parents of a child with SEN and their child’s school has a crucial bearing on the child’s educational progress and effectiveness of any school based action…… Professional help can seldom be wholly effective unless it builds upon parental involvement and provides reassurance that account is taken of what parents say and that their views and anxieties are treated as intrinsically important.’ (Code of Practice 2.21).
It is essential that parents/guardians inform the relevant school staff of any significant needs their child may possess. They should do this as early as possible. For example, important information may need to be made available by a parent/career upon a child’s entry to the school.
It is the school’s responsibility to inform parents/guardians when staff is considering placing the pupil’s name on the SEN register or moving the child to a higher or lesser stage of need. Parents/guardians should be invited as necessary to:
- Meet with staff to discuss their child’s needs;
- Attend review meetings;
- Inform staff of changes in circumstances;
- Support targets on IEPs; and
- Provide the school with relevant documentation relating to the needs of their child.
Others
- All visitors to Hollybank Primary School will be expected to have regard for the SEN policy
- Copies of the SEN policy are available on request
Admissions
The admission arrangements with respect to the majority of pupils with SEN must be consistent with the school’s general arrangements for all other pupils.
Children with Statements of SEN are placed in schools at the request of the relevant Education and Library Board.
When seeking to place a pupil with a Statement, the Board will take into account the wishes of the child’s parents/guardians and the provision of efficient education for other children in the class or school and the efficient use of resources to determine the suitability of the placement.
This arrangement is in line with SENDO legislation.
**Special Facilities/Resources**
- Accessible play areas
- Quiet areas
- Sensory resources
- Visual schedules
- Sensory Room
- Learning Support Unit (P3-P7)
- Meeting room for consultation with parent/guardian(s) and other professionals
- ICT resources – computers, ipads
- SEN Resource file/ diagnostic tools
- Interactive Whiteboards
- School website (links to support learning)
- Parent worker
- Parents’ room
**Annual Board of Governors’ Report**
The BOG report each year on SEN provision in school. Information for this report is collated by the Principal.
Examples of other policies relevant to SEN
- Admissions
- Positive Behaviour and Discipline
- Health and Safety
- Pastoral Care
- Child Protection
- Confidentiality
- Curriculum
- Intimate Care
- Transition Policy
- Toileting Policy
Complaints Procedure
All complaints are responded to in accordance with the school’s complaints procedure.
Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs
‘It is vitally important that children with SEN are identified as early as possible and that an awareness of their possible difficulties is clearly communicated between all the professionals involved with their development.’
(Code of Practice 1998 paragraph 2.14)
‘Children with SEN should be identified as early as possible and assessed as quickly as is consistent with thoroughness’ (Supplementary Guide of the Code of Practice paragraph 5.12 - page 44)
In Hollybank Primary School, the following may be used to identify pupils’ needs:
- Parental information;
- Information from Nursery School or other transferring school;
- Cognitive ability tests;
- Attainment tests;
- Summative and formative assessment;
- Key Stage Assessments;
- Teacher observation;
- Professional Reports;
- Statements of Special Educational Need;
Care Plans;
Personal Education Plans for looked after children;
IEP Reviews; and
Annual Reviews.
The Management of Special Educational Needs
In Hollybank Primary School, we follow the five stage approach as set out in ‘The Code of Practice (1998)’.
This approach recognises that there is a continuum of SEN and that the requirements of the majority of pupils with SEN lie at Stages 1, 2 or 3.
This means that their needs are met by the school with the help of outside agencies and/or specialists as required.
Stage 1
Stage 1 begins with a concern that a child may have special educational needs or additional needs. Normally such a view is expressed either to or by the class teacher. The class teacher maintains day-to-day responsibility for meeting the pupil’s SENs and should inform the SENCo and the Principal and consult with the child’s parents/guardians. In addition, the class teacher should:
- Collect and record information about the child and make an initial assessment of SEN;
- Draw up a Stage 1 Action Plan based on initial assessments and formulate clear targets and activities based on the needs of the pupil. (*The Action Plan will be shared with parents/guardians and consent for their child’s name to be placed on the school’s SEN Register will be requested. The parent/guardian will also be asked to sign the proposed Action Plan in agreement with the targets*);
- Provide or arrange special help within the normal curriculum framework, such as: increased differentiation of class work, alternative teaching and learning strategies to help meet the child’s needs (*The nature and aims of such provision should be recorded, together with the targets, monitoring arrangements and review date*); and
• Monitor and review progress and report back to SENCo.
The SENCo should:
• Ensure that parents are consulted and together agree that the child’s name is included in the school’s SEN register;
• Help the class teacher gather information and assess the child’s needs; and
• Advise and support the class teacher.
**Stage 1 Review**
Parents/Guardians should always be informed of proposed action and any review date. Having considered review outcomes the SENCO, alongside the class teacher will decide whether to remove pupil’s name from the register, keep the pupil at Stage 1 or move the child to Stage 2 for additional withdrawal support. The Stage 1 Action Plan review will be shared with the parent/guardian and a signature will be requested.
**Stage 2**
Stage 2 begins with a decision either at the Stage 1 Review, or following discussions between teachers and parents/guardians, to proceed with early and more intensive action.
This intervention will include some type of withdrawal from the classroom support (e.g. Literacy or Numeracy Support, Social and Emotional Literacy, Speech and Language Support etc.
The SENCo:
• takes the lead in assessing and identifying the child’s learning difficulty. This includes planning, monitoring and reviewing the special educational provision working with the child’s teacher. The class teacher remains responsible for working with the child in the classroom.
• working with the class teacher, the SENCo should ensure that an Education Plan is drawn up for the pupil. (The IEP will be shared with the pupil and parent/guardian and their signature of agreement will be requested on the IEP);
• take into account, as far as possible, the child’s own views and the views or the parent/guardian;
• organize and provide some individualized support from a Classroom Assistant, whether on a one-to-one basis, or as part of a group (This provision will either be met in the classroom, or through withdrawal in a small group area.
**Stage 2 Review**
The Stage 2 review should be conducted through liaison between the class teacher and the Classroom Assistant, in consultation with the child and parents/guardians. It should focus on the child’s progress. The Stage 2 IEP review will be shared with the parent/guardian and should be countersigned by both teacher and parent/guardian.
- If progress has been satisfactory the SENCo may decide that the child should continue at Stage 2 in order to consolidate gains. If the progress continues to be satisfactory, the SENCo may decide that the child no longer needs special educational provision at Stage 2 and may decide to move the child to Stage 1. In any case, the parent/guardian will be contacted and made aware of any change of stage in accordance with the Code of Practice.
- The child’s name should be kept on the SEN register until there is no longer any significant concern about progress.
- If the relevant and purposeful measures at Stages 1 and 2 do not result in adequate progress the SENCO should move the child forward to Stage 3 and referral may be made to specialist support services/agencies outside the school.
**Stage 3**
Stage 3 begins with a decision either at Stage 2 review or following discussions between the SENCo, Principal, teachers and parents, that early intervention with external support is necessary. In most cases, a referral to the Educational Psychologist will be made in order to assess the child’s needs and provide access to further external support. If recommendations are made for external agencies to support the pupil (i.e. ASD service, LTSS, Behavioural Support from Lea Green Primary Unit), the child will be referred to the relevant agencies.
If a child is identified with specific needs that require immediate, targeted intervention or assessment from external agencies (for example, a child
undergoing an ASD diagnosis, counseling service involvement, or speech and language therapy reports to be used by the class teacher to inform teaching and learning), the child may be immediately placed on the SEN Register at Stage 3.
At this Stage the SENCo and the child’s teacher will work closely together to draw on the expertise of relevant external support services.
The SENCo, working with the class teacher, and with the help of the external support services, should ensure that a Stage 3 Education Plan is drawn up. Together they should consider a range of teaching approaches and appropriate support materials, including the use of ICT. The Education Plan should set out revised strategies for supporting the child’s progress and arrangements for monitoring and review. It should be implemented, as far as possible, within the everyday classroom setting. There should be close liaison with the child’s teacher from any external support agencies. Parents/Guardians should always be kept informed and the child should be involved as far as possible.
The Stage 3 IEP will be shared with the child and parents/guardians and a signature of agreement will be requested.
At Stages 2 and 3 of the Code of Practice the SENCO and class teacher should consider potential benefits of:
- The Good Practice Guidelines;
- SEN Resource File;
- encouraging inclusive activities to ensure integration of the pupil;
- differentiated teaching;
- withdrawal for more intensive support;
- SEN resources available within school;
- available staff skills which support pupils with SEN; and
- implementation of any provision/strategies as a result of external advice, support and training provided by relevant ELB/other services.
Review of the Stage 3 Education Plan
The review of the Stage 3 Education Plan should normally be conducted by the class teacher in liaison with the SENCO and, where possible the parents/guardians and the child. Relevant external support services may also be asked to contribute, in the form of written reports, or verbal feedback, particularly if the child’s progress has not been satisfactory. The review should focus on the child’s progress and whether this has been adequate.
- If intervention remains appropriate the child will remain at Stage 3 for a further period of time.
- If the progress has been satisfactory and intervention is no longer required, the SENCO, following consultation with external agencies, class teacher and parents/guardians, may agree that the child no longer needs external support at Stage 3 and may decide to move the child back to Stage 2 and action appropriate to that stage will be taken.
- If the relevant and purposeful measures at Stage 3 have not resulted in adequate progress, following consultation with the SENCO, teacher, external support services and parents/guardians, the Principal may request a Statutory Assessment.
This stage 3 review will be shared with the parent/guardian and a signature of agreement will be requested.
Stage 4
‘In some cases schools will conclude that the pupil’s needs remain so substantial that they cannot be effectively met within the resources normally available to the school.’ (Supplement to the Code of Practice – 4.64)
Following an application to the ELB from school’s principal or the parent/guardian, the Board will consider the need for transition to Stage 4. It should be noted that a request of this kind will not always result in Statutory Assessment nor will Statutory Assessment always lead to a Statement of SENs.
In reaching a suitable decision, the Board will consider:
• The degree of the child’s difficulty;
• The nature of the provision required;
• Whether the child’s needs can reasonably be met by the resources normally available to the school; and
• Use the 5 Board Provisional Criteria for Statutory Assessment.
Following Statutory Assessment **The EA will either:**
Make and maintain a Statement of Special Educational Needs and arrange, monitor and review provision.
**or**
Provide a Note in Lieu of a Statement.
A Statement of Special Educational Needs sets out the child’s educational and non-educational needs, the objectives to be secured, the provision to be made and the arrangements for monitoring and review.
A Note in Lieu of a Statement sets out the reasons for the Board’s decision not to make a Statement of Special Educational Needs and includes supporting evidence from the Statutory Assessment.
**Stage 5**
Once the statement has been final:
• Provision and/or support will be arranged to meet the child’s needs;
• The SENCo ensures that a Stage 5 Education Plan is drawn up by the class teacher, in liaison with the Learning Support Assistant designated to work alongside the pupil, implemented, monitored and reviewed; and
• The Annual Review and Transition processes will take place.
**The Annual Review**
Article 19 of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 requires that any child or young person who is the subject of a Statement of Special Educational Needs, whether attending a special or mainstream school, must be reviewed annually, to make sure that the needs of the child or young person are still being met and to consider the appropriateness of the placement. Annual Reviews should be seen as part of the process of continuous monitoring of the child's progress.
The Annual Review will:
Gauge the child’s progress towards meeting the objectives specified in the statement;
- Review the special provision made for the child, including placement;
- Consider the appropriateness of maintaining the Statement of SENs;
- Relevant school staff will undertake the Review on behalf of the Board;
- The Review will take place in school, chaired by the Principal or SENCo.
- Relevant forms and ELB guidance for this process is available from Special Education.
**Exceptional Cases**
In most cases transition through the five-staged assessment process occurs in sequence. However, in exceptional circumstances, pupils may demonstrate such significant or unforeseen difficulties that with multi-professional and parental agreement a move to a higher stage of need is necessary immediately.
At each stage, as aforementioned, an IEP will be drawn up and should be countersigned by the parent/guardian and reviewed thrice yearly.
**Record Keeping**
The following are some of the records that the SENCo will keep:
- SEN Register;
- Reports from external agencies;
- Education plans/Reviews;
- Statements/Annual Reviews;
- Assessment results/data;
- Individual Pupil Files;
- Record of liaison/meetings with Board/Health Services;
- Minutes of meetings with parents/guardians;
- Staffs’ Support, Advice and Training Records;
- Observation records from LSAs.
Monitoring the Progress of Pupils with SENs
It is the responsibility of the SENCo to ensure that the progress of pupils on the SEN register is monitored.
IEPs are monitored for quality, progression and appropriateness through meeting with teachers on a regular basis.
Evidence of pupil progress is documented through testing of pupils by the LSA or class teacher (if a child is withdrawn, or in some cases to inform teachers of academic progress)
Quality reviews of IEPs and other relevant and purposeful measures that focus on educational outcomes to inform future planning and inform movement either up or down through the Code of Practice Stages.
Professional Development
The Principal oversees the professional development of all staff in his/her school in consultation with the SENCo and ensures necessary training, if required.
The Principal should keep a record of all training relating to SEN.
It is essential that all staff keep up-to-date with developments in the whole area of SEN in order to provide effectively for pupils.
Any staff attending INSET will disseminate the training with colleagues, through staff discussion and / or a written evaluation.
Partnerships
In Hollybank Primary School we have developed partnerships with each of the following:
EA Support Services
- Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Behaviour Support / Lea Green Behavioural Unit
- The Vulnerable Pupil’s Project
- Educational Psychology
- Literacy Support Service (LTSS)
- Visual Impairment
- Interdisciplinary Services – e.g.: Multi Agency Support Teams for Schools (MASTS)
Other Support Services
- Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
- Occupational Therapy Child Services, Antrim
• Thornfield Speech and Language Support
• Barnardo’s
• Family Hub
• Parents’ worker.
• Monkstown Village Centre
**Complaints**
All complaints regarding SENs in your school will be dealt with in line with school’s existing complaints procedures.
**SEN Advice and Information Service**
EA has set up an SEN Advice and Information Service to provide support in relation to children with Special Educational Needs. Details of this service can be found on EA website.
**Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Service (DARS)**
DARS was established in September 2005 as part of the implementation of the Special Needs and Disability Order (SENDO). It aims to provide an independent, confidential forum to resolve or reduce the areas of disagreement between parents/guardians and schools/Boards of Governors or the EA for pupils who are on the Code of Practice, in relation to special educational provision. Where interested parties have made an attempt to resolve a disagreement and this has been unsuccessful, a referral may be made to DARS.
Members of the DARS team will facilitate the possible resolution of disagreements (in a separate venue from home or school) but do not have the authority to resolve a dispute. DARS is separate and independent from Special Education Section.
Involvement with DARS will not affect the right of appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST). Parents/Guardians may contact this service directly.
**Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST)**
Where agreement cannot be reached between a parent/guardian and the EA with regard to a child’s special educational needs, legislation gives the right of appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST). This body considers appeals from parents/guardians against decisions of the EA and also deals with claims of disability discrimination in schools.
Monitoring and Evaluating the Policy
This policy will be reviewed annually, in line with current or new legislation.
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PUPILS’ ITEM RESPONSE ANALYSIS REPORT ON THE STANDARD FOUR NATIONAL ASSESSMENT (SFNA) 2022
CIVIC AND MORAL EDUCATION
PUPILS’ ITEM RESPONSE ANALYSIS REPORT
ON THE STANDARD FOUR NATIONAL ASSESSMENT (SFNA) 2022
06E CIVIC AND MORAL EDUCATION
Published by
National Examinations Council of Tanzania,
P.O. Box 2624,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
© The National Examinations Council of Tanzania, 2023
All rights reserved.
# TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD ........................................................................................................ iv
1.0 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1
2.0 ANALYSIS OF THE PUPIL’S RESPONSES IN EACH QUESTION ..2
2.1 Question 1: Being Responsible ............................................................... 3
2.2 Question 2: Respecting the Community ............................................... 10
2.3 Question 3: Being Resilient ................................................................. 16
2.4 Question 4: Valuing the Community .................................................... 23
2.5 Question 5: Being a Person of Integrity .............................................. 28
2.6 Question 6: Maintaining Peace and Harmony ................................. 35
3.0 ANALYSIS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PUPILS IN EACH COMPETENCE ................................................................. 43
4.0 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................... 43
5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................... 44
Appendix ........................................................................................................ 46
FOREWORD
The National Examinations Council of Tanzania is pleased to issue a report on Pupils’ Item Response Analysis for the Standard Four National Assessment (SFNA) 2022 in Civic and Moral Education subject. This report has been prepared to give feedback to pupils, teachers, policy makers, curriculum developers and other stakeholders on how the pupils responded to the assessment items in this subject.
The pupils’ performance in the SFNA 2022 for the Civic and Moral subject was good as 1,350,477 (84.85%) pupils passed while 241,155 (15.15%) failed. The report shows that the pupils who performed well in the assessment understood the requirements of each question and had enough knowledge of the assessed competences. On the contrary, the pupils’ insufficient knowledge of the assessed competencies, failure to identify and/or understand the demands of the questions, lack of skills in answering specific question type like comprehension, inability to study pictures and respond to short answer items account for the pupils’ weak performance. Furthermore, the pupils’ comparative performance in each question (competence) for SFNA 2022 in relation to 2021 is shown at the end of the report.
It is the expectation of the National Examinations Council of Tanzania that, the report will enable various education stakeholders and concerned authorities to improve the Standard Four National Assessment performance in future.
The Council would like to express its sincere appreciation to examination officers and all other stakeholders who participated in the preparation of this report.
Dr. Said A. Mohamed
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Standard Four National Assessment in Civic and Moral Education subject was held on 27th October 2022. A total of 1,718,896 pupils were registered for the assessment whereas, 1,591,989 (92.62%) sat for the assessment. The performance in the subject shows that 1,350,477 (84.85%) of the pupils passed while 241,155 (15.15%) failed. The 2022’s performance has dropped by 6.35 per cent when compared with that of the year 2021 in which 1,423,379 (91.20%) pupils passed in the subject and 137,439 (8.8%) failed. However, further data analysis indicates that there is an increase in both enrolments by 37,127 (2.16%) and those who sat for the assessment by 31,171 (1.96%).
The Standard Four National Assessment for the year 2022 in Civic and Moral Education subject had six questions comprising 25 items divided into sections A and B. Section A consisted of 3 questions comprising 13 items with a total of 26 marks. Section B consisted of 3 questions comprising 12 items with a total of 24 marks. The pupils were required to answer all questions from both sections A and B. The assessment had a total of 50 marks.
In section A, question number 1 had five (i – v) multiple choice items which required the pupils to choose the correct answer and write its letter in the box provided. Question number two comprised four matching items and the pupils were instructed to match explanations about the responsibilities of student leaders in list A with the corresponding prefects’ titles in list B by writing a letter of the correct answer in the brackets. Question number three was a filling in the blanks that required the pupils to choose a correct answer from the brackets and write it in the space provided. Each item in this section was worth 2 marks making a total of twenty-six (26) marks. Moreover, in section B, question number four had four items which required the pupils to indicate the correct answer by ticking against the statements which show environmental protection or environmental destruction. In question number five the pupils were given a picture to study and thereafter answer the four questions that followed. Lastly, in question six the pupils were instructed to read a passage carefully and then
answer the questions (i)-(iv). This section weighed 24 marks whereas each item carried 2 marks.
This pupils’ item analysis report focused on analysing all six questions drawn from six competencies in the syllabus. The analysis identifies the number and percentage of the pupils who were able and those who were not able to choose or write correct responses and the reasons for choosing those responses.
For the sake of a quick and easy understanding of the pupils’ general performance, the assessment standards are divided into three categories basing on the percentages of pupils who passed the respective question. The scores ranging from 0 – 33 generally illustrate weak performance, 34 – 66 is an average performance, while 67 – 100 is a good performance. Special colours have been used to represent these categories of performance: green, yellow and red, representing good, average and weak performances, respectively. Moreover, a summary of pupils’ performance in each competence and question in the SFNA 2021 and 2022 is provided in the appendix.
However, in analyzing the pupils’ performance question wise, the performance has been categorized as very good, good, average and weak. Therefore, in the graphs these performance categories will be distinguished by colours in which weak performance is represented by red colour, average performance by yellow colour, good performance by light green colour and very good performance by green colour.
2.0 ANALYSIS OF THE PUPIL’S RESPONSES IN EACH QUESTION
This part analyses the performance of pupils in each question/competence by both showing the total number of pupils who attempted the question and explaining the quality of their responses. Also, the pupils’ performance in each question is classified as very good, good, average or weak. This is done in order to show the level of the pupils’ performance basing on the total marks allocated for each question.
2.1 Question 1: Being Responsible
This question was set from the main competence of *Being Responsible*. It was a multiple choice question comprising five items (i) – (v), each weighing two marks. Each stem of the multiple choice question had four options (A – D) from which a pupil was required to choose the correct answer and write its letter in the box provided in the question paper. The items generally aimed at assessing the pupils’ competence to comprehend various concepts and daily life experiences as well as applications.
The analysis reveals that the performance in this question was good such that 1,086,524 (68.25%) of the pupils scored from 4 to 10 of the allotted marks. Nevertheless, about 505,465 (31.75%) of the pupils had weak performance as their scores ranged from 0 to 2 marks. Figure 1 shows the performance of the pupils in question 1.
The analysis of the pupils’ item response is as follows:
(i) A person who fulfills his/her duties as required is known as
A an attentive person.
B an obedient person.
C a trustful person.
D a responsible person.
This question was set from the specific competence of *Managing his or her school and household tasks*. It tested the pupil’s understanding of managing school and household tasks. The question required pupils to choose the name given to a person who fulfills his/her duties as required from the given alternatives. Pupils who opted for the correct response D, *a responsible person* were aware that a responsible person is the one who is committed or focused in fulfilling his or her obligations by doing what is needed to be done. Such pupils understood that a responsible person contemplates things and undertakes the right decision before taking action. Therefore, he/she takes charge of his/her life and behaves in a way that encourages others to build trust in him/her. They also understood that being pupils they are responsible to help their parents by doing some domestic activities including taking care of their young brothers and sisters. Moreover, they are responsible to perform their school assignments as well as respecting their teachers and parents.
Further analysis of the pupils’ responses revealed that there are pupils who chose the distractor A, *an attentive person*. These pupils failed to understand that an attentive person is a personality trait of being observant and considerate of other people. The personality of an attentive person does not have direct relationship with a person who fulfills his/her duties.
On the other hand, other pupils opted for distractor B, *an obedient person*. These were not aware that an obedient person is the one who is willing to do what she/he has been instructed to do by authorities. An obedient person therefore, complies with the instructions given. These pupils did not understand that someone may become obedient simply because the laws and regulations require him/her to do so but a responsible person fulfills his/her duties without being coerced by the laws or regulations. For that, a person may be obedient but not responsible. Similarly, alternatives C, *a trustful person* and A, *an attentive person* are not correct. For example, those who chose distractor C could not recognize that a trustful person is the one who is believed to be good and honest and that he/she cannot harm or deceive anyone. Being good or honest does not qualify an individual
to be a responsible person instead the attributes of a responsible person depends on how the particular person is committed to fulfill his/her responsibilities as expected.
(ii) Which one shows a responsibility of a child in the family?
A To be respected by the family
B To be loved by the family
C To be listened to by the family
D To take care of the family properties
The question was set from the specific competence of *Managing School and Household Tasks*. It measured the pupils’ ability to identify the responsibilities of children in the family. In this question, pupils were instructed to choose from the given options the response which demonstrates a responsibility of a child in the family. Pupils who had adequate knowledge of being responsible in the family opted for the correct response D, *To take care of the family properties*. Such pupils were aware that a child as a member of the family has some responsibilities to perform in their families which include taking care of family resources and properties such as buckets, dishes, buildings and furniture to mention only a few. Other responsibilities of a child in the family include, helping parents in taking care of their young brothers and sisters, participating in family development activities and taking care of family relatives during times of sickness or other difficulties. Also, they are obliged to assist parents in some domestics’ chores such as cleaning home compounds, feeding animals, washing clothes and household utensils.
Contrarily, some pupils opted for response A, *To be respected by the family*, B, *To be loved by the family* and C, *To be listened by the family*. These were incorrect responses because they were related to rights and family obligations to a child. For example, option A, *To be respected by a family* means showing admiration to a child that he or she is good and important. Those who opted for it were unaware that, the family respect to children helps them to develop the feeling of being trusted and being safe. Also, B, *To be loved by the family* implies the right of children to be treated affectionately as it is
essential for the child’s intellectual development. Indeed, the children’s feelings about themselves, their confidence and ways of coping with difficult situations is largely affected by the ways parents and other family members respond to them. As for C, *To be listened by the family*, presupposes that children are capable of participating and having the right of being involved in decisions pertaining to matters that affect them in accordance with their age or maturity. Therefore, children are entitled to liberty of opinions and family members are supposed to respect and regard children’s’ opinions. Additionally, the children’s rights in the family can be achieved when the family members, particularly parents fulfill their responsibilities such as: protecting the children from harm, supporting their education, medical care and basic needs such as: food, clothes and shelter.
(iii) The following actions show how people value our resources except
A planting trees.
B protecting wild animals.
C burning forests.
D protecting water sources.
This question was set from the specific competence of *Protecting Resources and Interest of the Country*. It aimed at testing the pupils’ understanding of their responsibility to protect resources and interest of the country. It required pupils to identify the response which does not indicate the way people value our resources from the given statements of actions. The pupils who selected the correct response C, *burning forests*, had sufficient knowledge about our natural resources and how to protect them. These include: wild animals, water, land, oil, metals and valuable stones, gas and forests. They also understood that burning forests is the ignition of fire on forests. Some of the main causes of forest fires are natural or human causes such as: intentional acts of a person, negligently discarded cigarettes remains, unattended camp fires and the burning of debris. Also, they were aware that any unplanned and uncontrolled fires on forests are considered destructive on the environment because it deteriorates the quality of air and sometimes leads to the loss of lives of people,
properties, crops and death of animals. In general, this act disturbs the natural functioning of the ecosystem. Furthermore, burning forests leaves the land bared and prone to wind or water erosion which may result into desertification. Lastly, the pupils were familiar with the importance of protecting and valuing our resources like forests because they provide habitat for plants and wildlife, they support natural environmental processes such as soil regeneration, flood prevention and seeds disposal. It gives human beings beautiful places for leisure and relaxation.
In contrast, other pupils selected the distractors A, *planting trees*, B, *protecting wild animals* and D, *protecting water sources* all of which are not correct. These were not aware that those alternatives represented actions of valuing our resources. For instance, those who selected distractor A, *planting trees* were not aware that planting trees is one of the ways of conserving the environment and resources by cleaning the air through absorbing carbon dioxide and filtering of drinking water. Also trees help to prevent soil erosion, provide natural habitats and food for various animal species in general as well as improve capacity of the land to withstand the climatic change.
Some pupils who chose the distractor B, *protecting wild animals* failed to understand that protecting wild animals is the prevention, reduction or elimination of harms done to wild animals by human beings. This include establishing special reserves and parks for wild animals. Those animal parks are safeguarded by specific laws to ensure their sustainability. For instance, in Tanzania there are such parks as Mikumi, Ngorongoro, Ruaha and Serengeti national parks. Apart from ensuring security to wild animals, this action guarantees the continuity of tourism hence contributes to national income.
Likewise, the pupils who opted for distractor D, *protecting water resources*, failed to realize the fact that water is an essential resource for the existence of life on the earth. Therefore, the need to protect it. That being the case, various efforts have been initiated to protect water resources. These include for instance, planting trees around water sources, discouraging human activities near water sources,
discourage disposing and streaming harmful materials into water sources. Other measures include enacting laws to protect water sources; for instance, Water Resource Management Act number 11 of 2009 and the establishment of Water Boards such as Wami Ruvu Basin Water Board.
(iv) People who walk along the road on foot are known as
A Drivers
B Traffic Police
C Pedestrians
D Street Vendor
This question was constructed from the specific competence of *Obeying Laws and Regulations in doing daily activities*. It tested the pupils’ understanding of the road safety regulation. It instructed pupils to choose a response which refers to people who walk around the road on foot from the given options. The correct response was C, *Pedestrians*. This was opted by pupils who were well informed that pedestrians are the people walking on foot along the road. Like other road users, pedestrians are obliged to observe the road safety regulations for their safety when using the road.
On the contrary, some pupils went astray by opting for A, *Drivers*. Such pupils failed to differentiate drivers from pedestrians. They were not aware that a driver is a person who operates a motor vehicle like cars, trucks, heavy duty machines for construction and motorcycles. These pupils failed to understand that drivers travel on vehicles they drive as opposed to pedestrians who walk on their feet. Likewise, other pupils who opted for alternative B, *Traffic Police*, were equally wrong because Traffic Police is a unit in the Police Force which is mandated to control and enforce traffic regulations. In enforcing Road Safety Regulations, Traffic Police Officers use various ways such as motor vehicles or motorcycles for patrolling along the road. In addition, they establish temporary or permanent check points to ensure compliance of the traffic regulations among road users.
In the same vein, some pupils who were attracted to option D, *Street Vendors* did not realize that street vendors are not people who just travel along the road on foot rather, are those who offer goods and services for sale to the public without establishing permanent buildings for conducting the business or providing services. These include people who sell food, fruits, vegetables, and other kinds of manufactured goods. Despite the fact that some street vendors walk on foot along the street while searching for customers, others use various transport facilities such as cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and handcarts.
(v) Which volunteering activities among the following a child can do in the society?
A Digging and building the road
B Planting and conserving trees
C Mining and selling minerals
D Buying and selling water
This item was set from the specific competence of *Protecting Resources and Interest of the Country*. It assessed the pupils’ understanding of issues of being responsible in the community. The pupils were required to identify among the provided options the response which denotes the volunteering activities that a child can do in the society. The pupils who selected the correct response B, *Planting and conserving trees*, were aware that volunteering activities are the activities performed by individuals voluntarily. They also knew that a child as a member of the community has a responsibility to participate in some community activities too. Some of these activities are such as participating in environmental conservation and peacekeeping activities, doing cleanliness around community centres during the weekend, helping in educating community members on various important matters such as the importance of having a conflict-free society and participating in planting and conserving trees at home or at school.
Conversely, the pupils who chose the distractor A, *Digging and building the road*, failed to realize that digging the road involves the use of more physical or mental efforts. Also, building roads needs to
incorporate expertise and professionalized processes such as planning, setting out, earthworks, paving and quality control. Therefore, both activities are not supposed to be done by a child because they endanger mental and physical health of a child. Furthermore, the activities of volunteering in digging and building roads are normally done by adult people in the community.
Similarly, those pupils who chose options C, *Mining and selling minerals* and D, *Buying and selling water* failed to recognise that both alternatives entailed activities denoting business, for that reason they can be termed as child labour. Such activities deprive children of their childhood, their potential and dignity, therefore are harmful to physical, mental and social development of the child. It is a fact that child labour exposes a child to dangerous and risk environment such as excessive long working hours, risks of being abused in domestic works, risk of being injured or dying in construction and working with explosives, toxins and hazardous chemicals in mining and manufacturing. Thus, it is not right to engage a child in such activities.
2.2 Question 2: Respecting the Community
This question was set from the main competence of *respecting the community*; particularly from the specific competence of *Being proud of his or her school*. It tested the pupils’ ability to understand the organizational structure of his or her school. They were instructed to match the items in List A with the correct responses in List B by writing the letter of the correct response in the bracket. List A had descriptions on the responsibilities of pupils’ leaders/prefects while List B contained their appropriate prefects’ tittles.
The pupils’ performance in this question was as follows; 38.32 per cent scored from 0 to 2 marks, 22.79 per cent scored 4 marks, 16.19 per cent scored 6 marks and 22.70 per cent scored 8 marks. Generally, this was one of the well done question as 981,947 (61.68%) pupils passed while 610,042 (38.32%) failed. Figure 2 illustrates the categories of pupils’ performance in question 2.
Answer items (i) – (iv) by matching the responsibilities of student leaders in List A with their littles in List B by writing a letter of the correct answer in the bracket.
| List A | Letters | List B |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|-------------------------------|
| (i) A pupil who makes follow up on the teaching and learning process in a school. | ( ) | A. Sports prefect |
| (ii) A pupil who supervises all the responsibilities of all prefects. | ( ) | B. Project prefect |
| (iii) A pupil who makes sure that pupils get in their classrooms on time and behaves well. | ( ) | C. Head prefect |
| (iv) A pupil who makes sure that the school is attractive and looks good all the time. | ( ) | D. Discipline prefect |
| | | E. Academic prefect |
| | | F. Cleanness prefect |
The following is the analysis of the pupil’s responses in each item:
Item (i) demanded pupils to match the title of a pupils’ leader from List B that correspond with a pupil who makes follow up on the teaching and learning process in a school in List A. The pupils with sufficient knowledge of the responsibility of the pupils’ leaders were able to choose the correct response E, *Academic Prefect*. Such pupils were aware that the Academic Prefect is entitled to supervise the academic progress of all pupils at school. He/she has a duty of overseeing classroom teaching and learning progress, advising the school leadership on the best practice which may consequently lead to the improvement of teaching and learning process as well as the general academic performance of the school.
On the contrary, those who matched it with A, *Sport Prefect* were wrong because the Sport Prefect ensures that sporting activities are conducted smoothly at school, making arrangement or organizing the sport events within or out of the school premises, ensuring equal opportunity of participation in sport activities for all pupils, advising the school leadership on matters related to sports and taking care of schools’ sport gears. Likewise, pupils who chose distractor B, *Project Prefect*, failed to realize that Project Prefect does not make follow up on teaching and learning process in a school instead, he or she is responsible for supervising all income generating or self-reliance activities at school. For instance, supervising pupils to plant vegetables in the school farm or garden. He or she advises the school leadership on initiating various income generating projects for the school.
Furthermore, pupils who opted for alternative C, *Head Prefect*, did not know that the Head Prefect is the top leader in the pupils’ leadership who is an overall supervisor of subordinate prefects. He or she leads the pupils’ council, links pupils with teachers or represents the school on various pupils’ events outside the school, and he/she is a role model to other pupils. Also, some pupils matched it with D, *Discipline Prefect*. Such pupils failed to realize that the Discipline Prefect supervises the enforcement of the school rules and regulations.
among pupils. For instance, he or she makes sure that pupils arrive at school on time, wear proper school uniform and ensures that every pupil behaves appropriately. Similarly, other pupils associated it with F, *Cleanness Prefect*. These pupils were wrong because the Cleanness Prefect has the responsibilities of supervising general cleanness of the whole school including the toilets, classes and the surrounding areas. He or she ensures that the school surroundings remain attractive all the time.
In item (ii) the pupils were required to identify from List B a response which matches a pupil who supervises the responsibilities of all prefects. Some pupils managed to choose the correct response C, *Head Prefect*. These pupils were aware that the Head Prefect can be Head Boy or Head Girl and that she/he is in charge of all pupils and other prefects’ activities in the school. He or she is elected by fellow pupils to hold the title for a specific period of time.
On the other hand, some pupils mistakenly matched it with distractor A, *Sports Prefect*. These pupils did not realize that Sports Prefect is the one who is in charge of all activities related to sports and games at school. He or she is responsible for organizing the preparations of the school sports teams in different games such as soccer, basketball, netball, handball and volleyball. He or she collaborates with sports’ teacher to invite other school teams to play against the school team. In addition, other pupils matched it with B, *Project Prefect*. Such pupils did not understand that the Project Prefect is responsible for supervising and maintaining self-reliance activities such as organizing pupils to work in school farms, feeding school cattle and serving in the school shop just to mention a few. Likewise, pupils who matched it with distractor D, *Discipline Prefect* were supposed to know that the Discipline Prefect is not an overall supervisor of projects at school, rather she/he is the one who is responsible for maintaining the school discipline among the pupils by ensuring that every pupil abides by the school rules and regulations.
Similarly, some pupils opted for E, *Academic Prefect* without knowing that the Academic Prefect has a central/major role of ensuring and
maintaining the school academic excellence as well as cooperating with teachers in solving challenges which hinder pupils progress academically. Also, some pupils who selected an incorrect response F, *Cleanness Prefect*, lacked clear understanding of the responsibilities of cleanness prefect which include making sure that the school surrounding remains attractive and neat all the time. Moreover, he or she cooperates with other prefects to organize pupils in cleaning the school compounds, toilets and classrooms.
Item (iii) required pupils to identify the title of a school prefect from list B that correctly matches with a statement that “a pupil who makes sure that pupils get in their classroom on time and behave well”. The correct response was D, *Discipline Prefects*. The pupils who were attracted to this response had adequate knowledge of responsibilities of school prefects, particularly the discipline prefect. They knew that she/he oversees the implementation of the school rules and regulations among pupils and that he or she helps discipline teacher in reporting and investigating misconducts among pupils. He or she is a role model to other pupils owing to the fact that without discipline the school reputation and good academic performance becomes questionable.
In the same vein, the pupils who matched it with A, *Sports Prefects* lacked the knowledge about the responsibilities of Sports Prefect. Such pupils were supposed to know that the sports prefect is not responsible for ensuring that pupils get in their classrooms on time and behave well. Basically, the Sports Prefect oversees the school prosperity in sports by ensuring that every pupil equally participates in sport activities. Also, he or she cooperates with the school administration to ensure the sports and games equipment such as balls, nets and play grounds suffice the needs of the school. In addition, the pupils who opted for distractor B, *Project Prefect* should have realized that the division of power and responsibilities in the pupils’ leadership structure confines the Project Prefect to the matters related to school projects. He or she mobilizes fellow pupils to serve in school projects so as to equip them with experiences as well as necessary skills for self-help activities. Other pupils matched it with C,
Head Prefect. These pupils failed to distinguish the responsibility of the Head Prefect from those of the Discipline Prefect. They were supposed to realize that the Head Prefect is the topmost leader of the pupils’ prefects who oversees all activities of pupils, prefects and the Discipline Prefect inclusively.
Also, some pupils who opted for E, Academic Prefect were equally not correct because it was concerned with the pupil who monitors the teaching and learning process at school. He or she advises fellow pupils on academic issues and reports to teachers in case of any challenge that may hinder good academic performance of pupils at school. Likewise, some pupils matched it with option F, Cleanness Prefect; such pupils were not aware that the cleanness prefect’s responsibilities do not involve the monitoring of the pupils’ punctuality and behaviour. Those pupils would have realized that cleanness prefect deals with the supervision of environmental hygiene; he or she also mobilizes pupils to sweep the school grounds, slash tall grasses and clean toilets.
Lastly, Item (iv) instructed pupils to identify from list B the title of a school prefect which correctly matched with a pupil who makes sure that the school is attractive and looks good all the time. The pupils with sufficient knowledge of the responsibilities of school prefects identified the correct response F, Cleanness Prefect. These pupils knew that the cleanness prefect is responsible for the supervision of all cleanness activities at school. Also, he or she maintains good scenery of the school environment by mobilizing his/her fellow pupils to plant trees around the school campus, planting flowers in gardens and cleaning the school compound. He or she advises the school leadership to supply cleanness apparatus such as brooms, hoes, slashers, soap and disinfectants on time.
On the contrary, some pupils matched it with alternative A, Sports Prefect. These pupils demonstrated inability to differentiate the responsibilities of the cleanness prefect from those of the sports prefect. They did not understand that the sports prefect deals with the supervision of sports and games activities at school including
monitoring the implementation of sports and games timetable. Furthermore, other pupils chose the distractor B, *Project Prefect*. They were wrong because the project prefect is responsible for monitoring all self-help activities which aim at training pupils to become independent and responsible in life. Similarly, those who opted for distractor C, *Head Prefect* did not realize that the head prefect is the most senior prefect in the school. He or she represents the entire pupils’ body of leadership at different occasions inside or outside the school. He or she is also responsible for sharing the pupils’ ideas or concerns with the school administration for the purpose of promoting harmonious situation among the school community.
Likewise, the pupils who matched it with option D, *Discipline Prefect* were not familiar with the responsibilities of the discipline prefect who is not responsible for maintaining cleanness at school, rather he or she assumes the responsibilities of handling all matters pertaining to the pupils’ discipline. In so doing, he or she helps in maintaining peaceful atmosphere at school. As a matter of fact, the discipline prefect is closer to his/her fellow pupils and this enables him/her to deal with disciplinary cases at the grassroots level. Moreover, the pupils who were attracted to option E, *Academic Prefect* failed to understand that the academic prefect collaborates with the academic masters’ office in monitoring issues related to teaching and learning process at school. Also, he or she advises the school leadership on the strategies to improve the pupils’ performance such as conducting debate competitions and mobilizing pupils to join various subject clubs.
### 2.3 Question 3: Being Resilient
This question was set from the main competence of *Being Resilient*. It required the pupils to choose the correct answer from the brackets and write it in the space provided. The performance of the pupils in this question was average as 879,901 (55.27%) of the pupils passed by scoring from 4 to 8 marks, out of those 313,245 (19.60%) scored 4 marks, 328,949 ((20.66%) scored 6 marks and 237,707 (14.93%) scored 8 marks. Yet 712,088 (44.73%) of pupils failed by scoring from
0 to 2 marks. Chart No. 3 summarizes the performance of pupils in question 3.
Chart No. 3: The Performance of Pupils in Question 3
The following is the analysis of the pupils’ responses in each item:
(i) Solving challenges helps us to ____________________________
(achieve our goals, work hard, be popular)
This item was set from a specific competence of Handling Challenges in Daily Life. It assessed the pupils’ ability to deal with challenges encountered in daily life.
The pupils who selected the correct answer achieve our goals were aware that challenges are unavoidable in our daily life and if not well handled someone can get discouraged and lose hope of achieving the set goals. It is important to know that when someone faces challenges they should always be patient, persistent and always find ways of dealing with such challenges without harming oneself. Some of the challenges include, emptiness, difficult relationship with friends or relative, poor performance in studies, financial crisis, career pressure, being unfairly treated and health problems. Pupils in this category were aware that achieving goals is attaining an aim after a lot of work.
or efforts of overcoming challenges using positive steps and rational approach in facing them. Finally, these pupils were confident that unsolved challenges may prevent us from achieving our goals but addressing them helps us achieve those goals.
Conversely, the distractors *working hard* and *be popular* were selected by pupils who lacked adequate knowledge about being resilient and patient in life. For example, those who selected *work hard* failed to understand that working hard is the act of being committed and constantly putting more efforts to complete the task and that, it is not the result of solving the challenge but rather a solution to challenges associated with laziness. By working hard, a person gets income, self-satisfaction, passes examinations and resolves conflicts to mention just a few. Therefore, one can overcome the challenges of poverty, psychological unrest, failures and family misunderstanding. Likewise, those who selected *be popular* did not understanding that gaining popularity is not an underlying motive for solving challenges. Therefore, challenges are basically solved in order to get rid of barriers towards achieving our life goals. Moreover, being popular emanates from a number of factors such as having a striking personality that includes wanting to be liked, having skills to create mutual and enjoyable relationships, being helpful to people and having techniques to make other people feel good about themselves. Other factors depend on personal qualities such as being intelligent, funny, creative and being courageous.
(ii) A good behaving pupil is the one who________________________
(works alone, cooperates with others, helps teachers only)
This item was derived from the specific competence of *Loving One Self and Others*. It assessed the pupils’ understanding of loving oneself and others. They were required to identify from the given options the response which demonstrates a good behaviour of a pupil. The correct answer *cooperates with others*, was chosen by pupils who were well informed that cooperating with others is a good behaviour which involves working together with other people in order to achieve a particular purpose. Such pupils knew that cooperation entails an ability of a pupil to work effectively and respectfully with other pupils of
different personalities, making compromise in discussions and valuing opinions or contributions from others as well as developing the spirit of working in teams. Other attributes of good behaviour among pupils involve: loving others by respecting their differences, using polite language which in need of something, being obedient to instructions from the authority and knocking the door before entering a room or an office. They also realized that the opposite of cooperation is isolation which is the state of being alone. Isolation is accompanied with the state of loneliness which makes someone unhappy and fails to work effectively as compared to those who cooperate with others.
On the other hand, the pupils who selected the distractor *works alone* were not aware that working alone is the habit which shows an antisocial character by which a person is isolated from interacting with others at work or school. For pupils and children, such an action limits the development of social skills and if it persists may lead to antisocial disorders. The disadvantages of working alone may include for example; lack of opportunity for socializing with others, being overworked and development of stress, being uninformed, ineffectiveness and inefficiency in performing tasks and missing advantage to learn from others. What is worse, working alone develops individualism tendencies to an individual.
Similarly, those who opted for *helps teachers only* did not understand that helping teachers only does not characterize a good behaving pupil rather it signifies the tendency of a person who does things in fear instead of showing good behaviour to everyone. A good behaving pupil is not expected to help only teachers rather he or she is supposed to provide help to anyone who deserves it. For example, a well behaving pupil helps parents to perform some minor domestic chores, helps fellow pupils in studies, elderly people and people with disabilities in moments of need.
(iii) Good or bad feelings someone has about certain things is called
(attitude, cooperation, resilience)
This item was set from a specific competence of *Being Optimistic Toward Achieving Set Objectives*. It tested the pupils understanding of the positive thinking. The question required the pupils to complete the sentence by picking the response from the given alternatives in the brackets which refers to good or bad feelings someone has about certain things. The pupils who selected the correct answer *attitude*, were knowledgeable about the meaning of the concept attitude that refers to a feeling, belief or opinion of consenting or no consenting towards something, a situation or someone. They also understood that attitude is an evaluative response towards something or an object which can be positive or negative. In life, people are normally advised to maintain positive attitude; that is being optimistic about situations, other people, interactions and even themselves. This is because people with positive attitude remain optimistic, focused and see the way out of the difficult situation. In contrast, negative attitude makes a person pessimistic and expects the worst out of difficult situations. Furthermore, the pupils in this category were aware of the importance of having positive attitude because it helps to overcome disappointments and failure more easily, helps to approach things in appreciative mindsets, helps one to see the thoughts behind other people’s actions and helps to stay focused towards achieving intended goals.
However, pupils who opted for the distractor *cooperation* were supposed to understand that cooperation is not related to good or bad feelings, rather is the act of working with others to accomplish a certain task. In daily undertakings, members of the community tend to cooperate in different affairs for the purpose of achieving the common goal. Thus, cooperation is an essential skill that helps in achieving success both professionally and personally. It is important because it helps to attain goals, resolve conflicts, build relationships, improve communication and enables acquisition of acquired skills.
Likewise, the pupils who selected *resilience* lacked the knowledge of distinguishing the meaning of the term resilience from that of the term attitude. The term resilience refers to the ability to endure the difficulties, recover or adopt them positively and keep focused in the
face of such adversity. Also, such pupils did not know that resilience is more related to issues of patience, perseverance and persistence to setbacks or difficulties. Moreover, these pupils ought to realize that life is full of challenges. Therefore, in order to achieve life goals, a person must opt to face and deal with those challenges with a positive and optimistic mind hoping that, there is a second chance of bouncing back. The important personal qualities which may help an individual in enduring difficulties include: self-awareness, self-control, problem solving skills and social support.
(iv) People with different religions can live together peacefully if they
__________________________
(force each other to follow one religion, chase away non-believers, respect each other).
This item was set from the specific competence of *Respecting Cultural Differences and Ideologies among People of Different Races*. It tested pupils’ understanding of respecting different ideologies and beliefs. It required pupils to complete the sentence by choosing from given alternative in the bracket the response which depicts the way people with different religions can live together peacefully. The pupils who chose the right answer *respect each other*, understood that respecting each other’s religion promotes unity and love among the people of different religions. Furthermore, they were aware that Tanzania is a secular state. This means it is officially neutral in matters of religion; therefore, treats all citizens equally regardless of their religious affiliation or non-beliefs status. In this respect, pupils are allowed to go to mosque and churches for worshiping and attend religious sessions in classrooms. Moreover, pupils are allowed to dress according to their faith dressing codes and all religious events are respected by the state. In addition, they realized that respecting others people ideologies or religion is very important for peace maintenance because the opposite may disrupt peace and love in the society. Extract 3.1 is a sample of the pupil’s correct responses to question 3.
3. Answer items (i) – (iv) by choosing the correct answer from the bracket and write it in the space provided.
(i) Solving challenges helps us to ____________ (achieve our goals, work hard, be popular)
(ii) A good behaving pupil is the one who ____________ (works alone, cooperates with others, helps teachers only)
(iii) Good or bad feelings someone has about certain things is called ____________ (attitude, cooperation, resilience)
(iv) People with different religions can live together peacefully if they ____________ (force each other to follow one religion, chase away non believes, respect each other)
Extract 3.1: A Sample of the Pupil’s Correct Responses to Question 3
In contrast, some pupils opted for the distractors *force each other to follow one religion* and *chase away non believes*. These pupils failed to understand that both alternatives were perpetuating discrimination on the basis of faith and violating individual liberty. For example, forcing people to follow one religion means forcing them to go against their faith and violation of their basic freedom of worshiping and affiliation. This is done in non-secular states where people are bound to believe in and follow state religion and not otherwise. As for chasing away non believes, one would interpret it as meaning isolating those who do not believe in the existence of God or religion. This act reflects lack of religious tolerance and is against movement and associational liberty. Generally, those who chose these distractors failed to appreciate the three principle objectives of the secular state which state as follows: one religious community does not dominate another, some members do not dominate other members of the same religious community and lastly the state does not enforce
any particular religion nor does it take away the religious freedom of individuals. Basing on those principles, both options *force each other to follow one religion* and *chase away non believes* could not promote peace, tolerance, respect, love and unity which are foundations for peaceful coexistence of people with different religions and ideologies in the society. Extract 3.2 is a sample of an incorrect responses to question 3.
3. Answer items (i) – (iv) by choosing the correct answer from the bracket and write it in the space provided.
(i) Solving challenges helps us to _____________.
(achieve our goals, work hard, be popular)
(ii) A good behaving pupil is the one who ____________.
(works alone, cooperates with others, helps teachers only)
(iii) Good or bad feelings someone has about certain things is called ____________.
(attitude, cooperation, resilience)
(iv) People with different religions can live together peacefully if they ____________.
(force each other to follow one religion, chase away non believes, respect each other)
Extract 3.2: A Sample of the Pupil’s Incorrect Responses to Question 3
2.4 Question 4: Valuing the Community
The question was set from the main competence of *Valuing the Community* and specific competence of *Protecting the Environment*. This question tested the pupils’ ability to identify actions that protect or
destroy environment in the community. The question had four items (i)–(iv) which required the pupils to put a tick (\(\checkmark\)) in the boxes provided to indicate the statement which shows environmental protection or environmental destruction.
The pupils’ performance in this question was as follows: 43.40 per cent of the pupils scored 0 to 2 marks, 22.16 per cent scored 6 marks, 18.05 per cent scored 4 marks and 16.39 per cent of the pupils scored 8 marks. In general, the pupils’ performance in this question was average, since 901,096 (56.60%) of the pupils scored 4 to 8 marks and 690,893 (43.40%) pupils scored 0 to 2 marks. Chart No. 4 shows the performance of the pupils in question 4.
The analysis of the pupils’ responses in each item in question 4 was as follows:
Answer items (i) – (iv) by putting a tick (\(\checkmark\)) in the boxes provided to indicate the statement which shows environmental protection or environmental destruction:
| No. | Statement | Environmental Protection | Environmental Destruction |
|-----|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
| (i) | A pupil carries a dustbin full of waste and threw them into the river so as to let them be carried by water. | | |
| (ii)| Watering a flower garden using water from a well. | | |
| (iii)| The school area is small. The head teacher bought a lot of cows so as to provide every child with milk tea. | | |
| (iv)| Mr. Daudi has planted five trees and then cut one tree to make timber. | | |
The analysis of the pupils’ responses revealed that some pupils were able to put a tick (\(\checkmark\)) to indicate actions of environmental destruction. These pupils had sufficient knowledge of the environmental conservation activities and understood environmental destruction as the actions of destroying the quality of environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil. The pupils who put a tick (\(\checkmark\)) under the column of environmental destruction in item (i) *A pupil carries a dustbin full of waste and threw them into the river so as to let them be carried by water* understood that throwing wastes into the river leads to water contamination hence makes water unsafe for human or animals consumptions. Besides that, other activities which may lead to water pollution include: marine dumping, channel sewage and waste water streams to water sources, oil leakage and farming near water sources.
Similarly, other pupils managed to put a tick (\(\checkmark\)) against the action which indicated environmental destruction in item (iii) *The school area is small. The head teacher brought a lot of cows so as to provide every child with milk tea*. These pupils understood the act of buying a lot of cows and graze them in a small area was the destruction of environment. Such act may lead to high rate of soil erosion, loss of
topsoil layer and nutrients. This situation accelerates wind and rain soil erosion, thus affecting the ability of plants to grow. Other causes of environmental destruction include the use of improper farming methods, deforestation and excessive use of agrochemicals.
Further analysis reveals the presence of the pupils who were able to identify the actions of environmental conservation and put a tick (✓) against items (ii) and (iv). These pupils understood that item (ii) *Watering a flower garden using water from a well* concerned the environmental protection activity. Environmental protection can be maintained through planting trees in barren land or even replanting trees in the presence of other trees. The pupils were aware that the environment can be protected through controlling industrial wastes which pollute water and air, encouraging the use of environmental friendly technology such as electric vehicles and solar power. Also, proper waste disposal, application of proper farming and fishing methods, destocking, control of population growth and settlement expansion, and raising awareness of the society about the importance of environmental conservation. Extract 4.1 is a sample of correct responses to question 4.
| No | Statement | Environmental Protection | Environmental Destruction |
|----|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------|
| (i)| A pupil carries a dustbin full of waste and threw them into the river so as to let them be carried by water. | | ✓ |
| (ii)| Watering a flower garden using water from a well. | ✓ | |
| (iii)| The school area is small. The head teacher bought a lot of cows so as to provide every child with milk tea. | | ✓ |
| (iv)| Mr. Daudi has planted five trees and then cut one tree to make timber. | ✓ | |
Extract 4.1: *A Sample of the Pupil’s Correct Responses to Question 4*
On the other hand, there were pupils who had insufficient knowledge about environmental conservation activities as they failed to put a tick (✓) in a box to indicate the statement showing environmental
protection or environmental destruction. These pupils put a tick (✓) in the boxes indicating irrelevant actions. For example, some of the pupils put a tick (✓) in the box under the column of environmental protection but the statement in item (i) *A pupils carry a dustbin full of waste and threw them into the river so as to let them be carried by water* was concerned with the environmental destruction. These pupils were supposed to understand that environmental protection involves the activities of maintaining and restoring the quality of environment which aim at preventing it from being damaged or destroyed. The act of throwing wastes into the river is destruction of environment rather than protecting it.
Likewise, there were pupils who were unable to differentiate between the environmental destruction and environmental protection actions and thus put a tick (✓) on the action of environmental destruction in item (ii) *Watering a flower garden using water from a well*. These pupils are supposed to understand that, watering a flower garden using water from a well is the environmental protection act because plants need water for growth and making its own food through the process of photosynthesis.
Similarly, there were pupils who put a tick (✓) against the statement of environmental protection in item (iii) *The school area is small. The head teacher bought a lot of cows so as to provide every child with milk tea*. These pupils failed to understand that the act of buying a lot of cows and grazing them in a small area was the action of environmental destruction rather than protection. The environmental destruction that might be caused by buying a lot of cows includes soil erosion, loss of soil fertility and affecting plant growth. Generally, these pupils based more on the benefits that every child might be provided with milk tea than on the negative effects to the environment resulting from keeping a lot of cows.
In the same vein, some pupils put a tick (✓) in the box to indicate the action of environmental destruction in item (iv) *Mr. Daudi has planted five trees and then cut one tree to make timber*. These pupils had inadequate knowledge about environmental protection as they indicated incorrect action. Thus, the action done by Mr. Daudi had
environmental benefits since planting trees increase soil fertility, prevent soil erosion and desertification. Extract 4.2 is a sample of incorrect responses to question 4.
4. Answer items (i) – (iv) by putting a tick (\(\checkmark\)) in the boxes provided to indicate the statement which shows environmental protection or environmental destruction.
| No | Statement | Environmental Protection | Environmental Destruction |
|----|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------|
| (i)| A pupil carries a dustbin full of waste and threw them into the river so as to let them be carried by water. | Protection | Protection |
| (ii)| Watering a flower garden using water from a well. | Protection | Protection |
| (iii)| The school area is small. The head teacher bought a lot of cows so as to provide every child with milk tea. | Destruction | Destruction |
| (iv)| Mr. Daudi has planted five trees and then cut one tree to make timber. | Destruction | Destruction |
Extract 4.2: A Sample of the Pupil’s Incorrect Response to Question 4
In Extract 4.2 the pupil failed to observe the instruction by writing words *destruction* and *protection* in both boxes instead of putting a tick (\(\checkmark\)) in the boxes provided to indicate a statement showing actions pertaining to environmental protection or destruction. This implies a guess work.
2.5 Question 5: Being a Person of Integrity
This question was set from the main competence of *Being a Person of integrity* and a specific competence of *Standing up for Peoples’ Rights*. The question tested the pupils’ ability to identify the child’s rights. They were given a picture to study carefully and then answer the questions in items (a) - (d).
The pupils’ performance in this question was as follows: 68.67% of the pupils scored 0 to 2 marks, 19.19% scored 4 marks, 8.11% scored 6 marks and 4.03% scored 8 marks. Generally, this question had weak performance compared to other questions, since 1,093,193 (68.67%) pupils scored from 0 to 2 marks. Other pupils 498,796 (31.33%) scored 4 to 8 marks. Chart.No.5 shows the pupils performance in question 5.
The analysis of the pupils’ responses to each item in question 5 was as follows:
Questions
(a) Mention two actions shown in this picture.
(i)__________________________________________________________
(ii)__________________________________________________________
This question tested the pupils’ ability to interpret actions shown in the picture. The question required the pupils to mention two actions shown in the picture. The analysis of the pupils’ responses shows that; correct responses were mentioned by the pupils who had adequate knowledge of studying pictures carefully. Some of the
mentioned correct responses were: *children are going to school, disabled child begging, child is making quarries* and *a child is standing in front of the class*. Such responses indicate that these pupils had adequate knowledge about standing up for peoples’ rights. These pupils understood that the image showing a boy and a girl in school uniforms were marching to school while on their left hand side there was a child with disability sitting under the tree with the hands leaning forward begging for financial help from pupils who were passing by the road side. On the forepart of the picture there was a pupil standing in front of the classrooms and other pupils were practicing their right to education. Moreover, the picture showed a girl child making quarries. The activities of begging and making quarries demonstrate the acts that violate child’s rights to education. Owing to the fact that children being a vulnerable group, there is a need for the society to be alerted on children’s rights such as: right to get education, play, health care, access to balanced diet, be loved and cared for, and the right to be protected.
Further analysis of the pupils responses shows that some pupils failed to interpret the actions shown on the picture. This was perhaps caused by inadequate knowledge about standing up for people’s rights. Some of the incorrect responses mentioned by the pupils were: *school and teacher, bad action and the action which is not allowed in the society, bad manner, children, blind, pupils and the man’s works*. Other incorrect responses were: *mother, globalization, children about society, go for business, obedient child* and *children right*.
(b) Which responsibility is not fulfilled by the parents of some of the children shown in these pictures? __________________________
This question tested the ability of the pupils to identify responsibilities of the parents to children. The question required the pupils to mention the responsibility which was not fulfilled by parents of some of children shown in the pictures. The pupils who had adequate knowledge about the responsibilities of the parents to their children and sufficient skills on studying pictures carefully managed to mention correct responses. Some of the mentioned correct responses were: *parents failed to take*
their children to school or to provide them with education. These pupils were aware that it is the parent’s responsibility to ensure that the rights of children are protected, for example, the right to education. Other rights of a child that must be protected by parents and the society include: the right to play and recreation, family life, health care, adequate standard of living, right to get balanced diet and the right to be protected from abuse and harm. When child’s rights are violated, it may lead to child labour, illiteracy among children, forced and/or early marriage, physical abuse and involvement of children in criminal activities.
Further analysis reveals pupils who had limited knowledge about the responsibilities of parents to their children as they mentioned irrelevant responses. Some of these incorrect responses were: *boy borrows pupils to help him* and *no father or mother*. Other similar incorrect responses were; *the children right, money, the child is asking for the food*, and *a leg is broken*.
(c) What are you supposed to do when you see the rights of a child are violated? ____________________________________________
This question assessed the pupils’ ability to identify measures to be taken when the rights of a child are violated. The analysis of the pupils’ responses shows that the pupils who had sufficient knowledge about standing up for people’s rights provided correct responses such as; *to report to the police station, to report to education officer, providing education to violators, taking action to stop abuse and tell the parents*. Such responses suggest that these pupils were aware of the responsibilities of community members to take appropriate measures in stopping abuse of the children’s rights by exposing such abusive acts to the respective authorities. Also, they were aware of the appropriate authorities for dealing with child rights abuses such as: the gender and children desk project in the police force and the office of the Community Development Officer.
In contrast, the analysis revealed the pupils who lacked adequate knowledge about standing up for peoples’ rights. For example, these pupils provided incorrect responses such as: *I will help him with*
money if could have, give them the food, to help getting money, I am going to tell her/him sorry for that, help child happy, to give balanced diet and money. Those responses indicate that such pupils were not aware that the abuse of the children’s rights cannot be ended by providing comforts in form of money, words or any other materials to a victim. Certainly, serious and appropriate measures have to be put in place to stop those cruelties. Likewise, other pupils provided such incorrect responses as I am going to have any right to be protected, you should take to school, is drawing and stones, child right, it shows children about family, in many party, school, they go to school and because it is a street child to use poor.
(d) Why the action shown by the child holding a hummer is the abuse of child’s right?
This question assessed the pupils’ ability to analyse the actions which abuse the child’s rights. The question required the pupils to justify that the action of the child holding a hummer on the picture is considered child’s right abuse. The pupils who wrote correct responses in this question were those who had adequate knowledge about standing up for people’s rights. These pupils wrote correct responses like; because it is hard work for a child to do or the child is supposed to be at school. These responses reveal that a child is physically and mentally a tender human being who needs proper guidance and counselling, love and care for proper and effective physical and intellectual growth. Therefore, exposing a child to heavy and harmful tasks like quarrying stones endangers his or her health or growth both mentally and physically. They also knew that retaining children at home without sending them to school is a child’s right abuse because it denies the child’s right to education. Other child’s abuses are for instance, denying a child the chance for recreation, child labour, early marriage, severe punishment and humiliation. Extract 5.1 shows a sample of the pupils’ correct responses to question 5.
Questions
(a) Mention two actions shown in this picture.
(i) A child begging for some money
(ii) A child breaking stones
(b) Which responsibility is not fulfilled by the parents of some of the children shown in these pictures?
Taking their children to school
(c) What are you supposed to do when you see the rights of a child is violated?
Report to the authority concerned
(d) Why the action shown by the child holding a hummer is the abuse of child’s right?
Because it denies her rights to get education
Extract 5.1: A Sample of the Pupil’s Correct Responses to Question 5
On the other hand, the pupils who had limited knowledge about standing up for people’s rights could not interpret the action of a child holding a hummer in the picture provided. Hence provided incorrect responses such as: because child needs some money for food or basic needs and because the girl wanted money stones. These pupils were supposed to know that parents or guardians are responsible for providing basic needs for their children such as food, shelter, clothes, health care and education. The act of failure to fulfill these responsibilities encourages children to go to streets to meet the unfulfilled needs, hence child labouring may be an alternative. Moreover, some pupils mentioned such responses as because she not fulfills her responsibilities and because is a street child. These pupils were supposed to understand that the principle of human dignity emphasizes respect to every human being irrespective of their race, social and economic status, affiliation and the like. A child deserves no abuse for whichever excuse he or she is entitled to their rights ought to be upheld and protected regardless of whether he or she fulfills his/her responsibilities or not.
Further analysis of responses shows that there were pupils who failed to understand the requirements of the questions. Some of these pupils mentioned responses related to the causes of children rights abuse such as: because they are not loved with parent, to drink
alcohol for abusing and to continue to smoking for everyday that is abusing. Similarly, other pupils mentioned points related to rights and responsibilities of children. Some of their responses were: must get their right, it is our right, get education, is to go to school, respect other people, help other people they going at school, trust the child, she does not have any right to be protected and that modern is phone.
Lastly, the analysis reveals the presence of the pupils who wrote letters A, B, C and D as responses for this question and others skipped the question though it was compulsory. Moreover, other pupils copied some phrases from the passage in question six (6) and used them as answers to this question. In general, this might have been influenced by inadequate knowledge of the subject matter and inadequate language skills. Extract 5.2 shows a sample of incorrect responses to question 5.
| Questions |
|-----------|
| (a) Mention two actions shown in this picture. |
| (i) Children about |
| (ii) Children right |
| (b) Which responsibility is not fulfilled by the parents of some of the children shown in these pictures? |
| The children right |
| (c) What are you supposed to do when you see the rights of a child is violated? |
| If show children about family |
| (d) Why the action shown by the child holding a hummer is the abuse of child's right? |
| It to go to school |
Extract 5.2: A Sample of the Pupil’s Incorrect Responses to Question 5
2.6 Question 6: Maintaining Peace and Harmony
This question was set from the main competence of Valuing the community and a specific competence of Building Good Relationships with Others in a Community. The question assessed the pupils’ comprehension skills. Pupils were instructed to read the passage
which was about the means of communication and then answer the question in the space provided from items (a) - (d).
The pupils performance in this question was as follows: 47.11 per cent scored 0 to 2 marks, 19.37 per cent scored 8 marks, 17.42 per cent scored 6 marks and 16.10 per cent scored 4 marks. The general performance of pupils in this question was average, since 841,944 (52.89%) of the pupils scored marks ranging from 4 to 8 marks. Other pupils 750,044 (47.11%) scored 0 to 2 marks. Chart No. 6 summaries the pupils performance in question 6.
Chart No. 6: The Pupils Performance in Question 6
The analysis of the pupils' responses to each item in question 6 was as follows:
Communication is important and basic in any society. For example, in the past, people used traditional ways to communicate and pass information. Among those ways are horns, drums, screaming and different sounds of animals.
Recently, the means of communication have changed to a great extent of which electronic means are used to simplify communications between people. Among these modern ways are telephone, television, emails, newspapers and social networks. The modern ways of communication are a part of globalization and are available in many parts of the world.
Globalization helps in business, education, sports and even politics. Good usage of globalization brings development to the society; however, bad usage of globalization can cause loss of morals, decrease in quality of education and can even be source of misunderstanding among us. Therefore, we must use globalization properly for the development of our societies.
Questions
(a) From the passage, mention two modern ways of communication.
(i) _______________________________________________________
(ii) _______________________________________________________
This question tested the pupils’ ability to identify the modern ways of communication by referring to the passage they had read. The pupils were required to mention two ways of modern communication.
The analysis of the pupils’ responses indicates that the pupils with good comprehension skills mentioned correct answers. Some of the correct answers were: emails, telephone, newspapers, television and social networks. These pupils understood that communication means the transmission of information from one part to another through a flexible and efficient media to reach the targeted destination on time. They were also aware that communication is vital to any society as it promotes mutual cooperation, facilitates decision making process, enhances managerial efficiency and workers’ performances.
On the other hand, the pupils who had insufficient comprehension skills mentioned incorrect answers such as drums, horns and screaming. Such response evidence that these pupils failed to
differentiate modern from old ways of communication. Other pupils associated their answers with the positive effects of globalization by mentioning the points like: *globalization helps in business education, communication is important in any society* and *basic in passing information*. Furthermore, one of the pupils mentioned forms of communication instead of modern ways of communication, thus, he or she mentioned such responses as *verbal communication* and *non-verbal communication*. This pupil was supposed to understand that verbal communication uses both spoken or written language whereas non-verbal communication refers to the means by which human beings convey information about their emotions, needs, intension, thoughts and attitude without using verbal language, instead they use such things as gesture, facial expression and body language. Further analysis shows some pupils who mentioned irrelevant responses such as: *is a part of globalization, are available in many parts in the world, communication and globalization, not caring others and not his responsibility, what for globalization and animals*. Such responses show that these pupils did not comprehend the passage as a result they wrote whatever came into their minds.
(b) Why globalization is important in the society?
This question tested the pupil’s ability to evaluate the importance of globalization in the society. The question required the pupils to explain the importance of globalization in the society. These pupils wrote the importance such as: *it helps in business, sports and politics, it brings the development of the society, economic and trade liberalization which has made it possible for people, goods and services to cross country boarders with minimal or without restrictions*. Other pupils wrote: *increasing the availability of goods and services, expansion of labour markets, improvement of local technology, increase of foreign investment and decrease of goods price due to competitive nature of globalization*. Such responses indicated that the pupils had adequate comprehension skills by responding correctly to the given questions. The pupils understood that globalization refers to the growth of interconnectedness and interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, population and politics caused by advancement of science.
and technology particularly information and communication technology. Globalization has intensified cooperation among countries in the world through global governance policy. Some of the global governance instruments for dealing with such challenges include: the World Bank, United Nations, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund and International Court of Justice. The challenges of globalization are insecurity, violation of human rights, poverty, diseases and international crimes.
Further analysis of pupils responses indicates the presence of the pupils who lacked comprehension skills. These pupils failed to write correct responses, hence ended up mentioning the points which could not be reflected in the given passage because some of them were the impact of globalization. Some of the responses mentioned were: *because of globalization and available in many country and parts of the word, is good globalization to get information, because it gives a communication and smashing different things*. Other pupils’ responses were: *can cause misunderstanding among us, newspapers and social networks in people, people used traditional ways to communication and passing information, animals, network societies, parts of the world, loss of morals and recently the means changed*.
(c) How did people communicate in the past?
The item tested the pupils’ ability to identify the means of communication used by the people in the past. The pupils who read the passage carefully were able to identify correctly the traditional ways of communication such as: *horns, drums, screaming and different sounds of animals*. These pupils understood that a horn is a sound device that is made of or shaped like animal horn blown from a hole in the pointed end of it to give signals which communicate specific information that reaches a distant place. This instrument was traditionally used among pastoral, agricultural and hunters’ societies for frightening and intimidating the forces of opposing tribes, warning people on impending battle or signifying the enemy attack. Also, it was used to alert about the impending commence of battle, announcing return of warriors from wars and in other areas farmers
used them to chase away dangerous animals or predators. As to drums, the pupils understood that they were usually played by beating with one or two sticks with or without padding depending on the type of sound expected to be made. They also knew that each drum beat was coded in accordance with different messages. For instance, there were different beats which signified ceremonies, funerals, meeting, declaration of wars, notifying the arrival of strangers and impending attack. Once the initial beat was heard, the other drummers could pick up the beat in different areas and spread the message over distance miles’.
Furthermore, screaming was done from hills or mountains for maximizing the effect of echoing. Diverse screaming styles conveyed varieties of messages, for example, wailing signified bad news as ululation signified good ones. Moreover, other means of traditional communication included running message which were carried by trustworthy runners for conveying very urgent messages, written message in forms of pictographic and idiographic. These were recorded on scrolls, stones and dried animal skins as well as papers. Another one was fire signal. It was lit on hills or mountains where it could be seen from a distance and was coded in such a way a stranger could not interpret its massage easily. It was meant to alert people about an impending enemy invasion or communicate an important message.
Finally, the analysis indicates the presence of the pupils who provided responses which were supposed to belong to other items in this question. For example, one of the pupils wrote: *to get information and help to education, development, use good globalization for developing society* and *passing information*. These responses were supposed to belong to item (b) which asked the importance of globalization in the society. Also, another pupil mentioned the modern ways of communication like *communication in telephone, television, e-mail* and *newspapers, by using telephone, television and radio, phone, smart is part of globalization*. Such responses were required to be correct responses for item (a).
(d) Why should we use globalization in a good way?
This item tested the pupils’ ability to analyse the impact of globalization by referring to the passage they had read. The question required the pupils to explain the reasons that make the society to use globalization in a good way. The pupils who comprehended the passage identified the correct response such as *it brings development to the society*. Such pupils had adequate knowledge about globalization, they knew that globalization may cause negative and positive effects on social, economic, political as well as cultural aspects. They knew that using globalization in a good way may lead to the increase in availability of different goods and services in the market, expansion of local and international trade due to reduction of trade barriers, spread of foreign languages like: Chinese, English, Arabic and French which enhance communication among the people of various societies in the world. Other benefits of globalization include national economic development due to foreign investments and international borrowings that enable the government to develop infrastructures like roads, bridges, hospitals, schools and other strategic projects.
On the other hand, these pupils were conversant with the negative side of globalization as they mentioned such things as deterioration of local industries following massive importation of manufactured goods sold at lower prices and technological dependency, insecurity and increase of across borders’ crimes influenced by the spread of illegal arms, drugs abuse and terrorism. Also globalization may lead to cultural deterioration as a result of interactions with other foreign cultures and adoption of immoral cultural aspects in our societies. Extract 6.1 shows a sample of the correct pupils’ responses to question 6.
Questions
(a) From the passage, mention two modern ways of communication.
(i) Telephone
(ii) Television
(b) Why globalization is important in the society? Helps in business, education, sport and even politics.
(c) How did people communicate in the past? Using horns, drums, screaming and different sounds of animals.
(d) Why should we use globalization in a good way? Because good ways of globalization bring development to the society.
Extract 6.1: A Sample of the Pupil’s Correct Responses to Question 6
Further analysis reveals the presence of the pupils who provided a mixture of irrelevant responses. Such responses include: bring moral decay in our society, newspapers and social networks in our society, can cause loss of moral and decrease in quality of education. Likewise, other pupils’ incorrect responses were: business and education, globalization of good ways in education decrease and e-mail and television. Generally, these pupils lacked comprehension skills which emanated from lack of thorough exercises and incompetence in language skills. Extract 6.2 shows a sample of the pupils’ incorrect responses to question 6.
Questions
(a) From the passage, mention two modern ways of communication.
(i) Communications
(ii) Animals
(b) Why globalization is important in the society?
Animals
(c) How did people communicate in the past?
Politics
(d) Why should we use globalization in a good way?
Globalization
Extract 6.2: A Sample of the Pupil’s Incorrect Responses to Question 6
3.0 ANALYSIS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PUPILS IN EACH COMPETENCE
The analysis of the performance in each question in the Standard Four National Assessments in Civic and Moral Education subject shows that out of 6 competencies assessed, only 1 competence had a good performance. The competence was *Being responsible* which was tested in question 1 (68.25%). However, the competencies which had an average performance were *Respecting the community* in question 2 (61.68%), *Valuing the community* in question 4 (56.60%), *Being a persevering person* in question 3 (55.27%) and *Promoting peace and harmony* in question 6 (52.89%). On the other hand, the competence of *Being a Person of Integrity* in question 5 (31.33%) had poor performance.
Furthermore, the comparative analysis of the performance in various competencies in the Standard Four National Assessment for 2021 and 2022 indicates that the performance in the competencies of *Being Responsible* has increased from average performance (51.4%) in 2021 to good performance (68.25%) in 2022. Respecting the community competence has maintained average performance (54.8%) in 2021 and (61.68%) in 2022. The performance in other competencies was as follows: *Being a person of integrity* dropped from good performance (76.9%) in 2021 to poor performance (31.33%) in 2022. Similarly, the performance in the competence of *Being a persevering person* has decreased from good performance (67.3%) in 2021 to average performance (55.27) in 2022. In the competence of *Respecting the Community*, the performance continued to be average (54.8%) in 2021 and 61.68% in 2022. Lastly, the competence of *Promoting Peace and Harmony* has increased its performance from poor performance in 2021 to average performance (52.89%) in 2022.
4.0 CONCLUSION
The analysis of the pupils’ responses for the Standard Four National Assessment questions in the Civic and Moral Education subject shows that the general pupils’ performance was very good. The pupils who scored grades A to D were 84.85 per cent while a few of them
15.15 per cent had a weak performance by scoring E grade. The pupils with good performance in this assessment were observed to have sufficient knowledge of the assessed competencies. Also, these pupils were able to identify the requirements of the questions and showed good mastery of reading and writing skills.
Further analysis revealed that several challenges led to pupils’ weak performance. Some of these were insufficient knowledge about the assessed competencies, failure to understand the demands of the questions, inadequate skills in reading and writing and thus, failure to write clear responses. Similarly, the pupils showed incompetency in studying the picture carefully and comprehension questions skills in question 5 and 6 respectively.
5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to improve the pupils’ performance in Civic and Morals Education subject, the National Examinations Council of Tanzania recommends the following:
(a) Subject teachers should employ participatory methods in teaching and learning process to make pupils acquire expected learning outcomes. Some of the participatory teaching and learning techniques include:
(i) Role-playing, inquiry based learning and cooperative learning techniques for example think-share-pair, discussions in small groups or pairs and jigsaw. These help in improving social skills and pupil’s critical thinking ability.
(ii) Application of classroom dramatization. It effectively takes a child’s love to play and turns it into a love of learning as a consequence a learner focuses on class activity and essentially build intended skills.
(iii) The use of the study visit technique where by pupils can visit various places with specified subject competencies.
(b) Teachers and parents should initiate strategies to develop pupils’ interests of reading textbooks and reference books to strengthen their understanding of Civic and Moral Education subject competencies.
(c) Teachers should increase efforts on investigating the strengths and weaknesses of each pupil and find supportive solutions.
(d) Pupils should be provided with several assessment activities like: assignments, tests and examinations to strengthen their ability to answer questions. The activities should focus in assessing skills on reading, writing, arithmetic as well as comprehension.
| Sn | Competence | ASSESSMENT 2021 | ASSESSMENT 2022 |
|----|----------------------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
| | | Performance in each question | Average performance (%) | Remarks | Question number | % performance | Average performance (%) | Remarks |
| 1 | Being Responsible | 6 | 51.4 | 51.4 | Average | 1 | 68.25 | 68.25 | Good |
| 2 | Respecting the Community | 2 | 54.8 | 54.8 | Average | 2 | 61.68 | 61.68 | Average |
| 3 | Valuing the Community | 3 | 66.8 | 66.8 | Good | 4 | 56.60 | 56.60 | Average |
| 4 | Being A Persevering Person | 5 | 67.3 | 67.3 | Good | 3 | 55.27 | 55.27 | Average |
| 5 | Promoting Peace and Harmony | 4 | 17 | 17 | Weak | 6 | 52.89 | 52.89 | Average |
| 6 | Being a Person of Integrity | 1 | 76.9 | 76.9 | Good | 5 | 31.33 | 31.33 | Weak | | 7ecd8e8f-b657-4673-96a7-1dcfbff54a71 | CC-MAIN-2024-22 | https://onlinesys.necta.go.tz/cira/sfna/2022/06E_CIVIC_AND_MORAL_EDUCATION.pdf | 2024-05-24T07:04:37+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-22/segments/1715971058684.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20240524060414-20240524090414-00197.warc.gz | 380,878,845 | 17,209 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.935291 | eng_Latn | 0.997424 | [
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SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST:
- 09/07 Labor Day - no school
- 09/10 Running Club 3-4
- 09/12 - MEBAINE ON THE MOVE - 1MileMadDash, 5K, & 10K
- 09/14 - Mom’s Prayer Group - See note on pg.4.
- 09/24 - House Soccer Tournament
- 10/12th - 16th Fall Break
- 11/11 - Veterans’ Day - no school
PRAYER
Please pray for God’s supply regarding specific needs:
1) September 18th, at 10 AM: Pastors’ Open House. Our hope is to build stronger relationships with the churches of our community. I believe that the Lord is richly blessing this school and hope more congregations would join us in this great task of restoring excellent Christian education to this community.
2) Scholarship fund for next year!
3) Plans to expand into HIGH SCHOOL program.
4) Growing athletic program! Pray that the Spirit of God would use the practice and competition to build character in our scholar athletes.
5) Plans for facilities to house our growing school.
STEWARDS OF THE PRIVILEGE
The Lord has given to us many blessings and those blessings should not be squandered nor taken for granted. Instead, we ought to be faithful stewards of our blessings. I am convinced that the greatest earthly stewardship of all parents is their children. God has given to every parent the great privilege to love and nurture, teach and learn, laugh and sorrow alongside those unique human beings with eternal souls. Though they often can test us, children are a blessing as Psalm 127 reminds us. Despite their sin and foolishness, I would rather be their dad than anything else. Sadly, as my own children grow year by year, I am increasingly being made aware that this stewardship will quickly pass. I will occasionally look at past Bradford yearbooks and wonder how those small kids have grown up so quickly. These precious lives are a stewardship.
Like most parents, I want the best for my children. Within the limits of my providential resources I am determined to give them every possible blessing I can. The hard reality is not that I want or desire the best for them, but the real challenge is learning what the best is. I have to recognize that to be a wise steward of the great privilege of children, I need to be clear what the best means. That is where the hard work begins; that is where we need wisdom and discernment. Knowing how to be the best steward of God’s blessing requires God’s instructions and the Spirit to guide us.
You can be sure that there are many voices speaking to us about parenting and how to raise our kids. There are many voices claiming to be experts but at the end of the day, I will always turn to the Word of God to
I Cor. 4:2
...Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
Continued on page 6.
LADY ARCHERS VOLLEYBALL
At Cary
At Home
At G’boro
More pictures on page 6!
**Mrs. Rivera (Kindergarten)**
**Math:** The students are working on writing their numbers from 0-9. Written Assessment on material covered, as well as an Oral Assessment to see how far they can count. Identifying morning and afternoon, first, last, between, middle, first, second, and third. Acted out some, some more and some went away stories. Identifying triangles by sides and angles.
**Phonics:** Target sound Bb, handwriting B using proper strokes; B as a leader sound, finding “a” in the middle of words, introduction.
**History:** Fall in the Garden, Genesis 3. Talked about the fall into sin and the promise of a Redeemer. Reviewed B.C. History Fact Song verse one.
**Music:** We learned about and played some percussion instruments this week.
**Art:** Discussed the elements of art and the 5 kinds of lines: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curved and zigzag. Studied Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” noting the various lines used and reproduced a copy of it with colored pencils.
**P.E.:** Reviewed axial movements, focused on balance and running. Leaping and jumping with two feet.
**Science:** We continued our unit on the 5 senses. Our focus was on smell. Played nose detective by sniffing out familiar smells with our eyes closed and trying to correctly identify it.
**Verse:** Review of Prov. 1:7 and 1 Cor.13:408a (NKJV)
**Hymn:** All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name (Vs. #1, #3, and #5)
**Upcoming Assessments:** Math 9/9
---
**Mrs. Campbell (1st Grade)**
**Math:** This week we practiced identifying and acting out “some, some went away” stories, identifying the time one hour ago and one hour from now, numbering a clock face, identifying even and odd numbers, identifying ordinal position to twelfth, and ‘adding’ 2 facts.
**Phonics:** Our target sounds this week: R blends
**Grammar:** This week we continued common and proper nouns with a focus on first, middle, and last names and also city and state. Students were given the opportunity to recite “The Caterpillar” in front of the class and we began memorizing the poem “Work.”
**Writing:** After listening to two short passages from *Rumplestitzkin*, students copied sentences from the book into their grammar journals with a focus on capitalizing proper nouns and a putting a period at the end of the sentence.
**History:** We studied Christopher Columbus and began memorizing the poem “In 1492.” We also read about three other discoverers: John Cabot, Ponce de Leon, and Fernando de Soto.
**Art:** Students put their knowledge of the elements of shape to practice by completing a guided drawing of a bird. We also learned the 2nd verse of the “elements of shape” song.
**Music:** We learned about and played some percussion instruments this week.
**Science:** This week we reviewed the Classification song, the 2 main kingdoms (plant and animal), and 2 main phyla (vertebrate and invertebrate). We did an activity in which the students were required to separate a variety of animals according to whether they are vertebrates or invertebrates. Bird of the Month: Mourning Dove, Classification Quiz September 9
**PE:** Soccer
**Hymn:** “All Hail the Power” (verse 5)
**Verse:** Proverbs 12:15 (NKJV)
---
**Miss Stevenson (2nd Grade)**
**Math:** Counting Dimes and Nickels, Comparing the Values of Sets of Coins, Adding and Subtracting 10 From a Two-Digit Number Using Mental Computation, Adding Facts: Sums of 10, Writing the Date Using Digits, Identifying the Relative Value of Pattern Blocks, Making a Design With a Given Value Using Pattern Blocks
**History:** Cain and Abel
**Phonics:** Discussed consonant blends, C and K spelling rules, J and G spelling rules, and how to code the letter C.
**Reading:** *My Father’s Dragon* – reading aloud and looking for information by using key words
**Spelling:** Words with short vowel sounds
**Grammar:** Discussed classifying article adjectives and correctly using end marks.
**Science:** Discussed
Orders: Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, and Coleoptera; Started Bug Collection; Bird of the Month: Carolina Wren, Classification Quiz September 8
Art: Students completed an imitation exercise using the elements of shape and we learned the 3rd verse of the “elements of shape” song.
Music: Percussion instruments review; tempo - listening and moving to Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dance #6 – lots of excitement!
P.E. Soccer
Latin: Review, Test #1 Friday, September 12
Verses: Proverbs 26:20-21
Mrs. Hamilton (4th Grade)
Math: This week we took our first assessment, completed Investigation 1, learned to solve word problems about combining, and studied lines, number lines, tally marks, multiplication as repeated addition, and adding and subtracting dollars and cents.
History: St. Jerome Completes the Vulgate.
Grammar: Students continued to classify sentences by using the question and answer flow, learned to identify and create four kinds of sentences, reviewed adverbs and adjectives, and completed the unit assessment.
Writing: Students completed their (very creative!) accounts of the ancient story of the Trojan Horse and began working on their next assignment. For this project, students listened to the music of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and began writing their own versions of this musical fairy tale.
Literature: Door in the Wall — we completed reading our first book and began preparing and studying parts for our small play/presentation of this wonderful coming-of-age story.
Latin: We began our study of prepositions in the ablative case and reviewed all of the prepositions we previously learned in Chapter 25.
Science: Kingdom Plantae: angiosperms and gymnosperms; we also went outside on the school property for our first “Tree Detective” trip.
Art: This week we practiced choosing an appropriate drawing pencil, reviewed cylinders, and began learning about drawing flags as a simple introduction to cloth and more practice with shading.
Music: The students enjoyed playing their recorders and adding the note A to their repertoire. They may practice anything up to and including #4 on pg. 8.
P.E.: The students learned taking on opponents in two vs. two situations.
Miss Windes (5th Grade)
Math: Frequency Tables, Histograms, and Surveys; Problems about Combining and Separating, Place Value through Trillions and Multistep Problems; Problems about Comparing and Elapsed Time Problems; The Number Line and Negative Numbers.
History: We learned about Magellan this week, a Portuguese explorer who sailed for Spain and lead the expedition that...
sailed all the way around the world.
**Reading:** Bilbo and Gollum engaged in their game of riddle-guessing before Bilbo bravely escaped with the hope of finding his fellow travelers. With this week’s happenings, Bilbo is starting to show the strength that Gandalf had seen in him from the beginning.
**Grammar:** We reviewed this week the differences between singular v. plural nouns and common v. proper nouns as well as spent time learning the week’s vocabulary.
**Latin:** We reviewed direct commands and practiced making our own sentences. The students are getting better at figuring out how to use the noun endings to make meaning!
**Writing:** We shared our Sea Snake paragraphs with the class and began a new paragraph about the Ancient Olympics. We are focusing on learning how to choose the most significant information to fuse together from a variety of sources.
**Art:** The students worked on creating their salt dough maps and began learning how to draw textures.
**Music:** Percussion instruments review; tempo - listening and moving to Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dance #6 - lots of excitement!
**Memory:** Romans 12:4-5
**Science:** This week in Science the students were excited to learn about the skeletal system.
**P.E.:** The students learned taking on opponents in two vs. two situations.
**Upcoming tests:**
- Tuesday, 9/8: Science Quiz: Major Bones
- Thursday, 9/3: Ch. 4 Grammar
- Friday, 9/4: Ch. 4 Grammar Vocab quiz, Spelling, Ch. 29 Latin, and Spanish Explorers History
---
**Mr. Garber (6th/7th Grade)**
**Math:** The students learned about reducing fractions, simplifying fractions, and the US customary system.
**Science:** The students learned about technology and science. They learned that technology builds upon itself, and learned about different benefits and consequences of technology.
**History:** The students learned about the cotton gin and how it established the south economically.
**Latin:** 2nd declension nouns, translating a passage covering the Trojan war.
**Grammar:** More with capitalization and punctuation rules and labeling sentences. We finished this week with the 2.3 application test.
**6th Literature:** This week we continued with the Romantic period and Poe, reading and discussing “The Raven” and “To Helen.” We also examined poetry in general, discussing the relative merits of meter, rhyme, and free verse poetry. We also completed our first vocabulary list with words from “The Cask of Amontillado.”
**Logic:** This week the students learned about what it means to see opposing viewpoints about the same topic.
**Music:** We continued viewing part of a documentary about the life of Franz Joseph Haydn. Since the girls left early for their volleyball game, the boys almost finished learning their part in our first Christmas piece.
**Art:** We continued practicing figure drawing, using cylinders and 3D shapes to recreate people in action, this week also adding the details of their clothing.
**P.E.:** The students learned taking on opponents in two vs. two situations.
**Verse:** Philippians 1:11-16
---
**Seventh Grade:**
**Omnibus I:** This week we continued looking at several important theological questions from Genesis and Exodus,
---
**Women in Prayer**
Please join us as we come together to pray for the school, the teachers and the students.
**Mondays 8:00 am**
at Bradford Academy (in the Auditorium)
*The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.*
James 5:16
including such issues as moral responsibility and the continuance of the Ten Commandments. These questions provided ample material for lively discussion. Toward the end of the week we finished our reading of Exodus and laid the groundwork for our study of non-biblical cultures in the *Epic of Gilgamesh*.
**Latin:** 2nd declension nouns, review of irregular verb, translating a passage covering the founding of Rome and its first two kings.
**Art:** We continued practicing figure drawing, using cylinders and 3D shapes to recreate people in action, this week also adding the details of their clothing.
**Verse:** Philippians 1:11-16
**Mr. Hamilton (8th Grade)**
**Algebra:** The students learned about surface area, algebraic expressions, and symbols of inclusion.
**Science:** The students learned about electromagnetic radiation, waves, kinetic energy, and gravitational potential energy.
**Omnibus II:** In *Omnibus II* this week we took a look at the life of Origen, a controversial early church leader. We also examined the Roman crisis in the third century and how it led to intense persecution for the early church. We finished our week with an assessment on the material of the first few weeks.
**Logic:** Working on making distinctions between terms, propositions and arguments. Also beginning to translate everyday day arguments into categorical form.
**8th Composition:** This week we continued discussing our use of commas in sentences, paying special attention to clauses and fragments. We also did extra work on semicolons and dashes. We finished our week with an assessment on Strunk’s first chapter.
**Music:** We continued viewing part of a documentary about the life of Franz Joseph Haydn. Since the girls left early for their volleyball game, the boys almost finished learning their part of our first Christmas piece.
**Art:** We continued drawing cloth and reproducing its folds with shadows and shading, this week drawing cloth from life.
**P.E.:** The students learned in soccer about taking on opponents in two vs. two situations.
---
**TURN in YOUR BOXTOPS before 9/25 to help us earn BONUS CASH!**
---
**Middle School Events & Dates**
Please note:
- not all practices are listed here, watch for updates
- TRIP to DC will be postponed to the SPRING
**September**
- 8th Tuesday
- 3-4:30 XC practice
- 9th Wednesday
- 3:00 - 5:00 Volleyball practice
- 10th Thursday
- 4:00 - 5:00 Volleyball practice
- 4:30 XC meet @ Union Grove Christian School
- 11th Friday
- 3:00 - 4:30 XC practice
- 4:00 Volleyball game @ Union Grove Christian School
- 12th Saturday
- 8:00 AM – Mebane on the Move 5K / 10K
- 17th Thursday
- 4:00 Volleyball game @ MACC
**October**
- 1st Thursday
- 4:30 XC meet @ Union Grove Christian School
- 9th Friday
- 4:30 XC meet @ HOME vs. ACS
- 23rd Friday
- 4:30 - Co-Ed Soccer Scrimmage against Haw River Christian
**November**
- 17th Tuesday
- Bradford Night
- 20th Friday
- 3:00 - Girls Basketball @ ACS
**December**
- 4th Friday
- 4:30 - Boys Basketball @ HRC (subject to change)
- 7:00 - Mebane Christmas Parade
- 10th Thursday
- 3:15 - Girls & Boys Basketball @ ACS
- Girls play at 3:15, boys follow
- 12th Saturday
- Afternoon? (TIME TBD) - CHRISTMAS CONCERT @ Barnes and Noble, Burlington (Alamance Crossing)
- 15th Tuesday
- 7 PM - CHRISTMAS CONCERT (Location TBD)
- 17th Thursday
- 11 AM - CHRISTMAS CONCERT @ Burlington 1st Presbyterian Church’s Senior Luncheon
**January**
- 8th Friday
- 1:00 PM - School Spelling Bee
- 14th Thursday
- 7:00 PM - Girls & Boys Basketball @ ACS
teach me how to steward that great gift of children that He has placed in my charge. Before I turn to Dr. Dobson, Dr. Phil, Dr. Spock, Piaget, Erickson, or any other voice, I need to listen to the inspired Word of God.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 1 Tim. 3:16-17
In this text the Apostle Paul was reminding his young apprentice pastor that the Bible was sufficient to equip him in everything that a godly pastor needs to accomplish. If the Word is sufficient for EVERY GOOD WORK, and being a wise steward of our children surely qualifies as a good work, then surely the Word of God is sufficient to help us identify what is best for them. Do we believe that?
In short I believe that every parent, myself included, needs to think through biblical principles more often and more thoroughly when it comes to our stewardship. We are too often tossed about by every new fad, theory, or trend. Too often, we are instructed more by our emotions, selfish desires, or fatigue. If we want to be faithful stewards of this great privilege, we need to hear from Him who entrusted us with this stewardship. Peace and Grace.
**Lady Archers Volleyball**
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‘Energy is neither created nor destroyed; it can only be converted from one form to another’; this is one of the famous laws of thermodynamics. Energy powers the way we live, but where does this energy come from? The most concentrated form of energy is held in the bonds of chemicals we live with every day. How can we determine the best choices for fuels to produce this energy? How can we make quantitative predictions that match energy requirements to fuel quantities?
YOU WILL EXAMINE:
- the meaning of enthalpy and the $\Delta H$ notation
- energy profile diagrams for exothermic and endothermic reactions
- thermochemical equations and subsequent calculations that can be made using them
- the calculation of the $\Delta H$ value for a reaction and from experimental data
- the kinetic molecular theory of gases
- the concept of gas pressure and common units used to measure it
- the absolute (or Kelvin) temperature scale
- Boyle’s law and Charles’ law
- standard conditions for measuring gas volumes and molar volume
- the universal gas equation
- mass–volume and volume–volume stoichiometry
- the calculation of greenhouse gas amounts associated with the production of energy from carbon-based fuels
- how $\Delta H$ values may be estimated from simple laboratory apparatus.
Many modern homes and buildings use ‘burning log’ fireplaces for their heating. Such fireplaces do not burn logs at all — they merely give the illusion that they are. In many cases, their heat output comes from fuels such as ethanol, natural gas and LPG. In designing such fireplaces, it is important to know the energy output of the chosen fuel so that combustion can produce the required amount of energy. It is also important to control the fuel to oxygen ratio so that unwanted and dangerous combustion products, such as carbon monoxide, are avoided.
Energy changes in chemical reactions
The energy changes that accompany chemical reactions are vital to us. To survive, we depend on the energy content of the food we eat. Our bodies can convert the energy of the chemical bonds in food into other kinds of energy. The quality of lifestyle we lead depends on harnessing energy from different chemical sources, including coal, oil, natural gas and renewable fuels. The study of the energy changes that accompany chemical reactions is called thermochemistry or chemical thermodynamics. In general, all chemical reactions involve energy changes. The chemical energy stored in a substance has the potential to be converted to heat (which will be discussed in this chapter) or electricity (see chapter 3).
A certain amount of chemical energy is stored within every atom, molecule or ion. This energy is the sum of the potential energy and kinetic energy of the substance and results from:
- the attractions and repulsions present between protons and electrons within the atom
- the attractions and, to some degree, repulsions present between atoms within a molecule
- the motion of the electrons
- the movement of the atoms.
The total energy stored in a substance is called the enthalpy, or heat content, of the substance and is given the symbol $H$. Unfortunately we cannot directly measure the heat content of a substance. What we can measure is the change in enthalpy when the substance undergoes a chemical reaction. Since, in virtually all chemical reactions, the energy of the reactants and products differ, such reactions usually involve some change in enthalpy, which is indicated by a temperature rise or fall. The change in enthalpy during a reaction is known as the heat of reaction and is denoted by $\Delta H$.
Let us consider the following reaction:
$$2\text{Mg(s)} + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{MgO(s)}$$
Magnesium has a certain enthalpy. So too does the oxygen. The total enthalpy of the reactants — magnesium and oxygen — can be represented by the symbol $H_r$. The product, magnesium oxide, also has some enthalpy — call this $H_p$.
We can say that:
change in heat content = (heat content of products) – (heat content of reactants)
So, enthalpy change is equal to heat energy produced or absorbed.
$$\Delta H = H_p - H_r$$
The enthalpy change, or heat change, of a reaction depends on the amount of reactants used and the temperature of the initial reactants, compared with that of the final products. To remove these variables in enthalpy studies, the following conditions are assumed:
- the initial temperature of the reactants and final temperature of the products is the same, and is 25 °C
- 1 mole of the substance is involved
- solutions have a concentration of 1 M
- the heat absorbed or released is measured in kilojoules (kJ)
- the pressure is kept at 100.0 kPa.
These conditions are referred to as standard laboratory conditions (SLC).
Although the usual name for $\Delta H$ is heat of reaction (or change in enthalpy), there are some reactions for which specific names have been given.
• *Heat of solution* is the change in enthalpy when 1 mole of any substance dissolves in water.
• *Heat of neutralisation* is the change in enthalpy when an acid reacts with a base to form 1 mole of water.
• *Heat of vaporisation* is the change in enthalpy when 1 mole of liquid is converted to a gas.
• *Heat of combustion* is the enthalpy change when a substance burns in air, and is always exothermic.
**Exothermic and endothermic reactions**
Chemical reactions accompanied by heat energy changes may be divided into two groups: exothermic reactions and endothermic reactions.
**Exothermic reactions**
Chemical reactions that release heat to the environment are called **exothermic reactions**.
![Diagram showing magnesium reacting with hydrochloric acid]
\[ \text{Mg(s) + 2HCl(aq) → MgCl}_2\text{(aq) + H}_2\text{(g)} \]
*An exothermic reaction — magnesium ribbon dissolving in hydrochloric acid*
Exothermic reactions release heat. The enthalpy change, \( \Delta H \), is negative.
When a strip of magnesium is placed in hydrochloric acid, heat is given out. This means that the enthalpy of the reactants, \( H_r \), is greater than the enthalpy of the products, \( H_p \). Therefore, the enthalpy change, \( \Delta H = H_p - H_r \), is **negative**. The difference in energy between the reactants and the products is released into the environment, usually in the form of heat.
The energy change in a reaction can be drawn as an energy diagram or energy profile. Chemicals with more energy are drawn higher up and those with less energy lower down. The reactants are drawn on the left and the products are drawn on the right. The figure below is an energy diagram for an exothermic reaction.
![Energy diagram for an exothermic reaction]
In an exothermic reaction, \( \Delta H \) is always negative because the heat content of the reactants is greater than that of the products. The bonds in the products are more stable than the bonds in the reactants.
Endothermic reactions
Chemical reactions that absorb heat from the environment are called endothermic reactions.
An endothermic reaction — ammonium nitrate dissolving in water
When ammonium nitrate is dissolved in water, heat is absorbed from the environment; the test tube feels cold because the reaction takes in energy from the water and your hand. This means that the enthalpy of the products, $H_p$, is greater than the enthalpy of the reactants, $H_r$. Therefore, the enthalpy change, $\Delta H = H_p - H_r$, is positive. The difference in energy between the reactants and the products is absorbed from the environment. The figure below is an energy diagram for an endothermic reaction.
In an endothermic reaction, $\Delta H$ is always positive because the heat content of the reactants is less than that of the products. The bonds in the products are less stable than the bonds in the reactants.
Revision question
1. State whether the following are exothermic or endothermic processes.
(a) Water changing from liquid to gaseous state
(b) A reaction in which the total enthalpy of the products is greater than that of the reactants
(c) Burning kerosene in a blow torch
(d) Burning kerosene in a jet aircraft engine
(e) A chemical reaction that has a negative $\Delta H$ value
(f) A reaction in which the reactants are at a lower level on an energy profile diagram than the products
Thermochemical equations
As we saw briefly in chapter 1, an equation that includes the amount of heat produced or absorbed by a reaction is a thermochemical equation. As with other chemical equations, charge and mass must balance. However, they must also include the enthalpy change.
In writing a thermochemical equation, the following points should be remembered:
- A positive or negative sign must be included with the $\Delta H$ value to indicate whether the reaction is either endothermic or exothermic. If an enthalpy
change is given as $\Delta H = 345 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$, the lack of sign does not mean that it is an endothermic reaction.
- Since enthalpy is measured in the units kJ mol$^{-1}$, the coefficients in the equation represent the amount in moles of each reacting substance. So, the reaction
$$2\text{H}_2(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \quad \Delta H = -572 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
can be read as: when 2 moles of hydrogen react with 1 mole of oxygen, 2 moles of water form and 572 kJ of energy is produced. $\Delta H$ refers to the equation as it is written, even though the unit is expressed as kJ mol$^{-1}$.
- The physical state of matter must be shown, since changes of state require energy changes.
$$2\text{H}_2(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \quad \Delta H = -572 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
$$2\text{H}_2(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = -484 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
In one case, the product is a liquid. In the other case, the product is a gas. So, the condensation of 2 moles of water vapour to 2 moles of liquid water at 25 °C produces 88 kJ of energy, which is the difference between the two enthalpies.
- If the coefficients are doubled, the $\Delta H$ value must be doubled.
$$2\text{H}_2(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \quad \Delta H = -572 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
$$4\text{H}_2(\text{g}) + 2\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 4\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \quad \Delta H = -1144 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
The amount of energy produced by a chemical reaction is directly proportional to the amount of substance initially present. If, as in the above example, twice as much reactant is used, then twice as much energy can be produced.
- If a reaction is reversed, $\Delta H$ is equal to, but opposite in sign, to that of the forward reaction.
$$2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \rightarrow 2\text{H}_2(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = +572 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
You will notice that the key point is that the enthalpy change in a reaction is proportional to the amount of substance that reacts. If these two quantities are measured in an experiment, it is possible to write the accompanying thermochemical equation. This was covered in chapter 1. Sample problem 2.1 provides another example of how this can be done.
**Sample problem 2.1**
In an experiment, it was found that the combustion of 0.240 g of methanol in excess oxygen yielded 5.42 kJ. Write the thermochemical equation for this reaction.
**Solution:**
The equation for this reaction is:
$$2\text{CH}_3\text{OH}(\text{l}) + 3\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 4\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l})$$
To match this equation, it is necessary to calculate the heat evolved from 2 moles (64.0 g) of methanol. This can be done by scaling up the results from the experiment as follows.
$$\text{Heat evolved from 2 moles (64.0 g)} = \frac{64.0}{0.240} \times 5.42 = 1.45 \times 10^3 \text{ kJ}$$
The thermochemical equation is therefore:
$$2\text{CH}_3\text{OH}(\text{l}) + 3\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 4\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \quad \Delta H = -1.45 \times 10^3 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
**Sample problem 2.2**
The molar heat of combustion of ethanol is tabulated as $-1364 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$.
(a) Write the thermochemical equation for the combustion of ethanol.
(b) If the density of ethanol is 0.790 g mL$^{-1}$, calculate the energy evolved in MJ when 1.00 L of ethanol is burned.
Solution: (a) The balanced chemical equation for the combustion of ethanol is:
\[ \text{CH}_3\text{CH}_2\text{OH(l)} + 3\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 3\text{H}_2\text{O(l)} \]
The given heat value refers to 1 mole, as does the equation above.
The thermochemical equation is therefore:
\[ \text{CH}_3\text{CH}_2\text{OH(l)} + 3\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 3\text{H}_2\text{O(l)} \quad \Delta H = -1364 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \]
(b) Since density \(= \frac{\text{mass}}{\text{volume}}\)
mass of ethanol burned (\(m\)) = \(d(\text{ethanol}) \times V(\text{ethanol})\)
\[ = 0.790 \times 1000 \]
\[ = 790 \text{ g} \]
\[ n(\text{ethanol}) = \frac{790}{46.0} = 17.17 \text{ mol} \]
From the equation, 1 mole of ethanol evolves 1364 kJ.
By direct proportion, 17.17 moles produce \(x\) kJ.
Therefore, \(x = 17.17 \times \frac{1364}{1} = 23425 \text{ kJ} = 23.4 \text{ MJ}\).
Sample problem 2.3
The combustion of ethene can be represented by the following thermochemical equation.
\[ \text{C}_2\text{H}_4(\text{g}) + 3\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 2\text{H}_2\text{O(l)} \quad \Delta H = -1409 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \]
Calculate the mass of ethene required to produce 500 kJ of heat energy.
Solution: From the equation, 1 mole of \(\text{C}_2\text{H}_4\) evolves 1409 kJ.
By ratio, \(x\) moles are required to evolve 500 kJ.
\[ x = 500 \times \frac{1}{1409} = 0.355 \text{ mol} \]
Therefore, \(m(\text{C}_2\text{H}_4) = 0.355 \times 28.0 = 9.94 \text{ g}\).
Sample problem 2.4
The air pollutant sulfur trioxide reacts with water in the atmosphere to produce sulfuric acid according to the equation:
\[ \text{SO}_3(\text{g}) + \text{H}_2\text{O(l)} \rightarrow \text{H}_2\text{SO}_4(\text{aq}) \quad \Delta H = -129.6 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \]
Calculate the energy released, in kJ, when 0.500 kg \(\text{SO}_3(\text{g})\) reacts with water.
Solution:
\[ n(\text{SO}_3) = \frac{m}{M} = \frac{500}{80.1} = 6.24 \text{ mol} \]
From the equation, 1 mole of \(\text{SO}_3\) releases 129.6 kJ.
So, 6.24 moles release \(6.24 \times 129.6 = 809 \text{ kJ}\) of heat energy.
Revision questions
2. Calculate the energy released, in kJ, when 3.56 g of carbon undergoes combustion according to the thermochemical equation:
\[ 2\text{C(s)} + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO(g)} \quad \Delta H = -788 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \]
3. The use of hydrogen as a renewable and environmentally friendly fuel is currently the subject of much research. The main product of hydrogen
combustion is water. The production of liquid water from the reaction between gaseous hydrogen and gaseous oxygen can be represented by the following thermochemical equation.
\[
O_2(g) + 2H_2(g) \rightarrow 2H_2O(l) \quad \Delta H = -572 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
Calculate how much energy, in kilojoules, would be released or absorbed by the following reactions.
(a) \(2O_2(g) + 4H_2(g) \rightarrow 4H_2O(l)\)
(b) \(H_2O(l) \rightarrow \frac{1}{2}O_2(g) + H_2(g)\)
4. During the production of sulfuric acid by the Contact process, sulfur dioxide is converted to sulfur trioxide according to the equation:
\[
2SO_2(g) + O_2(g) \rightarrow 2SO_3(g) \quad \Delta H = -197 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
Calculate the heat energy released in the production of 1.00 tonne (\(10^6\) g) of sulfur trioxide gas.
5. Calculate the energy released when 18.5 g of carbon undergoes combustion in a plentiful supply of air according to the equation:
\[
C(s) + O_2(g) \rightarrow CO_2(g) \quad \Delta H = -394 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
6. Methanol burns according to the equation:
\[
2CH_3OH(l) + 3O_2(g) \rightarrow 2CO_2(g) + 4H_2O(l) \quad \Delta H = -1450 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
Calculate the mass of methanol required to produce 1.000 MJ of energy.
7. Butane and octane are two hydrocarbons commonly used as fuels. The thermochemical equations for these two fuels are shown below.
\[
2C_4H_{10}(g) + 13O_2(g) \rightarrow 8CO_2(g) + 10H_2O(l) \quad \Delta H = -5748 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
\[
2C_8H_{18}(g) + 25O_2(g) \rightarrow 16CO_2(g) + 18H_2O(l) \quad \Delta H = -10928 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
(a) Calculate the heat evolved by the combustion of 100 g of butane.
(b) Use your answer to (a) to calculate the mass of octane required to produce the same amount of energy.
8. Explain why it is critical to show symbols of state in thermochemical equations.
---
The \(\Delta H\) value of a reaction can be calculated by manipulating and then adding together two or more related reactions and their associated \(\Delta H\) values.
---
Calculating \(\Delta H\) values from two or more related reactions
If the enthalpy change of a desired reaction is not known, it is possible to calculate it from a series of related reactions. The calculated value may then be used to make thermochemical predictions as shown previously. To do this, use some of the dot points mentioned on pages 34–35. The following sample problems show how this is done.
**Sample problem 2.5**
Calculate the enthalpy change for the incomplete combustion of methane in a limited oxygen supply, given the following two equations.
\[
CH_4(g) + 2O_2(g) \rightarrow CO_2(g) + 2H_2O(l) \quad \Delta H = -889 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \quad \text{(equation 1)}
\]
\[
2CO(g) + O_2(g) \rightarrow 2CO_2(g) \quad \Delta H = -556 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \quad \text{(equation 2)}
\]
**Solution:** The required equation is \(2CH_4(g) + 3O_2(g) \rightarrow 2CO(g) + 4H_2O(l)\) (equation 3) Equations 1 and 2 need to be ‘manipulated’ so that, when added together, equation 3 is produced. This can be achieved by multiplying equation 1 by 2 and reversing equation 2.
\[
2CH_4(g) + 4O_2(g) \rightarrow 2CO_2(g) + 4H_2O(l) \quad \Delta H = -1778 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
\[
2CO_2(g) \rightarrow 2CO(g) + O_2(g) \quad \Delta H = +556 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
Adding together results in cancelling to produce the required equation. The $\Delta H$ values are also added, thus producing a value of $-1778 + 556 = -1222$. Therefore, $2\text{CH}_4(\text{g}) + 3\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO}(\text{g}) + 4\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \quad \Delta H = -1222 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$.
**Sample problem 2.6**
Fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum contain sulfur as an impurity. This produces sulfur oxides when they are burned. These are atmospheric pollutants. Develop the thermochemical equation for the reaction:
$$\text{S(s)} + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{SO}_2(\text{g})$$
given the following equations.
$$2\text{SO}_2(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{SO}_3(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = -196 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \quad \text{(equation 1)}$$
$$2\text{S(s)} + 3\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{SO}_3(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = -760 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \quad \text{(equation 2)}$$
**Solution:** Equation 1 needs to be halved and reversed. Equation 2 needs to be halved. The $\Delta H$ values thus become $+98$ and $-380$ respectively. Adding the adjusted equations together produces the required thermochemical equation.
$$\text{S(s)} + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{SO}_2(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = -282 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
**Revision questions**
9. Calculate the $\Delta H$ value for the incomplete combustion of pentane, according to the equation:
$$2\text{C}_5\text{H}_{12}(\text{l}) + 11\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 10\text{CO}(\text{g}) + 12\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l})$$
given the following equations.
$$2\text{CO}(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = -556 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
$$\text{C}_5\text{H}_{12}(\text{l}) + 8\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 5\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 6\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \quad \Delta H = -3509 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
10. Calculate $\Delta H$ for the reaction:
$$\text{CH}_3\text{CH}_2\text{OH}(\text{l}) + 3\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 3\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{g})$$
given the following equations.
$$\text{CH}_3\text{CH}_2\text{OH}(\text{l}) + 3\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 3\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \quad \Delta H = -1364 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
$$\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \rightarrow \text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = +44.0 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
**Working with gases**
When considering fuels as energy sources, it is often necessary to deal with gases. The products of combustion are nearly always gases, and some of the fuels themselves are gases. While it is possible to measure their masses, it is often more convenient and meaningful to measure their volumes.
Gases have properties and exhibit behaviours that are different from liquids and solids. Scientists use the **kinetic molecular theory of gases** to explain observed gas properties. This consists of five *postulates* (or points) that form a mental picture of how the particles in a gas would look and behave if we could observe them directly. These are applicable to gas samples under ‘moderate conditions’, which is usually taken to mean pressures that are not much greater than atmospheric pressure and temperatures considerably greater than those at which the gases liquefy.
Hot air balloons use the properties of gases to achieve flight. A large fan is used to blow air into the balloon. Once inflated, the air is heated using a propane burner. The molecules move more rapidly, hitting each other in a random chaotic motion. As they move further apart, the density of the air decreases. The balloon rises because the air inside is warmer, and therefore lighter, than the surrounding air.
The five postulates that make up the kinetic molecular theory of gases can be summarised as follows.
1. Gases are made up of particles moving constantly and at random.
2. Gas particles are very far apart, and the volume of the particles is very small compared with the volume that the gas occupies.
3. The forces of attraction and repulsion between gas particles are practically zero.
4. Gas particles collide with each other and the walls of their container, exerting pressure. The collisions are perfectly elastic. This means that no kinetic energy is lost when they collide.
5. The higher the temperature, the faster the gas particles move, as they have increased kinetic energy.
Specifying the large-scale behaviour of gases
In any consideration of gas behaviour, the *pressure* each gas exerts, the *volume* that it occupies, its *temperature* and the *number of gas molecules* present in the sample must be determined.
**Gas pressure**
Particles exert a force by colliding with the walls of a container. Each tiny collision adds to all the others to make up the continuous force that we call *pressure*.
Pressure ($P$) is defined as *the force exerted per unit area*.
$$P = \frac{\text{force}}{\text{area}}$$
Pressure is measured using various units. The SI unit of pressure is the *pascal (Pa)*, where 1 pascal is equivalent to a force of 1 newton exerted over an area of 1 square metre (N m$^{-2}$).
If a tennis racquet is struck by a tennis ball, a small force is felt. If a stream of balls is fired at the racquet, it is felt as a continuous pressure.
**Atmospheric pressure**
The pressure of the atmosphere is measured by a barometer. Atmospheric pressure at sea level is 101325 Pa. This is usually simplified to read 101.3 kPa (kilopascal). Two older units of pressure are *millimetres of mercury* and *atmospheres*. One millimetre of mercury (1 mmHg) is defined as the pressure needed to support a column of mercury 1 mm high. This unit developed from the early use of mercury barometers. One atmosphere (1 atm) is the pressure required to support 760 mm of mercury (760 mmHg) in a mercury barometer at 25 °C. This is the average atmospheric pressure at sea level. So, 1 atm equals 760 mmHg.
$$760 \text{ mmHg} = 1.00 \text{ atm} = 1.013 \times 10^5 \text{ Pa} = 101.3 \text{ kPa}$$
In weather reports, *bars* and *hectopascals* are used to measure gas pressure.
$$1 \text{ bar} = 100000 \text{ Pa} = 100 \text{ kilopascal (kPa)}$$
$$1 \text{ millibar (mb)} = \frac{1}{1000} \text{ bar} = 100 \text{ Pa} = 1 \text{ hectopascal (hPa)}$$
**Temperature**
The Celsius scale takes the freezing point of water as 0 °C and the boiling point of water as 100 °C. The space between these two fixed points is divided into 100 equal intervals, or degrees. Temperatures below the freezing point of water are assigned negative values, such as $-10$ °C.
Another temperature scale is the *Kelvin*, or absolute, scale. On the Kelvin scale, the freezing point of water is 273 K and its boiling point is 373 K. Notice that a change of 1° on the Celsius scale is the same as that on the Kelvin scale. The zero point on the Kelvin scale, 0 K or *absolute zero*, is $-273$ °C. The
relationship between the temperature on the Celsius scale and that on the Kelvin scale is given by the following equations.
\[ K = ^\circ C + 273 \text{ or } ^\circ C = K - 273 \]
For example, to convert 25 \(^\circ\)C to the absolute scale:
\[ K = 25 + 273 \]
\[ = 298 \]
Note that temperatures given in K do not have a \(^\circ\) sign.
**Volume**
The volume of a gas is commonly measured in cubic metres (m\(^3\)) or litres (L) or millilitres (mL).
\[ 1 \text{ m}^3 = 1000 \text{ L} = 1000000 \text{ mL} \]
or
\[ 1 \text{ m}^3 = 10^3 \text{ L} = 10^6 \text{ mL} \]
**Revision question**
11. Make the following conversions.
(a) 780 mmHg to atm
(e) 200 \(^\circ\)C to K
(i) 1600 mL to L
(b) 4.0 atm to Pa
(f) 500 K to \(^\circ\)C
(j) \(3 \times 10^6\) mL to L
(c) 1000 mmHg to Pa
(g) 3.0 m\(^3\) to L
(k) \(5 \times 10^3\) mL to m\(^3\)
(d) 1250 mmHg to kPa
(h) 250 L to mL
(l) 600 mL to m\(^3\)
**Laws to describe the behaviour of gases**
The behaviour of gases has been studied for centuries. As a result, a number of laws have evolved to describe their behaviour mathematically. These laws are independent of the type of gas — it does not matter what the gas is (or even if the gas is a mixture such as air), these laws apply in exactly the same way to all gases. Two very useful such laws are Boyle’s law and Charles’ law.
**Boyle’s law for pressure–volume changes**
Boyle’s law is named after the English physicist and chemist who discovered the relationship between pressure and volume for a sample of gas. It states that, for a fixed amount of gas at constant temperature, pressure is inversely proportional to volume. Mathematically, this can be represented as:
\[ P \propto \frac{1}{V} \]
from which it can be stated that \(PV = \text{a constant value}\).
If \(P_1 V_1 = \text{a constant value}\) and \(P_2 V_2 = \text{a constant value}\), then:
\[ P_1 V_1 = P_2 V_2 \]
**Revision questions**
12. (a) Set up a spreadsheet and enter the data from the table on the next page into the cells of the first two columns.
(b) In the third column of the spreadsheet, calculate pressure \(\times\) volume. What pattern do you notice?
(c) In the fourth column of your spreadsheet, convert each pressure measurement \((P)\) into its reciprocal \(\left(\frac{1}{P}\right)\). For example, if \(P\) has a value of 120, \(\left(\frac{1}{P}\right)\) would equal \(8.33 \times 10^{-3}\).
13. (a) Use the data on your spreadsheet from question 12 to plot a graph of pressure versus volume. Put pressure on the horizontal \((x)\) axis and volume on the vertical \((y)\) axis.
(b) Plot a second graph with the volume on the vertical axis and \(\frac{1}{P}\) on the horizontal axis, and extrapolate the graph to the origin.
(c) Compare and account for the two graphs.
Sample results showing the relationship between the pressure and volume of a gas
| Pressure (kPa) | Volume (L) |
|---------------|------------|
| 120 | 0.261 |
| 145 | 0.218 |
| 162 | 0.193 |
| 180 | 0.171 |
| 200 | 0.159 |
| 216 | 0.145 |
| 240 | 0.130 |
| 258 | 0.120 |
**Charles’ law for temperature–volume changes**
The relationship between temperature and volume was first identified by the French scientist Jacques Charles, after whom the law is named. While the expansion of all materials with increasing temperature is well known, Charles subjected constant amounts of various gases (at constant pressure) to changes in temperature, each time making accurate measurements of the resulting volume.
To understand this law better, consider a typical set of results as shown in table 2.1.
If these results are graphed as shown below, a pattern emerges.
![Graph showing the relationship between temperature and volume of a gas]
*Representation of Charles’ law showing the two temperature scales, Kelvin and degrees Celsius. The graph demonstrates that the volume of a gas varies in direct proportion to absolute temperature.*
If the Celsius scale is used to measure temperature, a linear relationship is observed. However, this is not a directly proportional relationship as the graph does not pass through the origin. If, however, the Kelvin scale is used, it does. We can therefore state Charles’ law as follows.
For a given amount of gas at constant pressure, volume is directly proportional to the absolute temperature.
Mathematically, this can be represented as, \( V \propto T \), (where \( T \) is the absolute temperature), from which it can be stated that \( \frac{V}{T} = \text{a constant value} \).
If \( \frac{V_1}{T_1} = \text{a constant value} \) and \( \frac{V_2}{T_2} = \text{a constant value} \), then:
\[
\frac{V_1}{T_1} = \frac{V_2}{T_2}
\]
You will notice that the graph on the previous page implies a ‘lowest possible temperature’ — the temperature at which it intersects the x-axis. This temperature is \(-273.15^\circ C\) or 0 K. It is referred to as ‘absolute zero’.
**The combined gas equation**
Boyle’s law and Charles’ law may be combined to produce the gas equation:
\[
\frac{P_1 V_1}{T_1} = \frac{P_2 V_2}{T_2}
\]
This equation applies to a fixed amount of gas. It is particularly useful for making predictions when an amount of gas under a set of initial conditions (\( P_1, V_1 \) and \( T_1 \)) is changed to a second set of conditions (\( P_2, V_2 \) and \( T_2 \)). If any two of the new set of conditions are known, the third can easily be calculated.
**Sample problem 2.7**
A sample of air at 10°C and 1.1 atm has a volume of 2.2 L. If the pressure is changed to 1.0 atm and the temperature increases to 15°C, what volume will it occupy?
**Solution:**
**STEP 1**
List the known information:
\[
\begin{align*}
P_1 &= 1.1 \text{ atm} \\
V_1 &= 2.2 \text{ L} \\
T_1 &= 10 + 273 = 283 \text{ K}
\end{align*}
\]
\[
\begin{align*}
P_2 &= 1.0 \text{ atm} \\
V_2 &= ? \text{ L} \\
T_2 &= 15 + 273 = 288 \text{ K}
\end{align*}
\]
**STEP 2**
Transpose the general gas equation and substitute the values above.
\[
\frac{P_1 V_1}{T_1} = \frac{P_2 V_2}{T_2}
\]
\[
V_2 = \frac{P_1 V_1 T_2}{P_2 T_1}
\]
\[
= \frac{1.1 \times 2.2 \times 288}{1.0 \times 283}
\]
\[
= 2.5 \text{ L}
\]
The new volume is, therefore, 2.5 L.
Note that units for pressure and volume must be the same on each side. Temperature must be in kelvin.
Standard conditions for measuring gases
Boyle’s law and Charles’ law tell us that the volume of a gas sample is sensitive to both temperature and pressure. This makes the comparison of gas volumes very tricky. In order to make these comparisons easier, scientists have established sets of standard conditions. These are accepted worldwide and enable gas volumes to be compared meaningfully without temperature or pressure having unwanted effects.
There are two commonly used such sets of standard conditions.
1. **Standard temperature and pressure (STP)**. Standard temperature is 0 °C or 273 K, and standard pressure is 100.0 kPa.
2. **Standard laboratory conditions (SLC)**. Since most experiments are carried out in the laboratory, normal room temperature is substituted for the STP condition. Standard laboratory conditions are a temperature of 25 °C (298 K) and a pressure of 100.0 kPa.
This book will generally refer to SLC only, as STP is not part of the VCE Chemistry study design.
Molar gas volume and Avogadro’s hypothesis
Avogadro put forward the hypothesis that ‘equal volumes of all gases measured at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of particles.’
This means that, if two gases have the same temperature, pressure and volume, they must contain the same number of moles.
It has been found experimentally that 1 mole of any gas at SLC occupies a volume of 24.8 L. This volume is called the **molar gas volume**.
The standard molar gas volume. Under the same conditions of temperature and pressure, the volume of a gas depends only on the number of molecules it contains, and not on what the particles are. The volume occupied by 28.0 g of nitrogen gas (1 mol or $6.02 \times 10^{23}$ molecules) at SLC is 24.8 L. The volume occupied by 1 mole of any gas at the same temperature and pressure is 24.8 L. (Note: In these diagrams, the number of particles shown is only a fraction of those actually present, since this number is too great to be represented here.)
The molar volume of a gas at SLC is 24.8 L. This means that 1 mole of any gas occupies 24.8 L at 25 °C and 100.0 kPa. The molar volume of a gas varies with temperature and pressure but, at any given temperature and pressure, it is the same for all gases. There is a direct relationship between the number of moles of a gas and its molar volume. This is illustrated by the formula
\[ n = \frac{V}{V_m} \]
where \( n \) is the number of moles of gas, \( V \) is the actual volume and \( V_m \) is the molar volume of the gas. Therefore, at SLC:
\[ n_{SLC} = \frac{V}{24.8} \]
where \( V \) is measured in L.
**Sample problem 2.8**
How many moles of chlorine gas are present in 48.0 L of the gas at SLC?
**Solution:**
\[ n = \frac{V}{24.8} \]
\[ n = \frac{48.0}{24.8} = 1.94 \text{ mol of Cl}_2 \text{ gas} \]
**Sample problem 2.9**
Find the mass of 1556.5 mL of H\(_2\) gas that was collected at SLC.
**Solution:**
**STEP 1**
Convert the volume to litres.
\[ 1556.5 \text{ mL} = 1.5565 \text{ L} \]
**STEP 2**
Determine the number of moles of H\(_2\) gas using \( n = \frac{V}{24.8} \)
\[ n = \frac{1.5565}{24.8} \]
\[ = 0.0628 \text{ mol} \]
**STEP 3**
Determine the mass (\( m \)) of 0.0628 moles of H\(_2\) gas using \( n(H_2) = \frac{m}{M} \)
\[ 0.0628 = \frac{m}{2.0} \]
The mass of H\(_2\) gas collected was 0.13 g.
**Sample problem 2.10**
(a) 5345 mL of a gas was collected at SLC and weighed. Its mass was 9.50 g. Find the molar mass of the gas.
(b) Given that the gas is one of the main constituents of air, identify the gas.
**Solution:**
(a) **STEP 1**
Convert the volume to litres.
\[ 5345 \text{ mL} = 5.345 \text{ L} \]
STEP 2
Determine the number of moles of the gas.
\[ n = \frac{V}{24.8} \]
\[ = \frac{5.345}{24.8} \]
\[ = 0.216 \text{ mol} \]
STEP 3
Determine the molar mass (\( M \)) of 0.216 mole of the gas.
\[ n = \frac{m}{M} \]
\[ 0.216 = \frac{9.50}{M} \]
\[ M = \frac{9.50}{0.216} \]
\[ = 44.0 \]
The molar mass of the gas is 44.0 g mol\(^{-1}\).
(b) The main constituents of air are nitrogen (\( M = 28.0 \)), oxygen (\( M = 32.0 \)), argon (\( M = 40.0 \)) and carbon dioxide. The gas must therefore be carbon dioxide as the \( M \) of CO\(_2\) = 12 + (2 × 16) = 44.0 g mol\(^{-1}\).
Revision questions
14. Calculate the numbers of moles of the following gases at SLC.
(a) 15 L of oxygen, O\(_2\)
(b) 25 L of chlorine, Cl\(_2\)
15. Calculate the volumes of the following gases at SLC.
(a) 1.3 mol hydrogen, H\(_2\)
(b) 3.6 g of methane, CH\(_4\)
(c) 0.35 g of argon, Ar
16. Calculate the masses of the following gas samples. All volumes are measured at SLC.
(a) 16.5 L of neon, Ne
(b) 1050 mL of sulfur dioxide, SO\(_2\)
17. What is the mass (in kg) of 850 L of carbon monoxide gas measured at SLC?
18. A 0.953 L quantity of a gas measured at SLC has a mass of 3.20 g. What is the molar mass of the gas? What is the gas?
The universal gas equation
When Boyle’s law and Charles’ law are combined with Avogadro’s hypothesis, the following equation is obtained.
\[ PV = nRT \]
This equation is known as the general gas equation or the universal gas equation.
When using the universal gas equation, the following units must be used for the universal gas constant \( R = 8.31 \text{ J K}^{-1} \text{ mol}^{-1} \).
- Pressure is measured in kilopascals.
- Volume is measured in litres.
- Temperatures is measured in kelvin.
- The quantity of gas is measured in moles.
The number of moles can be expressed as:
\[ n = \frac{m}{M} \]
where \( m \) represents the mass of the substance (in grams) and \( M \) represents the molar mass of the substance.
So, the universal gas equation can be rewritten as:
\[ PV = \frac{mRT}{M} \]
**Sample problem 2.11**
Find the volume of 6.30 mol of carbon dioxide gas at 23.0 °C and 550 kPa pressure. (\( R = 8.31 \text{ J K}^{-1} \text{ mol}^{-1} \))
**Solution:**
**STEP 1**
Assign the variables.
- \( P = 550 \text{ kPa} \)
- \( V = ? \text{ L} \)
- \( n = 6.30 \text{ mol} \)
- \( T = 23 + 273 = 296 \text{ K} \)
- \( R = 8.31 \text{ K}^{-1} \text{ mol}^{-1} \)
**STEP 2**
Use the universal gas equation to calculate \( V \).
\[ PV = nRT \]
\[ \therefore V = \frac{nRT}{P} \]
\[ = \frac{6.30 \times 8.31 \times 296}{550} \]
\[ = 28.2 \text{ L} \]
**Revision questions**
19. Calculate the volume of gas, in litres, occupied by the following.
(a) 3.5 mol of \( \text{O}_2 \) at 100 kPa and 50 °C
(b) 12.8 mol of \( \text{CH}_4 \) at 10 atm and 60 °C
(c) 6.5 g of Ar at 50 kPa and 100 °C
(d) 0.56 g of \( \text{CO}_2 \) at 50 atm and 20 °C
(e) \( 1.3 \times 10^{-3} \text{ g He} \) at 60 kPa and –50 °C
(f) \( 1.5 \times 10^{21} \) molecules of Ne at 40 kPa and 200 °C
20. Calculate the volume occupied by 42.0 g of nitrogen gas at a pressure of 200 kPa and a temperature of 77 °C.
21. A 5.00 L balloon contains 0.200 mol of air at 120 kPa pressure. What is the temperature of air in the balloon?
22. If 55 mol of \( \text{H}_2 \) gas is placed in a 10 L flask at 7 °C, what would be the pressure in the flask?
**Mass–volume stoichiometry**
Many chemical reactions involve gases. For example, barbecues, furnaces and engines, such as the internal combustion engine, burn fuel and produce carbon dioxide and water vapour. In order to ensure that the reactions are
efficient and as complete as possible, calculations of volumes or masses of the gases or fuels required are essential.
**Sample problem 2.12**
In a gas barbecue, propane is burned in oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water vapour. If 22.0 g of CO\textsubscript{2} is collected and weighed, find the volume of propane at 200 °C and $1.013 \times 10^5$ Pa.
**Solution:**
**STEP 1**
Write the equation and given information.
$$\text{C}_3\text{H}_8(\text{g}) + 5\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 3\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 4\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{g})$$
$$P = 1.013 \times 10^5 \text{ Pa} \quad m(\text{CO}_2) = 22.0 \text{ g}$$
$$T = 200 + 273 = 473 \text{ K}$$
$$V = ? \text{ L}$$
**STEP 2**
Calculate the number of moles of the known quantity of substance.
$$n(\text{CO}_2) = \frac{22.0}{44.0} = 0.500 \text{ mol}$$
**STEP 3**
Use the equation to find the molar ratio of unknown to known quantities, and calculate the number of moles of the required substance. Since 3 moles of CO\textsubscript{2} are produced from 1 mole of C\textsubscript{3}H\textsubscript{8}
$$n(\text{C}_3\text{H}_8) = \frac{n(\text{CO}_2)}{3}$$
$$= \frac{0.500}{3}$$
$$= 0.167 \text{ mol}$$
**STEP 4**
Find the volume of the propane using $PV = nRT$, where $R = 8.31 \text{ J K}^{-1} \text{ mol}^{-1}$ and $P = 101325 \text{ Pa} = 101.325 \text{ kPa}$. Then,
$$V(\text{C}_3\text{H}_8) = \frac{nRT}{P} = \frac{0.167 \times 8.31 \times 473}{101.3}$$
$$V(\text{C}_3\text{H}_8) = 6.47 \text{ L}$$
**Revision questions**
23. Ethyne, C\textsubscript{2}H\textsubscript{2}, is also called acetylene and is used as a welding gas. It is produced from calcium carbide as shown by the ethyne reaction.
$$\text{CaC}_2(\text{s}) + 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \rightarrow \text{Ca(OH)}_2(\text{s}) + \text{C}_2\text{H}_2(\text{g})$$
What volume of ethyne measured at 25 °C and 745 mmHg would be produced from 5.00 g of H\textsubscript{2}O?
24. The equation for photosynthesis to produce glucose is as follows.
$$6\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 6\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{C}_6\text{H}_{12}\text{O}_6(\text{g}) + 6\text{O}_2(\text{g})$$
What volume of carbon dioxide, measured at 28 °C and 1.3 atm pressure, is needed to produce 1.5 g of glucose?
Sample problem 2.13
Calculate the mass of hexane that is required to produce 100 L of carbon dioxide gas at SLC.
Solution:
**STEP 1**
Write the equation and identify the given information.
\[ 2\text{C}_6\text{H}_{14}(\text{l}) + 19\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 12\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 14\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \]
\[ m = ? \text{ g } \quad V = 100 \text{ L } \quad \text{Conditions are SLC.} \]
**STEP 2**
Calculate the number of moles of the known substance — in this case, CO₂ gas. Normally the universal gas equation would be used but, because it is at SLC, we know the molar volume and can therefore use the formula
\[ n = \frac{V}{V_m} \]
Therefore, \( n(\text{CO}_2) = \frac{100}{24.8} = 4.03 \text{ mol.} \)
**STEP 3**
Using the mole ratios from the equation, the number of moles of hexane can be calculated.
\[ n(\text{C}_6\text{H}_{14}) = \frac{2}{12} \times n(\text{CO}_2) \]
Therefore, \( n(\text{C}_6\text{H}_{14}) = \frac{2}{12} \times 4.03 = 0.672 \text{ mol.} \)
**STEP 4**
The mass of hexane can now be calculated.
\[ m(\text{C}_6\text{H}_{14}) = n(\text{C}_6\text{H}_{14}) \times M(\text{C}_6\text{H}_{14}) = 0.672 \times 86.0 = 57.8 \text{ g} \]
Revision questions
25. Oxygen gas can be prepared in the laboratory by the decomposition of potassium nitrate according to the equation:
\[ 2\text{KNO}_3(\text{s}) \rightarrow 2\text{KNO}_2(\text{s}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \]
When 14.5 L of O₂ is formed at 1.00 atm and 25.0 °C, what mass of KNO₂ is also formed?
26. Magnesium reacts with hydrochloric acid according to the equation:
\[ \text{Mg(s)} + 2\text{HCl(aq)} \rightarrow \text{MgCl}_2(\text{aq}) + \text{H}_2(\text{g}) \]
What mass of magnesium, when reacted with excess hydrochloric acid, would produce 5.0 L of hydrogen gas, measured at 26.0 °C and 1.2 kPa pressure?
---
If gases are at the same pressure and temperature, their molar ratios are equal to their volume ratios.
\[ \text{N}_2(\text{g}) + 3\text{H}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{NH}_3(\text{g}) \]
1 mol 3 mol → 2 mol
1 vol 3 vol → 2 vol
10 vol 30 vol → 20 vol
Volume–volume stoichiometry
Consider the reaction between nitrogen and hydrogen gas.
\[ \text{N}_2(\text{g}) + 3\text{H}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{NH}_3(\text{g}) \]
According to this equation, 1 mole of N₂ reacts with 3 moles of H₂ to produce 2 moles of ammonia.
Considering Avogadro’s hypothesis, if the gases are at the same pressure and temperature, their *molar* ratios are equal to their *volume* ratios. We therefore use volumes instead of moles and can say that 10 mL of N₂ reacts with 30 mL of H₂ to form 20 mL of ammonia.
Sample problem 2.14
If 100 m$^3$ of ethene is burned according to
$$\text{C}_2\text{H}_4(\text{g}) + 3\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{g})$$
calculate the volume of:
(a) carbon dioxide produced
(b) oxygen consumed.
(Assume all gas volumes are measured at the same temperature and pressure.)
Solution: Because all gas volumes are measured at the same temperature and pressure, the equation may be interpreted in terms of volume ratios.
(a) $V(\text{CO}_2) = 2 \times V(\text{C}_2\text{H}_4)$
Therefore, $V(\text{CO}_2) = 2 \times 100 = 200$ m$^3$.
(b) $V(\text{O}_2) = 3 \times V(\text{C}_2\text{H}_4)$
Therefore, $V(\text{O}_2) = 3 \times 100 = 300$ m$^3$.
Revision questions
27. Methane gas burns in air at room temperature and pressure, according to the equation:
$$\text{CH}_4(\text{g}) + 2\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{g})$$
If 25 mL of methane is burned at room temperature and pressure, find the volumes of the following reactants and products:
(a) oxygen (b) carbon dioxide (c) water.
28. At high temperatures, such as those in a car engine during operation, atmospheric nitrogen burns to produce the pollutant nitrogen dioxide, according to the equation:
$$\text{N}_2(\text{g}) + 2\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{NO}_2(\text{g})$$
(a) If 20 mL of nitrogen is oxidised, calculate the volume of oxygen needed to produce the pollutant. Assume that temperature and pressure remain constant.
(b) What is the initial volume of reactants in this combustion reaction?
(c) What is the final volume of products in the reaction?
(d) Is there an overall increase or decrease in the volume of gases on completion of the reaction?
Applying volume stoichiometry to thermochemistry
Just as the principles of mass–mass stoichiometry can be extended to include gas volumes, the thermochemical calculations introduced earlier in this chapter can also be extended to include gas volumes. This is very useful because it is often more convenient to measure a gas’s volume than its mass. If pressure and temperature are measured as well, the universal gas equation, $pV = nRT$, provides a formula to change between volumes and moles.
Sample problem 2.15
Calculate the heat energy released when 375 mL of methane at 21 °C and 767 mmHg pressure is burned according to:
$$\text{CH}_4(\text{g}) + 2\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) \quad \Delta H = -889 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
Solution: **STEP 1**
Calculate the number of moles of methane used. To do this, the information in the question needs to be changed to the appropriate units to enable the universal gas equation to be used.
Temperature: $21^\circ\text{C} = 21 + 273 = 294\ \text{K}$
Volume: $375\ \text{mL} = 0.375\ \text{L}$
Pressure: $767\ \text{mmHg} = \frac{767}{760} \times 101.3 = 102.2\ \text{kPa}$
Therefore, $n(\text{CH}_4) = \frac{PV}{RT} = \frac{102.2 \times 0.375}{8.31 \times 294} = 0.0157\ \text{mol}$.
**STEP 2**
Heat evolved $= 889 \times \frac{0.0157}{1} = 14.0\ \text{kJ}$
**Revision questions**
29. Calculate the energy required to convert $2.50\ \text{L}$ of carbon dioxide, at SLC, to glucose according to the equation:
$$6\text{CO}_2(g) + 6\text{H}_2\text{O}(l) \rightarrow \text{C}_6\text{H}_{12}\text{O}_6(aq) + 6\text{O}_2(g)\quad \Delta H = +2816\ \text{kJ mol}^{-1}$$
30. Calculate the energy released when $200\ \text{mL}$ of diborane, $\text{B}_2\text{H}_6$, is burned at $150^\circ\text{C}$ and $1.50$ atmospheres according to the following equation.
$$\text{B}_2\text{H}_6(g) + 3\text{O}_2(g) \rightarrow \text{B}_2\text{O}_3(s) + 3\text{H}_2\text{O}(g)\quad \Delta H = -2035\ \text{kJ mol}^{-1}$$
**Fuels and greenhouse gases**
The principles of stoichiometry and thermochemistry can be combined to quantify the effect that energy production, especially through the combustion of fossil fuels, has on the environment. As we saw in chapter 1, gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone contribute to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Of these, carbon dioxide is produced in the greatest amounts due to the use of fossil fuels as energy sources. The increasing level of these gases has led to international treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol. These obligate signatory countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in an attempt to limit future global warming.
In order to meet targets for reduction, countries need to estimate their energy requirements, both current and future, and compare the energy sources available for the required energy production. A useful unit in such comparisons is the amount of greenhouse gas produced (usually carbon dioxide) per megajoule of energy released. Typical units are g MJ$^{-1}$ and L MJ$^{-1}$.
**Sample problem 2.16**
If it is assumed that petrol is entirely octane, and that it burns according to
$$2\text{C}_8\text{H}_{18}(l) + 25\text{O}_2(g) \rightarrow 16\text{CO}_2(g) + 18\text{H}_2\text{O}(l)\quad \Delta H = -10\ 928\ \text{kJ mol}^{-1}$$
calculate the:
(a) mass of carbon dioxide produced per MJ of energy evolved
(b) volume of carbon dioxide produced at $100\ \text{kPa}$ and $20^\circ\text{C}$ per MJ of energy evolved.
Solution: (a) **STEP 1**
Calculate the mass of octane required to evolve 1 MJ of heat energy. From the equation, 2 moles of octane evolves 10.928 MJ.
\[ M(C_8H_{18}) = 114.0 \text{ g mol}^{-1} \]
Therefore, \( 2 \times 114.0 \text{ g} \) evolves 10.928 MJ.
Therefore, 1 MJ requires \( \frac{2 \times 114.0}{10.928} = 20.9 \text{ g} \).
**STEP 2**
Calculate the mass of \( \text{CO}_2 \) produced from this amount of octane.
\[ n(C_8H_{18}) = \frac{m}{M} = \frac{20.9}{114.0} = 0.183 \text{ mol} \]
From the equation, \( n(\text{CO}_2) = \frac{16}{2} \times 0.183 = 1.464 \text{ mol} \).
Therefore, \( m(\text{CO}_2) = 1.464 \times 44.0 = 64.4 \text{ g} \).
It can therefore be stated that, if petrol is assumed to be pure octane, it produces 64.4 g of carbon dioxide per megajoule of energy released (64.4 g MJ\(^{-1}\)).
(b) \( PV = nRT \)
\[ n = 1.464 \text{ mol} \]
\[ T = 273 + 20 = 293 \text{ K} \]
\[ P = 100 \text{ kPa} \]
Therefore, \( V = \frac{nRT}{P} = \frac{1.464 \times 8.31 \times 293}{100} = 35.6 \text{ L} \).
Therefore, 35.6 L of \( \text{CO}_2 \) is produced per megajoule of energy released (35.6 L MJ\(^{-1}\)) at the stated conditions of temperature and pressure.
---
When comparing the effect of fuels on the environment, it is often useful to consider the carbon dioxide emissions produced per unit of energy. Two common units for making such comparisons are g MJ\(^{-1}\) and L MJ\(^{-1}\).
---
Sample problem 2.17
Methane is produced by a number of natural processes and, in many of these situations, it can easily enter the atmosphere. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide as it is better at absorbing heat. However, it can also be used as a fuel. The equation for burning methane is:
\[ \text{CH}_4(g) + 2\text{O}_2(g) \rightarrow \text{CO}_2(g) + 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(g) \]
If methane is captured and then used as a fuel, calculate the net change in greenhouse gas volume that would occur. Assume that all volumes are measured at the same temperature and pressure.
Solution: As temperature and pressure is constant, we can write:
\[ V(\text{CH}_4) \text{ consumed} = V(\text{CO}_2) \text{ produced} \]
Therefore, there is no net change.
You might think that a process such as capturing and then burning methane would produce no net environmental benefit. However, when it is remembered that methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, it can be seen that there is an environmental benefit gained from burning the methane, rather than just letting it escape into the atmosphere. Of course, if carbon dioxide could also be captured and prevented from entering the atmosphere, the environmental benefit would be even greater.
Carbon dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas due to the large volumes in which it is produced. For this reason, other greenhouse gas emissions are often
measured in ‘carbon dioxide equivalent.’ That is, all these other gases are converted to the volume of carbon dioxide that would produce the same effect.
**Revision question**
31. (a) Calculate the net change in mass of greenhouse gas produced by the combustion of 128 g of methane.
(b) Express your answer as a percentage increase or decrease.
(c) Comment on how the units used (mass or volume) may influence the conclusions drawn from calculations such as in this question and in sample problem 2.17.
When electricity generation is considered, the calculations must take into account the efficiency of the generation process. For example, to produce 1 MJ of electrical energy, enough fuel would need to be burned to produce 3.33 MJ of heat energy, assuming that the process is 30% efficient. The mass of carbon dioxide produced in supplying 3.33 MJ would then need to be calculated.
**Sample problem 2.18**
Calculate the carbon dioxide emissions, in kg MJ$^{-1}$, from a power station that has an overall efficiency of 33.0% and burns black coal with a carbon content of 81.5%. (Heat evolved from black coal = 34.0 kJ g$^{-1}$)
**Solution:**
At 33.0% efficiency, the energy input required to produce 1 MJ of electrical energy output is:
$$\text{Efficiency} = \frac{\text{output energy}}{\text{input energy}} \times 100$$
Therefore, input energy $= \frac{1 \times 100}{33} = 3.03$ MJ.
Mass of black coal required to produce 3.03 MJ $= \frac{3030}{34.0} = 89.1$ g
Mass of carbon in this amount of black coal $= \frac{81.5}{100} \times 89.1 = 72.6$ g
Assuming the carbon produces carbon dioxide according to:
\[ \text{C(s)} + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{CO}_2(\text{g}) \]
\[ n(\text{C}) = \frac{72.6}{12.0} = 6.05 \text{ mol and } n(\text{C}) = n(\text{CO}_2) \]
Therefore, \( m(\text{CO}_2) = 6.05 \times 44.0 = 267 \text{ g} = 0.267 \text{ kg} \).
Therefore, \( \text{CO}_2 \) production is 0.267 kg MJ\(^{-1}\) of electrical energy produced.
**Revision questions**
32. The molar heat of combustion for ethanol is –1364 kJ mol\(^{-1}\). Calculate the mass of carbon dioxide emitted when ethanol is used to produce 1.00 MJ of heat.
33. (a) Methanol is also a fuel. Its molar heat of combustion is –725 kJ mol\(^{-1}\). What mass of carbon dioxide would be produced using methanol to generate 1.00 MJ of heat?
(b) Comment on your answers to questions 32 and 33(a) in relation to the masses of CO\(_2\) produced.
34. A coal-fired power station using brown coal as its fuel operates at 37.0% overall energy efficiency. The brown coal has a heat value of 16.0 kJ g\(^{-1}\) and a carbon content of 29.0%. Assuming that all the carbon present forms carbon dioxide, calculate the carbon dioxide produced per MJ of electrical energy produced in units of:
(a) g MJ\(^{-1}\)
(b) L MJ\(^{-1}\) (at SLC).
---
The energy available from a fuel may be estimated by using a known amount of fuel to heat a known mass of water. If the temperature change is noted, the formula \( Q = mc\Delta T \) may be used to calculate the energy added to the water. Knowing the amount of fuel used, this can then be scaled up to an appropriate reference amount. Common units are kJ g\(^{-1}\), kJ mol\(^{-1}\) and MJ tonne\(^{-1}\).
---
**How do we obtain the energy output of a fuel?**
So far in this chapter, we have made predictions relating to fuel quantities and heat outputs using thermochemical equations. However, there are two issues that you may have been wondering about.
- How are \( \Delta H \) values obtained in the first place?
- Thermochemical equations are fine for fuels that are pure substances and can therefore have an equation written for their combustion. But what about fuels that are mixtures? Many common fuels, such as petrol, diesel, wood and coal, fall into this category. How can we obtain heat outputs and make predictions for these fuels?
The answer to both these questions is to burn a small amount of fuel and ‘capture’ the heat evolved in some way so that it can be measured. The results obtained are then scaled up to a reference amount so that comparisons can be made. The values obtained are quoted in units that take into account the units used to measure the energy output and the particular reference amount being used. Common units are kJ mol\(^{-1}\), kJ g\(^{-1}\) and MJ tonne\(^{-1}\).
If this is to be done accurately, a device called a calorimeter must be used. There are two main types of calorimeters — solution calorimeters and bomb calorimeters. The features of these and their use are discussed in chapter 12.
An alternative method is to use the fuel to heat a known mass of water and measure the resultant temperature increase. This method produces only approximate results, the degree of accuracy depending on the steps taken to minimise heat loss to the surroundings.
You may remember from unit 1 that the formula:
\[ Q = mc\Delta T \]
can be used to calculate the heat required to raise a given mass (\( m \)) of a substance of known specific heat (\( c \)) by a certain temperature (\( \Delta T \)). The specific
heat capacity, $c$, of a substance is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 g of the substance by 1 °C or 1 K. This formula is used to calculate the heat added to the water. Sample problem 2.19 illustrates this method.
**Sample problem 2.19**
The heat content of kerosene was determined by using a kerosene burner to heat 250 mL of water. It was found that burning 0.323 g of kerosene raised the temperature of the water by 11.2 °C.
Given that the specific heat capacity of water is 4.18 J g$^{-1}$ K$^{-1}$, calculate the heat energy released from kerosene in kJ g$^{-1}$ and MJ tonne$^{-1}$.
**Solution:**
**STEP 1**
Calculate the heat energy ($Q$) transferred to the water.
\[ 250 \text{ mL of water} = 250 \text{ g} \]
\[ Q = mc\Delta T = 250 \text{ g} \times 4.18 \text{ J g}^{-1} \text{ K}^{-1} \times 11.2 \text{ °C} \]
\[ = 11704 \text{ J} = 11.7 \text{ kJ} \]
**STEP 2**
Scale this value up to the chosen reference amount (in this case, 1 g).
\[ \text{Heat evolved} = 11.7 \text{ kJ} \times \frac{1}{0.323 \text{ g}} = 36.2 \text{ kJ g}^{-1} \]
To convert this to MJ tonne$^{-1}$, 1 tonne = $10^6$ g = 1 000 000 g; 1 MJ = 1000 kJ
Therefore, \( 36.2 \text{ kJ g}^{-1} = \frac{36.2}{1000} \times 1000000 = 36200 \text{ MJ tonne}^{-1} \).
*Note:* This represents a minimum value. Not all of the heat from the kerosene would have gone into the water. Some of it would have been wasted in heating the surrounding air and the equipment used to hold the water.
**Revision questions**
An experiment to compare the energy output of candle wax, ethanol and butane was performed by setting up the apparatus shown in the figure at the top of the next page. The ethanol was poured into a crucible, a small wax candle stuck onto a watch glass and a gas cigarette lighter were each used as a ‘burner’ after being lit. Each burner was weighed before and after it was used to heat 200 g of water. The results are shown in table 2.2 on the next page. (Assume the formula for candle wax is C$_{20}$H$_{42}$.)
35. Copy and complete table 2.2.
36. Taking the specific heat capacity of water as 4.18 J g$^{-1}$ °C$^{-1}$, calculate the energy produced from 1.00 gram of each substance. How do the results compare?
37. Calculate the heat of combustion (enthalpy per mole of substance used) for each substance. How do the results compare?
38. Describe a use for each of the fuels tested. Explain why each fuel is better suited for the purpose it is commonly used for than either of the other two fuels.
39. The molar heat of combustion of ethanol has been found experimentally to be –1364 kJ mol$^{-1}$.
(a) Is combustion exothermic or endothermic?
(b) What was the percentage accuracy of the experiment above?
(c) List the sources of error in the experiment and describe how some of these errors can be minimised.
40. Write a report for the experiment.
Most of our energy is supplied by fossil fuels.
**TABLE 2.2** Results of combustion of different fuels
| Property | Ethanol | Candle wax | Butane |
|-----------------------------------------------|-----------|------------|----------|
| mass of ‘burner’ before heating (g) | 23.77 | 32.72 | 43.94 |
| mass of ‘burner’ after heating (g) | 22.54 | 32.50 | 43.71 |
| mass of fuel used (g) | | | |
| mass of water (g) | 200 | 200 | 200 |
| initial temperature of water (°C) | 20.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 |
| highest temperature of water (°C) | 35.0 | 30.0 | 29.0 |
| temperature rise (°C) | | | |
| molar mass (g mol\(^{-1}\)) | | | |
Summary
- The unit of energy is the joule (J).
- The study of energy changes that accompany chemical reactions is called thermochemistry or chemical thermodynamics.
- The total energy stored in a substance is called the enthalpy, or heat content, of the substance and is represented by the symbol $H$.
- The change in enthalpy as a reaction proceeds is known as the heat of reaction and can be determined according to the relationship:
$$\Delta H = H_{\text{products}} - H_{\text{reactants}}$$
- Exothermic reactions release energy to their surroundings and have a negative $\Delta H$ value.
- Endothermic reactions absorb energy from their surroundings and have a positive $\Delta H$ value.
- Energy diagrams or profiles may be used to visually represent changes in enthalpy.
- Thermochemical equations are chemical equations that, in addition to balancing charge and mass, include the enthalpy change and may be used in stoichiometric calculations to determine the energy changes associated with chemical reactions.
- The kinetic molecular theory of gases helps explain gas properties and begins with five assumptions about gas particles. These particles:
- are moving constantly and at random
- experience an increase in kinetic energy and move more quickly when temperature is increased
- have insignificant attractive or repulsive forces between them
- are very far apart and their volume is small compared to the volume they occupy
- collide with one another and the walls of their container, exerting pressure.
- When considering gas behaviour, we are concerned with the pressure a gas exerts, the volume it occupies, its temperature and the number of gas molecules. We express these in SI units.
- Pressure is measured in pascal (Pa).
$$760 \text{ mmHg} = 1 \text{ atm} = 1.013 \times 10^5 \text{ Pa} = 101.3 \text{ kPa}$$
- Temperature is converted from degrees Celsius ($^\circ C$) to the absolute or Kelvin scale, where absolute zero is $-273^\circ C$.
$$K = ^\circ C + 273$$
- Volume is measured in cubic metres ($m^3$), litres (L) or millilitres (mL).
$$1 \text{ m}^3 = 10^3 \text{ L} = 10^6 \text{ mL}$$
- Quantity is measured in moles (mol).
- Boyle’s law states that the volume of a fixed mass of gas at constant temperature is inversely proportional to the pressure exerted on it.
$$P_1 V_1 = P_2 V_2$$
- Charles’ law states that the volume of a fixed mass of gas at constant pressure is directly proportional to its absolute (Kelvin) temperature.
$$\frac{V_1}{T_1} = \frac{V_2}{T_2}$$
- Gas volumes are measured using a standard set of fixed conditions, standard laboratory conditions (SLC), where temperature is $25^\circ C$ (298 K) and pressure is $100.0 \text{ kPa}$.
- The molar gas volume is the volume that 1 mole of gas occupies. At SLC, this equals $24.8 \text{ L}$. To calculate amounts of gases at SLC, we use the equation:
$$n_{\text{SLC}} = \frac{V}{24.8}$$
where $V$ is measured in litres.
- The universal gas equation combines several of the gas laws and contains the universal gas constant ($R$).
$$PV = nRT$$
where the constant $R$ is equal to $8.31 \text{ J K}^{-1} \text{ mol}^{-1}$ and $V$ is measured in litres, $T$ in kelvin and $P$ in kPa.
- The universal gas equation enables stoichiometric calculations that link masses and volumes together (mass–volume calculations).
- Volume-volume stoichiometry can be performed using volumes rather than moles, since, for gases at the same pressure and temperature, mole ratios are equal to volume ratios.
$$\frac{V(\text{unknown})}{V(\text{known})} = \frac{\text{coefficient of unknown}}{\text{coefficient of known}}$$
- $\Delta H$ values in thermochemical equations can be evaluated from experimental data and from the $\Delta H$ values of related equations.
- The environmental effect of a fuel can be measured in terms of its greenhouse gas emissions per megajoule of energy produced.
- The specific heat capacity (symbol $c$) of a substance is defined as the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 g of the substance by 1 $^\circ C$ (or 1 K).
The heat energy in a fuel can be estimated by using a known amount of the fuel to heat a known amount of water. The formula $Q = mc\Delta T$ is used to calculate the heat energy added to the water.
**Multiple choice questions**
1. Which of the energy profiles below represents the most exothermic reaction?
- A
- B
- C
- D
2. Consider the following equation for the formation of hydrogen chloride gas.
\[ H_2(g) + Cl_2(g) \rightarrow 2HCl(g) \quad \Delta H = -184 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \]
When 2 moles of hydrogen gas react completely with 2 moles of chlorine gas:
- A 184 kJ of energy is released
- B 184 kJ of energy is absorbed
- C 368 kJ of energy is released
- D 368 kJ of energy is absorbed.
3. Which of the following processes is endothermic?
- A Burning carbon
- B Evaporating kerosene
- C Condensing steam
- D A reaction with a negative heat of reaction
4. ‘Dry ice’ is solid carbon dioxide. It is stable at very low temperatures but sublimes at room temperature according to the reaction:
\[ CO_2(s) + \text{heat} \rightarrow CO_2(g) \]
Handling dry ice with bare hands can cause severe skin damage because solid carbon dioxide:
- A is a strong oxidising agent
- B releases considerable heat to the skin while subliming
- C absorbs considerable heat from the skin while subliming
- D forms a strong acid when dissolved in the moisture of the skin.
5. The diagram below shows a container filled with gas and sealed by a movable piston. There is sufficient gas to support the piston at point X when the temperature is 20 °C. Assume that the piston is locked at X. If the gas is heated, the pressure which it exerts will:
- A increase
- B decrease
- C remain the same
- D change in an unpredictable manner.
6. The apparatus in question 5 remains at a constant temperature of 20 °C, but the piston is pushed down to point Y and locked, so that the volume of the container is halved. The average number of molecules striking a unit area of the wall of the container per unit time will:
- A double
- B halve
- C remain the same
- D change in an unpredictable manner.
7. The pressure of the gas inside a scuba diver’s lungs changes from 100 kPa to 150 kPa. If the diver’s lungs initially held 6 L of gas, their volume at this depth would be:
- A 3 L
- B 4 L
- C 6 L
- D 9 L.
8. A rigid container holds a fixed volume of gas at a certain temperature and pressure. In order to double the pressure of the gas inside the container, one could:
A halve the amount of gas in the container
B halve the amount of gas, but double the absolute temperature
C double the amount of gas and double the absolute temperature
D double the absolute temperature.
9. 6.0 L of air at 400 K and 100 kPa is cooled to 300 K at constant pressure. The new volume will be:
A 2.5 L
B 4.5 L
C 6.0 L
D 8.0 L.
10. Two litres of helium gas was measured at a temperature of 200 K and a pressure of 1 atmosphere. If the kinetic energy (temperature) of the molecules is doubled while the pressure remains constant, what volume will the gas occupy?
A 0.5 L
B 1 L
C 2 L
D 4 L
11. 10 L of hydrogen gas is collected at 110 kPa and 20 °C. It is then compressed into a 2 L container at a pressure of 1100 kPa. The new temperature will be:
A 40 °C
B 200 °C
C 273 °C
D 313 °C.
12. 200 mL of gas at 27 °C and 700 mmHg pressure became 210 mL at 1.05 atm pressure. The new temperature is:
A 360 °C
B 87 °C
C 187 °C
D 260 °C.
13. Tired of working in laboratories that are either freezing or too hot, Jenny has proposed a third set of standard conditions. She has defined these as a temperature of 15 °C and a pressure of 100 kPa. Under these conditions, the molar volume of a gas would be:
A less than 22.7 L
B 22.7 L
C between 22.7 L and 24.8 L
D greater than 24.8 L.
14. Methane, CH₄(g), burns in air to form carbon dioxide and water according to the following equation.
\[
\text{CH}_4(\text{g}) + 2\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l})
\]
\[
\Delta H = -889 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
Which of the following statements about this reaction is false?
A The reaction is exothermic.
B The enthalpy (heat content) of the products is greater than the reactants, as shown by the sign of $\Delta H$.
C Heat is released to the environment by the reaction.
D The volume occupied by the gaseous products is equal to that of the reactants, if all are measured at the same temperature and pressure.
15. Consider the following reaction.
\[
2\text{H}_2(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = -484 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
Energy is released when hydrogen burns in oxygen because:
A the net strength of the chemical bonds within the reactant molecules is greater than the net strength of the chemical bonds within the product molecules
B the net strength of the chemical bonds within the reactant molecules is less than the net strength of the chemical bonds within the product molecules
C there are fewer product molecules than reactant molecules
D the reactants are elements while the product is a compound.
16. Consider the following reaction.
\[
2\text{H}_2(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = -484 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
Compared with the reaction given above, the heat evolved in the reaction
\[
2\text{H}_2(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l})
\]
will necessarily be:
A greater, because extra heat is evolved in forming liquid water from gaseous water
B less, because extra heat is absorbed in forming liquid water from gaseous water
C the same, since the heat evolved is the same provided the chemical formulas of the reactants and products remain unchanged
D the same, provided the same amounts of reactants are used.
Questions 17 and 18 refer to the following thermochemical equation for the combustion of ethyne, commonly known as acetylene.
\[
2\text{C}_2\text{H}_2(\text{g}) + 5\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 4\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l})
\]
\[
\Delta H = -2600 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}
\]
17. The combustion of 0.26 g of ethyne will:
A absorb 13 J of energy
B evolve 13 J of energy
C absorb 13 kJ of energy
D evolve 13 kJ of energy.
18. The carbon dioxide contribution from the use of ethyne is:
A 17 kg MJ$^{-1}$
B 34 kg MJ$^{-1}$
C 68 kg MJ$^{-1}$
D 134 kg MJ$^{-1}$.
19. The amount of energy required to raise 150 g of water by 40 °C is:
A 25 J
B 150 J
C 25 kJ
D 150 kJ.
20. If burning 4.5 g of a fuel raises the temperature of 75 g of water by 30 °C, the heat of combustion of this fuel is:
A 0.0075 kJ g\(^{-1}\)
B 0.057 kJ g\(^{-1}\)
C 2.1 kJ g\(^{-1}\)
D 2.4 kJ g\(^{-1}\).
Review questions
Energy changes in chemical reactions
1. What is meant by the ‘enthalpy change’ of a chemical reaction?
2. State whether each of the following reactions is exothermic or endothermic.
(a) \( \text{H}_2(\text{g}) + \text{Cl}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{HCl}(\text{g}) \)
\( \Delta H = -185 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \)
(b) \( \text{H}_2(\text{g}) + \text{CO}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{CO}(\text{g}) + \text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{g}) \)
\( \Delta H = +41 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \)
(c) \( \text{SnO}_2(\text{s}) + 2\text{C}(\text{s}) \rightarrow \text{Sn}(\text{s}) + 2\text{CO}(\text{g}) \)
\( \Delta H = +360 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \)
(d) \( \text{N}_2(\text{g}) + 3\text{H}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{NH}_3(\text{g}) \)
\( \Delta H = -92.2 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \)
3. Draw an energy profile diagram for each of the reactions in question 2. In each diagram, label the reactants and the products as given by the equation, and show the \( \Delta H \) value and its magnitude.
4. Compare endothermic and exothermic reactions with respect to:
(a) the sign of \( \Delta H \)
(b) heat exchange with the surroundings
(c) energy levels of reactants and products.
5. Energy is lost during an exothermic reaction. Explain why this observation is consistent with the Law of Conservation of Energy.
Writing thermochemical equations
6. Ethanol burns in oxygen to produce water and either carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide. The particular oxide produced depends on whether the oxygen supply is plentiful or limited. The molar heats of combustion for these two reactions are –1364 kJ mol\(^{-1}\) and –1192 kJ mol\(^{-1}\) respectively.
(a) Write the thermochemical equation for the combustion of ethanol to produce carbon dioxide.
(b) Write the thermochemical equation for the combustion of ethanol to produce carbon monoxide.
(c) Use the equations from (a) and (b) to explain how the amount of oxygen consumed influences the oxide produced.
(d) Calculate \( \Delta H \) for the following reaction.
\[ 2\text{CO}(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{CO}_2(\text{g}). \]
7. Data tables give the heat output from the complete combustion of ethane and ethene as 51.9 kJ g\(^{-1}\) and 50.3 kJ g\(^{-1}\) respectively. Write thermochemical equations for the complete combustion of these fuels, showing \( \Delta H \) values in units of kJ mol\(^{-1}\).
8. Dodecane has the formula \( \text{C}_{12}\text{H}_{26} \). In an experiment, 3.10 g of dodecane was burned in a plentiful supply of oxygen. 137.0 kJ of heat was released. Write the thermochemical equation for the complete combustion of dodecane.
9. While researching on the internet, a student found that candle wax is a mixture of hydrocarbons, but, as an approximation, it may be assumed to be pentacosane.
(a) To what homologous series does pentacosane belong?
(b) Write the formula for pentacosane given that its molecules contain 25 carbon atoms.
(c) Write the equation for the combustion of pentacosane in a plentiful supply of oxygen.
In an experiment, the student measured the heat given off by a burning candle. She discovered that 153 kJ of energy was evolved and that the mass of the candle decreased from 75.384 to 71.735 g.
(d) On the assumption that candle wax may be approximated as pentacosane, determine the heat of combustion in kJ mol\(^{-1}\) and then write the thermochemical equation for its combustion.
On further investigation, she found a source claiming tetracosane, \( \text{C}_{24}\text{H}_{50} \), was a better approximation for candle wax.
(e) How would this change affect the value of \( \Delta H \)?
Measuring gases
10. Use the kinetic molecular theory to explain:
(a) why gases exert pressure
(b) why, for a fixed amount of gas at constant volume, pressure increases with temperature.
11. (a) Convert 1.34 atm to mmHg and kPa.
(b) Convert 365 mmHg to Pa and atm.
(c) Convert 102 576 Pa to atm and mmHg.
12. Convert the following Celsius temperatures to Kelvin temperatures.
(a) 100 °C
(b) –20 °C
(c) –200 °C
(d) 345 °C
13. Convert the following Kelvin temperatures to Celsius.
(a) 300 K
(b) 427 K
(c) 173 K
(d) 392 K
(e) 73 K
14. Convert the following volumes to the second unit given.
(a) 125 L to m$^3$
(b) 125 L to mL
(c) 300 mL to L
(d) 2.6 mL to L
(e) 2 m$^3$ to L
(f) $3 \times 10^3$ mL to L
Standard conditions
15. Calculate the number of moles of the following gases at SLC.
(a) 1.5 L oxygen, O$_2$
(b) 2.56 L of hydrogen, H$_2$
(c) 250 mL of nitrogen, N$_2$
16. Calculate the volume of the following gases at SLC.
(a) 1.53 mol hydrogen, H$_2$
(b) 13.6 g of methane, CH$_4$
(c) $2.5 \times 10^{30}$ molecules of nitrogen, N$_2$
17. Calculate the mass of the following gas samples. All volumes are measured at SLC.
(a) 150 mL of oxygen, O$_2$
(b) 4.5 L of carbon dioxide, CO$_2$
18. (a) How many moles of nitrogen are contained in 26.0 L of nitrogen gas at SLC?
(b) How many individual nitrogen molecules are present in 26.0 L of the gas?
Gas laws
19. What is absolute zero? Can one actually reach this temperature? Explain.
20. The pressure on 13.0 L of neon gas is increased from 90.0 kPa to 360 kPa. If the temperature remains constant, find the new volume of the gas.
21. 1.00 L of hydrogen gas in a cylinder under $5.0 \times 10^4$ kPa fills a balloon at 150 kPa at the same temperature. Determine the volume of the balloon.
22. The pressure on a gas remains constant. Its volume is 700 mL. The temperature is 27 °C. Calculate the temperature needed to change the volume to:
(a) 14.0 mL
(b) 420.0 mL
The universal gas equation
23. Calculate the number of moles of gas present in each of the following gas samples.
(a) 32.3 L of argon at 102.0 kPa and 15 °C
(b) 24.3 L of nitrogen at 13.2 atm and 35 °C
(c) 12.3 L of helium at 755 mmHg and −10 °C
(d) 24.8 L of argon at 100.0 kPa and 25 °C
24. Calculate the volumes occupied by the following gas samples.
(a) 0.560 mol of carbon dioxide gas at 101.5 kPa and 17 °C
(b) 15.5 mol of ethyne gas at 10.35 atm and 20 °C
(c) 0.800 g of oxygen gas at 98.9 Pa and 11 °C
(d) 5.279 g of nitrogen gas at 100 kPa and −50 °C
25. An aerosol can of deodorant has a volume of 120 mL. The contents exert a pressure of $9.0 \times 10^5$ Pa at 27 °C.
(a) Calculate the number of moles of gas present in the can.
(b) How many particles are present in the can of deodorant?
(c) If the contents of the can are transferred to a 200 mL container, what would be the temperature if the pressure drops to $6.0 \times 10^5$ Pa?
26. Calculate the temperature, in °C, of 0.25 mol of a gas that occupies a volume of $4.155 \times 10^{-3}$ m$^3$ at a pressure of 150 kPa.
27. A certain mass of unknown gas (molar mass = 30.0 g mol$^{-1}$) occupies 16.64 L at a pressure of 125 mmHg and a temperature of −73 °C. Calculate the mass of gas present in the container.
28. Calculate the pressure needed to contain 3.0 mol of ammonia in a container of volume 20 L at a temperature of 27 °C.
29. An empty 200 mL flask has a mass of 84.845 g. It is filled with a gas at 17.0 °C and 770 mmHg pressure and then weighs 85.084 g. Calculate the molar mass of the gas. What is the gas?
30. A gas is at SLC and has a volume of 11.2 L. If its temperature is changed to 127 °C, and its pressure changes to 253.3 kPa, calculate its new volume.
31. Each time Nicole breathes, she inhales about 400 mL of air. Oxygen makes up about 20% by volume of air. How many oxygen molecules does she inhale in one breath at 25 °C and $1.0 \times 10^4$ Pa pressure?
Mass–volume calculations
32. Magnesium burns according to the equation:
$$2\text{Mg(s)} + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{MgO(s)}$$
What mass of magnesium combines with 5.80 L of oxygen measured at SLC?
33. Butan-1-ol (density = 0.81 g mL$^{-1}$) burns according to the following equation.
$$\text{CH}_3\text{CH}_2\text{CH}_2\text{CH}_2\text{OH(l)} + 6\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 4\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) + 5\text{H}_2\text{O(l)}$$
When 10.0 mL of butan-1-ol is burned, calculate:
(a) the mass of water produced
(b) the volume of carbon dioxide produced at SLC
(c) the volume of carbon dioxide produced at 200 °C and 1.2 atm pressure.
The butan-1-ol is used to produce 100 mL of carbon dioxide at SLC.
(d) Calculate the volume of butan-1-ol needed.
34. A number of technologies either exist or are being developed for removing carbon dioxide from flue gases. Some of these are also being investigated for the removal of carbon dioxide directly from the air. One such process uses calcium oxide and steam (at 400 °C) to remove carbon dioxide. The overall equation for this reaction is:
\[ \text{CaO(s)} + \text{CO}_2(\text{g}) \xrightarrow{\text{steam, 400 °C}} \text{CaCO}_3(\text{s}) \]
(a) Calculate the maximum volume of carbon dioxide (at SLC) that can be removed per 1.00 tonne of calcium oxide.
(b) Calculate the maximum mass of calcium carbonate that would be formed per tonne of calcium oxide.
Volume–volume stoichiometry
35. Methane gas, CH\(_4\), is a major constituent of the natural gas in Bass Strait. It readily burns in air to produce carbon dioxide and water vapour. If all gas volumes are measured at SLC calculate:
(a) the volume of oxygen gas that is required for the complete combustion of 12.5 L of methane gas
(b) the volume of air required for reaction, given that air contains 20% oxygen.
36. When propane, C\(_3\)H\(_8\), is burned in a limited supply of oxygen, carbon monoxide is among its products. If 4.25 L of propane gas, measured at room temperature and pressure, is burned in a limited air supply, what volume of carbon monoxide gas would be produced at the same conditions?
37. Hydrogen reacts with oxygen in the reaction:
\[ 2\text{H}_2(\text{g}) + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{g}) \]
What volume of water vapour is produced when 4.0 L of hydrogen reacts with 10 L of oxygen? What volume of oxygen remains unreacted? (Assume that all volumes are measured at the same temperature and pressure.)
38. In the Haber process, nitrogen and hydrogen are combined under specific conditions of temperature and pressure to industrially manufacture ammonia.
(a) Write the balanced equation.
(b) What volume of nitrogen combines with 45 m\(^3\) of hydrogen?
(c) What volume of ammonia would be produced if the reaction went to completion?
Calculations using thermochemical equations
39. Iron can react with carbon dioxide according to the following equation.
\[ 2\text{Fe(s)} + 3\text{CO}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{Fe}_2\text{O}_3(\text{s}) + 3\text{CO(g)} \quad \Delta H = +26.3 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \]
(a) Explain why this equation may be described as a thermochemical equation.
(b) Calculate the heat change, in kilojoules, when 2 g of iron reacts completely with excess carbon dioxide.
(c) Calculate the heat change, in kilojoules, when 200 mL of carbon dioxide is used at SLC.
(d) What mass of iron would be needed to absorb 1000 kJ of heat energy?
(e) What volume of carbon dioxide would be needed at SLC to absorb 1000 kJ of energy?
40. For the reaction:
\[ \text{S(s)} + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{SO}_2(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = -296 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \]
(a) how much heat is evolved when 2.00 moles of sulfur are burned in excess oxygen
(b) how much heat is evolved when 200 g of sulfur is burned in excess oxygen
(c) how much heat is evolved when 450 mL of oxygen at SLC reacts with excess sulfur
(d) how much heat is evolved when 200 g of sulfur reacts with 2 litres of oxygen at 80 °C and 101.3 kPa pressure?
41. Given the following two equations:
\[ \frac{1}{2}\text{N}_2(\text{g}) + \frac{1}{2}\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{NO(g)} \quad \Delta H = 90 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \]
\[ 2\text{NO(g)} + \text{O}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow 2\text{NO}_2(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = -114 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \]
calculate the enthalpy change for the following reaction:
\[ 2\text{NO}_2(\text{g}) \rightarrow \text{N}_2(\text{g}) + 2\text{O}_2(\text{g}) \]
42. Butane, C\(_4\)H\(_{10}\), is a gaseous fuel. For the combustion of butane, \( \Delta H = -2874 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \):
(a) write a balanced thermochemical equation
(b) calculate the quantity of heat that would be evolved from the combustion of 12 L of butane measured at SLC.
43. Hydrazine, N\(_2\)H\(_4\), is a liquid fuel that has been used for many years in the engines of space probes. It was famously used in the terminal-descent engines that successfully landed the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars in 2012. When passed over a suitable catalyst, it decomposes quickly in a multi-step exothermic chemical reaction. The overall equation for this process is:
\[ \text{N}_2\text{H}_4(\text{l}) \rightarrow \text{N}_2(\text{g}) + 2\text{H}_2(\text{g}) \quad \Delta H = -50.3 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \]
(a) Calculate the energy released per kilogram of hydrazine in the equation above.
(b) Given that the average temperature and pressure of the Martian atmosphere are –60 °C and 600 Pa respectively, calculate the total volume of gas added to the Martian atmosphere if 50 kg of hydrazine is used.
44. Octane burns according to the following equation.
\[ 2\text{C}_8\text{H}_{18}(l) + 25\text{O}_2(g) \rightarrow 16\text{CO}_2(g) + 18\text{H}_2\text{O}(l) \]
\[ \Delta H = -10928 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1} \]
(a) Given that the density of octane is 0.70 g mL\(^{-1}\), calculate the volume of carbon dioxide produced (at SLC) per litre of octane.
(b) Calculate the mass of carbon dioxide evolved in the production of 1.00 MJ of energy through the reaction above.
(c) Express your answer to (b) as litres of carbon dioxide (at SLC) per MJ.
45. Petrol and LPG are two fuels commonly used in Australia. It is claimed that LPG is ‘better for the environment’ as it releases less carbon dioxide. It is also attractive to motorists because, even though more litres are used, it is cheaper than petrol. As an approximation, petrol may be assumed to be octane, whereas LPG is a mixture of propane and butane. Some relevant data is shown in the table below.
| Fuel | Molar enthalpy of combustion (kJ mol\(^{-1}\)) | Density (g mL\(^{-1}\)) |
|--------|-----------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
| propane| -2217 | 0.51 (as LPG) |
| butane | -2874 | 0.51 (as LPG) |
| octane | -5464 | 0.70 (as petrol) |
(a) Calculate the mass of LPG (assuming it to be propane) required to produce 1.00 MJ of heat energy.
(b) Calculate the mass of carbon dioxide produced from (a) and express your answer as g MJ\(^{-1}\).
(c) Calculate the mass of petrol (assuming it to be octane) required to produce 1.00 MJ of heat energy.
(d) Calculate the mass of carbon dioxide produced from (c) and express your answer as g MJ\(^{-1}\).
(e) Hence state the net reduction (in g MJ\(^{-1}\)) of carbon dioxide emission when LPG is used in preference to petrol.
(f) Repeat (a), (b) and (e) for LPG if it is assumed to be butane.
(g) Calculate the volume of LPG (assuming it to be propane) required to produce the same energy as 1.00 litre of petrol (assuming it to be octane).
(h) Is it true that LPG is better than petrol? Use your answers to (a)–(g) to explain your response.
**Estimating heat energy in fuels**
46. The specific heat capacity of aluminium is 0.900 J °C\(^{-1}\) g\(^{-1}\). Calculate the energy needed to raise the temperature of a \(7.20 \times 10^2\) g block of aluminium by 10.0 °C.
47. It takes 78.2 J of energy to raise the temperature of 45.6 g of lead from 19.2 °C to 32.5 °C. Calculate the specific heat capacity of lead.
48. A student investigated the heat output from some solid fuel blocks designed for use with model steam engines. In one experiment, it was found that the temperature of 80.0 mL of water increased from 23.2 °C to 68.5 °C, and 0.300 g of fuel was burned in the process. Calculate the heat content of this fuel in kJ g\(^{-1}\).
49. It is useful to know how much energy can be obtained from different fuels in order to determine which would be the best fuel for a particular purpose. The apparatus in the figure below can be constructed in the laboratory to measure the heat given out when a fuel such as ethanol is burned.
The heat produced when the fuel burns is absorbed by the water in the metal can. The temperature can be measured so, given that the specific heat of water is 4.18 J and the density of water is 1.00 g mL\(^{-1}\), the heat of combustion may be determined.
Apparatus for measuring the heat of combustion of a fuel
The results of one experiment are shown in the following table.
| Volume of water in metal can = | 200 mL |
|-------------------------------|--------|
| Thus, mass of water in can = | 200 g |
| Rise in temperature of water = | 11.0 °C|
| Mass of ethanol burned = | 0.500 g|
(a) From these results, calculate the heat produced when 1 gram of ethanol is burned.
(b) Calculate the heat of combustion for ethanol using the above results.
(c) An accurate value for the heat produced when 1 mole of ethanol burns is 1364 kJ mol\(^{-1}\). Calculate the percentage accuracy of this experiment.
(d) Outline the sources of error in the experiment and then suggest how the design of the experiment could be improved so that more accurate heats of combustion for different fuels may be determined.
50. A student wished to estimate the \( \Delta H \) value for the reaction:
\[ C_5H_{12}(l) + 8O_2(g) \rightarrow 5CO_2(g) + 6H_2O(l) \]
using an identical experimental set-up to that in question 49. Using pentane in the liquid burner, it was found that the combustion of 0.735 g caused a temperature increase of 35.0 °C.
(a) Estimate the \( \Delta H \) value for the equation above using the data obtained.
(b) Given that the molar enthalpy of combustion of pentane is –3509 kJ mol\(^{-1}\), comment on the value obtained in (a).
Exam practice questions
In a chemistry examination, you will be required to answer a number of multiple choice and extended response questions.
Extended response questions
1. Nitroglycerine, $C_3N_3H_5O_9$, is a dangerous explosive that releases all gaseous products according to the equation:
$$4C_3N_3H_5O_9(l) \rightarrow 6N_2(g) + 12CO_2(g) + 10H_2O(g) + O_2(g)$$
Calculate the total volume of gaseous products that results when 1.00 kg of liquid nitroglycerine explodes at a temperature of 250 °C and a pressure of 300 kPa.
3 marks
2. Kerosene is a hydrocarbon fuel that may be used in lamps, jet engines and camp stoves. It has a heat of combustion of 44 100 kJ kg$^{-1}$.
(a) Explain why the heat evolved from the combustion of kerosene is measured in kJ kg$^{-1}$ rather than kJ mol$^{-1}$.
1 mark
(b) A cup of billy tea contains 250 g of water. How many cups of tea can be made if 12.5 mL of kerosene is used to heat the water? (Assume that the temperature of the water increases from 20.0 °C to 100.0 °C, the specific heat capacity of water is 4.18 J g$^{-1}$ °C$^{-1}$ and the heat of combustion of kerosene is 37 000 kJ L$^{-1}$.)
2 marks
3. Consider the following two equations.
$$2CH_3OH(l) + 3O_2(g) \rightarrow 2CO_2(g) + 4H_2O(l) \quad \Delta H = -1450 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
$$2CH_3CH_2CH_2OH(l) + 9O_2(g) \rightarrow 6CO_2(g) + 8H_2O(l) \quad \Delta H = -4032 \text{ kJ mol}^{-1}$$
(a) Calculate the mass of methanol required to produce 1.00 MJ of heat energy.
2 marks
(b) Calculate the mass of 1-propanol required to produce 1.00 MJ of heat energy.
2 marks
(c) Assuming that methanol and 1-propanol are made from non-renewable resources, calculate the net mass reduction (in g MJ$^{-1}$) of carbon dioxide when methanol is used as a fuel in preference to 1-propanol.
3 marks
(d) Calculate the net volume reduction (in L MJ$^{-1}$) from (c), assuming the carbon dioxide is at 101.3 kPa and 15 °C.
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Let’s talk about buildings!
QUESTIONS:
- What materials do you see in the photo?
- What do you know about the building in the photo?
- Do you have a favourite building? What is it?
1. Look at the pictures and read the words.
1. Mines of Rio Tinto, Huelva
2. Golden Tower, Seville
3. Mosque of Cordoba
4. Jaen Cathedral
5. Trafalgar Lighthouse, Cadiz
6. New Bridge of Ronda, Malaga
7. Alhambra Palace, Granada
8. Port of Almeria
2 Read the definitions and write the word.
mosque • tower • port • lighthouse • cathedral • palace • mine • bridge
a. A tall, round, narrow building in a castle from which people could see in the distance.
b. A tower near the coast with a flashing light at the top, used to warn ships and boats of land.
c. An area on the coast where ships and boats can stop and unload.
d. A structure built over something, like a river or a road, so that people, cars or trucks can get across.
e. A big building used by kings and queens as their house or summer place.
f. A religious building for Islamic activities and worship.
g. A religious building for Christian activities and worship.
h. A place underground where you can take minerals like gold and silver or other materials.
3 Choose the correct word.
a. The mines / mosques in Huelva were used to extract minerals from the earth.
b. The towers / palace was used by kings and queens as a summer house.
c. Every year, hundreds of people get married in the port / cathedral of Jaen.
d. There is a bridge / lighthouse in Ronda that connects the town across the river and the precipice.
4 Choose the correct form of the verb.
a. Last year, my family came / are coming to visit Andalusia.
b. In August, we didn’t like / went to Cordoba.
c. It didn’t rain / will be sunny next Thursday.
d. Muslims try to go / are going to the Great Mosque of Mecca at least once in their life.
e. When it rains, nobody plays / played outside.
f. If we go to Jaen next summer, we stay / will stay near the Cathedral.
5 Write sentences with the words in the correct order.
a. love / monuments / visiting / Andalusian / I
I love visiting Andalusian monuments.
b. the / My parents / mosque / see / want / to
My parents want to see the mosque.
c. very much / like / We / the / architecture / museum
We like the architecture of the museum very much.
d. on / doesn’t / the bridge / like / My sister / walking
My sister doesn’t like walking on the bridge.
6 Choose one of the places mentioned in the unit. Describe it to a friend. Talk about its size, its colours, and anything you like about it. Talk about what it’s used for.
7 Read the information. Ask and answer.
Port of Almeria – 2019
5,596,600 tons of products
2,100 ships
936,390 passengers
27 ferry crossings per week
How many ships stopped at the port of Almeria?
Two thousand one hundred.
8 Read the text. Pay attention to the underlined words.
Last year, my American family spent the summer travelling around Andalusia. They loved the streets, the music, the food and the wide, sandy beaches. But what they liked the most was the beautiful architecture.
Andalusian architecture is very unique. There are features from different religions in it because there have been many cultures in Andalusia in the past. My family went to Cordoba, where there is an enormous, gorgeous, very old religious building that works as both a cathedral and a mosque.
Cathedrals are places of worship in the Christian religion, and mosques are places of worship for Muslims. Both types of buildings have towers on the outside, a place to sit inside and very high ceilings.
They also spent a night in Seville. The river looks so beautiful in the dark, and there are so many bridges across the city! There are also numerous towers around the city, like the one at the cathedral or the Golden Tower.
9 Look at the underlined words in the text. Match them with their meanings or synonyms.
1. wide
2. unique
3. features
4. gorgeous
5. numerous
a) characteristics
b) not narrow
c) special; different from others
d) many
e) very beautiful
Read the message. Write a letter to Anna talking about one of your favourite places. Write about 70 words.
Hello!
I have just come back from Malaga. It was very hot, but it was a fantastic trip. I loved the food and the weather, but the architecture is simply amazing!
My favourite place was the Roman Theatre. The Roman Theatre is a round, open-air theatre. In Roman times, actors and actresses performed a play there every day! They also used it as a way of spreading news and rumours. What I like the most about it is that it was built ages ago, but it is still intact! I also like that it’s huge and so beautiful. I could picture the Romans going to watch their favourite show... just like a cinema!
From,
Anna
Plan your writing.
a. What place are you going to write about?
b. Where is it?
c. Is it a historic place or a new place?
d. What do you like about it?
e. What adjectives can you use to describe it?
Write your letter.
Make a pop-up palace!
You need:
- glue
- one sheet of blue card stock
- a pencil
- a ruler
- one sheet of brown card stock
- tempera paint and brush or coloured markers
- white paper
- scissors (optional)
a. Firstly, create a landscape for your background on the blue card stock. Cut out clouds and glue them. Paint or draw trees, hills, mountains or other background elements. When it is dry, fold the cardstock in half.
b. Secondly, use your pencil to draw two or three different towers on brown card stock.
c. Then, cut out the shapes with your scissors. Leave some extra space next to the towers. Fold the extra piece backwards. This will help you glue the shapes together.
d. Draw some details on the towers, like windows, bricks, cracks, spiderwebs or other ideas that you have.
e. Fold the towers in half.
f. Place the towers on the blue background to decide where you want to glue them. Then put glue along the piece you folded back on each tower and stick it to the blue background. Your palace is ready! | a613686f-dd91-448a-ba96-3969dcfa72a8 | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://www.miltoneducation.com/content/travelers/ENG5-Andalusian-culture-unit.pdf | 2021-05-06T06:30:59+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243988741.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20210506053729-20210506083729-00351.warc.gz | 943,159,971 | 1,425 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.969917 | eng_Latn | 0.999125 | [
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Liam, the Brave is a beautifully illustrated story about a boy who overcomes his greatest fear: butterflies. Liam desperately wants to become The Bravest Boy in the World, and he goes through an extraordinary journey of self-discovery to face and overcome his fear. Beyond simply being a story about a boy with an irrational fear, it is also a story about perseverance and how accolades don’t matter. What is most important is being true to oneself.
LIAM, THE BRAVE
BY MICHAEL WANG ILLUSTRATED BY SIMON KOAY
Marshall Cavendish Children
For Liam,
Have DREAMS that are as BIG as BLUE WHALES
© 2016 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited
Text © 2016 Michael Wang
Reprinted 2018
Published by Marshall Cavendish Children
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
Times Publishing Group
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 Nee Soon Drive, Singapore 536982. Tel: (65) 6214 7000
E-mail: email@example.com Website: www.marshallcavendish.com/general
The publisher makes no representation or warranty with respect to the contents of this book, and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Other Marshall Cavendish Companies:
Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 99 White Plains Road. Tarrytown NY 10591-9001, USA •
Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, Sathornvitt 21 Road,
Khlongtoey Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10100, Thailand • Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd,
Times Sabang, Lot 46, Sabang Hilir Industrial Park, Batu Pga., 40000 Skudai Alor,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Marshall Cavendish is a registered trademark of Times Publishing Limited
National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data
Name(s): Wang, Michael | Koay, Simon. Illustrator.
Title: Liam, the brave / by Michael Wang ; illustrated by Simon Koay.
Description: Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Children, [2016]
Identifier: ISBN 981452626X (pbk.) 978-981-45-2626-2
Subject(s): LCSH: Courage--Juvenile fiction. | Fear--Juvenile fiction. |
Perseverance (Ethics)--Juvenile fiction. | Self-acceptance--Juvenile fiction. |
Boys--Juvenile fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7 | DDC 428.6--dc23
Printed by Times Offset (M) Sdn Bhd.
Liam was a brave boy.
He was not afraid to hold large, hairy spiders with his bare hands.
He was not afraid of clowns, even when they jumped out of nowhere to try to scare him.
He was not afraid of his four toothless grandparents.
Liam was brave. But he wasn’t “The Bravest Boy in the World.” Liam was afraid of one thing.
Butterflies!
He was terrified of them.
He did not like the ticklish feeling when they landed on his wrist.
He did not like the way they fluttered by his ear.
He did not like that some of them had two black dots on their wings that looked like a pair of beady eyes, watching his every move.
About the Author
Michael Wang is a writer, a filmmaker, a teacher and the father of Liam, the Brave. He enjoys writing, gardening, teaching, taking care of his pets and spending time with his children. He is very afraid of roller coaster rides; his daughter loves them; he has to face his fear every time they visit a theme park. He has accomplished a small part of his dream by writing this book for his son.
About the Illustrator
Simon Koay is an illustrator, an art director and a graphic designer. He studied design in New Zealand and has worked in the advertising industry for over 10 years. He enjoys illustrating in his spare time and has always had a reputation as a doodler. He’s drawn over his math exam, into sand at the beach, into his food, at client meetings, and is finally now putting those skills to use in children’s books. | 5b5dfe3e-6ab6-44a1-ae4f-9e864bd89a91 | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.marshallcavendish.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/sample-page/9789814751292.pdf?sfvrsn=de11b84e_2 | 2022-09-29T13:31:19+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335355.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929131813-20220929161813-00538.warc.gz | 919,014,925 | 1,017 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.930012 | eng_Latn | 0.99566 | [
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FINAL EXAMINATION (MARCH 4, 2017)
CLASS XI POLITICAL SCIENCE
SET B
M.M. 100
NOTE:
Q 1-5 carries 1 mark each
Q 6-10 carries 2 marks each
Q 11-16 carries 4 marks each
Q 17-21 carries 5 marks each
Q 22-27 carries 6 marks each
1. Define the terms Republic and Secularism.
2. In Indian Parliament, Lower house has _______ members and the Upper house has _______ members.
3. What is meant by the terms ‘rigid’ and ‘flexible’ of Indian Constitution?
4. Who was Vilfredo Pareto?
5. Name the authors of the books ‘Satanic Verses’ and ‘Hind Swaraj’.
6. What do you know about Union List and State List?
7. What are the fundamental duties of the Indian citizens?
8. How can the independence of judiciary be provided and protected?
9. What are the sources of constraints?
10. What do you mean by Feminism?
11. Differentiate between political, economic and cultural rights. Give examples of each kind of right.
12. “Gandhiji’s thoughts on non-violence have been a source of inspiration for Aung San Suu kyi”. Discuss her role for the country.
13. Differentiate between Natural and Social Inequalities.
14. What is Constitution? Why do we need Constitution?
15. Describe in detail about Inter State Conflicts of Indian federalism.
16. What is Defection? What do you know about anti-defection law?
17. Read the passage and answer the questions:
During 17th to 20th century, white people of Europe established their rule over the black people in South Africa. Read the following description about the policy practices in South Africa till 1994. The whites had the right to vote, contest elections and elect government; they were free to purchase property and go to any place of the country. Blacks did not have such rights. Separate colonies for whites and blacks were established. The blacks had to take ‘passes’ to work in white neighbourhoods. They were not allowed to keep their families in the white areas. The schools were also separate for the people of different colour.
Carefully read the above passage and answer the questions:
1. What was done in South Africa by the Europeans during seventeenth to twentieth century?
2. What do you know about apartheid?
3. What were the main characteristics of the white rulers policy, practised in South Africa till 1994?
18. Read the passage and answer the questions:
Political theory deals with the ideas and principles that shape constitution, governments and social life in a systematic manner. It clarifies the meaning of concepts such as freedom, equality, justice, democracy, secularism and so on. It probes the significance of principles such as rule of law, separation of powers, judicial review, etc. This is done by examining the arguments advance by different thinkers in defense of these concepts. Though Rousseau or Marx or Gandhi did not become politicians, their ideas influenced generations of politicians everywhere. There are also contemporary thinkers who draw upon them to defend freedom or democracy in our time. Besides examining arguments, political theorists also reflect upon our current political experiences and point out trends and possibilities for the future.
Questions:
1. What is a Political Theory?
2. Which concepts are cleared by a Political Theory?
3. Name any two thinkers whose ideas influenced the politicians.
4. How does the political theory defend all these concepts?
19. Read the passage and answer the questions:
The liberalism of the Indian Constitution differs from this version in two ways. First, it was always linked to social justice. The best example of this is the provision for reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Constitution. The makers of the constitution believed that the mere granting of the right to equality was not enough to overcome age-old injustices suffered by these groups or to give real meaning to their right to vote. Special Constitutional measures were required to advance their interests. Therefore, the constitution makers provided a number of special measures to protect the interests of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes such as the reservation of seats in legislatures. The Constitution also made it possible for the government to reserved public sector jobs for these groups.
Questions:
1. How is the liberalism of Indian Constitution differed?
2. Who has been given the reservation by Constitution?
3. What other provision was also made for these groups to protect their interests?
20. Observe the map and answer the questions:
a. Missile crisis occurred in this island nation
b. Country decided not to maintain military force after Second World War
c. Civil rights movement started by Martin Luther King in this country
d. Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama took refuge in this country
e. Two nuclear weapon free zones
f. State of India associated with Bhakra Nangal Dam
g. Neighbouring country of India facing problem of Sinhalas v/s Tamil
h. Largest country of the World
i. Country associated with 9/11 attacks
21. A. Read the cartoon and answer the questions that follow:
Questions
1. Why do people want to be ministers?
2. This cartoon seems to suggest that it is only for perks and status! Then why is there competition for some portfolios?
21. B. Read the cartoon and answer the questions that follow:
Questions
1. What does the cartoon represent?
2. What does the statement referred in cartoon imply?
If this project comes up we will be finished!
22. What do you mean by Fundamental Rights? Explain in detail the “Right to Freedom”.
OR
Many amendments to the Constitution of India have been made due to different interpretations upheld by the Judiciary and the Parliament. Explain with examples.
23. Jawahar Lal Nehru said “Prime Minister is the Linchpin of the Government”. Justify.
OR
“The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is PIL.” What is PIL? How and when did it emerge?
24. How does Parliament make laws?
OR
What is Article 370? How does it give special status to Jammu and Kashmir?
25. Briefly discuss the three principles of Justice. Explain each with examples.
OR
Neither descent, nor language, nor religion or ethnicity can claim to be a common factor in nationalisms all over the world. Comment.
26. What do you mean by Peace? Write in short about Cuban Missile crisis.
OR
Differentiate between Western and Indian model of Secularism.
27. Explain in detail the criticism of different Development Models.
OR
Describe in detail the John Rawls theory of Justice. | <urn:uuid:480382fe-73bd-4d3a-b2ca-71f740fbf147> | CC-MAIN-2018-09 | http://bdpspatiala.com/questionpapers/XI/Pol%20Sci-B.pdf | 2018-02-25T08:01:31Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-09/segments/1518891816178.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20180225070925-20180225090925-00126.warc.gz | 41,949,568 | 1,387 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.998335 | eng_Latn | 0.998208 | [
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Phone (2) Sustainability Report
Made with sustainable materials
Phone (2) has 53 parts made with bio-based and recycled materials, including plastic, aluminium, steel, tin, and copper, which account for 20% of the phone’s weight.
Lower carbon footprint
Nothing Phone (2) has a lifecycle carbon footprint of 53.45 kg CO₂e. Despite being a more powerful device, this is 8.6% lower than Phone (1)¹ - thanks to our focus on renewable energy and sustainable materials.
Low-environmental-impact packaging
The packaging is plastic-free and FSC Mix certified, with over 60% of the fibres coming from recycled sources.
Greener chemistry
Phone (2) is free of harmful substances like PVC, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mineral oil².
---
1. Carbon footprint reduction claim based on third-party verified life cycle assessment.
2. PAH in cable jacket refers to Benzo[a]pyrene, Benzo[e]pyrene, Benzo[a]anthracene, Benzo[b]fluoranthene, Benzo[j]fluoranthene, Benzo[k]fluoranthene, Chrysene, Dibenz(a,h)anthracene, Benzo[g,h,i]perylene, Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, Phenanthrene, Pyrene, Anthracene, Fluoranthene and Naphthalene. Mineral oil in packaging refers to MOAH (comprising 1-7 aromatic rings) and MOSH (C16-C35).
Phone (2) is built with sustainable materials from the inside-out
100% recycled aluminium midframe, power button and volume buttons
100% recycled copper foil used on the main circuit board
80% of plastic parts made with recycled and bio-based materials
100% recycled tin used on 9 circuit boards
Over 90% recycled steel used for 28 stamping parts
Over 60% recycled fibre packaging
1. The recycled plastics we use are post-consumer recycled plastics, with a recycling rate of 35% to 80%.
2. The bio-based plastics we use have a bio-based content of 25% to 40%.
3. The recycled steel we use has a recycling rate of 90% to 100%.
Parts made with recycled and bio-based plastics
Parts including recycled tin
Parts made with recycled aluminium
Parts including recycled copper and recycled tin
Parts made with recycled steel
Note: some sustainable parts are not illustrated in this graph as they are small in size.
Packaging
The packing for Phone (2) is entirely plastic-free.*
Here are the advancements compared to Phone (1):
1. Laminating films for outer box, label and wire cards are eliminated
2. Protective film uses parchment paper instead of PLA plastic film
3. Paper tape is used to replace plastic tape for inner box bonding
4. Paper is used instead of PET for tear strips
FSC Mix label means the packaging is made with a mixture of materials from FSC-certified responsibly managed forests, recycled materials, and/or FSC-controlled wood.
*Plastic-free does not refer to inks, coatings, or adhesives as these formulas are proprietary and can be kept confidential by suppliers.
The carbon footprint for Phone (2) is 53.45 kg CO₂e.
We use carbon life-cycle assessments to identify ways to decrease our products’ greenhouse gas emissions, and to find renewable or recycled materials and sustainable energy sources. All with the goal of reducing our impact on the environment.
We have always believed in staying ahead of regulations when it comes to managing restricted substances. We set the Nothing Restricted Substance Management Standards (QMBZ-0301) to meet the RoHS Directive, REACH regulation, POPs regulation, and other national regulations. We proactively ban the use of PVC and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in cable jackets, mineral oil in packaging, and brominated flame retardants (BFRs).
For more information about our environmental sustainability initiatives please visit nothing.tech/pages/sustainability | 3094f1e8-4aca-4116-bc06-8c8efc76465c | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://cdn.shopifycdn.net/s/files/1/0669/5767/2758/files/Phone_2_Sustainability_Report.pdf?v=1689837935 | 2023-12-03T00:41:52+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100476.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20231202235258-20231203025258-00336.warc.gz | 189,886,474 | 861 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.975665 | eng_Latn | 0.990741 | [
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How cool was Pelé! Yes? He was full of "talents"
Juan was nine and that day Rosa – a Roma like him, told him that Pelé had summoned them after lunch at the usual place to spend an afternoon together during which they would gather fennel, edible herbs etc. … and also to listen to those captivating stories they loved so much. They were going to have a great time! The news ran fast among the Roma children of Barbastro.
At three they began to arrive. Non-Roma children also came; for Pelé this was no problem; Moreover, all parents trusted him equally. They saw Ceferino Giménez Malla appear, “Pele”, whom they simply called “uncle”.
“He’s already very old,” said one child while seeing him climb up the hill; at that time he was fifty-seven. “He loves us so much!” exclaimed another. And silently, they watched him approach, a man dressed in a jacket, with a white scarf tied at the neck, tall, lanky, stiff, very dark (almost black), with protruding ears and strong arms; he must have been a sturdy young man in the past.
“Good afternoon, children,” he greeted them. “Good afternoon, uncle,” they replied.
He asked them if they had had lunch and three of them revealed that there was nothing to eat in the pantry at home; three buns of bread came out of the right pocket of Pele’s jacket, to ensure the best energy to set off for the walk; they did not last long either in their hands or mouths, vanishing before the first step.
“Today we are going to go up to San Ramón, do you agree?” A cheery “yes” rang out loud. The group set off. “Today I will tell you a very beautiful story about Jesus.”
“What story?” asked Carmen.
Starting to climb the hill of San Ramón, Gabriel, the one heading the group, saw an anthill and with his patched shoes he stepped onto the first ants he could spot, until Uncle Pelé stopped him: “You know what you’re doing? Ants belong to God, like the flowers and the stars”. It must be a fact that the scared ants running frantically after Gabriel’s stomp thanked Ceferino. Children knew that he always taught them to respect birds, flowers, ants …
When they got to San Ramón, they sat in a circle, as usual. Pelé turned into a sensational teacher; his face, his gestures … captured them. That afternoon they prayed the Our Father and the Hail Mary. He closed his eyes, put his hands together, wove the rosary between his fingers, and he prayed with a tender and affectionate voice. They understood that he was addressing Someone and that that Someone would surely listen to him. The children tried to do the same with their eyes, hands, hearts.
After a few seconds in silence, María, the youngest girl, a gadji, could not keep quiet and asked: “What about the story?”
Pelé told her that the story was “The Parable of the Talents”, told by Jesus, that Mosen Jacinto had read that morning at Mass.
“What are talents, uncle?” asked Javi.
“The riches we have” answered Pelé.
“Well, most of us don’t have talents,” said Maruja.
“Look, children, the talents that God gives us are not just the money and the things we have at home; there are other very important things. God is very good and has given each of us many
many good things that are also talents: faith, family, work, friends, kindness, forgiveness, sharing, responsibility, compassion for others, sharing peace …”
Little Daniel interrupted Pele: “Well, you have many talents, uncle; you must have them all”.
Daniel’s phrase released the tongue of all the boys and girls who, showing that they had well understood what Ceferino had just explained, began, one after the other, to recount facts that demonstrated his talents:
+ Is it true that the other day he helped the one who was the mayor when he vomited blood? I wouldn’t have done it.
+ Yesterday my father told me that thanks to you our neighbors stopped fighting: is it true?
+ And when there are problems with the gadj they also call him.
+ And they say that he loves his daughter very much, even if she is not his own, and also his granddaughters; and that he cried a lot when his wife died, right?
+ Well, my grandmother says that he is the most religious gypsy in Barbastro, that he always goes to Mass, that he prays a lot and that he doesn’t let people say bad words about God.
+ I know that every day, since my little brother was born, he brings milk to my house, why does he come by when the sun hasn’t risen yet?
+ At the horse fair I heard from my grandparents that he is very honorable, that he never lies.
+ He even wants us to treat the ants well, said Gabriel.
Everyone laughed.
+ Uncle …, would you be able to die on a cross like Jesus Christ?
“Whatever God wants, my girl, whatever God wants. In that case, I would need a faith similar to that of Jesus Christ and have the talent of fortitude”.
(Note: This girl never knew that, some years later, while an elderly Pelé was being taken to be executed – an innocent man- he remembered her and her question and the answer he had given her. Truly, he lacked neither the faith of Jesus Christ, nor his strength. When he died he said: "Long live Christ" and in his hands he held his rosary).
“But hey, okay now”, concluded Pelé, “you too have many talents. Listen to the parable and you will see what to do with the talents received”:
There was once a man who before leaving for a faraway land called his three servants and left them in charge of his property: he left the first five talents, the second two, and the third, one, to each according to his capacity.
The one who received five talents immediately put them to work and earned another five.
The one who received two did the same and earned another two.
Instead, the one who received one talent dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
After a long time the lord of those servants returned and called them to see what they had done with their talents.
The one who had received five came up and presented him with five more, saying, "You left me five talents; Look, I've won another five. His lord said to him: Very well. You are a faithful and reliable employee; I will give you an important position; join me at the banquet I have prepared.
Then the one who had received two talents came up and said: You left me two talents; Look, I've won two more.
His lord told him the same as the previous one.
Then the one who had received one talent approached and said: I knew you are demanding, I was afraid and I went to hide your talent underground. Here is yours.
The lord replied: You are a negligent and lazy employee. You have not done well. You should have put to work the one talent I gave you; I can't trust you: you may not enter my banquet.
They all understood the parable.
It was getting late, the sun was not very hot and it was time to go back.
Pelé pulled out some chocolate from the left pocket of his jacket and some bread from a bag he had with him. It was snack time.
Returning to San Ramón, they all picked some fennel and edible herbs ...
In addition, they were now aware that Pelé was very rich because, although he had little money, he had many virtues.
Even the boys and girls felt lucky; Jesus Christ and his faithful friend Pelé had told them that they too had many talents – though they didn’t know which ones yet.
They entered Barbastro with a happier face; they were humming a song.
**How good was Pelé! Yes?**
He was full of "talents"; he was a saint.
Today he is a model for Roma people and non-Roma people.
From heaven he intercedes for us.
Before the community meeting, children and youths could be summoned to read together the story of the life of Pelé and reflect upon his talents, their personal talents and those of Roma people. They could work in small groups to fill in sheets including the following questions:
“Let’s make a list of the talents that Pelé had.
What did he do with those talents that God gave him?
What talents has God given us Roma people?
What talents do each of us have?
Do we work them well?
How can we grow the talent of faith?”
Children and youths could then make a big painting of the scene of Pelé with the children in San Ramón. They could also choose some songs and prepare the story to tell during the meeting with the whole community.
After presenting the story about Pelé during the community meeting, each group could paste their personal and the gypsies’ talents on the drawing, that they discovered during the activity, explaining them.
Other members of the community could also contribute with their personal answers, that they could write out and paste on the picture.
The meeting could finish by asking those wishing to participate to contribute a phrase or prayer to Jesus, thanking Him for Pelé, for the talents he offered us and asking for his help in putting them to work.
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“Driving the train”:
Martin leading his own learning in K1
Megina Baker and Ruth Baxter Hesseldal
July 2018
Driving the Train: Martin Leading his own Learning in K1
This is a story about teaching and learning in K1, the youngest class at ISB. Thanks to a teaching team of playful and thoughtful educators, the children in K1 are in the driver’s seat, literally and figuratively, as they navigate a learning environment filled with wonder, delight, and choice.
Four-year-old Martin\(^1\), a member of the K1 (preschool) class, is our protagonist in this story. He may be one of the smallest people in a large school serving children age 3-16, but spending a school day with Martin, he shines with joy, confidence, and curiosity, leading his own learning. From Ruth, one of the K1 teachers, you will hear about the intentionality and learning goals behind Martin’s playful learning. Ruth keeps Pedagogy of Play (PoP) practices in mind as she plans for and implements the daily curriculum. Throughout Martin’s day, you will see him and other children playing with an educational purpose as they lead their own learning; experience choice, wonder, and delight; and feel a sense of trust as they find opportunities for negotiation with their teachers.
\(^1\) When referring to children, pseudonyms are assigned throughout this paper
To keep you anchored throughout, here is an overview of the daily schedule in the K1 class:
**Daily Schedule in K1**
8:00-9:00 Unit of Inquiry Morning Activities
9:00-9:20 Circle Time
9:20-9:45 Snack
9:45-10:00 Library
10:00-10:45 Outside Play
10:45-11:15 Lunch
11:15-12:30 Outside Play
12:30-13:30 Quiet Time/Music Special Activity
13:30-14:00 Afternoon Snack
14:00-17:00 Afterschool Club
**Meet the Players**
Martin’s teachers, Ruth (lead teacher) and Tove (assistant teacher), teach a class of 18 3-4 year olds. The children come from across the globe and speak many different languages at home, including Danish, English, Spanish, Bulgarian, Hindi, and Malay, with Danish being the most common language spoken in addition to English. This is Ruth’s second year teaching Martin. She describes him as a joyful child who has grown a lot during his time in K1. “He has grown in confidence a lot. He was on the border of being moved up [to the next class], and it was good for him to stay – he’s had time to be one of the older ones instead of the little one.”
Ruth has been a teacher-researcher in the PoP work since the project began in 2015. She is an experienced early childhood educator from the U.K., now a Danish resident and Danish-English bilingual. She integrates PoP ideas throughout the I.B. curriculum, explaining, “I try to refine the units each year so that they are broad enough and developmentally appropriate enough that the children will be inspired by them... It’s supposed to be inquiry coming from the children’s own questions, but you’ve given them the subject. So there’s kind of a conflict there. But if you’re really smart in what units you pick and make the focus broad enough, you can go in the direction the children take it.”
“Only Pink!”: Unit of Inquiry Explorations in K1
Martin’s father brings him to school on his way to work at 8:00. Happy to see his friend Leon and intrigued by the activities set up in the classroom, Martin says goodbye to his father and gets right to work at the light table, where Ruth has set out translucent plastic shapes and colored glasses for the children to explore as part of their current Unit of Inquiry on Color.
The Color unit, as all units within the IB curriculum, has a number of overarching goals, including:
- **Science and Math goals:**
- Observe carefully in order to gather data
- Make and test predictions, explore and problem solve
- Explore conservation of number through many and varied opportunities to play with manipulatives including sorting and sharing.
- **Language goals:**
- Ask questions to learn from others
- Use language to negotiate space and resolve conflicts
- **Personal, Social, and Physical Education goals:**
- Develop fine and gross motor skills
- Engage in scaffolded opportunities to practice sharing space/resources
Notice how these goals for three-and-four-year old children are met through playful learning experiences throughout the day. This day in K1 takes place early in the unit, as Ruth and Tove are just introducing the topic. As the unit progresses, Ruth plans to explore color mixing, offer inspiration for color collage from famous artists such as Matisse and Kandinsky, and use colored play dough creations as a way to talk about how colors can evoke or express different emotions.
Ruth explains how the unit culminated the previous year, “We made an exhibition for parents for the show and tell at the end of the unit, including a science table of color mixing, prisms and lenses, a painting station where you mix your own colors to paint with, a dance station with three types of mood music and the colored dance scarves and streamers, and a gallery of the children’s art work.” Consider that the activities you will see this day in K1 are connected to a longer arc of learning, with the unit goals as a foundation for that arc.
Martin looks up from his investigations with the colored glasses and prisms, and notices a number of other activities available around the room. He knows he is free to move around the space as he pleases, choosing activities and materials and working with them for as long as he wants to stay.
He scans the room, seeing other children playing with Duplo blocks, exploring water and leaves covered in frost from the playground, working with playdough, and a few investigating an intriguing setup with large tubes and small “pom-pom” yarn balls in many colors. Martin’s face is a picture of delight, smiling broadly as he bounds across the room to explore the tubes and pom-pom balls.
Martin begins to experiment immediately. Laughing, he finds Lotte, and the two friends begin to cooperate, sending balls through the tube, gathering them, and sending them through again. They each take on a role in the play, working together to transport materials.
Martin and Lotte explore the balls and tubes in a variety of ways. First, they sort by color, collecting the balls in separate containers and supporting each other in the process.
Lotte: Only yellow – put only yellow here.
They collect yellow balls for a while, then Martin reaches for a new container. Both appear deeply engaged in their self-initiated project.
Martin: Only pink – I only got pink. Og det er min. Det er for du. (And this is mine – these are for you) He hands some yellow balls to Lotte, then searches for more balls. I have some more!
Lotte: (gathering more balls) Here, more pink!
Martin puts the pink balls in his bowl, then calls to Lotte again.
Martin: You need to help me – we need all the yellow.
Lotte: (handing Martin some yellow balls) Her! (Here!)
Satisfied with the sorting work they have done, Lotte moves on to play in another area of the room, but Martin continues, now mixing the three colors together in a large basket, and using one of the plastic tubes to stir them together.
Notice how Martin and Lotte are leading their own learning – using the materials freely and designing their own color-sorting activity? The fact that this aligns with a unit goal is no accident; Ruth has intentionally prepared the environment, setting the stage with open-ended materials that invite children to experiment, explore, and engage with each other in their own play narratives. Wanting to provoke experimentation with color as an entry point at the beginning of the color unit, she has stocked the area with different colored balls, ready for the children to sort, mix, and explore.
When Martin and his peers have been engaged with the balls and tubes for nearly a full hour, Ruth and Tove provide a 5-minute warning, then let children know it’s time to clean up. After putting some of the colored balls back in a large basket, Martin joins his group, the “Blue Fish,” and follows Ruth down a short hallway to a separate classroom for Circle Time.
Today, Ruth has planned a number of activities for children to explore concepts within their Color unit. She explains, “I’m looking for opportunities for the children to use the activities in the way they choose to use them. So there’s not a fixed outcome. And they have some novelty value, or something that the children will really enjoy that makes them engaged.” Notice how Ruth considers novelty (an aspect of “wonder”) and offers the children choice among activities. She is thinking about creating opportunities for playful learning. Children choose freely among the activities provided, and also have a wide range of choices in how they use the flexible materials and spaces. Ruth also shares that the task of “transporting and posting” that the children engaged in with the balls and tubes is a key interest of the children in her group, and she has planned this particular activity with that interest in mind. Furthermore, the activity meets several K1 learning goals – such as the math goal to “Explore conservation of number through many and varied opportunities to play with manipulatives including sorting and sharing,” and the language goal to, “use language to negotiate sharing space and resources and resolve conflicts.” Martin and Lotte were exploring the science concept of conservation as they noticed the balls were still balls after going through the tubes; and they used oral language with each other to negotiate the sorting of the balls by color – “Only pink!”
“Do we need any more bears?”: Circle Time
After playfully tackling a friend as they find a colored spot to sit on at circle, Martin joins his small group of 9 children for a teacher-led circle time. Tove is concurrently leading a similar circle time with her group of “Red Fish” back in the main classroom. Circle time today begins with surprise – Ruth has brought along a bag full of purple teddy bears and each child gets to hold a bear during circle. The children smile and hug their bears as they are passed around the circle and they also count the bears and children, with Ruth’s prompts of “Do we need any more bears? How many more do we need?”. Next is a name song – Ruth showing the children cards of their printed names, as the children eagerly call out to identify their own and their friends’ names and alphabet letters. Circle time continues with a few more songs and a non-fiction read aloud story.
Talking later about the planning behind these circle time activities, Ruth explains, “The way I see it, in K1 children should be exposed to and introduced to literacy – like through the letters of their names – and that again is taken from the children’s interests. Because they are interested in their names. They love their first letter of their name, and beginning to know their friends’ names or the names of people in their families; those are important to them. Or... if there’s something they are interested in writing, we would support them with that. And we try to read stories and sing with them every day. I think that encouraging their interest in and love for literacy is my most important job with literacy at this age. And time to talk!”
Children Driving the Train: A Visit to the Library
As circle time ends, it’s time for a morning snack of fresh fruits and vegetables, provided by the school. As they finish, Ruth provides some clear instructions of what to do next, “When you’ve finished and drunk all your water, you can put your cup here and line up. We’re going to make a train so we can go to the library.” Clearly not the first time the train has left the station, the children know just what to do. They line up quickly, and head off to their first stop: the bathroom, equipped with child-sized sinks and toilets. Martin makes some silly faces at himself in the mirror as he independently washes his hands and face.
The children finish up and wait for a moment for the rest of the group. Then, notably, the train takes off ahead of the teacher – confident in its’ direction and moving purposefully down the hall. Ruth steps to the side to allow them to pass, smiling at their self-direction.
This children-in-front movement through the school (it happens again later on the way to lunch) seems almost a metaphor for the children leading their own learning and the trust that exists between teachers and children in this school. The distance from the bathroom to the library isn’t extensive, but for the children, the walk to a different part of a big school is an adventure. The fact that Ruth steps aside to allow the children to lead themselves is symbolic of her trust in three-and-four-year-old children and their ability to self-direct.
Library time, a weekly event for the K1 children, is a brief and peaceful affair. Martin and his group choose their own books and a librarian helps to check them out to take home. Almost immediately, Martin selects a large picture book about dinosaurs, announcing to all who can hear, “I found this one! I have a dinosaur book!”
After checking out his book with the school librarian, Martin heads over to show it to Leon, “I have a dinosaur book – raaarrrr!” he tells Leon, then peeks over at Andrew’s selection; dinosaurs appear a popular theme with the group.
Books in hand, Martin heads down the hall to the coatroom where he dresses himself to go outside. He sits down to slide into his snowsuit, zips his zipper, and spends a while working the fingers of his gloves out of their inverted state. Ruth is at the ready to support if a child gets stuck, but most children navigate their extensive outerwear (appropriate for the Danish November wet and cold weather) without asking for any support.
Outside Play: Unexpected Ice
Outside, it’s a beautiful frosty morning in Billund. It’s nearly 10am, and the sun is just peeking over the roof of the school.
The ISB playground
Martin runs to the shed where the bicycles are kept. He is not alone – the bike shed is a treasure trove of different ride-on and push options, and many children are eager to ride and drive. Several of the bikes are built for two or more children, designed for one to pedal, another to sit, one more to push. Martin smiles as he pedals this particular contraption, which the children call a “moon car,” around the play yard.
Riding the “Moon car”
The children stay outside until lunch, teachers moving around the playground to talk with the children, ask questions, and occasionally assist with a wet mitten or misplaced hat. Ruth gravitates towards the sand area, where a group of K1 children are exploring the properties of ice and water, a gift of the frosty and seasonably cold weather. Martin parks his moon car and joins her to observe the operation.
“Look – I got ice in this!” Andrew exclaims, holding his yellow bucket for the others to see. The gathering of ice becomes a group effort, with several other children (especially Leon) contributing ice chunks they have broken off of the large chunk frozen in the water trough. When the time comes to head inside, Andrew and Leon are reluctant to leave the collected ice outside, and Ruth invites them to bring the bucket inside for an experiment, asking them, “What do you think will happen?” Leon replies, “It’s going to turn black,” an interesting hypothesis that Ruth invites him to test after lunch. The group heads off to wash hands again and walks to the school cafeteria for lunchtime.
The novelty of the natural world is clearly stimulating wonder and delight among the children. Thanks to Ruth’s flexibility in inviting the children to lead their own learning, the children are able to launch a spontaneous experiment that goes beyond the planned curriculum. There is trust and negotiation at play here as well; negotiation of the plans for the day, and mutual trust – from the children, trust that their ideas will be honored, and from Ruth, a trust in the children to take their experimenting seriously. As Ruth explains later, “I would try to always follow children’s spontaneous ideas if I can. You can’t pass up an opportunity like the fact that it’s the first icy day of the year. It’s too special. So linking a scientific experience, and the natural world, and the novelty part of it is there, and all the sensory aspects… and teaching children to or encouraging them to enjoy the natural world is nourishing for their spiritual souls, I think – it gives them livsglæde (joy about life). I see that as being part of our job as well.” And of course, this is a perfect opportunity for a child-directed way to meet one of the key IB unit goals: the science goal of making and testing predictions.
**Family-Style: Lunch Together**
Lunch is a family-style affair. Martin holds hands with Della on the way to the large cafeteria, where the youngest children of the school dine together at long tables set with colorful plates, real silverware, and the special of the day: meat, potatoes, sauce, and a salad. Martin helps himself to some meat and with a gentle prompt from one of the teachers, passes to Lotte who is seated beside him.
Twenty minutes later, the children are finishing up their meal, scraping any uneaten food into a compost bin, and placing their used dishes, utensils and glasses on carts standing nearby. Then hand-in-hand, Martin and Yana head back to the coatroom – once again free to walk in front of the teacher who is supervising their group.
Notice how independent the children are during this lunch time. These three-and-four-year-old children are serving themselves, using real silverware to cut their meat, and taking responsibility for clearing their own places at the end of the meal. The trust placed in children, and an image of the children as capable and competent, rings clearly here, consistent with the playful learning practice of fostering trust.
“It’s Cold!”: Continuing the Ice Exploration Inside and Outside
On the way back outside, Ruth and the children stop in the classroom to check on their ice experiment. As the children gather to see the ice, the following dialogue takes place:
Ruth holds up a tube – Leon had placed some of his ice inside before lunch. “Let’s have a look what’s happening! I can see- there’s some water in there. Leon put some water in there to see what would happen.”
The children lean in closer, some exclaim that they see the ice.
Ruth asks, “Can you feel how cold that water’s got?”
Martin thrusts his hand into the icy water and shudders - a surprised expression on his face.
“It’s cold!” he exclaims. Ruth smiles back at his discovery.
Leon leans in, “Can we try it with different colors?”
Ruth considers this, knowing that there isn’t time for such an involved investigation right now, yet wanting to honor Leon’ idea. “Yes, another day we can.” She continues with a feasible suggestion and a question to the group. “If we come back at the end of quiet time, do you think it will still be here, the ice?”
Martin looks unsure, but Jaynthi predicts “It will melt!”
Ruth nods and considers a connection to the children’s past experiences. “Did you ever have a drink with ice in it?”
Martin exclaims, “Yeah- me!”
“I too- I too,” adds Jaynthi.
The ice experiment continues
Martin, getting more curious or perhaps making a connection with the idea of a drink, sticks his hand into the water again and starts to lick the water off, exploring with all his senses.
Ruth smiles at his sensory investigation, stops him from putting the water in his mouth, “Oh, no- that water is a bit muddy from the playground. Alright - should we go get ready to go outside? maybe we can see if we can collect some more ice!”
Eagerly, Martin heads to his cubby again, dresses himself once again in overall, boots, hat, and mittens and heads back outside to the playground. Clearly inspired by the ice experiment and Ruth’s invitation, Martin immediately begins looking for ice on the playground. He finds a shovel to chip away and collect some ice in a puddle, then brings the ice to Helena, a teacher from another class. “Jeg fandt is herinde (I found the ice in here),” he explains, showing her the puddle. “Jeg vil have mere is. (I need more ice).” With Helena’s help, Martin gets a bucket to collect his ice, and continues to gather ice chunks, sometimes on his own, at times with other children, for the duration of outside time.
You may have noticed that Martin and his peers use both Danish and English in this play. ISB is an international school, and English is the primary language of instruction. In addition, in the kindergarten classes, teachers and children are welcome to use their home languages as they are able and as appropriate to the child and situation. Tove, one of Martin’s teachers, explains, “It’s about their needs when they come here. It’s ok to speak Danish, English – I even use my French or Dutch if a child needs that. It depends on the child – I’m going to do what I can to make them happy here.”
*Martin gathers more ice*
Music
After a half-hour of quiet time relaxing on mats and listening to classical music, Martin heads off to music class with a small group of children from his class. This is an optional session, provided weekly at the school by a local music teacher from the Billund community, and Martin’s parents have chosen to have him participate. Children play instruments, sing, and dance for the duration of the 45-minute session, then return back to the classroom for an afternoon snack.
Exploring instruments during music class
Goodbye
It is 2pm, which marks the end of the official school day and the start of After School Club. Some days, Martin stays longer and plays in the school’s After School Club, which includes another chance to play outside for an hour, followed by child-chosen indoor activities. On these days, Martin’s favorite place to play is in the Slide Room, which features an indoor slide, climbing ropes, and other gross-motor play materials.
At ISB, parents pick up their children any time between 14:00-16:00. Today, Martin’s mother has a short work day, and she arrives as Martin is finishing up his afternoon snack of fruit and bread. She joins Martin at the snack table, chatting with Signe, one of the After School Club teachers. A few minutes later, Martin and his mother head for the door, grabbing his bicycle helmet on the way out the door for their ride home.
Playing in the slide room
Martin and his mother saying goodbye
Driving the Train: Closing Thoughts
Martin and his peers were quite clearly in the driver’s seat throughout this day at ISB. From the moment he arrived at school in the morning, Martin had opportunities to lead his own learning. He chose his own activities during morning Unit of Inquiry time, deciding which materials to use, how to manipulate them, who to play with, and how long to stay engaged in that activity with the balls and tubes before moving on. This choice and self-direction is not accidental; Ruth had carefully prepared the classroom environment and set up the daily schedule to invite children to both lead their own learning and to experience choice, wonder, and delight through the novel materials and playful interactions with peers. This was not free play, but rather play with an educational purpose, connected to the interdisciplinary K1 learning goals of the IB unit on Color.
Of course, some of the moments of learning in Martin’s day were spontaneous rather than planned. The experience finding ice on the playground was spontaneous and unexpected, and Ruth was ready to support this child-initiated experiment, trusting that the children would take their exploration in a purposeful direction. And when the train took off ahead of the conductor on the way to the library, Ruth stepped aside to allow them to pass, confident in the children’s capability to lead themselves and willing to allow that moment to unfold. Throughout this day in K1, Ruth’s playful, experimental, and respectful teaching set the stage for Martin to thrive, developing a strong sense of well-being, happiness, and eagerness to learn in school. | <urn:uuid:2176fc59-f5b5-4875-9a42-fc2848483458> | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | https://isbillund.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/DITL-K1.pdf | 2019-04-21T08:05:51Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578530505.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20190421080255-20190421102255-00451.warc.gz | 444,452,996 | 5,145 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.994975 | eng_Latn | 0.997885 | [
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The purpose of this report is to give an overview of both official and unofficial parts of International Design Project 2016 and to make suggestions on its future improvement.
The main idea of International Design Project is to provide the students with an opportunity to create a real prototype out of their own idea which is something a lot of university projects lack. So we would like to go step by step in analysing our own experience of creating something with an international team.
**The first meeting and the decision**
The first official meeting of our full team was a skype conference at the 18 of March. Our team, as each team in this Project, consisted of three german and three russian students. Before that skype conference, team members from one country had met separately to get first information about the actual working process during this project, the making of the visas (for german students), and also to think about project ideas.
The reason why we all participated in this Project was that it was a real chance not only to think about our own ideas but also, and more importantly, create
something, build a prototype using appropriate tools. For the half of us this Project was the first experience of engineering creativity that ended up in a real prototype, not just scheming and calculating.
During the first meeting we had to decide altogether what we wanted to make and what our project was going to be like. We were allowed to create any kind of project we liked, but it had to fit in with several points. First, we had to remember that we only had three months in this project and the majority of that time we would spend in different countries. So we had to choose the project which we could finish in this time. Second, it was a very important thing not to run out of the budget that we had, which was a very difficult thing because we didn’t even know that there were any restrictions about that. So our main aim was to make sure all of the needed components are reasonably priced. And third, we had to think about the project that could be produced by ourselves, meaning that every member of the group had the work to do and we didn’t need special equipment (apart from that in FabLab) or extra members. So before the actual meeting every member of the team or the part of the team from one country put down couple of ideas and sketches so that we could choose altogether later.
At the skype conference we first saw all participants. There were 4 teams with 6 students in each. After short introduction and a brief information about the whole Project we started conference within our own team. We made a short introduction of ourselves and a small summary of what we study and of skills we bring to this team. Then we exchanged the ideas and sketches. Everyone of us showed one project idea, so we had 6 ideas to choose the final one from. In the beginning it was a bit complicated to talk with three people on another side of the monitor because german students had only one pair of headphones, but that was figured out pretty quickly.
The decision of which idea to choose was made almost instantly. It probably looked like a long time making it because during explanation we had to change failing equipment of the PC and sometimes repeat our ideas as at first we had a bit of misunderstanding in languages. But we helped ourselves with gesture language and drawings. We had a lot of wonderful ideas, but we could only do one so we decided to build a little BB-8, the “Star Wars 7” robot. We were all very excited about that the second we heard this idea, so since that moment it seemed we didn’t have any other choice but to build this little robot.
The rest of the time we discussed how we could make the robot move, what we needed to build it and how we could stay in contact the days before we meet each other in St. Petersburg.
It was one of the most wonderful things happened during the whole project work, the fact that within our team almost every decision was made very quickly but still through discussion. Since the day one we didn’t spend much time on quarreling or arguing about anything. We thoroughly discussed everything to understand what each of us means and each of us dislikes about the idea so that there wouldn’t be obstacles that we couldn’t overcome.
**Time between the meeting and arrival in St. Petersburg**
We had a bit more than two weeks between the conference in skype and the arrival of the german students in St. Petersburg, so there were several tasks we had to accomplish.
The first thing to do was to lay down a list with all components and materials we needed to construct our robot. For example: Arduino for controlling, possible sensors for measurement of the movement or the material we wanted to make the body for the robot from. The cost sheet is available on the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tkKIFXLkSuNyADffe74xY2TsrRB2mH5bSy7413XSSDg/edit?usp=sharing
Also we had to write a kind of introduction to our project.
The second thing was to prepare as much as we could before the actual construction process so that we wouldn’t need to waste our time on that. So we made a 3D model for the body and parts inside of it and gave the programming and the controlling of the robot a thought as well.
The third task for the german students was to make their visas for entering Russia as it turned out to be not that easy.
In that time we mostly contacted via Skype and WhatsApp to talk about some of appearing problems and new ideas how to solve them.
**In St. Petersburg 03. - 11. 04.2016**
The arrival of the german students in St. Petersburg, Russia was on Sunday, the third of April. They were taken from the airport to the students hostel near the Polytechnic University of Peter the Great. This was now the home for the german students for the next 11 days.
In the hostel it happened to be the first time for the german students to face the language barrier. The matron of the hostel could speak neither German nor English and obviously german students could not speak Russian. So with difficulties in understanding her and the staff everyone tried to follow all steps they had to do, to check in and to get the room key. After pretty complicated check-in everyone was introduced to the russian student who later helped translate everything the matron had to say. The rest of the day the german part of International Design Project walked through St. Petersburg and saw a bit of the city.
On Monday morning, the fourth of April, at 10 am we had the first meeting where we could finally see each other in person. The meeting was in FabLab Polytech, which is a fabrication laboratory that helps people bring their ideas to life. It is a very interesting place with atmosphere of co-working and co-creating in the air. It is placed in an old laboratory for fluid mechanics, with enough space to work for many students. As the main aim of this laboratory is to inspire and make people create something original and useful, inside it you will find a lot of tools for that, e.g., 3D printers, couple of laser cutters, drilling machines, a milling cutter, a sign-cutting machine, lots of hand-guided tools, examples of old projects, projects still in developing, lots of materials you could think about like plywood or plastic, etc.
International Design Project, at least, its first part, was held during the VIII International Fab Lab School, which is a special event held several times a year by Fablab Polytech and Peter the Great Polytechnic University. During this school that lasts usually for a week students from different countries make a team, choose a project to create and bring it to life using all of FabLab tools. There are usually workshops and lectures that would help in producing a project, for example, basics of CAD or programming. So besides four german-russian teams there were a lot of different groups which had not chosen the project to work on before the School and actually met there on the first day for the first time.
The first day of work started with official speeches from representatives of the University, the FabLab and the Project, then all project ideas got a short introduction.
It had never been mentioned before so it was a small surprise for us that we should explain our project to others. Polina and Svenja made a spontaneous presentation about our idea and our plans for the next days. While other students had to choose a project, we could finally start with ours.
The seven days in Russia had nearly all the same schedule. At 10 am we would start our project work with actual designing, cutting and printing needed parts. Then there would be some small workshops about CAD, CAM, working with special software and etc, everyone who was interested in could participate. Around 2 pm we used to have lunch. It was served in the university canteen for all of members, several buildings down the street. After that we would go back together and work until 5 pm. There would also be different workshops in that time. In between we could have tea or coffee with cookies or snacks. After the end of the working day there used to be a free time when we were allowed to do whatever we wanted.
Most days, except maybe the first one, we would do something together as one big international team. Couple of times we went in a bar and played games which included a lot of talking and explaining, also we watched football matches as at that time there was the World Cup going on. It was all relaxed and calm, Russian students tried to do their best to make German students feel welcomed and comfortable. Once our international company went around the city, got a chance to see St. Petersburg in the night and was told a lot of interesting information about historical places we were passing by. We even visited the Hermitage, one of the most famous arts museum of the world. Once after a long working day we attended the Grand Maquette which is usually referred to as "Russia in miniature". There you could see the real maquette of the most important parts of Russia in a miniature version with cars, trains and a lot of eye-catching details in it.
The creative process
The first discussion we had in real life turned out to be a pretty difficult one as a part of students had difficulties in expressing themselves in another language. We had to struggle with that all the way through because we all had different levels of English but there was an important point for us as a team that day. We understood who had the troubles with what and afterwards tried to help each other understand something better, not to get annoyed at each other. It was a great thing to learn how to deal with the problems of another member of the team to make a working process comfortable and productive.
So after quite long and complicated discussions of where to start our project from and what to produce first, we started with printing the body. For that we used a 3D printer, but our first attempt to print a half of the body needed about 23 hours. It meant we could easily start with different parts.
The insides of the robot included a platform on which we planned to place all of the electronic parts, the holder for the metal balls so the platform could move smoothly inside the ball, the wheels, and the head holder. So all of that had to be designed and produced. For the wheels, a 3D printed form was made, and then silicone was used to produce the wheels. The platform was cut out of plywood. On this platform we would place the electronic parts and the wheels.
Of course, we had some problems. The first one appeared in discussing the material of the body and the platform; we could not agree on that and finally were not sure how and where we were supposed to find those materials. However, as has already been mentioned, in the end we used plywood and plastic, and there was a lot of that in FabLab Volts.
Also, as we have already stated, there was a problem with languages. Sometimes it was complicated to discuss things, but our
team was really quick to learn how to discuss things fast. When a problem appeared we tried to explain everything to all members and then tried to find solutions. We always took the time so all of us worked well together. When there were no words for explaining we would find another way to show the problem, like drawing or gesturing. Still trying to explain different stuff that we had never had to deal with before we all learned new vocabulary and trained to speak fluently and without being shy.
Surely not only problems with communication did we have. Joking among ourselves, we called our group “the destroyers” as during this week the six of us probably destroyed more things than you usually do in a month. It all started when we connected the battery with the board through cables and they just burnt.
Later we tried to implement the Bluetooth Module on the board and after a measurable amount of time understood it was broken, the second one broke down right in our hands so the actually working Bluetooth Module is the third one we had.
After we printed the two halves for the body (that took us two days) we saw that they wouldn’t fit because the tolerance of the 3D printer was too cruel for our 3D model so we had to change it all. Basicly we tried to fix this problem without reprinting the whole body, like cutting out the unnecessary part that prevented two parts from fitting, then printing the little ring and glueing it to one hemisphere but all of those were in vain as the parts didn’t fit in the end. So we just reprinted the new version of our body.
While we were programming the Arduino, the laptop of our programmer Moritz crashed. The first day our leading engineer David crashed his tablet. There were a lot more accidents happened to our project. But we never stopped, always finding another way to deal with all the unpleasance, solutions to all problems and the way to finish this prototype.
On the last day we were happily able to work longer than normally. Nearly all other teams had left
but we were so close to make the body roll that we didn’t want to stop working until we could see him roll. And we made him roll, that evening.
It was a moment when we all were very proud of our project. It worked not as well as we thought or hoped it would, but we were able to move the ball with our mobile phone via bluetooth forwards or backwards. It was sadly not possible to turn him right and left like we wanted, he had something on his mind that prevented him from listening to our commands. Also we didn’t have enough time to construct the head, so that was the task left for the summer part of the Project.
For the next day we made a presentation of our project on a platform called “instructables”, where you can find an instruction how to build anything in the world. There you can find a more detailed description of our project, the materials we used, pictures and step-by-step instruction how to do what we have done. Also we had to make a poster to show what steps we did.
This is the link to our project:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Little-BB-8/?ALLSTEPS
Time between St. Petersburg and Hannover
Even though we made our ball roll around at the last day of work, we were still far away from being finished with the project. There were a lot of things that had to be improved or even re-done. So we split the tasks we had to do before we meet again in Hannover, for that we had a bit more than 8 weeks. The Russian team members constructed a new body because the old one was not completely round and the surface was rough. That were, as we thought, the reasons why the robot wouldn’t obey every command it was sent. Also they produced other parts we would need in Hannover, like special holders for head magnets and the model of these holders being installed onto our platform, because in Hannover we wouldn’t
have so much tools like in Russia.
The german teammates were responsible for programming the arduino and the controlling app.
Together we thought about new problems and discussed if it would be possible and how to construct a functional head which would move when the robot moves.
Three weeks after the german students left St. Petersburg they were sent the project (actually the insides of the robot, the platform) so they could test the new programme before the meeting.
**In Hannover 11. - 16.06.2016**
The russian students arrived in the late evening at Saturday, the 11th of June. They stayed in a hotel near the university. The arrival of the russian team was very nervous because till the last minute it was unclear when they arrive and how long they were going to stay, all of that due to organisational problems. Thankfully everything turned out to be okay.
This time the first day for the project was the Sunday morning. We met at the international office and were given a little workshop about international team work, cultural differences and ways to deal with all that, had fun with answering some questions in a group work.
After quick lunch we came to work in the rooms of the ZDT, the place where we would work for this part of the Project. It was one big room with tables for working and a smaller room where all the tools and materials were stored.
The working time in Hannover was more limited than the time in St. Petersburg. We just had 3 days to make all the changes and to finish what we had begun in Russia. Each day we worked the entire day with a small breaks when we would check the food 4 german students brought each day. In the evenings we would go for a walk in smaller groups through Hannover, for example, sit down in a bar or just enjoy the city.
In the first place our team tried the new body with the new app. The app back in Russia was difficult to operate with as you had to write the actual commands to move the ball and, obviously, that wasn’t very quick. This time it looked quite professional and was much easier to use as the interface was simple (you can see it on the photo above).
We had to face couple of problems with the new body and the old wheels so we had to make some changes into the inside design of the robot but in the end we could move the ball again. So we started dealing with the head. The Russian members brought the printed head with them, we put four magnets inside of it and 3 balls to make its movements on the surface of the body easier. Unfortunately, after many attempts to make the body move with the head on, we had to admit that the head was heavier than the body could take. The wheels and the motors weren’t strong enough to move the ball and the head together.
Sadly we didn’t have enough time to make a new head or provide stronger movement for the ball. We tried a lot of different solutions from placing stones on the platform to make it heavier to reprogramming the speed of the wheels spinning, but nothing worked.
On the last day we painted the body and made a PowerPoint presentation where we had to describe the most important parts of our work and explain what we would change if we would have more time.
The presentation at the afternoon was in front of important members of our university and interested people. It started with
welcoming speeches and then we all had to present our projects, to show the development of it. The most important thing was to show how it works, in our case how the robot moves. It was nice to see what we all had created in such a short period of time while we all had our own studies and exams going on.
After the presentation in our last evening together we prepared a little surprise goodbye party for Igor, the director of the Fablab Polytech who was about to live his position soon after the return to Russia. We stayed up all night, walking around the city, chatting a lot, having fun. It happened to be a very memorable night. Also it was a nice way to say goodbye to our team members.
What we loved about the project and what we would change for the next
What we usually miss in our university studies, is practice, actual creating of your ideas. So it was excellent to construct a whole project from the total beginning, just the idea, to the production of concrete and tangible parts of our mechanism. One of the most significant advantages of this is the fact that we could produce them on our own. It means we had to develop new skills like using a 3D printer, drilling, programming new software or even mixing chemical fluids in right proportion to create the wheels.
For all of us it was a great experience of international teamwork and of practicing our English in a more interesting and more successful way than in an usual English course. As we had to speak English all the time in our everyday life to communicate with people around who didn’t speak our native language and also while working on our project, we needed a lot of vocabularies we may have never thought about but that could be necessary in the future.
Another important point for us is that we have found not only good teammates but new friends as well. We learned a lot about the cultural
differences of our countries and some things that are not so different. For example, people behaviour, the opening time of shops and etc. We had the chance to look through the stereotypes and find a lot of things people usually do not know about both of our countries and people in it.
The project was a fun and educational experience. However, there are several things we would like to change or improve.
First, it seemed that Russian and German organisation committees lacked coordination in a lot of ways. It showed in late booking for the flights of Russian students, not enough information for the day timetable both in Russia and Germany, not really organised part-time events. So we would suggest improving the organisation about those things for the next project.
Second, it would be nice to provide the students with some information about working process before they arrive at a place of work. That information, for example, could include the list of materials students could use in FabLab, the short list of the tools they would be able to operate with both in Russia and Germany, the budget that the project should be ran on and etc. All of that is essential in the time of discussing a project as the whole working process depends on that.
Third, we, especially the Russian part of the project, would like to admit that the time for the visit to Hannover was difficult as everyone had their university exams going on. So we had to prepare for our exams during the project and even take the exams earlier than stated, it was nervous and uncomfortable, not really helpful for the project itself. We would suggest considering a change in dates for the project.
Fourth, the working time in Hannover was too short for finishing our project. It might be nice to prolong the stay in Germany.
To put it in the nutshell, it was a wonderful beneficial project and we would suggest that everyone try it and gain a fascinating experience. We hope everything we noticed would be improved and we are looking forward to continuing the international communication with our colleagues. | 02096182-daa3-4a7e-b483-d8d6870c7846 | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://www.uni-hannover.de/fileadmin/Internationales/pdf/Wege_ins_Ausland/Erfahrungsberichte/Russland/FabLabInternational_Design_Project_2016_Team_D.pdf | 2021-05-17T13:31:47+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243991772.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20210517115207-20210517145207-00247.warc.gz | 1,088,007,111 | 4,756 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.999243 | eng_Latn | 0.999306 | [
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2024 School Charter
Including
Strategic Plan 2024-2025
and
Annual Implementation Plan 2024
School Vision
The Taupiri School Vision Statement is:
Toi te Kupu, Toi te Mana, Toi te Whenua
Our Stories, Our Mana, Our Place
School Mission
The Taupiri School Mission Statement is:
To build responsible and resilient young people, who can establish and maintain positive relationships and create a better future for all.
School Values
Responsibility
Relationships
Taupiri has a long history of both Maori and European settlement.
During the sixteenth century Tainui tribes settled throughout the Waikato. In the following hundred years settlements became established in the Taupiri district - Te Uapoto, Komakorau and Kaitotehe, which was opposite Taupiri Mountain. During this time the Ngati Mahuta of the central Waikato was the most important hapu of the river tribes.
It was Te Putu, chief of the Waikato people, who built Taupiri pa. Its excellent strategic site made it easy for Te Putu to control the traffic on the three main right-of-ways of the time. The first was the Waikato River, the second was a track from Taupiri via the Mangawara to the Piako Valley, and the third was the Kaitotehe to Kawhia track.
Taupiri Mountain became tapu and a cemetery for the Waikato people around 1740. The reason for this was Te Putu’s death and the incident surrounding it.
A Maori Mission School was established on the western side of the Waikato River. Around 1877 a soldier’s camp was established at the junction of the Waikato and Mangawhara Rivers, and the present highway runs through the site of the camp.
The only known battle fought between the Maori and the early settlers was at the junction of the Waikato and Mangawhara Rivers. By accounts it was a desperate battle and many were killed. The graves are now covered by the main highway and are unknown to today’s travellers.
Taupiri School History
Taupiri School has a long history of educating local children. Sometime during 1875 – 1880 milled timber arrived by river for the building of Taupiri School and was landed just up the river from the Anglican Church. A settler was given the job of carting the heart kauri timber and the bricks for the chimney onto the school site. During the Christmas holidays around 1888 the chimney was replaced and a central heating system was installed in the centre of the large one-roomed school. Wooden spouting and shingles were replaced by iron. The school grounds were extended to four and half acres of land. Unregistered race meetings were held in the school paddock, as were sports and cricket.
By 1902 Taupiri School consisted of one building with two classrooms and a porch. The grounds included a playground and a covered shelter-shed. The tennis courts were situated on the grounds of the six-roomed residence of the headmaster.
In 1920 a two-room building was built which over time has been used in a variety of ways; the original internal wall between the two classrooms have been removed and today, and has been replaced with lovely sliding doors. This lovely sunny historical building houses our Junior classes.
**School Description**
Taupiri School is a full primary school, catering for children from Year 1 - Year 8 (5 year-olds to 13 year-olds). The school is separated into 6 learning classrooms (Whaanau). The year levels within these rooms change throughout the year, as student need and numbers demand. They are looked at as our Junior, Middle and Senior schools. The classroom spaces are named after important historical places for our manawhenua. This names were gifted to us by Taupiri Marae. The learning of these important places has become a part of our local curriculum, and continues to enhance our relationship with Taupiri Marae.
The school grounds consist of two large playing fields, two tar sealed courts, two fabulous interactive playgrounds, 2 swing areas, growing number of native gardens, including our community gardens, and play areas, including a playhouse built by our students and whaanau, a shaded sandpit and a large hall with storage facilities. Our large trees supply natural shade for our students in the warmer weather.
Taupiri School students have a wide ranging curriculum including whole school kapa haka, sign language and technology for our Year 7 and 8’s onsite at another local school. We work to develop new curriculum ideas each year with input from students, whaanau and the wider community.
Taupiri School has the benefit of a Social Worker in Schools (SWiS) who is based at the school one day a week and who is available for both students and their whaanau. The SWiS works alongside the teachers in the classroom and utilises one of our withdrawal spaces.
Taupiri School has enhanced the Health and Physical Education curriculum, with connections to the Huntly Sports Cluster, giving students the opportunity to broaden the range of sports they try and increase the level of healthy competition. Ka Ora Ka Ako, Healthy Lunches in Schools, is another asset to our student community, offering a range of hot and cold meals depending on the term.
We are a member of the Duffy-Books-in-Homes programme and KidsCan.
Taupiri has a whaanau philosophy, where everyone is an important part of how we do things. This allows for tuakana teina relationships to be utilised, both within a classroom and across the school. Whaanau are welcome and encouraged to participate in the learning that takes place.
Outdoor activities, such as gardening, have given us opportunities to promote and gain understanding of our environment and our responsibility to leave our planet better than we found it. This allowed for learning opportunities to create a set of community vegetable gardens, where produce is given back to the school and wider community.
The board, staff, students and whaanau are committed to working cooperatively in order to lead Taupiri School from the present to the future.
School Roll February 7, 2024:
| | Boys | Girls | Total |
|----------------------|------|-------|-------|
| Maaori Students | 23 | 23 | 46 |
| Pasifika Students | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Asian Students | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Pakeha Students | 23 | 22 | 45 |
| All Students | 51 | 51 | 102 |
Cultural Dimensions
Cultural Perspectives
Taupiri School’s curriculum will recognise the unique position of Maaori within New Zealand society. It will provide students with experiences and understandings in cultural traditions, language and local and national histories.
At Taupiri School we are able to enjoy the tuakana-teina relationships in our learning and teaching environment.
Taupiri School staff continue to undertake Culturally Responsive Pedagogy professional development, which has assisted in understanding Te Ao Maaori and its importance in our curriculum. The Principal, staff, and Board are also a part of the Maaori Achievement Collaborative, which has extended our viewpoint and incorporation of Te Ao and Te Reo Maaori.
Tikanga Maaori and Te Reo Maaori
Taupiri School will provide learning opportunities in tikanga Maaori and te reo Maaori for all students, as a part of the daily classroom programmes. Whole school Kapahaka is timetabled on a weekly basis and whaakatau will be a routine event when we have visitors. Integrated Unit plans will include a Te Ao Maaori component where possible.
Pae Korero time is a set programme within Taupiri School where planned activities to enhance Te Ao, Te Reo, and Matauranga Maaori occur, alongside school karakia and whanaungatanga.
Our students learn their pepeha during this time and continue to practice speaking it confidently in front of larger numbers of people.
Full time Te Reo Maaori instructional classes will be considered based upon personnel with required skills and qualifications, financial position and ability to accommodate within the school programmes.
Consultation With Maaori
Consultation with all families with a Maaori child/ren attending Taupiri School is undertaken. All whaanau are invited to participate. Where possible this is held in the form of a hui, where whaanau are encouraged to bring members of their wider whaanau to share their thoughts. Ideas agreed on at the hui may be incorporated in the school’s planning and where applicable included in the school’s annual plans for the forthcoming year.
Board’s Undertakings
Consultation
The Taupiri School Board consults with the Maaori community and wider community. Processes for consultation include School Newsletters, Board of Trustees Meetings, Whaanau and
Teacher Conferences, Whaanau hui, online consultation forms, and kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face with parents and family).
**Planning Year**
Taupiri School's planning year is mid-December to mid-December. The implementation of the school's plans is from the beginning of the new school year.
**School’s Charter and Annual Report**
The Taupiri School Board sends a copy of the School current Charter to the Ministry of Education annually by March 1. By May 31, the Ministry of Education will forward a copy of the school's previous year's Annual Report.
| Strategic Goal | Board Primary Objectives | National Education and Learning Priorities | End result | Broad Steps to achievement | How Success will be measured |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Taupiri School will provide a wide and varied teaching and learning programme that is aligned to Te Mātaiaho and its philosophies. | *Every student at the school is able to attain their highest possible standard of educational achievement.
*The school is inclusive of, and caters for, students with differing needs.
*Gives effect to Tiriti o Waitangi | *Quality Teaching and Leadership
*Future of Learning and Work
*World Class Inclusive Public Education | *Full and thorough Taupiri School Local Curriculum, which aligns to Te Mātaiaho
*Reporting of progress and data, and sharing of learning will align with school motto, vision, and values and align with Te Mātaiaho and Te Tiriti o Waitangi | *Develop Taupiri School’s local curriculum in alignment to Te Mātaiaho
*Full implementation of Aotearoa New Zealand Histories
*Mātaitipu - Vision for Young People unpacked and actioned within the school’s local curriculum
*Review data analysis to ensure relevance to the Taupiri School’s Local Curriculum
*Review reporting to parents/community, and sharing of learning | *Taupiri School’s Local Curriculum will incorporate all aspects of Te Mātaiaho and its philosophies.
- documentation will be updated and completed.
- teaching and learning programmes will be documentation in action.
* Reporting of progress and data, and sharing of learning will align with school motto, vision, and values and align with Te Mātaiaho and Te Tiriti o Waitangi
- Taupiri School Board will be able to access and understand the data presented to them, making it available for informed decision making
- Parents and whaanau are able to access progress reporting and sharing of learning, in a way that aligns with the school motto, vision, and values. |
| Taupiri School will take learning beyond the school boundaries. | Every student at the school is able to attain their highest possible standard of educational achievement.
*The school is inclusive of, and caters for, students with differing needs.
*Gives effect to Tiriti o Waitangi | *Learners at the centre
*Barrier free Access | *Involvement with Huntly Sports Cluster
*Engaging learning with Taupiri Marae
*Engaging with whaanau and community during ‘special days’ at Taupiri School | *Where possible align Physical Education programme with Huntly Cluster sports programme
*Where possible align school calendar with Huntly Cluster sports programme
*Meet with Taupiri Marae committee to design and implement learning days at Taupiri Marae
*Invite Taupiri Marae members, including kohanga reo, to schools special days
*Incorporate ‘special days’ into the Taupiri School calendar to match learning experiences, days of significance, school vision/values, and community projects | *Middle/Senior school classes will participate in Huntly Cluster Sports activities where possible
-increase number of students participating in Huntly Cluster sports days
-increase the number of sports days Taupiri School will participate in with Huntly Cluster sports days.
*Taupiri School will engage with their learning with Taupiri Marae
-tamariki and staff will have been part of a powhiri at Taupiri Marae
-tamariki and staff will be part of learning sessions at Taupiri Marae
-Taupiri Marae will participate in learning experiences at Taupiri School
* Engaging with whaanau and community during special days’ at Taupiri School
-create a school calendar with ‘special days’ and advertise these early in the year/term for whaanau and community attendance and engagement. |
| Taupiri School will ensure the integration of the school's motto, vision, and values across all aspects of the school. | *The school
- is physically and emotionally safe place for all students and staff
- gives effect to the relevant student rights
- takes all reasonable steps to eliminate racism, stigma, bullying, and other forms of discrimination.
*The school is inclusive of, and caters for, students with differing needs.
*Gives effect to Tiriti o Waitangi. |
| --- | --- |
| *Learners at the centre
*World Class Inclusive Public Education |
| *Board policies and Taupiri School procedures will make mention of aspects of the school motto, vision, and/or values
*Taupiri School environment will reflect the schools motto, vision, and values |
| *Board will consider the school motto, vision, and values during policy reviews at each meeting
*Decisions about enhancing the school environment will focus on the incorporation of school motto, vision, and values
*Signage will developed to share the school values around the school
*Safe spaces for relational support and play will continue to be built
*Sensory spaces will continue to be developed in our outside environment
*Culture of our tamariki and whaanau will be evident in our school community |
| *Board policies will make mention of aspects of the school motto, vision, and/or values.
- board discussions will include where the school motto, vision, and/or values can be included in the wording.
*Taupiri School environment will reflect the schools motto, vision, and values
- signage will show school values around the school -environment will give students the ability to be resilient in their activity
-continue to build spaces for relational support and play
-continue to build spaces to support ideal of kaitiaki of our place
-culture of tamariki and whaanau will be evident in our outdoor spaces – art work, wording, play equipment, plantings |
Summary of the plan
Taupiri School community voice, including whaanau, staff, tamariki, and board, was gathered to see what they wanted to continue, develop, begin, and stop. From this information the Board created broad strategic goals, as well as incorporating aspects of our previous strategic planning that was incomplete and still important to us as a school. The plan is focussed on all aspects of the school from board, into the classroom spaces, into our school environment, and beyond.
Current Status
Taupiri School has been working on their Local Curriculum over the last year or so. The implementation of Te Mātaiaho, including Aotearoa New Zealand Histories and Relationship and Sexuality Education, has been an ongoing progress over 2023. The school staff utilised the allocated Ministry allocated teacher only days to unpack Te Mātaiaho, its philosophies, and the start of the Common Practice Model – solidifying what Taupiri School’s Common Practice Model includes (supporting transitioning within and across Taupiri School, consistency of teaching and learning approaches, and consistency of expectations for staff and tamariki).
Taupiri School had a greater involvement in our local sports cluster, community projects, and Taupiri Marae prior to covid. The school community want to reengage and energise these connections again. Taupiri School values are integrated into the schools teaching and learning programmes, sharing of learning, and reporting to whaanau and board. Taupiri School motto is a bases for integrated learning focus. Children are aware of our school values and how they are used to support themselves as people, as learners, and as members of their communities – home, school, wider community.
Giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Taupiri School’s Strategic plan allows for all members of our school community to be seen, heard, and included in all aspects of the school – teaching and learning programmes, policies and procedures, school environment. It allows for partnership with our local marae and our local stories and history. The ability for all members of our community to participate in sharing of culture – especially Maori, through te reo, tikanga, te aro, mātauranga Maori. The school environment as well as the teaching and learning programme will reflect our commitment to tangata whenua and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We as a school will protect the history and stories of our local area – sharing these in the appropriate way, with the appropriate people, in the appropriate context. We will protect the integrity of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in our school policies and procedures. Whaanau will have a voice in our school direction, and participated in events that share mātauranga Maori.
Teaching and Learning Programmes
Taupiri School’s Local Curriculum will guide the school’s Teaching and Learning Programmes. They will be inclusive of the school’s mottos, vision, and values. They will include all aspects of Te Mātaiaho and its philosophies. This implementation will be done through an integrated approach that is consistent and inclusive of our students’ needs. As part of our Taupiri School Common Practice Model, sharing of learning, reporting progress and data will be reviewed and streamlined in order for whaanau to be able to engage with the information easily, and the Taupiri School Board to be able to make informed decisions. Our philosophy of learning inside and outside of the classroom will be enhanced through the strategic goals set for 2024 and 2025. Kaitiakitanga will continue to be a focus, as will participation in local activities.
Strategic Goal: Taupiri School will provide a wide and varied teaching and learning programme that is aligned to Te Mātaiaho and its philosophies.
Annual Goal: Te Mātaiaho will be evident in Taupiri School’s local curriculum, teaching and learning programme and associated documentation
What we expect to see by the end of the year:
- Full implementation of the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum
- Mātaitipu – Vision for Young People will be unpacked and actioned within the school’s local curriculum.
| Actions: | Who is responsible? | Resources Required: | How will you measure success? |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| *Taupiri School’s Local Curriculum documentation will be updated and completed aligning to Te Mātaiaho, including Aotearoa New Zealand Histories | Judith, Sam, Nicole | Release time | Documentation will be updated and completed. |
| *Mātaitipu – Vision for Young People unpacked and actioned within the school’s local curriculum | Judith, Sam, All staff | Staff meeting time | Taupiri School Local Curriculum will have Mātaitipu will included in the documentation |
| | | Release time | |
| * Taupiri School’s teaching and learning programmes will be documentation in action. | Judith, Sam, Curriculum Lead, All teaching staff | Release time | Teaching and learning programmes will be documentation in action. |
| | | | - Observations, planning, Professional Growth Cycle conversations evidence this implementation |
Strategic Goal: Taupiri School will take learning beyond the school boundaries.
Annual Goal: Taupiri School will engage with outside learning opportunities
What we expect to see by the end of the year:
- Involvement with Huntly Sports Cluster
- Engaging learning at Taupiri Marae
- Engaging with whaanau and community during ‘special days’ at Taupiri School
| Actions: | Who is responsible? | Resources Required: | How will you measure success? |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| *Where possible align Physical Education programme with Huntly Cluster sports programme | Judith, Sam, All teaching staff | Release time | Increased number of students participating in Huntly Cluster sports days |
| | | Huntly Cluster sports programme | |
| *Where possible align school calendar with Huntly Cluster sports programme | Judith, Sam | Release time | Increased the number of sports days Taupiri School will participate in |
| | | Huntly Cluster calendar | |
| *Meet with Taupiri Marae committee to design and implement learning days at Taupiri Marae | Judith, Sam | Release time | Tamariki and staff will have been part of a powhiri at Taupiri Marae |
| | | Koha | Tamariki and staff will be part of learning sessions at Taupiri Marae |
| *Invite Taupiri Marae members, including kohanga reo, to schools ‘special days’ | Judith, Sam | Release time | Taupiri Marae and kohanga reo will participate in learning experiences at Taupiri School |
| | | Staff meeting | |
| *Incorporate ‘special days’ into the Taupiri School calendar to match learning experiences, days of significance, school vision/values, and community projects | Judith, Sam, All teaching staff | Release time | Creation of a school calendar with ‘special days’ and advertise these early in the year/term for whaanau and community attendance and engagement. |
| | | Staff meeting | |
| | | Event costs/equipment | |
**Strategic Goal:** Taupiri School will ensure the integration of the schools motto, vision, and values across all aspects of the school.
**Annual Goal:** The Taupiri School board will ensure that the school's motto, vision, and values are evident in all school documentation and environment
**What we expect to see by the end of the year:**
- Board policies will make mention of the aspects of the school motto, vision, or values
- Taupiri School environment will reflect the schools motto, vision, and values
| Actions: | Who is responsible? | Resources Required: | How will you measure success? |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| *Board will consider the school motto, vision, and values during policy reviews at each meeting | Taupiri School Board | School Board Training – NZSTA | Taupiri School Board discussions will include where the school motto, vision, and/or values can be included in the wording. |
| *Decisions about enhancing the school environment will focus on the incorporation of school motto, vision, and values | Judith, Sam, Taupiri School Board, Alia | Release Time | Environment will give students the ability to be resilient in their activity. Continue to build spaces to support ideal of kaitiaki of our place. |
| *Signage will developed to share the school values around the school | Judith, Sam, Alia | Release Time | Signage will show school values around the school. |
| *Safe spaces for relational support and play will continue to be built | Judith, Sam, Alia, Taupiri School Board | Release Time | Continue to build spaces for relational support and play. -friendship seating areas -interactive play spaces increased |
| *Sensory spaces will continue to be developed in our outside environment | Judith, Sam, Alia, | Release Time | Sensory gardens increased and utilised by tamariki and staff. Sensory play spaces developed by and for tamariki. |
| *Culture of our tamariki and whaanau will be evident in our school community | Judith, Sam, Alia, | Release Time | Culture of tamariki and whaanau will be evident in our outdoor spaces -art work, wording, play equipment, plantings |
| 2024 Review | Area of Review | February 19th | March 18th | May 20th | June 17th | August 19th | September 16th | November 18th | December 9th |
|-------------|----------------|--------------|------------|----------|-----------|-------------|---------------|--------------|-------------|
| **Strategic Review** | **Charter** | Confirm Charter and send to MoE | Update on strategic plan and annual goals | Update on strategic plan and annual goals | Update on strategic plan and annual goals | Update on strategic plan and annual goals | Update on strategic plan and annual goals | Review of strategic plan | Annual plan draft |
| **Regular monitoring** | **Policy** | Meeting Process Policy | Meeting Procedure Policy | Board Induction Policy | Board Review Policy | Concerns and Complaints Policy | Public Attending the Board Meeting Policy | Stand-down, Suspension, and Exclusion Policy | Police Vetting Policy | Theft and Fraud Prevention Policy | School Finance Policy | Reporting on Student Achievement Policy | Staff Leave Policy | Staff Appraisal – Support Staff – Policy | Professional Growth Cycle – Teaching Staff - Policy | Behaviour Management Policy | Consultation with the Community Policy | Enrolment of School Staff Children Policy | Bullying Prevention Policy |
| | **Student achievement** | | | | End of Term One Results | | | | | | | | | | | | | | End of Term Three Results | End of year results |
| | **Human Resources** | Principal Professional Growth Cycle | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Principal Professional Growth Cycle review | Professional Growth Cycle summary |
| | **Budget** | Approve | Monitor | Monitor | Monitor | | Review | Monitor | | | | | | | | | | 2025 draft |
| | **ERO Evaluation Indicators** | Domain 3: | Domain 4: | | | Domain 5: | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Rhino Recovery Fund
Overview
The rhino’s most distinguished feature, their horns, are prized for false medicinal purposes and are traded on the black market. Thousands of African and Asian rhinos have been killed for this destructive trade, with two Asian rhinos on the verge of extinction. Additionally, human development is robbing rhinos of their habitats, especially in Southeast Asia, where the rarest rhinos are found.
But there is still hope for rhinos. The Rhino Recovery Fund (RRF) believes with the right support, most rhino species can recover their populations.
Strategy
The Rhino Recovery Fund has two primary investment strategies:
**Rhino Landscapes** We restore functioning landscapes for rhinos and support projects that protect and provide safe habitat for rhinos and all wildlife living within those habitats. We focus on protected area management and projects that ensure rhinos are relevant to the communities they live alongside.
**Rhino Guardians** We invest in projects designed to protect African and Asian rhinos through intelligence-driven operations that disrupt illegal wildlife trafficking. We also work with partners to reduce demand for rhino horn.
The RRF supports innovative projects that benefit both people and rhinos, and that encourage everyone to embrace rhinos and participate in their recovery.
Managed by:
Rhino Range Countries
Rhinos lost a significant amount of their habitat and population in the last century.
- **HISTORIC**
- **CURRENT**
### Rhino Status (IUCN Redlist)
#### AFRICAN RHINO
| Species | Status | Population |
|------------------|-------------------------|------------|
| Black Rhino | Critically Endangered | Increasing |
| White Rhino | Near Threatened | Decreasing |
#### ASIAN RHINO
| Species | Status | Population |
|----------------------|-------------------------|----------------|
| Javan Rhino | Critically Endangered | Stable |
| Sumatran Rhino | Critically Endangered | Decreasing |
| Greater One-horned Rhino | Vulnerable | Increasing |
Individual goals for the five rhino species
1. **WHITE RHINO**
- To halt the decline in numbers and establish projects that allow white rhinos to live safely, including outside of formally protected areas and community owned land.
2. **BLACK RHINO**
- To increase numbers in each current range-state and to establish new populations in black rhino historical range.
3. **GREATER ONE-HORNED RHINO**
- Establish and add to new greater one-horned rhino breeding populations in the current range within the next five years.
4. **JAVAN RHINO**
- Help secure the only wild population of Javan rhinos and support the establishment of an additional secure habitat and translocation initiative.
5. **SUMATRAN RHINO**
- To protect any remaining wild Sumatran rhinos, particularly in areas that allow for natural breeding and ecosystem protection.
$2.9M granted to 37 projects
**Allocation per Region**
- Southern Africa: $1,584 - 55%
- East Africa: $486 - 16%
- Multiple Regions: $440 - 15%
- Southeast Asia: $303 - 11%
- South Central Asia: $83 - 3%
**Allocation per Species**
- Black & White: $1,264 - 44%
- Black: $882 - 31%
- Sumatran: $203 - 7%
- Greater One-horned: $183 - 6%
- White: $178 - 6%
- Javan: $100 - 4%
- All: $66 - 2%
**Allocation per Type of Project**
- Protected Area Management: $1,902 - 66%
- Tackling Trade in Rhino Horn: $873 - 30%
- Coexistence: $100 - 3%
Overall our funds have reached 70% of all rhino populations, including:
- The only remaining viable wild populations of Sumatran and Javan rhinos
- The most significant greater one-horned rhino population in Assam, India
- All of the key rhino populations in East Africa
- The only black rhino population in Zambia
- The reintroduction of black rhinos in Zimbabwe
- The black rhino population of Namibia’s desert
Types of Projects We Fund
- Protection and biological management of rhinos in their natural habitat
- Protected area management, including constructive law enforcement
- Strengthening local pride and support for rhinos and raising the profile of rhinos locally, regionally, and around the world
- Illegal wildlife trade disruption through intelligence-led interventions
- Rhino horn demand reduction with responsible local organizations
- Strategic convenings to bring together rhino conservationists, communities, development specialists, governmental officials, sustainable finance experts, and agencies dealing with wildlife crime disruption
- Innovative ways to increase funding for rhino conservation
Projects Per Country
37 projects spread across 11 countries on two continents.
Source: WCN, October, 2022
Successes
▶ The RRF has invested in almost every major rhino range area in the world, and we continue to expand and support new, significant rhino recovery projects across Africa and Asia. Our funding has aided programs that support all five remaining rhino species, demonstrating the effectiveness of the RRF’s reach since its launch in 2020.
▶ The RRF issued two grants to the Leuser Conservation Forum to establish a rhino protection unit in an area that doesn’t currently have any active patrolling presence. Indonesia’s Leuser ecosystem is a vital habitat for endangered wildlife and the last place in the world that is a collective home to orangutans, elephants, tigers, and the most endangered of the five rhino species, the Sumatran rhino.
▶ The RRF is providing critical support to the Laikipia area of Kenya, where the largest population of eastern black rhinos exists. This grant to Laikipia Conservancies Association (LCA) will allow for the planning of additional range expansion. Once completed, LCA and the Association of Private and Community Land Rhino Sanctuaries (under the management of Kenya Wildlife Service) will move more than 50 eastern black rhinos into the expanded Laikipia range. This will fast track the recovery of this black rhino subspecies.
▶ The RRF has issued several grants to Frankfurt Zoological Society to continue proper rhino monitoring in Tanzania and establish a plan to help rhinos safely exist in an area encompassing the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park. This is an enormous landscape that spans more than 11,580 sq. miles (nearly the size of Maryland). This area is now home to the largest free-ranging eastern black rhino population in the world.
▶ Care for Wild in South Africa protects the largest group—over 100 individuals—of orphaned white rhinos in the world, and two grants from the RRF have helped secure the safety of these orphans and ensured that the 18 oldest of these rhinos will be rewilded into a large reserve made up of community, public, and privately owned land. This is part of an innovative coexistence grant, a first for the RRF.
To date the RRF has supported:
37 projects
31 grantees
11 countries
The RRF has raised:
$5.3 million
to support on-the-ground conservation efforts.
As of October, 2022
“The impact of COVID-19 on African Conservation has been catastrophic. The loss of revenue through tourism has resulted in thousands of job-losses and the rhinos risk being poached due to lack of resources. WCN’s Rhino Recovery Fund offered significant support, ensuring we could maintain critical conservation functions and keep our rhinos safe. We have lost zero rhinos to poaching in 2020 thanks to organizations like the RRF.”
—Jamie Gaymer,
Association of Private and Community Land Rhino Sanctuaries
“One year after reintroducing black rhinos to Gonarezhou National Park, five new calves have been born, bringing the population to 34 rhinos. The Rhino Recovery Fund’s financial and technical support was critical to the success of this project. Ongoing RRF assistance will be crucial as we continue to monitor these rhinos. Our relationship with the RRF is extremely important to us and will allow us to continue this complex conservation work.”
—Hugo Van der Westhuizen,
Gonarezhou Conservation Trust
The Rhino Recovery Fund is managed by:
WCN
Wildlife Conservation Network
Cover photo: Black rhino and calf, South Africa. By sarah moorcroft/EyeEm
Design: Monica DuClaud
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Participation in Partnership
MRF MCM
Malindi Residents Forum Municipal Council Malindi
Manual to implement and strengthen Civil Participation in Local Authorities
This Manual describes the experiences made with the implementation of PiP - Participation in Partnership a project to strengthen Civil Participation in Municipal Governance within Malindi Municipality.
We hope it offers any Local Authority planning to introduce or improve Civil Participation some support in following a systematic approach and might help to avoid mistakes we inevitably made.
The Manual also provides some tools on how to empower the rural population and develop structures for a broad based civil participation including the marginalized.
Participation in Partnership – Manual
This Manual is a joint effort from the Municipal Council of Malindi, the German Development Service (DED) and the Institute for Participatory Development (IPD)
Editing, Design and Layout by Reimer Hamann
Printed by Digital Edge Ltd. Mombasa
## Contents
| Section | Page |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Abbreviations | 4 |
| From the Mayor’s Desk | 5 |
| From the Town Clerk’s Desk | 5 |
| 1. Acknowledgements | 6 |
| 2. Local Government Reforms in Kenya | 7 |
| 3. Problem Statement | 8 |
| 4. Concepts and Principles of Partnership | 10 |
| 5. Participation in Partnership - Overview | 13 |
| 5.1 Objectives | 14 |
| 5.2 Principles | 14 |
| 5.3 Human Rights Approach | 14 |
| 5.4 Voluntarism | 15 |
| 5.5 Activities | 15 |
| 6. Implementation of PiP | 17 |
| Phase One: Stakeholder Consultation | 17 |
| Phase Two: Training of Community Focal Persons | 18 |
| Phase Three: Community Workshop - Preparations | 19 |
| Phase Four: Community Workshop - Process | 20 |
| Phase Five: Follow Up | 25 |
| Phase Six: Community Presentation of Projects | 25 |
| Phase Seven: Monitoring and Evaluation | 25 |
| 7. Formation of an Umbrella Body - MRF | 26 |
| 8. Results and Impact | 28 |
| 9. Challenges | 29 |
| 10. Lessons learnt | 30 |
| Appendix - PiP Tool Kit | 32 |
| Acronym | Meaning |
|---------|----------------------------------------------|
| PiP | Participation in Partnership |
| PLA | Participatory Learning Action |
| CFP | Community Focal Person |
| CORP | Community Resource Person |
| FGDs | Focused Group Discussions |
| CBOs | Community Based Organizations |
| MDGs | Millennium Development Goals |
| GJLOs | Governance Justice Law and Order Sectors |
| MOU | Memorandum of Understanding |
| MRF | Malindi Residents Forum |
| WRF | Ward Residents Forum |
| VRF | Village Residents Forum |
| FBOs | Faith Based Organizations |
| DED | German Development Service |
| MCM | Municipal Council of Malindi |
| IPD | Institute for Participatory Development |
| CAP | Community Action Plan |
From the Mayor’s Desk, Honorable Patterson Kafulo
I wish to welcome you to the Manual documenting the Participation in Partnership (PiP) process in Malindi.
The rationale and justification of the noble idea to cooperate in partnership with the civil society was to create an environment for an all inclusive and transparent running by and of the Council. This was achieved by developing structures allowing stakeholders to make inputs towards the running of the Council and improve transparency and accountability.
PiP achieved for example to sensitize the community on how to participate in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating projects funded by various devolved funds. Civic society structures with the Malindi Residents Forum (MRF) as an umbrella organisation and Residents organisations down to the ward and village level guarantee a broad based participation.
A citizen’s office in Town Hall has been set up to ensure that information is distributed and stakeholder communication and networking is possible.
Transparency and accountability has improved remarkably as regular meetings with stakeholders on budget development are part of the new structures.
I can assure that the Council is fully committed to ensure that the process becomes an exemplary model.
This Manual documents how PiP was rolled out. It might encourage and inspire other Local Authorities to initiate a similar process.
We also invite suggestions and recommendations from stakeholders and others to further improve citizen’s participation in Malindi.
I want to thank the German Development Service (DED) for backing the effort with advice and financial support and assisting in making this Manual possible.
Patterson Kafulo
From the Town Clerk’s Desk, Geoffrey Katsolleh
PiP was born out of the need to create an environment to ensure an all inclusive planning and rolling out of projects run by the Council and from others devolved funds.
PiP embraces the spirit of partnerships, participatory approaches and transparency, in line with the Public service reforms programmes.
We are proud to have successfully rolled out this process and find it worthy to share our experiences with others. The objective of this Manual is to document the experiences and problems, to evaluate lessons learnt and challenges we have faced in rolling out the process.
Furthermore, the Manual might serve as a guideline for those who wish to replicate the process and it will be a benchmark for our future evaluation.
The rolling out of the process came with its own challenges. However, we are proud that we have been able to sensitize the community and built structures where information is shared. This has created an atmosphere of accountability and transparency.
We will not hesitate to recommend to other service providers especially local authorities to borrow a leaf from us and develop participation in partnership processes in their areas of jurisdiction.
Cooperation between the Municipal Council of Malindi and the Civil society has significantly improved the relations between both players.
We have the aspiration to steer this process to greater heights because we have realized the benefit. We also welcome any suggestion and contribution to further improve the process further.
I therefore wish to sincerely thank all those who have contributed to this exercise.
1. Acknowledgements
The Municipal Council of Malindi and the partners of Participation in Partnership (PiP) project are grateful to all those who, in one way or another, directly or indirectly contributed to the success of PiP and the development of this publication.
We wish to acknowledge the commitment and support of His Worship the Mayor, Councillor Patterson K. Kafulo, and Town Clerk, Mr. Geoffrey Katsolleh, for supporting the overall implementation of the Project.
The PiP project partners, the Malindi Municipal Council, the German Development Service (DED), and the Institute for Participatory Development (IPD) deserve to be specially mentioned for their efforts in ensuring that PiP was successfully carried out and implemented.
Thanks to the PiP project Administrative Officer, Mr. Kashero W. Chinyaka, and the DED Technical Advisor, Mrs. Karin Hagemann, for designing and supervising the project.
We would like to thank the team from the Institute of Participatory Development (IDP) and his Executive Director, Mr. Muzungu Ngoma, for carrying out the civic education programme and community participatory planning trainings with the community in collaboration with the Ward Focal Persons and the Malindi Municipal staff.
DED Kenya has been providing assistance to the Participation in Partnership (PiP) project through a secondment of the Technical Advisor since 2003. DED Kenya has provided funds to facilitate the planning and implementation of the project activities. DED Kenya has supported the publication of this Manual.
Special thanks go to documentation team members who, among others, the Municipal Council of Malindi Parks Supervisor and also Chairman of the Workers’ Union, Mr. Macrenson Malingi, and the Public Health Officer, Mr. Erasto Mwanganyi, who took their time to collect information to compile this publication.
Special thanks go to the Malindi Residents Forum Members, Ward Focal Persons, and other stakeholders and community members for their commitment to the Participation in Partnership project process. Their voluntary activities made the success of PiP possible and ensure the sustainability of PiP.
The Kenya Local Government Reform Programme originated from an evaluation on Local Authorities performance and service delivery undertaken by the Omamo Commission and the World Bank. The evaluation resulted in the Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF) Act number 8 of 1998 and the Local Authority Service Delivery Action Plan (LASDAP) Act 2000.
The Ministry of Local Government implements the Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF) and the Local Authority Service Delivery Action Plan (LASDAP) Act in all 171 Local Authorities countrywide to support the Local Authorities to improve services and development and meet their obligations to pay their debts following a Debts Reduction Plan.
The Ministry requires the annual participation of the local communities in the process of defining the LATF projects and in the development of the LASDAP. The Ministry’s intent is to improve people’s living standards through participatory governance in several Government departments including Local Authorities and for that reason designed the Governance, Justice Law and Order Sector (GJLOS) Reform program.
In 2003, the Government launched the Economic Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS). ERS initiative reflected the Government of Kenya’s commitment to collaborate with a wide cross-section of Kenyans on ways to reverse the declining economic growth path.
In 2004 the Government introduced Result Based Management (RBM). RBM enables Local Authorities to focus on results and to act as a service provider, gives space to choose methods and means of service delivery and requires Officers being enabler and facilitator what demands a participatory and team based approach to achieve defined and clearly observable results with efficient use of resources.
Tools of the RBM are Rapid Results Initiatives performance contracts and Local Authorities Integrated Financial Operations Management Systems.
The performance contracts define objectives the respective Local Authority has to meet in a given and agreed time; the results are evaluated and documented.
It is required for all Local Authorities to have a sound strategic plan, departmental work plans and a customer service charter as performance guides. A Service Charter is designed to help the public to measure service and improve on its services delivery process with set criteria. These are aimed at establishing citizens “rights”.
With this reform the rules and operations of Local Authorities can now be seen with the following description given by the Reform Group of the Ministry of Local Government:
“Local authorities exist for political governance and provision of services. The purpose of local authorities can be defined as: Provider of services, community governing itself, builder of diversity, arena for voice and focus, builder of community pride, promoter of choice, avenue for learning and basis for citizenship.”
Malindi meets the requirements of the Government and through local means even extended participation in the Municipality. The Municipal Council of Malindi has been able to cooperate and capture the citizens’ views in its governance through the broad based Participation in Partnership process.
2003 Malindi was in a situation of agony. Public services came to a stand still when the municipal employees decided to go on strike after their salary was not paid for 6 months. Stakeholders expressed their disappointment and criticized the poor service delivery of the council. They explained their mistrust with the Council and the Councillors and that they are tired of unfulfilled promises and the widespread corruption.
The stakeholders expressed their unwillingness to cooperate with the council. The relationship between employees and councillors was full of mistrust; both sides blamed each other to be the cause of the standstill. The frequent transfer of the Town Clerk as the head of administration did not help much to improve the situation; instead, continuity was missing, and projects were not followed up.
In this situation, a small core group started to analyze the problems and discussed opportunities to find a way out. With the assistance of a DED Technical Advisor, it was decided to restart the process of developing a Strategic Plan for Malindi as a roadmap for the Municipality to decide on project priorities and the main and most important duties and to improve service delivery.
A SWOT analysis and a list of actions had already been discussed in several workshops between a few stakeholders, Councillors, and some Senior Officers, and the results were publicized. But the list was long and without any prioritization, many projects were unrealistic and expensive; nobody was in charge for implementation, and consequently, no ownership was developed.
In the first step, workshops were organized for the staff of each of the four departments to ensure their participation in the creation of the Strategic Plan. For the first time ever, the officers discussed the effects (positive and negative) of their activities for the population, and furthermore, they realized that their experience and ideas are an important input towards the development of the Municipality.
Taking into account the scarce resources, they worked on a priority list for short, middle, and long-term projects for their respective departments, including a work plan and a time schedule for the realization of the projects.
The results were discussed and harmonized into an overall priority list in a workshop with all chief officers, the councillors, and stakeholders. Furthermore, they developed task outlines and time schedules and appointed officers to take
charge of the implementation. An implementation group comprising officers from all departments was formed and a monitoring and implementation system, including stakeholders, was set up.
The work was finished successfully and the Strategic Plan was adopted by the full Council and became a policy. Main issues of the Plan focus on a transparent and accountable financial management system and Good Governance.
Obviously, the next step was to concentrate towards the stakeholder community. The several active stakeholders mainly came from Malindi Town but there was no reliable communication structure between the different actors.
The rural areas with their needs had no voice or influence on the decision-making process. The non-existing communication structures between the active stakeholders allowed the municipal to select the stakeholders at will, thus formally ensuring that the requirements of the Kenyan Government policy on participation and information of the citizens was followed.
That was the reason PIP was designed as a pilot project to develop an example about the necessary organizational framework for citizen’s participation to monitor the use of governmental funds and local revenue, to enhance the service delivery of the local authorities, to promote good governance, and locally support to reach the Millennium Development Goals.
This was the starting point of Participation in Partnership (PiP) with the aim to bring together all the civil society organizations working in Malindi to enhance their participation in local governance, to promote consultations in the municipality, open dialogue between the council and the communities, and effective participation in decision-making on prioritization and implementation of development projects.
A basketdealer at the old market in Malindi
4. Concepts and Principles of Partnership
4.1 What is Partnership?
A partnership is a concept of engagement. It can be a collaboration among local institutions or efforts to bring together diverse groups of neighbourhood residents.
In broad terms, which include State - Civil societies - Private sector, partnerships can be defined as ‘multi-actor’ interactions whose purpose is to achieve convergent objectives through combined efforts of the partners, but where the respective roles and responsibilities of the actors involved remain distinct.
In partnerships, the responsibilities, authority and decision-making are shared more evenly than in other forms of participation. There is often a formal agreement between the parties, who work together for a common goal, and share the risks and benefits.
A partnership can be defined as a joint working relationship where the parties
- are otherwise independent bodies.
- agree to co-operate to achieve common goal
- create a process to achieve this goal
- plan and implement a joint programme
- share relevant information, risks and rewards
The development of a partnership is best seen as a process of relationship-building, where there is an expression of shared values and principles in practice and a practical approach to work, which is essential in order to increase efforts to have greater impact and influence.
4.2 Who are Stakeholders?
Generally spoken, all people in a community or municipality are stakeholders, as they will be affected by a service and potentially can influence it but are not directly involved in doing the work.
People who are (or might be) affected by any action taken by a local council e.g parents, children, customers, owners, employees, associates, partners etc., all these are individuals and could try to influence and modify actions taken by their governing body.
Furthermore, there are those stakeholders organized or representing a professional group, an association, a union; in other words members of organized interest groups representing particular segments of society. School board members, environmental organizations, elected officials, chamber of commerce representatives, resident association members, workers union representatives, and religious leaders are all examples of local stakeholders. Their possibilities to influence in what affairs and with which measures for example a Council is taking action are better as for an individual, as they have organized groups backing them and capable of putting pressure on the Council.
The voices and opinions of the poor, people from the rural areas, and women are often not heard or they have no opportunity to express themselves. Broad based citizen’s participation has to consider that and to look for methods and measures to involve everybody. You have to go the people, do not wait until the people come to you – you will wait forever!
4.3 Why do we need to build Partnerships?
- They help to achieve a long lasting social impact and promote a culture of change.
- For pooling resources, building power, strengthening the democratic process, and achieving meaningful neighbourhood change.
- They can help solve complex or difficult problems and find broad based and accepted solutions.
- Partnerships help to increase local commitment.
- Partnerships can make best use of community knowledge and resources.
- They can provide better delivery of services to the community; can lead to greater operational efficiencies.
- They can build skills, leadership capacity and institutional development.
- Partnerships help to create confidence between Council, Civic Wing, and population.
4.4 How to build Partnerships?
- Prioritize the need
- Build political support at all levels
- Combine ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approaches
- Accommodate changing political circumstances among others
4.5 Which Skills required in building Partnerships?
- Mediation and negotiation skills
- Relationship-building and maintaining skills
- Communication skills
- Advisory/consultancy skills
- Training skills.
4.6 What are the Principles of sustaining Partnerships?
- Speak from your own experience.
- Avoid blames, judgments, put-downs or unsolicited advice.
- Encourage participation from all
- Equal time for all
- Decision should by consensus
4.7 What are the Essentials of good Partnerships?
- Clearly defined membership - members must sign a formal statement pledging their support for certain key principles and agreeing to fulfil a specific set of commitments.
- Resource sharing
- Linked service provision
- Elimination of service duplication
- Mutual accountability
4.8 What are the Challenges in implementing and fostering Partnerships?
- Conflict among key interest groups
- Lack of clear purpose
- Unrealistic goals and expectations
- Different philosophy and ways of working
- Poor or lack of communication
- Unequal and unacceptable balance of power
- Key interests missing from the partnership
- Hidden agendas
4.9 What are the key Features for Sustainability?
- Being in agreement that a partnership is necessary
- Respect and trust between different interests
- A shared vision
- Compatible ways of working
- Effective communication
- Collaborative decision-making
- Effective organizational management
The challenges are many. It is very important to give all participants equal access and opportunities. If the differences in education and economic powers are very high, diversify. Give the less educated and poorer a chance to pick up. Start where the people are - not where you want them to be.
Consensus is crucial. Divergent and conflicting interests are usual. Concentrate on common interest and look for agreements. Conflicts can be solved when mutual trust and confidence have grown.
Participation in Partnership (PiP) was introduced in the Municipal Council of Malindi in June 2005. This project is a joint effort between the Municipal Council of Malindi, the Institute of Participatory Development and German Development Services (DED). The three partners are implementing a programme on good governance known as strengthening civil participation in Municipal Governance.
The project overall goal is to promote good governance for poverty reduction through broad based consultation and gender mainstreaming in all development initiatives within the Municipal council of Malindi.
The purpose is to build a working relationship and trust between the local authority and citizens so that they jointly address social and economic challenges for sustainable development. The promotion of good governance practices in all aspects of human life will eventually lead to community economic empowerment within the municipality.
The implementation of PiP activities resulted in the formation of the Malindi Residents Forum (MRF). The Forum is a space provided for Civil Societies to actively engage with the Council and other development actors with a view to forging partnership to promote quality service delivery, accountability and responsive citizenry through enhanced implementation of viable community projects. The Forum also will offer space for all actors to share information on the functions of the local authority, the roles of the management and the civic wing of the council as well as creating awareness on civil rights and obligations of the residents within the Municipality.
PiP will also enhance the capacity of the council on matters of citizen’s participation and the need to become receptive to people’s opinion and consensus building for economic and social growth.
5.1 Participation in Partnership - Objectives
- Institutionalize civil participation in the Municipal
- Institutional strengthening of both the Council and Civil Society Organizations within Malindi Municipality
- Facilitate community involvement and participation in the use, monitoring and evaluation of projects funded by devolved funds
- Support the implementation of good governance issues in relation to the Municipal Strategic Plan and promote a joint approach for Local Economic Development Strategies
- Support a transparent financial report system
- Promote good practice examples towards neighbouring LA’s and the Reform Group of the Ministry of Local Government
- Launch a vigorous campaign to disseminate information on the Strategic Plan and urban governance issues in the municipality.
- Formation of residents associations and broaden the participation of civic actors in the network or forum.
5.2 Participation in Partnership - Principles
In order to achieve the specific objectives and working towards the overall goal, aim and purpose, (PiP) developed general working principles which might look simple and easy but are not easy always to comply with in the day-to-day work. These principles are:
- Inclusiveness. Including marginalized and vulnerable groups
- Continuous Process (“not an end in itself”)
- Demand Driven
- Bottom-up process
- Co-operation not confrontation
- Conflict resolution
- Flexibility
5.3 Participation in Partnership - Human Rights Approach
Access to rights is very often difficult, especially for the poor, as they do not have sufficient resources to follow the legal procedures to get their right. One of the most sensitive areas are issues of land grabbing - land defined to be used for community purposes (schools, nurseries, health centres) overnight changes hand and ends up in the possession of private investors. Therefore, from the very beginning, PiP incorporated the access to human rights in its activities guided by the following principles:
- Put people first and promote people driven development
- Stress liberty, equality and empowerment
- Recognize the inherent dignity of every human being without distinction.
- Recognize and promote equality between women and men, between minority and majority.
- Promote equal opportunities and choices for all so that everyone can develop their unique potential and have a chance to contribute to development and society.
- Promote national and international systems based on economic equity, equitable access to public resources, and social justice.
- Promote mutual respect as a basis for justice and conflict prevention and resolution.
5.4 Participation in Partnership - Voluntarism
The PiP process, as any other participatory project, cannot work without the willingness and commitment of residents to volunteer in tackling community problems. Starting to pay money or other goodies to get people attending meetings, workshops or take over a responsibility in a committee or a board would soon end up in the collapse of any broader based participatory project for economic reasons (not enough resources to distribute money) and because the participants would quickly develop a money driven attitude instead of ownership.
The decision not to pay any allowances at was disputed at the beginning but the further the project progressed the more voluntarism was embraced.
This was possible because PiP approached individuals and local organizations to learn about the local problems. Quickly the civil society organisations local to the area realized that PiP provides space and opportunities to promote their issues and volunteered to be part of the process instead of locking on. As expected, PiP turned out to be a basically community driven initiative.
The formation of the MRF, the drafting of its constitution, the participation in focal person’s trainings, the ward mapping workshops and many other activities were all based on voluntarism. This was possible because the people were always involved in the preparation of any given activity, they decided on convenient dates for workshops and their inputs were always respected.
The process turned fascinating when it came to the elections of ward officials and representatives for the consensus meetings. Again, no material reward was to be gained but respect and recognition.
The empowerment process gained momentum on the way and when community members came out in large numbers and asked questions to the LASDAP team of the Council, they felt satisfied and part of the decision making process.
Where the geographical area was large, rather than organizing an entire ward together, some were divided to two or three segments, this made work easier however, this meant more work but this gave impetus to the team and the community.
Voluntarism is basically a cornerstone of PiP; as exercises had been concluded, community members who did not participate wanted the process restarted while visitors from outside the Council area wanted this to be introduced to their respective wards.
5.5 Participation in Partnership - Activities so far
5.5.1 Project Activities
- A network system between citizens, Associations and the Municipal Council of Malindi is built up.
- A Liaison office and resource centre is established in the Town Hall and a coordinator who is an administrative officer is in charge
- A great variety of groups in urban and rural areas participate in PiP
- The Malindi Residents Forum (MRF) is set-up and Ward Residents Committees are working including Women- HIV/Aids- and Youth Groups
- A MRF Management Board is elected and works as a link between the MCM and the Ward Residents Committees
- A Memorandum of Understanding between the MRF and MCM has been developed defining the cooperation and the obligations of the partnership.
5.5.2 Activities with the Civil Society
- Several “Training of Trainers” workshops for the ward representatives and Municipal staff from the respective Departments were organized
- Ward mappings have been concluded in all wards
- Stakeholder meetings have been organized to share information and experiences, networking and cooperation
- Several newsletters have been produced and published to disseminate information
- Linkages between the Ward Residents Committees and other development partners were facilitated
- Communities were enabled for enhanced monitoring of projects supported by devolved funds
5.5.3 Activities with the Municipal
- Workshops for Council staff on Tender and Procurement law and Council By-Laws were organized
- The Strategic Plan 2004-2008 was evaluated and the reviewed Strategic Plan now includes the Work plans of all departments including the duties from the MCM Performance Contract
- A Strategic plan implementation group monitors the activities of the departments and reports to the TC about the progress and identified barriers
- A booklet with all Municipal By Laws is published and available
- The LASDP consultation process was organized in a bottom up process and participative manner
It is very important to define principles of the participatory process right from the beginning. These principles are an important factor in developing the spirit of the cooperation - an all inclusive, demand driven, bottom-up and consensus driven approach is essential to succeed.
A human rights approach is not just a theoretical idea - in strengthening the institutional capacities of the civil society in forming an association like the Malindi Residents Forum as an umbrella organization, based on Ward Residents Committees, citizen’s have a structured network to get support if need be.
Voluntarism is essential. Indeed, some professionals are required for running the liaison office, managing the project and facilitating workshops. But crucial to any participatory process are the participants, if they are committed and ready to volunteer projects like PiP have a lasting future.
Institutional strengthening of both the Council and Civil Society Organizations is crucial. Partnership involves both - Society and Council. Officers and civic wing are important partners and they have to be sensitized for participatory processes and to understand that nobody threatens their authority.
Concentrate on the middle management - the stable factor in the Council, as they are not transferred - their support secures the sustainability of participatory achievements.
6. Implementation of PiP
Phase One: Stakeholders consultations
Step I: Initiation of PiP
As the concept of PiP was developed by a few people it had to undergo the reality test.
Two workshops were organized to present and discuss the project. All known organizations and individuals of the civil society as well as community based groups, the private sector and representatives of the Council were invited. The suggestions and ideas provided by the participants helped to adjust the program and the workshops also delivered the opportunity to initiate the creation of an information network.
Furthermore, on realizing the potential, participants decided to form an umbrella organization and an interim committee emerged from the meetings. This committee was given the task to represent the citizen’s forum for the transition period, to develop a proposal for a constitution (how and under which rules and regulations is the forum going to work and how will controversial issues be decided?) and to propose an appropriate name for the forum.
Step II: Constitution of a Residents Forum
During phase one a concerted effort is made for stakeholders to come together to discuss the situation at hand and resolve to find a workable solution to existing problems.
The working committee committee drafted a constitution for the citizen’s forum. The constitution defines the principles of cooperation and a catalogue of values (concentration on issues important for all, unanimous decision making, equal representation of the different groups and interests). The committee defined criteria for the ward representatives (equal representation of sexes, consideration of groups marginalized in the society). Furthermore it was proposed to name the citizens forum Malindi Residents Forum (MRF). The participants approved all proposals.
Taking into consideration the obvious differences in education, economic power, and social infrastructure between urban and rural areas, meetings to disseminate information were organized for each of the ten Wards to present the project. These meetings also provided the chance to elect 3 - 5 ward representatives as Resource Persons (Focal Persons) backed and trusted by the population and according to the criteria.
As a result women are equally represented as well as people active in projects on HIV/AIDS Youth activists and handicapped people were also included. The resource persons were to play a crucial role in the setting up of ward committees at a later stage. Although it was important to secure the presence of the area councillors, they were not eligible to be ward representatives.
The starting phase of any participatory process is very important, sensitive and requires time. Listen carefully, for sure the participants will come up with ideas worth to be incorporated in the project. Try to involve the Civic Wing from the beginning - if they feel excluded they could soon develop resistance fearing their decision making power is threatened. But they should not takeover any official function, as any Participation in Partnership project has to stay strictly impartial.
Phase Two: Training of Community Focal Persons
With a clear focus on the project sustainability, the Focal Persons (Ward Representatives) are trained as Trainers with skills in participatory development. As such people will come from the stakeholders, it is aimed at empowering the stakeholder organizations and individuals for the continuity of the project activities.
The overall objective of training the focal persons was to equip community resources persons with participatory development skills, to continue facilitating communities in the process of development through Government planning systems and strengthen the civil participation in Municipal Governance for emancipation.
Specific objectives
- To introduce participants to the historical overview of the development perspective in Kenya – DPSRD.
- To expose participants to the Government planning systems (annual planning cycle), the Devolved Government funds and the role of the community.
- To introduce participants to the Genesis of participatory Development and its evolution in the world.
- To introduce and give hands-on practical experience of the basic participatory planning tools for the purpose of community mobilization and planning exercise.
- To facilitate participants to come up with realistic participatory ward consultation process work plans.
The focal persons were trained covering the following contents:
- Icebreakers and energizers
- Historical overview of development in Kenya
- Kenya Government planning Process annual cycle
- Genesis and principles of participatory Development
- Introduction to participatory Development planning tools
- SSI
- Resource map
- Social Map
- Visioning tool – realistic dreams
- Obstacles/problem tree
- Chapati diagram
- Solution tree
- Committee formation
- Community action planning (CAP)
The tools are very essential for motivating the community to participate in the planning process; participatory planning is dynamic and if well facilitated makes people enjoy the process. The tools will be explained and described later on and in the Appendix.
Phase Three: Community Workshop - Preparation
Step I: Forming planning Facilitation Teams
Following a successful training of the community resource persons, the participants can pair up depending on the area/ward and their ability and availability. A team should consist of a minimum of six members, the best is a mix of the newly trained resource persons and professional facilitators able to monitor the exercise, helpful in analyzing gathered information and able to give further advice on the job. Six persons are required as they will easily be able to handle the three main groups, in which the participants will be divided in certain periods of the workshop: men, women and youth, comprising a facilitator and a note taker for each group in the community.
The involvement and participation of the local resource persons has two advantages: they are further trained for future challenges and, as they are known and well respected, help in building confidence. Most communities mistrust outsiders because they fear to be cheated.
Step II: Community Consultation
As a participatory process, community members must be consulted to agree on the preferred dates for the Community planning workshop. Consultations make people feel respected and lay the ground for motivation and commitment. Consultation increases people’s confidence and self-worthiness.
The first meeting with the community should be used to consult with the community on the appropriate dates for the workshop. These meetings should be held with the assistance of the area chief. Meetings scheduled by the administration are ideal to communicate with the participants and agree on date and venue. The community members present, delighted of having been consulted, inform their fellow citizens’ and urge them to participate and the people realize the different approach immediately. Besides, this is a far better method to spread information for a community workshop than notices pinned on notice boards. Here people agree on venue too.
When this was done, people already noticed the difference as such meetings; dates were given to the Chief or Council chambers and people were never consulted.
Step III: Preparation
Upon the confirmed dates, preparation for the planning starts. Teams agree on who will facilitate which tool. All members should practice both, facilitating and note taking. The team must ensure that sufficient office material is supplied. Note: at least two mark pens with different colours per group are required. Transport arrangements may also be necessary.
Furthermore, the PiP team should discuss and prepare key questions to be used in the workshop and should clarify the objectives of the community workshop.
The teams should always be in time, to signify, that they are taking the community serious and that appointments have to be kept. Communities are used to wait for a long time, when whatever officials are announced. Participation in partnership is different!
Besides, the venue could be a school compound, classroom, church or even under a tree, so don’t keep people waiting.
Phase Four: Community Workshop - Process
The team should arrive early at the planning venue to ascertain the technical conditions, for example where to put up brown papers/newsprints. The area community resource persons should be on time as well, thus having the curtsey by greeting the participants at their arrival, share a joke and make them feel relaxed and welcome. With adequate representation from men, women, and youth, community based organizations and focal community groups the process can take off.
Step I: Creating Rapport
Participants should introduce themselves by names, organization, and some individual information. All participants should be equipped with a pen. The facilitation team should avoid to be seated on high chairs while participants are seated on the ground. According to their responsibility the facilitators should clarify the sitting arrangement (we are all equal), arrival and departure time and the planned schedule of the planning meeting.
The lead facilitator has to provoke participants to come up with their expectations and then the workshop objectives are rolled out for sharing and matching. When people realize that the event has some relation with the LASDAP process, they will open up and give illustration on past experiences and disappointments.
Allow the participants to air their views and disappointments, usually people flare-up and accuse others, blame council staff especially the LASDAP team for not allowing previous plans. Councillors and the council are blamed; if area Councillor is available he/she should hold the horse as people openly criticize. Upon pressure coming down, reassure participants, Councillors, Council staff if around; that though something could have been done wrongly, it is up to the community to induce the necessary changes.
Step II: Start ups
Here a variety of methods are available to start up the process. The use of semi-structured interviews (SSI) Historical profiles proved useful to learn from the community how planning is conducted within the Councils, LASDAP and CDF staff.
This is provocative as some community members might not have participated in any of the community planning processes, while some will be able to remember what transpired the previous years. Listen carefully to capture the response of the people.
The use of the river code is an alternative to break the ice, use the river code where three people are to cross a flooded river, one is a helper ready to carry them across the river, while one accepts to be carried across the other refuses but is ready to be led across. The question, why or why not carried will arise. This opens the eyes of participants that to be carried is not good for sustainable development.
The history of development evolution in Kenya from independence to today and how planning processes were conducted and the change from the top down to the bottom up approach should be explained. Nowadays, the focus is on the district as a strategy for rural development planning, but there is a lack of people’s involvement and participation in the process.
Be careful, as people will get angry and start blaming leaders including the current ones and that the community is not informed. Refer to the LASDAP process where the law defines the procedure and that this workshop is to assist the participants to learn about the Government planning circle and to learn how to intervene successfully.
This is the right time to divide participants into the various groups for the exercise to start in earnest. Groups of men, women, Youth are formed for the exercise.
Step III: Participatory Planning
Participatory planning is not easy to learn and many tools are necessary to provide sufficient knowledge for the community to be able to take part in participatory planning processes as a respected and confident partner. However, their usage largely depends on the facilitators’ exposure and training.
The usage of the Semi Structured Interview (SSI) tool is a must for any facilitator to be able to apply all the other tools. The primary tool for most participatory planning workshops is the resource map.
The facilitator opens up the discussion by asking the participants where they come from. Depending on the area, it will be focused either on a ward, a constituency, or a village.
Here we will give a review of how the participatory planning was organized and which tools were used during the Malindi experience.
Tool 1: Resource and Social Maps
The facilitators introduce the use of social and resource maps. Choose a convenient and open place for the group to sit in a circle. Ask them to give you a general view of the place they come from, the name of the area, its boundaries, ask them to identify what kind of resources are available in their community; these include natural, man made, human etc.
The social resources are easily identified by asking where children go to school, people get water, go for medication and more. Ask them to use available resources to mark the boundaries of their locality and use symbols to locate the available resources in the community. This helps people to start discussion and familiarize themselves with the map.
When it is time to locate homes, all want their homes to be reflected on the map hence maximum attention is guaranteed.
When it is difficult to make the process move, the use of a “secret box” is useful. Three people are identified representing the first is the most educated and therefore an expert, the second is a moderate, not highly exposed but known, and the last is the common man, who has never travelled neither gone to school.
A sealed box containing an assorted set of items is at first given to the most learned to tell what is in the box after having shaken it and whatever he names is recorded. The second is allowed to put his/her hand in the box to feel the items without seeing them and whatever he names is recorded. The local person is allowed to look at and name the things in the secret box one by one and this is as well recorded.
Obviously, among the three, the local will give the correct names of the items in the secret box. This affirms that the local person knows better his/her problems, contrary to the common notion that experts know what we need. Hence, it is important for people to participate in planning their own development. After the map is drawn on the ground, it is later transferred to paper and a news print with a clear direction and key to the symbols given.
Tool 2: Venn Diagram/Chapati
The diagram is a tool used to identify the existing organizations in and out of the community boundaries, organizations whose presence is felt and whose activities are of benefit to the community. There might be other organizations seen as having the potential to assist in development.
However, organizations are often not recognized as institutions which could partner with the community.
This tool exposes the community members to institutions or individuals of importance within their reach. In identifying them, the group members mark them with circles on the ground. A big circle represents the area, organizations with officers in the area will be located within the circle and the size of their circle symbolizes their relevance. Those located outside the location will be indicated outside and their circle their size also symbolizing the relevance. The results are later transferred to paper.
The organizations are named on their respective Chapatis. But care has to be taken as the size of the Chapati might raise resentments from representatives of the organizations. Allow participants to discuss to reach a consensus. A Venn diagram is a tool to increase awareness on the available resources within the community.
**Tool 3: Visioning**
Visioning is the process of enabling the participants to allow to dream of a village/community they would like to live in.
Talking of practical and realistic dreams based on the ability of the community and considering the resources available, the groups than plans what to achieve in a five year time frame. They look back on the resource map, the Venn diagram, and the available facilities and add new structures.
As people’s development is guided by their respective visions, the visioning exercise assists to develop a common vision and define a direction for their community. Enough time should be allowed for the community members to consult, discuss, argue, and to agree on the future of their respective communities. It is the people who should shape their respective future.
Participants should however be cautioned for coming up with unrealistic plans. This exercise is supporting to confront the Government with the people’s aspirations, as the LASDAP and CDF resources are available for the communities to initiate change from within.
**Tool 4: Problem Analysis**
The groups engage in serious discussions based on the elaborated community vision and future map. The major subject is what could hinder the community from reaching the desired changes? What problems have stopped or could stop the community from reaching the visions?
Allow time for thorough analysis on the problems and obstacles; as usual people may state that lack of money is the main problem. However, examine further what might be the reason not having the needed resources available in the community. Mention the institutions existing in the area, pay reference to the resource and social maps, the Venn diagrams and the visions portrayed. Then ask the participants to discuss the problems and obstacles differently in starting with possible solutions. Use the problem tree tool to focus on roots, causes, and effects to address the real problem rather than symptoms.
There are several probable solutions. It is essential to consider the costs involved in implementing or undertaking projects as is the time-frame. The use of ranking and preference ranking might also be helpful in resolving the identified problems and finding solutions.
Tool 5: Community Action Plan
On concluding the problem analysis and turning problems to solutions, a Ward committee is elected to spearhead the community visions to its fulfilment.
People’s commitment in solving community problems is crucial and therefore it is important to form committees at this stage. The committees will engage in project planning and budgeting, later bring such plans to the community for approval. The elected Ward committee will also have the mandate to spearhead the planning process for presentation to the LASDAP and CDF teams.
A Community Action Planning popularly referred to as CAP, is a summary of a project, this briefly highlights the problem statement, proposed solutions, activities to be carried out, timeframe, outputs, responsible persons, resources required and a budget where necessary. The calculation of projects costs is elaborated in consultation with the Town Engineer or specialists in given fields. This approach assures that the people enter into discussions with the LASDAP and CDF teams based on facts and with realistic cost calculations, thus being serious and confident negotiators.
The Community Planning workshop requires time, patience and flexibility. Calculate a minimum of three days for one workshop and look for venues convenient to the participants, not to you. Be ready to organize one workshop at least in each Ward. Do not make it difficult for the people to take part.
Summary: Tools used in the Community Planning Workshops
Tools in Step II
- Historical profiles
- Semi structured interviews (SSI)
- Government Planning Cycle (GPC)
- River code
- Local Council Resource Envelop
Tool in Step III
- Resource and Social maps
- Venn diagram / Chapati
- Visioning matrix
- Focused group discussions on obstacles and possible solutions
- Training of committee on leadership roles project, management and CAP formation.
The tools will be described in detail in the Appendix, the last chapter of this Manual.
Phase Five: Follow Up
Following the election of a Ward committee, the prioritized solutions on projects have to be planned for presentation to the LASDAP team and the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and any other Donors including fundraising.
Hence, the consultation process continues, and the committee takes the lead in guiding the community with minimum support from outsiders. The Ward committee takes charge to inform the people to participate in the Community Action Plans (CAPS), and the committee is empowered to present the needs of the Ward to the Council, CDF, and other Donors. The local civil societies could be mandated to look for support from donors on behalf of the community thus strengthening the civil society organizations. The committee continues to bring feedback to the community on the progress made on the agreed projects and continuously urges the Council and other potential donors to support the community initiative.
Training of the Ward committee is crucial to make it work effectively and efficiently without engaging in unlawful activities such as stopping a contractor and demanding to replace the councillors’ decisions.
Projects are presented to the LASDAP team after reviewing the previous years’ activities. The community members are guided to present projects aimed at reducing poverty to avoid duplication efforts of the central Government.
Phase Six: Community Presentation of Projects
Following a successful community planning, communities are well prepared for the community consultation process of the Councils’ LASDAP team.
The Chairman of the Ward committee is ready to chair the consultation rather than leaving it to the Council officials as it was usual in the past.
A Ward committee member chairing the discussion is a further step in the empowerment process of the community and definitely encourages participants to actively take part instead of just consuming the deliberations of the Council officers. They are ready to reason and defend their project proposals based on facts and realistic calculations of costs.
Definitely, the new leaders need guidance to run the process efficiently.
Phase Seven: Monitoring and Evaluation
The Ward Committees represent the community at various meetings and forums.
The results of consensus meetings, full Council and MRF Board meetings have to be communicated. The committees ensure information flow. The committees engage in project monitoring and evaluation and follow up.
Council and Constituency Development Fund projects and any project funded through public funds. They observe if Ward officials and the LASDAP team decide on any project modification without communication. However, the Ward committee is not replacing any established committee of the Councillor or MP.
The Ward committee members have to be trained further. Capacity building in organization of the committee work, in communication and moderation skills, and in monitoring and evaluation methods are essential to secure success.
The Focal Persons, already trained before, should not be sidelined; their knowledge is important for the Ward Committees.
7. Formation of an Umbrella Body
As mentioned, the Malindi Residents Forum (MRF) had already been formed at an earlier stage of the PiP process. An interim committee had since led the MRF and in general meetings the participants had agreed on the name and a constitution for the umbrella body.
Now, after the Ward Committees were formed, it was just the right time to put the final touch on the MRF.
In a general meeting the stakeholder’s elected board comprising representatives from each ward and an additional representative from the European community in Malindi.
After its election the MRF board was trained in their duties, responsibilities and regulations how to run their board.
The board manages the activities and is the mouthpiece on behalf of all members.
MRF is a non-organic, non-religious, strictly impartial umbrella organization comprised of civic society organizations, Vulnerable groups, Private Companies, Residents Associations, Media groups, Religious Organizations, Development Agencies, Councillors, Government officials, other special interest groups and individuals within the Municipal Council of Malindi.
The Forum is a space provided for Civil Society Organizations to actively engage with the Council to promote quality service delivery, accountability and responsive citizenry.
The Forum will also provide for facilitation of community participatory project planning, advocacy and lobbying proper use of Government devolved funds and other resources from development funding partners.
Malindi Residents Forum has three levels of operations. These include the Village level, Ward level and Municipality level where the Board of MRF meets.
In the meantime several MRF stakeholder meetings have been organized. The MRF meetings also served to inform about other activities in Malindi. Kenya Medical Research Institute presented its anti malaria campaign and the coordinator of the Constituency Development Fund explained the activities and structure of the Fund and clarified the requirements to get support for a project.
The MRF board entered into discussions with the Municipal Council to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, to formalize the partnership. In a series of meetings involving Councillors, Mayor, Town Clerk, and MRF board a Memorandum was developed and signed, describing and defining the rights, duties and responsibilities of the partners. A very important step to forge a sustainable PiP future. For example, in the MoU is assured, that the financial meetings with the stakeholder will continue and that the Citizen’s office in Town Hall will be maintained and sufficient money for its activities will be supplied in the budget. The MoU is also of important symbolic value, as the MRF activists recognize that their voluntary commitment is respected and not in vain.
A stakeholder umbrella organization provides the much needed networking for civil society organisations and committed individuals. A umbrella organisation also provides the adequate infrastructure to address injustices.
It is crucial to maintain strict political impartiality - the politicians have to decide their stand on citizen’s participation, and the Residents Forum has to stay away from partisan politics.
It has to be stressed that a stakeholder umbrella organization has to be non-religious and non-organic to open it up for everybody without any cultural barriers.
It is a must to train the members of the board of the umbrella organization in their duties and responsibilities to assist them to do their job as professional and effective as possible.
The umbrella organisation needs logistical support - at best from a citizen’s office.
A MoU between the local authority and the umbrella organization is very important, as it describes the cooperation and guarantees the sustainability of a participation in partnership.
8. Results and Impacts
1. The Partnership in participation project implementation has changed the management system of the Municipal Council of Malindi from a closed to at least partly open, including the participation of stakeholders in the management of the Council.
Local revenue collection has tremendously improved, approximately doubled from 44 million to over eighty (80) million in the two years of the project implementation.
2. Public revenue enhancement meetings are held every Wednesday to track the resource base, monitor income and expenditure and discuss important issues of the Municipality. These meetings comprise the senior officers from the departments of the Council, the Town Clerk, and stakeholders.
This monitoring and questioning of the expenditure proved to be an efficient tool to minimize corruption.
3. PiP has enhanced people’s participation through stakeholder meetings with representatives from the business community; self-help groups, NGOs and other stakeholders, for information sharing.
4. The performance of the Council has improved.
5. The establishment of MRF structures from the village up to the Municipality provides information and strengthened participation.
6. The LASDAP process of the financial year 2006/07 was conducted in a participatory process with the result that project proposals from the community get financial support through LATF.
7. The LASDAP process was also used for Budget inputs by the communities.
8. The Master Budget was for the first time presented and discussed in Stakeholder meetings.
9. Citizens are aware of their civil rights and use them.
TA (right) with IPD coordinator (left), PiP coordinator (to her left) and Council officers
Participation in Partnership project has been implemented in a favourable political environment, as participatory planning is part of the reform program of the Government of Kenya. However, being a new concept for the council staff, Councillors and other stakeholders, PiP was received both enthusiastically and at certain corners negatively.
PiP had effect on Council rules, regulations and procedures, in other words, on the political and governing culture as a whole. It is unavoidable that intervening in a routine, in place for a long time, will create resistance, as it is well known that “change is disturbing when done to us but exhilarating when done by us.”
1. Political resistance was and is a permanent challenge, which has to be dealt with all the way. Although PiP was approved by a full Council meeting, many councillors were suspicious to loose their privilege and autonomy in decision-making. Furthermore, they regarded PiP as a political project and assumed it might support opponents in future elections.
PiP indeed promotes a new decision making culture. Therefore, the civic wing has to be involved from the very beginning and any effort has to be made to contain the fears of the councillors. Additionally, any participatory project has to maintain impartial. Even if some MRF members develop ambitions political they should never be allowed to use MRF as a campaign stage.
2. Resistance from chief officers has to be considered. Many of them regarded the participatory process as too demanding and time consuming for the executive. To answer questions, being confronted with uncomfortable questions about performance and expenditure behaviour each Wednesday and in meetings with the communities was new and not welcomed by many of the senior staff.
The staff has to be involved. A participatory culture is not implemented over night. Hence, capacity building within the Council and officers taking part in focal persons trainings and community planning workshops is a must to promote and induce changes from within.
3. Participatory Development/Governance is also a learning process for the civil society. As people are used to the top down approach, they need time to gain confidence, trust in their strength and a belief that participation matters, because intervention can be successful. More time needed for the project.
4. As long as the sustainability of a Participation in Partnership is not secured and therefore not predictable, many of the actors in the Council and in the civil society will show only restricted commitment.
A MoU between MRF and Council, defining the cooperation and assuring the future of the participatory process was the solution to counter that challenge.
5. The frequent transfer of Town Clerks has to be taken into account. The new one has to be updated and quickly involved in the project. The MoU will definitely help to reduce any problems caused by the transfers of Town Clerks.
6. It was not easy to establish voluntarism as an important principle during the implementation period of the PiP. It takes time to convince people to be committed. Evidence of being rewarded with growing confidence, treated with respect, and being successful are the best helpers to promote voluntarism.
10. Lessons learnt
1. The levels of education between the rural and urban communities demand diversified approaches to avoid frustrations.
Stakeholders from the urban setting like the Chamber of Commerce and the Resident Associations are quite self-confident and used to articulate their views and demands in public as they are able and used to address their recommendations towards the officers of the Municipal Council. They articulated the need for an open space to share information and elaborate public agreements for a more effective development.
Other Stakeholders mostly from the rural areas are concentrated on their projects but have not much been involved in the decision-making process at the level of the Municipality.
To bring all at the same level and avoid frustration, it is necessary to separate temporarily the stakeholder community to meet the needs of the marginalized. But it is crucial to bring them together in a way that “cooperation and respect” can grow.
2. Participatory management and Governance development are new terms not known and practiced before by the officers of the local authority; it is a learning process needing time and goodwill from all - the Council, civic wing, and the civil society.
3. A participatory culture has to be adopted and later internalized by the officers, civic wing, but also by the civil society. Hence, every effort is required made to ensure everybody is brought on board for an all-inclusive approach.
4. It is essential that the umbrella organization comes to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Local Authority on roles and responsibility between the two to sustain the voluntary commitment.
5. A project/program of this nature will only be effective if adopting a Right-Based Approach. Therefore, the organizational structure has to be open for everybody and allowing to address injustices or incorrect decisions affecting a community or an individual.
6. Information sharing is a must for effective citizen’s participation; poor reading culture and illiteracy are the major challenges to address to secure that all are informed and not excluded from participation. Therefore, multiple methods for information sharing are required such as letters, newsletters, billboards, meetings, workshops, seminars, and more to make sure that information reaches the people.
7. Participation in Partnership is a dynamic process. Hence, the need to adjust to new developments, to be flexible, to allow for changes and corrections to permanently improve the process.
8. Citizen’s Council and Civic Wing have to develop Ownership of the process to make participation sustainable and continuously used for the good of the people.
9. The commitment of the citizens must be recognized by the Municipal even if it hurts when the officers try to do their best and still are confronted with complaints.
Any Participation in Partnership project targets the traditional political and governing culture. Therefore, resistance is unavoidable. Incorporate and involve the potential opponents like Councillors and Senior Officers from the very beginning. Let them taste the advantage to partner up with the citizen’s.
Capacity building within the Council and officers taking part in focal persons trainings and community planning workshops is a must to promote and induce changes from within.
Any participatory project is dynamic. Be flexible and allow for changes to permanently improve the process.
Participatory management and governance development are new and not practiced before, it is a learning process and needs time and goodwill from all - Council, Civic Wing, Civil Society.
Women football team against AIDS
Tool 1: Semi Structured Interviewing
Semi structures interviewing (SSI) is:
- a dialogue where important information develops out of casual conversation
- guided interviewing, where only some of the questions are predetermined and new questions come up during the interview
- The core of PLA. It is a tool in the special form of an interview, but it is also the base in terms of manners and acting with community members
The characteristics of a SSI should be considered while conducting any other tool. This will contribute to a relaxed and informative dialogue.
SSI can be done with:
- Individuals for representative information
- Key informants for specialized information
- Groups for general community-level information
- Focus groups to discuss a specific topic in detail
Activities
* Use a checklist
* If possible, use the local language to reduce barriers
* Be sensitive and respectful mind your body language, e.g. during an interview, take a seat at the same level as the respondents
* Make questions short and easy to understand; aim at consistently finding out more details. Avoid ambiguous questions
* Do not ask more than one question at a time
* Questions should always be phrased in such a way that they require explanation (open-ended questions) rather than allowing an answer “yes” or “no”. “Yes-no” questions make further probing for details more difficult and subsequently answers less reliable
* For open-ended questions use the “six helpers”: What? When? Where? Who? Why? How?
* Use “why” questions rather carefully, because they may force the informants into a defensive position and stop the flow of information
* Probe answers carefully with Suppose…, But why …?. Please tell me more…, Anything else…?
* Judge responses. Is it a fact, an opinion, a rumour?
Tool 2: Resource Map
Objectives of the tool
- A dialogue between the different groups of the community is established
- A picture of different perceptions of the local environment is constructed
- Access and control over resources are documented
- A baseline reference for use in further discussions is created
- A process of dialogue has started, as maps are usually non-sensitive and relatively easy to facilitate
- Problems, resources and potential have been identified in relation to the key questions
The resource map is often the first tool or the first event during the village workshop. It starts immediately after the introduction and group selection
Activity
Before the event
* Let the community choose a suitable place for the mapping. It should be large and open for more people to become involved and suitable for drawing on the ground (sand etc.). The map should be visible to everybody.
Starting the event
* Begin discussing on general issues within the community and about available resources.
* Help people to get started. Encourage them to point out something visibly. Let them mark it on the ground. Then stand back and keep a low profile in accordance with the role descriptions of the facilitator/note-taker.
During the event
* Let them use any available local material as symbols to represent any important issue as to present trees, houses, wells, rivers, pans, roads
* Make sure that every group member is able to participate and to follow the process.
* Try to integrate dominating as well as shy people in the process.
* Interview/probe the map according to the checklist.
* Keep your checklist in mind as a guideline.
Tool 3: Chapati/Venn diagram
Objectives of the tool
* Key institutions and individuals responsible for decisions in a community are identified
* The local perception and knowledge of existing institutions/organizations/DAs and their institutional support and contact to the community are visualized
* The different types of agencies are identified and their functions and importance in the community are understood by the PRA team
Activities
* Ask the sub-group which organizations are important to them and which ones are working in their community. Probe different types of groups (formal/informal/traditional/internal/external).
* Encourage him or her to draw circles on the ground to represent each organization or individual. Make a boundary for the community and put internal community institutions and individuals inside the boundary and external institutions outside.
* Ask the sub-group to indicate the organizations operating in their community in the form of circles, with the size of the circles varying according to the importance of the organization
- Let them use smaller circles to represent less important organizations or those failing in their work
- Let them use large circles to represent institutions/organizations/DAs important to them or known to be effective in their community
* Let the sub-group choose symbols for the different DAs to ensure that illiterate people can also follow the discussion
* Let the sub-group indicate the degree of linkage/closeness of the community to the organizations in the form of the distances between the circle representing the community and the circles representing the organizations. The most distant circles (organization’s circle) to the community represent the organization with the least contact. The same applies to the distance of the organizations from each other.
* Let them indicate the degree of contact or cooperation between the community and the organizations and between the organizations in the form of touching or overlapping circles. Arrange them as follows:
- separate circles - no contact/less contact in the real situation
- touching circles - contact exist but no cooperation
- small overlap - some cooperation
- large overlap - considerable cooperation
Visioning and Long-Term Goals
Visioning is a process through which community members examine their past, present and future. They look at trends and why things are proceeding in a certain manner. They also reach a consensus on what kind of future they would like to have as a community. This vision of the future, usually fairly long term (15-20) years) provides a framework for the upcoming planning process. These visions are articulated in the form of long-term goals, which the community is aiming to achieve. Planning then consists of concrete actions which, the community takes to pursue the goals. After each planning cycle, the community can re-evaluate the goals to see how much closer they have come to achieving them.
There are four methods, which can be used for this process:
- The visioning matrix
- The future map
- Future discussions
- Long-term goals discussions
Tool 4: Visioning Matrix
- Divide participants into groups according to age and gender
- Explain that in this discussion we will be looking at the past, the present and the future of the community. The objective is to decide on what kind of future we want, considering the past and the present and ongoing trends.
- Ask the participants to brainstorm on important aspects of life that they would like to analyse. These should be fairly broad, such as environment, agricultural production, education, health, social relations, gender relations, etc.
- Help the group to set up the matrix outline of five columns (aspect of life, past, present, probable future, preferred future).
| Aspect of Life | Past | Present | Probable Future | Preferred Future |
|----------------|------|---------|-----------------|------------------|
- Ask the group to visualize the headings for each column (past, present, probable future, preferred future)
- Ask participants to arrange the rows, each aspect of life occupying one row
- Then proceed through the matrix, analyzing and visualizing each aspect of life as it was in the past, as it is in the present, as it will be in future if current trends continue (probable future), as participants would like it to be (preferred future)
- Ask participants the reasons for trends; why have things changed? These can be important for identifying underlying causes and for planning strategies for improvement
- Discuss linkages between rows in the matrix, how aspects are inter-related, e.g. the relationship between population growth, poverty and health problems
- When the matrix is complete, the group should be asked to consider how it moves from the current situation to the preferred future. If the probable future is negative, then changes must be instituted to enable the preferred future to be achieved. If then probable future is positive, then it is important to discuss how the positive trends can be continued and enhanced. The group should not decide on details at this point, but the idea of moving toward the preferred future should be introduced.
- Present, discuss and record matrices. The discussion should especially focus on commonalities and differences among the matrices. This is a prelude to agreeing on long-term goals.
Tool 5: Future Map
A future map is used to integrate and locate the ideas generated during the planning meeting of the WRF and the sector(s) specialists. The Village Development committee members illustrate how they would like their community to look like many years into the future. Anything, which can be visualized, can be included in the map.
Procedures
- Explain to the WRF that in this exercise, they will consider how their community will look in the future, putting into consideration the ideas they had discussed. They will show on the map the type of things they would like to have in the future and how their resources will be. Anything that can be shown on the map can be included.
- Revisit the already developed community resource map and facilitate them to draw another one on the ground to assist them develop the future map
- The ideas are plotted onto this map
- The maps from sub-groups are triangulated (if small groups draw the maps)
- Transfer the finished map to paper ready for presentation to the community
Tool 6: Future Discussions
These group discussions supplement the future map and visioning matrix by focusing especially on the roles of various social groups in the future. By discussing with the people, there will be opportunities to fill in some gaps, which may have occurred in the mapping and matrix exercises.
Procedures
- Ask to think about how they would like life to be like in the future
* For men?
* For women?
* For boys?
* For girls?
- Record the main points made by the group and ask probing questions, e.g. why certain changes from the current situation are desired and what the likely impacts of such changes would be
- Prepare the WRF to present the results to the whole community and discuss implications
Tool 7: Prioritising of problems and solutions
Objectives of the tool
- Ranking allows the main problems, needs, constraints, preferences of individuals or groups to be determined and enables the priorities of different people to be easily compared
- Helps to clarify community members’ preferences and constraints
- Enables the community members to discuss, analyse and prioritise their problems, needs and possible solutions
Activities to be done in general for each type of ranking
* First, ask a sub-group member to list the problems that have already been mentioned before (e.g. during resource mapping, making a historical profile etc.)
* Ask the whole group if they have any additions to be made to the list
* Ask them to attribute some symbol(s) to each problem, to ensure that even the illiterate can understand the list
* Let them collect material for scoring (which they find suitable). For example stones or seeds
* Ask the group to rank their priority problems. This could be done by using either preference ranking or pair-wise ranking as well as with matrix scoring
Tool 8: Preference ranking
Activities
- Ask the community members to rank their listed problems by scoring using a certain number of stones. This could be done in three ways:
- Give each person a certain number of stones. Ask them to place the stones to the problems they find most important. Tell them they are free to place the stones wherever they want. If somebody considers only one problem to be important, he/she could put all stones against this specific one. If there are several pressing problems the amount of stones could be divided between them. Either put them in a special order or give some problems equal weight. For example, if 20 stones are to be allocated to six problems, one could find “lack of water” most pressing and put 9 stones. Two other problems have the same weight, expressed by 5 stones.
Tool 9: The Community Action Plan (CAP)
Activities
- Introduce the CAP to a sub-group
- Ask the community members whether they have experience in organizing an activity or a project together. Ask for examples. This could be something simple, like a single event (a marriage, a baptism), or a bigger task, like building a schoolhouse, a dispensary, etc.
- Take an event they mentioned
- Ask them what they have done for this task and who had benefited from that project
- Explain that this benefit was at that time (before they started the activity) their goal. For the school example it would be formulated like: “Having a better learning environment”. The beneficiaries in this example are the students.
- Ask what activities had to be done for achieving the goal and write/symbolizes them on cards. Put the activities in a logical order (one step after the other).
- Ask what intermediate outputs (results) had to be achieved to reach their goal. For example, to have a school building intermediate results would be: 1, the place is cleared, 2, the walls are constructed, 3, the roof is established.
- Let the community members sort the respective activities to the specific intermediate outputs (results).
- Ask them what material was needed for each activity and write their answers next to the activity on the card.
- Ask who was responsible for a certain activity and add this as well.
- Explain that this example shows how a CAP should be constructed and that the community should formulate a CAP for a development project derived from the priority ranking during the village workshop.
- Explain carefully that the elaboration of a CAP and keeping track of the follow-up will need good coordination within the community. Therefore a Village Committee could be a suitable organization to coordinate the activities that will start after the end of the village workshop.
- State that it is up to the community to decide on the election of a Village Committee. All sub-groups formed during the village workshop should be represented in this committee.
- Answer open questions.
Contacts
The Town Clerk, Municipal Council of Malindi
Town Hall, P.O. Box 371, Malindi 80200
Tel/Fax 042 31601
Council’s Switchboard Tel. number 042 20157
Direct landlines
Treasurers: 042 31553
Engineers: 042 20894
Public Health: 042 20156
Resident’s Liaison Office: 042 20864
Fire Station: Mobile 0733 550990
Official working days and hours
Monday to Friday: from 7.45 am to 12.30 pm
2.00 pm to 4.30 pm
Excluding all public holidays
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Proceedings
2007 International Workshop on the Rehabilitation, Release and Monitoring of Orphan Bear Cubs
Bubonitsy, Russia
May 25-31, 2007
Edited by
Dr. John J. Beecham
Dr. Anand Ramanathan
Organized by:
International Fund for Animal Welfare
www.IFAW.org
Supported by:
Trust for Mutual Understanding
# Table of Contents
Acknowledgements 3
Executive Summary 4
Introduction 7
A. Workshop Goals and Objectives 7
Methods 8
Session 1. Criteria for Accepting cubs into a Rehabilitation Program 10
A. Summary of Invited Presentations 10
B. Work Session Summary 11
Session 2. Critical Components of the Care and Rehabilitation of Orphaned Bear Cubs 15
A. Summary of Invited Presentations 15
B. Work Session Summary 17
C. Evening Presentation: Survival and behaviour of orphaned and rehabilitated black bears in Central Ontario, Canada: A radio-telemetry monitoring study. 21
Session 3. Criteria for Making Decisions about the Suitability of Bears for Release 23
A. Summary of Invited Presentations 23
B. Work Session Summary 24
Session 4. Release and Post-Release Monitoring of Bears 28
A. Summary of Invited Presentations 28
B. Work Session Summary 29
C. Evening Presentation: Lecture on behavior of black bear cubs raised loose in the wild and Squirty, a cub raised, released and monitored for 12 years in the wild. 36
Session 5. Threats to Bears: Bear Conservation and Welfare and the Role of Public Education 37
A. Summary of Invited Presentations 37
B. Work Session Summary 39
C. Controversial Issues and Practices to Avoid 41
References 43
Appendices 46
1) Questions for Participants in Technical Sessions 1-4 47
2) Questions for Participants in Technical Session 5 49
3) List of Participants in the Workshop 51
4) Individual papers Submitted for the Proceedings 54
Acknowledgements
The 2007 International Workshop on the rehabilitation, release and monitoring of bear cubs was organized by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) with support from the Trust of Mutual Understanding (TMU).
Founded in 1969 in an effort to end the seal hunt in Canada, IFAW is an international animal welfare and conservation organization that works to protect wild and domestic animals and to promote animal welfare and conservation policies that advance the well being of animals and people. IFAW’s worldwide mission includes the rescue, rehabilitation and protection of animals and their habitats around the world.
The TMU is a US-based foundation that provides grants to American non-profit organizations to support cultural and environmental exchange between the United States, Russia, and countries in eastern and central Europe.
Participants from 13 countries attended the workshop and provided invaluable input to discussions on a range of topics. Their attendance would not have been possible without the financial assistance provided by IFAW and the TMU. IFAW and the TMU covered all travel related expenses for the participants attending the workshop, including airfare, lodging, and meals.
The workshop was hosted by IFAW’s Russia office at the IFAW Orphan Bear Cub Rehabilitation Project (OBRP) in Bubonitsy, Russia. A number of people were directly involved in organizing the workshop and they deserve special recognition: K. Agaronyan, M. Danilova, and Dr. M. Vorontsova from IFAW’s Russia office; Dr. V. Pazhetnov and S. Pazhetnov from IFAW OBRP; AJ Cady, W. Gasperini, Dr. A. Ramanathan, and Dr. I. Robinson from IFAW’s USA office; and Dr. J. Beecham from the USA. George Gause and Vladimir Vetrov provided simultaneous translations to workshop participants. Their assistance throughout the workshop was invaluable in our effort to communicate with one another and was appreciated by all the participants.
Special thanks are due to the Pazhetnov family for organizing all the local logistics and for their kind and generous hospitality to all workshop participants. Special thanks also to Timur Matsiev for technical and internet support.
Executive Summary
For more than three decades, biologists and rehabilitators in the United States and Canada have been involved in releasing orphaned American black bear cubs into habitats occupied by bears. Techniques for rehabilitation ranged from fostering very young cubs to lactating female bears in their winter dens, to pen-raising the cubs and releasing them when they were considered self-reliant and capable of surviving on their own.
Considerable experience and expertise in bear rehabilitation now exists in many other countries. This workshop on “The Rehabilitation, Release and Monitoring of Orphan Bear Cubs” brought together experienced wildlife rehabilitators and management authorities to discuss rehabilitation release and monitoring strategies for returning orphaned bear cubs to the wild. The primary goal of the workshop was to enable all participants to share their experience and expertise in raising and releasing rehabilitated bears back to the wild and to discuss guidelines for best management practices. The latter includes strategies for bear rehabilitation and release programs for all eight bear species. The workshop consisted of four technical sessions related to rehabilitation issues and a fifth session on bear welfare, conservation, and public education on bear issues.
An attempt was made during the workshop breakout sessions to identify the “Best Practices” for bear rehabilitation efforts. This proved to be a difficult task because of differences among geographical regions and species. Generally, the participants agreed that the rehabilitation process should be outcome oriented; the primary objective is for releases to be successful, regardless of differences in approach to rehabilitation. A successful release is defined as any situation where a released bear demonstrated the ability to locate and obtain sufficient natural food to sustain itself for an extended period of time (> 1 month) and where the bear did not become involved in a nuisance situation within the first year after release. Each session also identified a variety of principles regarding the rehabilitation process. These consensus items were listed as “Best Practices”, with qualifications in many cases. Best Practices identified during the technical sessions included:
Session 1. Criteria for Accepting Cubs into Rehabilitation
- **Age** – A range of ages is acceptable for placing cubs in a rehabilitation facility. Participants preferred to work with younger cubs that had limited exposure to humans. However, older (< 2 year-old), non-habituated cubs also made excellent candidates for release back to the wild.
- **Behavior** – Cubs that expressed natural aversion behavior toward people (fear, wariness) were considered better candidates for rehabilitation than habituated cubs. However, participants recognized that the behavior of cubs in a rehabilitation facility changes over time and that with proper handling, habituated cubs could be taught to avoid people by using aversive conditioning.
- **Health** – Although cubs are capable of surviving with significant handicaps, the consensus of the participants was to reject cubs that had permanent injuries or handicaps that would negatively affect their ability to survive in the wild. They also agreed that cubs who would
require long-term veterinary care during the rehabilitation process were not suitable candidates for rehabilitation programs. All cubs should be quarantined for 2-4 weeks upon arrival at the rehabilitation facility to ensure that they did not transmit diseases or parasites to other cubs in the facility. Prophylactic treatment for endo-and ecto-parasites is highly recommended, and vaccinations for canine adenovirus-1, canine distemper and canine parvovirus, vaccines, and rabies in all animals, should be considered. It is absolutely essential that vaccines are high quality, and made from killed viral vaccines (A. Ramanathan and K. Loeffler, pers. comm. May 2008).
Session 2. Critical Components of the Care and Rehabilitation of Orphaned Bear Cubs
- Quarantine new arrivals for 2-4 weeks prior to introducing them into enclosures with other cubs.
- Provide prophylactic treatment for potential disease organisms by inoculating young cubs with killed canine adenovirus-1, canine distemper and canine parvovirus, vaccines, and all individuals against rabies, and treating them for parasitic infestations.
- Minimize contact with people to 1-2 primary caretakers.
- Discourage direct interactions between cubs and caretakers.
- Allow socialization among cubs.
- Mimic natural environment as much as possible within enclosures and provide behavioral enrichment to encourage natural behaviors.
- Provide protection from weather extremes.
- Wean cubs at 2-3 months of age.
- Provide natural foods prior to release.
- Scatter and hide foods within the enclosure to encourage natural feeding behavior and vary feeding schedule to prevent development of food-anticipatory behavior (stereotypic pacing in anticipation of feeding).
Session 3. Criteria for Making Decisions about the Suitability of Bears for Release
- Release only bears that are in excellent physical condition with intact teeth and claws and no handicaps that would reduce their ability to survive in the wild.
- Release bears when they are large enough to defend themselves from predators.
- Release bears that are genetically compatible with those in the release area.
- Release bears when natural food resources are abundant in the release area.
- Release only bears who are inclined to avoid people.
Session 4. Release and Post-Release Monitoring of Bears
- Evaluate habitat characteristics of the release location prior to releasing cubs to make sure that the area is suitable for releasing cubs.
- Mark all released bears and monitor the bears using either passive marks (ear-tags, tattoos, etc.) or remotely using telemetry equipment.
• Develop intervention plans prior to releasing bears to ensure that responsible governmental agencies are fully prepared to take appropriate action if a bear becomes involved in a conflict situation.
• Ensure genetic compatibility between released bears and the recipient wild population.
• Keep records for all releases, evaluate and publish results in peer-reviewed articles.
• Use appropriate release methodology for each species and geographic area (See section on release methods).
Introduction
As human population and anthropogenic development in wildlife habitats increase, bear populations are expected to decline as a result of habitat loss and human-bear conflicts. Other human activities that severely impact bears include killing bears to protect life and property, unregulated hunting, commercial exploitation for bear body parts and illegal pet trade (Servheen 1990). These situations will lead to greater numbers of bear cubs being orphaned and brought into the rehabilitation facilities. To meet this growing need, individuals and organizations dedicated to animal welfare and conservation are developing new approaches to prepare these animals for release back to the wild.
For more than three decades, biologists and rehabilitators in the United States and Canada have been rehabilitating and releasing orphaned American black bear cubs into occupied bear habitat. Techniques range from fostering cubs to lactating female bears in their winter dens, to pen-raising the cubs and releasing them when they were considered self-reliant and capable of surviving on their own (Clark et al. 1980, Alt and Beecham 1984, Carney and Vaughan 1987, Clark 1999). In the past 15 years, biologists have experimented with releasing brown bears in the U.S., Russia, Croatia and Romania; Asiatic black bears in the Russian Far East (RFE), India, and South Korea; sun bears in Indonesia; and Andean bears in Ecuador (Goodrich, pers. comm. February 2005, Fredriksson, pers. comm., January 2006, Castellanos, pers. comm., August 2005, Bereczky, pers. comm., October 2005). Considerable experience and expertise now exists in many countries. This workshop provided a unique opportunity for experts to share their knowledge and experience. Moreover, the meeting informed competent authorities so that they would be able to make informed decisions about bear rehabilitation and release programs in areas under their jurisdiction.
The Rehabilitation, Release and Monitoring of Orphan Bear Cubs workshop was organized by the International Fund for Animal Welfare with support from the Trust for Mutual Understanding. It brought together experienced wildlife rehabilitators and management authorities to discuss rehabilitation, release, and monitoring strategies for returning orphaned bear cubs to the wild.
The primary goals of the workshop were 1) to enable all participants to share their experience and expertise in hand rearing and releasing rehabilitated bears back to the wild, and 2) to discuss guidelines for best management practices for bear rehabilitation and release programs for all for eight bear species. Under these goals, the specific objective was to identify critical components essential to rehabilitation programs that will a) lead to enhanced survival of rehabilitated bears, and b) minimize the risks of released animals becoming involved in human-bear conflicts. A concerted effort was made to identify and highlight differences in approaches and techniques among regions and for different species from successful programs throughout the world.
The workshop consisted of four technical sessions related to rehabilitation issues, a fifth session on bear welfare, conservation, and education, and a final plenary summary session. The technical sessions covered the following topics:
• Session 1: Criteria for accepting cubs into a rehabilitation program;
• Session 2: Critical components of the care and rehabilitation of orphaned bear cubs;
• Session 3: Criteria for making decisions about the suitability of bears for release; and,
• Session 4: Release and post-release monitoring of bears.
Methods
Technical sessions were introduced by invited presentations from 3 or 4 presenters. Each presenter gave a short 20-minute presentation on a topic related to the major focus of each session. After all presentations were given, the workshop participants were divided among five tables. Assignments to each table were based on a desire to partition participants in a way that would achieve as much geographical distribution and species experience as possible. Two primary workshop techniques were used to enable all participants to be fully engaged in the process of the workshop. Technique 1 was used to identify critical components of rehabilitation practices for Sessions 1-4. Six individual presenters introduced Session 5 (bear welfare, conservation, and education). Technique 2 was used to develop the key points for this session.
**Technique 1** - Participants were asked to answer a set of predetermined questions prepared by the workshop organizers (Appendix 1). Workshop organizers also identified a discussion leader for each table, a designated scribe to document important elements of the discussion, and a translator. Participants at each table were asked to answer the following questions as part of their overall discussion of each topic:
- Which elements of the area under discussion can be identified as the “best management practices”?
- Are there elements that we should discourage?
- Which elements are different for different species (e.g. size/behavior), and why?
- Which elements are different for different regions (e.g. climate, predators, human populations), and why?
After discussions were completed, one member of the each table was asked to present the findings of their group to the reassembled group of participants. Results gathered from the various tables was compiled and summarized by the session facilitators for presentation to the group the following morning.
**Technique 2** – Participants were encouraged to consider a set of four predetermined questions (Appendix 2), while listening to each of the session presenters. A general discussion among all participants followed regarding bear welfare, conservation and education. Participants then placed their individual answers on post-it notes and attached those notes to posters taped to the walls for each question. The questions prepared for Session 5 by the workshop organizers were:
• Which outreach and education methods presented would be right for your situation?
• What outreach and education techniques do you use which are different than those presented?
• What specific welfare and/or conservation issues does your activity address?
• What are your questions related to these issues?
Other questions that the participants were asked to discuss among themselves were:
• Can you identify different welfare and conservation reasons for rehabilitation efforts for different species and/or regions?
• How effective is rehabilitation in addressing the welfare challenges of bears?
• How does your rehabilitation activity benefit bear conservation?
• In what way would you like to change the perceptions of bear rehabilitation with the: 1) Public; 2) Scientists; 3) Government administrators?
• In what way would you like to change policy, regulations or enforcement, specifically with regard to: 1) rehabilitation; 2) other issues?
After all participants had completed the process, the session facilitators arranged the post-it notes into groups of “key points” and placed them in order of priority based on the number of similar, individual responses. This priority ordering did not represent the importance of each issue, but simply the number of participants that were working on similar issues related to the topic under discussion. At that point, facilitators for the plenary summary session presented the results to the participants and guided a group discussion of the key points identified in the session in an effort to achieve consensus among the participants about the importance of each of the key points. The facilitators also reviewed items that were generated during the workshop but which had not been fully discussed because of time constraints.
**Best Practices** - An attempt was made to identify the “Best Practices” during workshop breakout sessions. This proved to be a difficult task because of differences among geographical regions and species. Generally, the participants agreed that the rehabilitation process should be outcome oriented. The primary objective was for the releases to be successful, regardless of differences in approach to rehabilitation. However, during each session a variety of generalizations were agreed upon regarding the rehabilitation process. These consensus items were listed as “Best Practices”, with qualifications in many cases.
Criteria for accepting Asiatic black bears into a rehabilitation program – Dr. Kira Skripova
Dr. Skripova is a senior researcher for the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Russian Far East (RFE) and has been working on a rehabilitation project for Asiatic black bears in the Ussuri Nature Preserve since 1999. Dr. Skripova has accepted 36 black bear cubs into her rehabilitation facility and has successfully released 30 cubs. Dr. Skripova’s facility is also cooperating with the government of South Korea by providing Asiatic black bear cubs for restoration efforts in Jirisan National Park, South Korea.
Dr. Skripova assesses the age, physical health, behavior, and history of human contact of cubs before accepting them into her rehabilitation program. She prefers to take cubs that are less than four months of age, and suggested that cubs that have been in captivity more than 3 months are not suitable for release back to the wild. Cubs that are in good health and do not have permanent physical injuries or health issues are suitable for release, while cubs that are sick or require frequent handling to treat injuries are not suitable for release because of habituation problems. Behaviorally, cubs should be fearful of humans and demonstrate some aggressive behaviors towards humans. Cubs that are too friendly or beg for food are not suitable candidates for release.
Criteria for accepting brown bears into a rehabilitation program – Dr. Valentin Pazhetnov
Dr. Pazhetnov is the founder of Orphan Bear Rehabilitation Project (OBRP) and has been involved in rehabilitation of brown bears in Russia since 1982. Dr. Pazhetnov is also a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and is a well-respected brown bear expert in Russia. The OBRP is located in the Tver Region of Northwest Russia in the village of Bubonitsy. Dr. Pazhetnov, his wife Svetlana, and their son Sergey have released 111 of 144 bears brought into their rehabilitation facility. Many of the cubs raised by the Pazhetnovs were orphaned as a result of a winter hunting season, so many of the cubs raised for release from OBRP enter the facility at a very young age (< 1 mo.).
Dr. Pazhetnov indicated that he thought it was important that cubs come into the facility before they were three months of age (age at which cubs typically leave their maternal dens). His primary concern was previous exposure to human contact, which may negatively affect the chances for releasing the cubs successfully. Dr. Pazhetnov stated that imprinting on moving objects has
usually not occurred with the cubs until after they are two months of age. He suggested that it might be easier for cubs to adapt to rehabilitation environments when they enter the facility at an early age (<3 mos.). However, he also indicated that cubs that left their maternal den with their mother usually showed a strong avoidance response to humans. He preferred to take in cubs that demonstrated active defensive behaviors in the presence of humans. The primary source of cubs taken into IFAW OBRP is from winter bear hunting seasons in which denning female bears with newborn cubs are shot. This practice of hunting bears in dens has been limited in areas where IFAW OBRP is active, but it still occurs in parts of Russia.
**Criteria for accepting polar bears into rehabilitation – Ms. Alison Hood**
Ms. Alison Hood is programs director at Born Free Foundation in the U.K. and has been involved in polar bear issues for several years. Polar bears present a difficult challenge for rehabilitation efforts because they are primarily carnivorous in their food habits and catching their prey requires skills that are learned from their mothers. A limited number (n = 3) of attempts have been made to release orphaned cubs to the wild, all in Hudson Bay, Canada. The results of these release attempts are largely unknown. All attempts involved fostering orphan cubs with an older, adult female who was accompanied by a single cub about the same age as the orphan cub. Each cub that comes into captivity is held a maximum of 10 days, while local wildlife department teams conduct aerial search to locate a suitable surrogate family to foster the orphaned cub. Prior to fostering, the orphaned cub is examined physically to make sure that it is in reasonable physical condition and is capable of traveling with its foster mother. Major factors that play a role in whether an attempt is made to foster an orphaned cub include: 1) physical condition of the cub, 2) availability of a suitable surrogate family, 3) time of year (ice condition), 4) cub’s demeanor, 5) time frame between when cub enters captivity and when foster family is located (≤ 10 days).
**Work Session Summary**
The circumstances that result in orphaned cubs are varied and are not restricted to any particular time of year. As a result, cubs show up at rehabilitation facilities during all months of the year. Participants in the workshop cited examples of cubs entering their respective facilities as young as 2-3 weeks of age from winter bear hunts in Russia to almost 12 months of age from drought conditions in western North America. Poaching activities and subsistence hunting also cause cubs to be orphaned during their first year of life. In a few cases, bear cubs kept illegally as pets are seized by governmental agencies and brought to rehabilitation facilities. In these instances, rehabilitators have few options other than to take the cub and then attempt to ascertain if it is a suitable candidate for release back to the wild.
The consensus of the working groups was that several factors were pertinent to the decision making process regarding the suitability of cubs for rehabilitation and eventual release back to the wild. Those factors included age of the cub, behavioral characteristics, and health status.
Age:
Although age was considered important, it was clear that age alone was not a major determinant of the suitability of a cub for rehabilitation and release. The primary age-related concern was the amount of time a cub was kept in captivity prior to entering a rehabilitation facility. The longer a cub was kept in captivity and exposed to large numbers of people and/or hand fed, the greater likelihood that the cub would be habituated to people. The level of habituation is often a more important determinant of the suitability of the cub for rehabilitation than the age when it comes into the rehabilitation process. Many participants expressed a preference for taking younger cubs and were reluctant to admit older (> 3 months of age) cubs into the rehabilitation process. Their primary concern was the potential for habituation of older cubs prior to arriving at the rehabilitation facility. Similarly, participants using “assisted” release strategies, where the cubs are taken for daily walks into the forest by 1 or 2 caretakers, indicated that it was necessary to take in young cubs, so that they would have an opportunity to imprint on the caretakers that would take the cubs on their daily walk into the forest. Other participants cited numerous examples of successfully raising and releasing older cubs. Older cubs that enter a rehabilitation facility directly from the wild and who consistently demonstrate natural behaviors (wariness) in the presence of caretakers can be excellent candidates for release back to the wild. Examples were also cited of habituated cubs entering a rehabilitation facility and being successfully dehabituated and released. In these cases, it was necessary to allow these cubs to socialize with other cubs in the facility and to keep the cubs in the facility until they began to demonstrate a natural inclination for independence from other cubs and from their caretakers. This behavior typically occurs about the time that family break-up naturally occurs in the wild (1.5 years of age for most species; 2.5 years of age for others).
Behavior:
Each cub that enters a rehabilitation facility has a distinct personality and should be evaluated individually as to its suitability for rehabilitation. The expression of natural behaviors, such as fear or avoidance of people, will vary depending on the age of the cub and its experience prior to arriving at the facility. In the case of very young cubs that have not traveled with their mothers outside the maternal den, the expression of fear or avoidance will be absent. Unless these cubs are going to be released using an “assisted” release strategy, they have to be handled in the rehabilitation process very carefully to prevent them from habituating to their caretakers. It will be impossible to avoid some level of habituation with young cubs if they have to be bottle-fed. However, after they are weaned contact with the caretakers should be minimized to avoid further habituation. Older cubs should be expected to show fear unless they have been in captivity, fed, and/or exposed to people prior to arriving at the rehabilitation facility. Reducing the level of human contact with older cubs during the rehabilitation process may be sufficient to mitigate prior habituation and allow the cub to be released.
Health:
A critical step in determining the suitability of a cub for rehabilitation and release is an assessment of their health status. Typically, a licensed veterinarian would carry out this function in the first few days after the cub arrives at the rehabilitation facility. However, not all facilities have immediate access to qualified veterinarians and staff members are required to conduct the assessments. Participants in the workshop sessions indicated that their primary health related concerns were those associated with the need for long-term veterinary care during the rehabilitation process, which may lead to habituation or permanent disabilities that would affect the ability of cubs to survive in the wild. Several examples were given of cubs surviving with missing limbs and significant injuries. Disease was not considered a major issue for cubs in a rehabilitation facility because most diseases are treatable and prophylactic treatment was standard. Diseases that were mentioned as potential problems were rabies, hepatitis, canine distemper and tuberculosis. Cubs at facilities located in rabies prone areas should be vaccinated. The decision about whether to vaccinate against other pathogens should be made on the basis of the endemic prevalence of those pathogens. Cubs are also examined for tuberculosis and not released if they show evidence of exposure or active disease. Serologic studies of disease in wild bears have demonstrated that they are periodically exposed to a variety of diseases in the wild (Yunker et. al. 1980, Collins et al. 1884, Schmitt et al. 1987, Chomel et al. 1989, Reman et al. 1993, Mainka et al. 1994, Banks et al. 1999). However, few active cases of disease have been found in wild bears. Nevertheless, the participants agreed that it would be unethical to knowingly release a cub back to the wild if it were diseased.
Round worm infestations and Ursicoptic mange are not uncommon in captive reared bears, particularly in crowded conditions. Both conditions are easily treated with ivermectin and all bears should be routinely treated while they are held in the rehabilitation facility. Endoparasites (intestinal parasites) should be treated immediately on admission to the facility and then repeated 3 weeks later and then again once every one to 6 months, depending on the climate and on the risk of re-infection at the rehabilitation facility. Rehabilitators have a variety of drug choices for treatment of endoparasites. Ivermectin is convenient because it can be injected or given orally. Oral anthelmintics like fenbendazole, mebendazole, thiabendazole and pyrantal are also used against most roundworm infections, and it is advisable to use these drugs on a rotating basis to avoid the development of drug resistance. Protozoal infections (e.g., coccidia, amoeba, Giardia) or tapeworms will not be sensitive to these drugs (nor to ivermectin) and have to be diagnosed and treated specifically. Sarcoptic-type mange appears to be responsive to treatment with ivermectin in most cases (See Appendix IV). Demodectic mange is generally a sign of immunosuppression and treatment focuses on the underlying cause of this. Secondary bacterial infections must be treated concomitantly (K. Loeffler pers. comm. May 2008).
Flea shampoos and topical drugs that are used in dogs and cats such as selamectin or lufenuron may be used to control other ectoparasites, like fleas.
Drugs like Sentinel® which contains lufenuron and milbemycin, or selamectin, are effective against fleas and ticks, as well as against the common roundworm-type intestinal parasites (K. Loeffler pers. comm. May 2008). It is equally important for each cub to be examined by a licensed veterinarian to insure that it is healthy and in good physical condition prior to release.
**Best Practices:**
- **Age** – A range of ages is acceptable for admitting cubs into a rehabilitation facility. Participants preferred to work with younger cubs, especially when using the “assisted” release method. However, older, non-habituated cubs also made excellent candidates for release back to the wild.
- **Behavior** – Cubs that expressed natural avoidance behavior towards people (fear, wariness) were considered better candidates for rehabilitation than habituated cubs. However, participants recognized that the behavior of cubs in a rehabilitation facility changes over time and that with proper handling, even habituated cubs could be taught to avoid people.
- **Health** – Although cubs are capable of surviving with significant handicaps, the consensus of the participants was to reject cubs that had permanent injuries or handicaps that would negatively affect their ability to survive in the wild. They also agreed that cubs who would require long-term veterinary care during the rehabilitation process were not suitable candidates for rehabilitation programs. All cubs should be quarantined for 2-4 weeks after arrival at the rehabilitation facility to insure that they did not transmit diseases or parasites to other cubs in the facility. Prophylactic treatment for endo-and ecto-parasites is recommended. Vaccination is controversial and depends on the endemic disease risks in the release area.
Summary of Invited Presentations
Critical components of care and rehabilitation of brown bear cubs – Mr. Sergey Pazhetnov
Sergey has worked with Dr. Valentin Pazhetnov (his father) for several years and is working on a Ph.D. related to the rehabilitation and release of orphan brown bear cubs. The approach used at OBRP is one of the most conservative approaches used for raising bear cubs in that Valentin and Sergey emphasize minimal contact with cubs in their care. They suggest that no one speak while in the presence of the cubs because they believe that it is important that cubs not become accustomed to human voices. Sergey also suggested that caretakers wear the same clothing when they are interacting with the cubs to “standardize” their appearance. Interactions between the cubs and caretakers are discouraged and caretakers actively discourage the cubs from approaching them during feeding.
Sergey stated that it was important for caretakers to recognize that each cub had its own personality and that not all cubs can be successfully released using the same approach. In situations where cubs are unsuccessfully released from OBRP at 7-8 months of age, they are returned to the facility, over wintered in semi-natural dens and then released the following spring at 15-17 months of age. In most cases, subsequent releases are successful.
Bear rehabilitation technique for the tropics: A case study of Asiatic black bears (*Ursus thibetanus*) in Northeast India. – Dr. N.V.K. Ashraf
Dr. Ashraf is the Director for Wild Rescue at the Center for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC), a program of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and IFAW. The CBRC is located in the Pakke Tiger Preserve, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The IFAW-WTI project began in 2002 with three Asiatic black bears rescued from illegal human captivity. The bears arrived at CBRC at or under 6 months of age and were maintained in quarantine for two weeks before they were moved into a covered enclosure for 3-4 months. The cubs were then relocated into a pre-release enclosure and held there for 1-2 years and then “hard” released in the Pakke Tiger preserve. All three cubs were exposed to human contact prior to entering the CBRC facility and none were successful in transitioning back to the wild. Two cubs were killed shortly after release (1 by villagers; 1 by a leopard or tiger) and the third returned to the CBRC facility.
Dr. Ashraf changed his protocol for raising cubs as a result of his experience with the three Asiatic black bear cubs mentioned above. The CBRC now uses
a modified “soft” or assisted release method. Cubs are now raised in the CBRC facility until they are about five months old. Then they are placed in an enclosure located in the release area and are walked in the forest by two keepers for approximately 9 months. They are returned to the enclosure each night and are provided with supplemental food. The cubs gradually become more independent and are left on their own during the day after 10 months. They are free to return to the enclosure, but often do not do so as they achieve more independence.
**Care and rehabilitation of American black bears: Critical components – Ms. Angelika Langen**
Angelika and her husband, Peter, operate the Northern Lights Wildlife Rehabilitation facility in Smithers, British Columbia, Canada. The Langens have been involved in raising and releasing American black bears since 1990 and have released more than 100 bears. Most cubs enter their facility in early spring, although cubs do come in during the fall. Cubs are kept in a natural enclosure and are provided with behavioral enrichment to minimize the potential development of stereotypic behaviors. Cubs are housed together to facilitate socialization and to minimize interactions with their caretaker. Angelika prefers to restrict the number of caretakers for the cubs to one individual when possible and attempts to teach the cubs to climb trees to avoid strangers that approach the enclosure. She stated that some cubs display personality traits that suggest they are comfortable in close association with people and that extraordinary efforts are needed to teach those cubs to avoid people (i.e. using electric cattle prods when they approach their caretaker).
Cubs are fed goats milk with yogurt and lactobacillus to facilitate digestion. Once they are weaned they are fed oatmeal and honey, vitamins, and eventually dog food to provide them with essential nutrients. Cubs that enter the facility in late summer and fall are occasionally dehydrated and malnourished. These cubs need to be treated immediately for the dehydration and provided food slowly to avoid upsetting their digestive system. All cubs are dewormed when they enter the facility. Mange has been observed, but it is easily treated with ivermectin.
**Sun Bear Rehabilitation Efforts – Ms. Gabriella Fredriksson**
Gabriella Fredriksson is a conservation biologist based in Indonesia and working on her Ph.D. on sun bears. Her presentation focused primarily on the ecology of sun bears and on her experiences releasing 8 sun bears in 1997 (5) and 1998 (3). The five bears released in 1997 were 2.5-5 years of age and had been held in captivity for several years prior to being released using a “hard” release. All of these bears were killed by villagers in nuisance situations (3), recaptured (1), or disappeared. Subsequently, three cubs were brought to Ms. Fredriksson and they were released gradually using the same methodology described by Dr. Ashraf for Asiatic black bears (in fact, Dr. Ashraf modeled his release methodology based upon the methods Ms. Fredriksson used in 1998). The assisted release used by Ms. Fredriksson was successful for two females and they are still using the forest in the vicinity of her research camp.
eight years after their release. The male that she released was very habituated to people (he had entered her care before his eyes were open) and was eventually killed illegally by local loggers.
Ms Fredriksson described the situation in Indonesia for sun bears as marginal due to habitat loss, lack of natural food resources, and conflicts with people along the forest borders. She believes that there are few suitable locations for releases in Indonesia. Gabriella attributes the success she had in releasing the two female sun bears to: 1) less time in captivity before entering the rehabilitation program, 2) the assisted release method (more time to acclimatize to their surroundings), 3) younger age at release, and 4) being integrated into her research project, which provided them with a level of care (protection) that they may not have received in another area.
**Summary of Work Session**
Participants in the workshop used a variety of approaches to care for bears. In many cases the methods employed reflected personal preferences that had worked well in the past. However, in some cases the methods were developed to accommodate geographical and species-specific requirements. Although the protocol varied among regions and species, the overall goal of achieving a successful outcome was the guiding principle for all rehabilitation facilities.
The preferred rehabilitation process is dependent on several factors that vary among geographical areas and species. Critical to the process is raising the cubs in a way that maximizes their potential to survive in the wild, while at the same time minimizing the potential for habituation to humans. This objective requires that rehabilitators consider the lengths of time cubs are kept in the rehabilitation facility, the intensity of husbandry administered to the cubs, the type of release (i.e. hard vs. assisted), and the characteristics of the release location. In situations where cubs will be released in remote areas with few human settlements, rehabilitators have greater flexibility in the amount of contact they have with cubs in their care. The presentation on Hamr and Bink’s study in Ontario, Canada (see summary of evening presentation on page 21) demonstrated that the amount of human contact during the rehabilitation process is of lesser importance when releasing cubs in remote areas with few human settlements. The successful release of cubs using an “assisted” release approach also confirms this relationship between human contact during the rehabilitation process and the presence of human activities in the release area. However, in areas where human settlements are not uncommon or are widely dispersed across the landscape, rehabilitators need to limit contact with cubs, particularly after weaning.
**Facilities:**
The rehabilitation facilities used by participants in the workshop ranged in size from large (> 3 ha) located in relatively remote areas to smaller enclosures located in rural settings. Many participants used multiple enclosures during the process of raising the cubs and believed it was important to have larger enclosures available for the cubs and need more space to roam.
facilities needed for rehabilitation efforts was not a major focus of discussions at the workshop; the NWRA (Miller 2000) has published minimum standards for housing of bears in captivity for rehabilitation purposes. However, the participants did suggest that it was important for enclosures to mimic the natural environment as much as possible to encourage natural behavior in the cubs. In those situations where cubs were being raised in an urban environment or in small enclosures, it was important to provide the cubs with behavioral enrichment to reduce the stress associated with their environment and to prevent the development of stereotypic behaviors. Other considerations that were deemed important included: providing a safe environment with protection from adverse weather elements (extreme heat or cold), elevated dry areas for resting during wet weather, and denning areas for cubs raised in temperate regions. While the facilities should allow bears to display natural behaviors such a digging and climbing, care should also be taken to ensure that bears are not able to dig or climb out of the enclosures. Therefore, measures are required to prevent escapes, as well as to prevent predators (e.g. leopards, pumas, wild bears), from entering the enclosures.
**Care and Handling:**
Habituation of cubs to their caretakers is an important consideration during the rehabilitation process. For very young cubs that enter rehabilitation facilities, it is very difficult to avoid some degree of habituation because the cubs have to be hand fed for several weeks and may require social contact with other cubs or their caretaker to adjust to their new environment. Fortunately, habituation to people at this stage in their life can be negated by actively discouraging interactions between the caretakers and the cubs after they are weaned. Providing the cubs with an opportunity to socialize with other cubs also redirects their focus from their caretaker. Eventually they become disinterested in actively engaging their caretakers, especially if they receive negative stimuli during any attempts to interact with the caretaker. All participants at the workshop indicated that restricting the number of caretakers to 1 or 2 individuals was important. Individuals using an “assisted” release strategy should also give cubs access to natural environment shortly after the cubs are weaned.
**Feeding:**
Very young cubs need formula that is high in calories, protein and fat, while low in carbohydrates and should be fed every 2-3 hours around the clock. Researchers experimenting with various formulas while raising brown bear cubs from three separate litters concluded that a formula composed of 24% fat, 12% protein and very few carbohydrates simulated the caloric quality of bear milk and resulted in faster cub growth rates than artificial diets high in carbohydrates (Huber et al. 1993). Milk of bears has higher levels of fat and protein, and lower levels of lactose than what is found in milk from cows. When choosing a milk substitute for hand-raising bear cubs, considerations of casein, whey, and lactase and curd formation in stomach are as important as fat, protein and carbohydrate composition. Recommended formulas available in the market are made of puppy milk replacer (Esbilac® or Multimilk®, PetAg). Cow milk carries the risk of forming lactobezoars (concretions of milk solids) in the intestinal tract of bear cubs, which can be a critical, if not
life-threatening issue. Certain species of bears, such as sun bears, giant pandas, sloth bears and spectacled bears appear particularly prone to forming lactobezoars. It is imperative that if the only available option is to feed milk from a source other than carnivore milk formulas, it must be pre-digested with lactase prior to feeding (add 1-2 drops of liquid lactase per 100 ml milk and refrigerate for 24 hours prior to use, or predigest the milk in a water bath at 32-35 degrees C for 90 minutes and then stored in refrigerator (K. Loeffler, pers. comm. May 2008). Cubs must be carefully monitored for bloating, inappetance, discomfort and constipation.
As cubs get older, the number of feedings per day and the quantity of food can be tapered off to 10-20 percent of their body weight (Lintzenich et al. 2006). Cubs generally wean themselves from the bottle at 5 to 6 months of age, but they can be forcibly weaned at a much earlier age. Weaning cubs at an earlier age may help in breaking the bond that develops between cub and caretaker and assist in reducing the level of habituation. At weaning, their diet consists primarily of fruits, dry dog food (for nutritional balance), hard mast species (nuts), some vegetables, and occasionally fish or the carcasses of wild animals. Solid foods can be presented to bears in a variety of ways (scattered, hidden, chunks, etc.) to increase behavioral enrichment in the enclosure and to encourage the bears to search for their food as they do in the wild. Some participants at the workshop suggested feeding bears remotely to reduce the probability that cubs would associate receiving food with people. Others also did not allow conversation to occur in the presence of the cubs at feeding for the same reason. It is not clear how effective these approaches are in reducing habituation or the association of food with people, but they certainly are not harmful to the process.
**Socialization of cubs:**
Allowing cubs to socialize with one another during the rehabilitation process is important in reducing the potential for habituation with their human caretakers. While raising cubs together encourages natural behaviors as they interact with one another, it also reduces their focus on the caretakers. This is a critical factor for rehabilitators using “hard” release methods, where it is important for cubs to adapt quickly to a new environment after their release and to avoid contact with people. It is also a consideration for rehabilitators using an “assisted” release strategy because they also want to encourage those same natural behaviors, while maintaining limited habituation to caretakers during the period the cubs get acclimatized to their release sites and are gradually released back to the wild. Play behavior is also critical to normal social and physical development of cubs. Moreover, housing cubs together provides opportunity for them to substitute one another for the close physical contact that they normally experience with their mothers.
There was some discussion about mixing various age groups of cubs in the rehabilitation facility and also mixing different species of bears. Many participants were uncomfortable with the idea that cubs of different ages or species could be housed together. There were also examples of negative outcomes when new arrivals were introduced into an enclosure with an established group of cubs. In contrast, other participants cited experiences
where they had no difficulty with mixing cubs of various ages, different species (North American brown bears and American black bears), and introducing new cubs into an enclosure with an established group of cubs. Attempts to introduce new cubs, regardless of age or species differences, should be approached cautiously and gradually.
**Best Practices:**
- Quarantine new arrivals for 2-4 weeks prior to introducing them into enclosures with other cubs.
- Provide prophylactic treatment against potential disease organisms and parasitic infestations.
- Minimize human contact with bears to 1-2 primary caretakers.
- Discourage direct interactions between cubs and caretakers.
- Allow socialization among cubs.
- Mimic natural environment as much as possible within enclosures and provide behavioral enrichment to encourage natural behaviors.
- Provide protection from weather extremes.
- Wean cubs at 2-3 months of age.
- Provide natural foods prior to release.
- Scatter foods within the enclosure to encourage natural feeding patterns and vary feeding schedule to minimize stereotypic (pacing) response in anticipation of feeding.
Sixty orphaned and rehabilitated black bear yearlings (30 males, 30 females) from 3 central Ontario wildlife shelters were radio-collared prior to release in the spring of 2002 and monitored until emergence from dens in March-April 2003. Cubs were rehabilitated using different strategies at the three facilities.
At Lakeland Lodge facility, human-bear interaction was not avoided. The cubs were often hand-fed from within the enclosure, allowing bears and humans close contact on a daily basis. The vast majority of food provided to the animals was stale doughnuts and muffins donated by local restaurants. Occasionally, the bears were given candies and other sweets by hand. They were spoken to, named and cared for as pets.
The second rehabilitation facility, Aspen Valley, is an animal sanctuary that deals with multiple wildlife species. It houses cubs in small enclosures (1-2 cubs) that are set up under a roof in a single row. A plastic barrel that is open at one end offers a den site, should the animal attempt to hibernate. The facility also has a large, fenced area that allows bears to be rehabilitated in a semi-natural environment. A wooden shelter is provided for protection from elements and as a potential den. The bears are free to excavate dens in the enclosure. In order to facilitate hibernation, Aspen Valley reduces feeding as denning season approaches and most cubs hibernate for part or all of the winter season. Aspen Valley operates as both a rehabilitation and educational facility. One aspect of the educational program allowed individuals or groups to visit and observe some of the animals being rehabilitated. Exposure to visitors would enhance habituation opportunities. Feeding also brought bears in contact with humans as the facility did not practice blind feedings. Unlike Lakeland Lodge, Aspen Valley employees did not interact with the cubs. Food was placed in the enclosures with care taken to avoid direct interaction. Food consisted of donated dry dog food, apples and doughnuts.
The third facility, Bear With Us also used dry dog food and as much fruit and vegetables as possible. The feeding procedure involved as little contact with animals as possible. Several screens were set up to shield bears visually from an individual bringing food. Food was placed in an antechamber and bears were not allowed access to the food until the rehabilitator had left the immediate area. For the most part, bears remained wary of the rehabilitator throughout their time at the shelter. Bear With Us encouraged hibernation in the captive animals by gradually reducing food as denning season approached. All of the animals engaged in at least partial hibernation.
Twelve wild yearling cubs were radio-collared as part of a control sample of bears during the study. Control animals were trapped using either a mobile box-trap or a mobile barrel trap. These animals were sedated using the standard drug protocol. During sedation, animals were removed from the
traps and measurements taken from the study bears. All animals were also weighed, sexed and radio-collared. The control animals were allowed to recover from sedation before relocation to previously used release sites.
Release locations (at least 2 km between sites) were scattered along remote bush roads and trails. This release pattern facilitated monitoring logistics, maintained bears in the habitat of their origin (upper Great Lakes-St. Lawrence ecotonal forest) and avoided immediate conflicts with humans in residential areas. Bear population densities for this area varied from 30 to 60 per 100 km$^2$.
During winter den-checks a set of morphometric parameters were obtained. These measurements were used to assess the body condition of the orphaned bears using Body-Condition Index (BCI) for Ursids (*in* Binks 2008). BCI scores of the orphaned animals were compared to those of nuisance bears of the same cohort captured in early May 2003 in the study area. Data on insulative properties, elevation, slope and aspect of 25 examined dens allowed for further interpretation of BCI scores. Post-release movements of orphaned and rehabilitated bears were systematically monitored by radio-telemetry. Bears dispersed on the average 33.7 km from the release site, with a maximum distance over 400km. **No differences were observed in survival rates, den use, or propensity for involvement in conflict activity among the three (3) facilities or the control group of bears.**
* Binks, Matthew. 2008. Post-release behaviour and survival of shelter reared, juvenile black bears in central Ontario. M.S. Thesis, Laurentian Univ. Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. 92pp.
Session 3. Criteria for Making Decisions about the Suitability of Bears for Release.
Facilitators: Mr. Curt Clumpner and Ms. Karina Agaronyan
Summary of Invited Presentations
Suitability of rehabilitated brown bears for release – Dr. Valentin Pazhetnov and Mr. Valentin Pazhetnov, Jr.
Dr. Pazhetnov believes that the main factor influencing the successful release of orphaned cubs is the level of habituation to humans. Bears raised at OBRP are typically released in managed forests where logging, recreation, and berry picking are common activities. Dr. Pazhetnov suggested that if the bears did not demonstrate strong avoidance to humans, they would likely be killed shortly after release. Another factor affecting the suitability of cubs for release was their body condition and overall health status. Cubs from OBRP are usually released at 7-8 months of age and are all given antihelmentics and rabies vaccinations prior to release. Valentin also believes that it is important to release cubs in a forested area frequented by few people and that information on the status of the resident bear population in the release area is available. All cubs should be marked with ear tags. Valentin and Sergey have recently been marking cubs with radio transmitters for monitoring their survival, post-release movements, and behavior.
Limitations to the release of rehabilitated bears – Dr. Djuro Huber
Dr. Huber is a member of the Faculty at the Veterinary College, University of Zagreb in Croatia. Djuro described the ecology of brown bears in central Europe, emphasizing aspects of their ecology that makes the release of cubs challenging. In his opinion, there are very few remaining natural habitats remaining in western and central Europe large enough to provide adequate habitat for most individual bears, much less populations. Dr. Huber suggested that placement in properly managed sanctuaries was a viable option for orphaned brown bear cubs that had become habituated to people. These sanctuaries would provide an opportunity to educate the public about bear ecology and conservation, while functioning as a repository for orphaned cubs.
An experiment of returning brown bear cubs into the wild at the northern edge of the brown bear range – Dr. Olga Makarova
Full presentation is included in Appendix IV by A.M. Khokhlov and O.A. Makarova (page 103).
Monitoring released Asiatic black bears – Mr. Sergey Pizuik
Mr. Pizuik is a Ph.D. student working in the Ussuri forest in the southern part of the Russian Far East (RFE) on Asiatic black bears. Mr. Pizuik briefly
discussed bear ecology in the RFE and his experiences releasing cubs back to the wild. He indicated that cubs were being orphaned as a result of poaching activity to satisfy the demand for bear parts in China (paws and gall bladders) and for cubs as pets. Mr. Pizuik estimated that about 50 cubs are brought into rehabilitation centers each year in the RFE.
Sergey indicated that cubs raised in captivity, exposed to frequent human contact and fed by hand became habituated to humans and were not good candidates for release back to the wild because they tended to seek out contact with humans after their release. However, Mr. Pizuik’s group has been successful in releasing cubs, which were isolated from human contact during the rehabilitation process. He found that small cubs that were orphaned or abandoned during the denning period were capable of surviving the remainder of the winter period if they were provided with nesting material and shelter until spring and then released. Mr. Pizuik indicated that they are currently using Dr. Pazhetnov’s rehabilitation protocol for raising and releasing cubs.
**Summary of Work Session**
It appears that there are no significant differences among species, with the exception of polar bears, in assessing their suitability for release back to the wild. Polar bears are primarily carnivorous and the ability to hunt seals out on the sea ice presents rehabilitators with a major challenge in terms of preparing orphaned cubs for release. Predatory skills are often learned through trial and error and rehabilitators have found it difficult to train cubs to hunt in a captive environment. However, in areas with abundant prey or marine mammal carcasses for scavenging, it may be possible to successfully release cubs (Ovsyanikov, pers. comm., this workshop). Predatory behavior in other species of bears is generally opportunistic and of less importance as a foraging strategy. The survival of released cubs is largely dependent on three essential prerequisites prior to release. They need 1) adequate natural forage, 2) to avoid people, and 3) to avoid being preyed upon by large bears or other predators.
**Foraging Skills:**
Most, if not all, the skills released cubs need for survival in the wild are innate and do not need to be taught during the rehabilitation process. Cubs taken into captivity prior to leaving their maternal dens have constructed winter dens, fed on natural foods after release, and demonstrated other natural behaviors when threatened, such as lip curls and vocalizations. (Beecham 2006, Pazhetnov pers. comm., this workshop). Rehabilitators that use an “assisted” release strategy, where cubs are walked in the forest by 1 or 2 caretakers, have also reported that cubs appear to know which natural foods to select while foraging (Ashraf pers. comm., this workshop). Other rehabilitators using a similar release strategy report that cubs will taste a wide variety of plants while foraging, and select only those that provide adequate nutrition (Kilham pers. comm., this workshop).
**Behavior:**
It is evident that each cub has a “personality” that is unique from those of other bears and that they may respond differently to the rehabilitation process
than their siblings or other cubs in the facility. Assessing the suitability of cubs for release often involves evaluating the level of habituation that has occurred prior to or during the rehabilitation process. The behavior of most cubs, especially those allowed to socialize with other cubs, evolves over time. Cubs usually reach a point in the rehabilitation process (usually near the time of natural family break-up in the wild) where they appear to tolerate the presence of their caretakers, but do not seek them out for food or attention. However, other cubs may continue to display habituation behaviors (begging for food, seeking out contact with caretakers) throughout their time in captivity and are not suitable candidates for release in areas where the probability of them coming into contact with people is moderate to high. Highly habituated cubs may be suitable candidates for release in remote areas or using “assisted” release methods, where it is feasible to use that methodology, because they will eventually adopt an indifferent, avoidant attitude towards their caretakers and other people.
Although there are few, if any, differences among bear species when assessing their suitability for release, there are differences in public perception about the dangers and risks associated with releasing orphaned cubs. There are no documented cases of released cubs causing harm to anyone after their release. However, this does not diminish the perceived threat that some people may feel from released cubs, and strongly suggests the need for public education programs on rehabilitation efforts, particularly in release areas. Released cubs occasionally become involved in conflicts with humans and that potential needs to be fully considered in determining if a cub is suitable for release. This consideration is particularly important with regard to the landscape characteristics of the release site, including level of human habitation and activity in the area.
The importance of wariness in released cubs extends to not only to humans it may encounter in the forest, but also to other animals, especially large predators. Adult bears, leopards and other large predators occasionally prey on small bears and can be a significant source of mortality. Habituated cubs are often slow to respond to threats in their environment and may fall prey to predators more frequently than their wild counterparts.
**Maternal Protection:**
American black bear and brown bear cubs are known to survive in the wild after being orphaned at 5 and 7 months of age, respectively. However, cubs that are orphaned at that age likely have lower survival rates than those who gain independence from their mothers when they are older and larger in size. Wild bear cubs typically begin supplementing the nourishment they get from nursing as soon as they are able to travel with their mothers, by feeding on both herbaceous plants and any animal protein available to them. The maternal bond extends beyond the age when cubs are weaned primarily to provide the cubs protection from other bears and from large predators, while they are too small to defend themselves. Several participants in this workshop (Ashraf, Beecham, Skripova, Berezcky, and Pazhetnov, pers. comm.) related examples of predation occurring on cubs released prior to the age at which natural family break-up would occur in the wild. Predation was documented
on released cubs by other bears, leopards, wolves, lynx, and tigers. As a result, many workshop participants recommended releasing cubs at or near the age at which normal family break-up would occur (17 to 18 months of age in many species) rather than at 7 to 8 months of age. The “assisted” release methodology used by some rehabilitators (Ashraf, Fredriksson, and Kilham, pers. comm., this workshop) mimics the natural patterns of development in cubs by allowing the cubs to acclimatize to the release area, while caretakers provide them with protection from predators.
**Genetic Considerations:**
Genetic considerations frequently are cited as a major concern regarding the decision to release orphaned or captive-bred bears into the wild. The primary concern involves the loss of genetic integrity in the recipient bear population as a result of hybridization. The level of genetic diversity among conspecific bear populations varies considerably, and is a reasonable indicator of geographic separation over time. Bear populations that have been isolated for centuries from other populations of the same species are known to possess detectable differences in genetic make-up, resulting in a unique genetic signature for the population. The issue of genetic “pollution” as a result of hybridization is not a relevant concern in situations where the provenance (capture location) of the orphaned cub is known and the proposed release location is within the same geographical range of the species. In situations where the provenance of the cub is unknown, genetic testing of the cub and the recipient bear population prior to release is the only safe, ethical approach (Beecham 2006).
The genetic and biological implications of the relationship between the level of genetic diversity and the “health” of wild bear populations are complex and not clearly understood. Examining the issue from another perspective, there may be some potential benefit from releasing orphaned bear cubs into small, isolated bear populations. Isolated bear populations generally show a loss of genetic diversity within the population because of inbreeding (Waits 1996, Waits et. al. 1998, McCarthy et al. 2009). Genetic distance is a function of geographic distance and the characteristics of the intervening landscape (Paetkau et. al. 1998). Releasing orphaned cubs into these environments may be used as an intrusive management option designed to prevent the loss of genetic variability in “at risk” bear populations.
**Best Practices:**
- Only release bears that are in excellent physical condition (intact teeth and claws) and with no physical challenges that would prevent their survival in the wild.
- Release bears when they are old enough and large enough to defend themselves from predators.
- Release bears that are genetically compatible with those in the release area.
- Release bears when natural food resources are abundant in the release area.
- In temperate climates, consider winter releases when few people are using the forest.
• Release only bears that appear wary of, and are inclined to avoid people.
Criteria for the suitability of release sites, optimum habitat for bears, and improving post-release survival success. – Mr. Dave Jackson
Dave Jackson is the project coordinator for the Andean Bear Project (ABP), which is located in the Yanahurco Reserve in northern Ecuador. Under the direction of Armando Castellanos, the project leader, the ABP has been involved in rehabilitation efforts for Andean (spectacled) bears since 1995. The group is also involved in ecological studies of Andean bears. ABP works with local communities on human-bear conflict issues and conducts educational programs on the ecology of Andean bears in local communities. Dave and Armando use a hard release strategy for releasing bears back to the wild at 1.5 to 3 years of age. To date, 2 of 8 releases can be considered successful. Bears released between 1995 and 1998 were not successful. Failure of these releases was attributed to the young age of the bears at release (2 to 3 years old), poor choice of release sites (too close to human settlements), and parasitism. One of the successfully released cubs has since produced a litter of cubs.
ABP personnel examine bears prior to release to ensure that they are in good physical condition. All bears receive treatment for parasites, antibiotics and vitamins prior to release. Bears are now released in remote areas with few human settlements. Measures of success for ABP releases include survival, establishment of a home range and breeding activity with wild bears in the area.
Special methods used for post-release monitoring of brown bears in Romania: – Mr. Leonardo Bereczky
Mr. Leonardo Bereczky is the project coordinator for the Vier Pfoten brown bear rehabilitation project in Romania. The project began in 2004 and is located in a remote area outside of the town of Belan in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains. The project site is not accessible to the public. Rescued brown bear cubs are housed in three enclosures during the rehabilitation process. The first enclosure, about 0.5 ha in size, is used to acclimate the cubs to captivity. It is constructed from chain link and electric fencing to keep the bears inside the enclosure. A second, 5 ha electrified fence enclosure (with no chain link fencing) is located adjacent to the acclimatization enclosure. The cubs are moved into this enclosure after they have become accustomed to the electric fencing, usually after a 3 to 5 week period. The third enclosure, constructed entirely of electrified fencing, is approximately 8 ha in size and is connected
directly to the second enclosure. All three enclosures contain mixed forest/shrub vegetation cover and the cubs that are being raised at the facility are all radio-collared to make sure that they can be recaptured if they escape from the enclosures during the rehabilitation process. The vegetation cover within the enclosures provides up to 50% of the food consumed by the bears during some seasons. Leonardo supplements their food supplies with apples, meat and other vegetables as required during the year.
Leonardo originally tried releasing cubs from the facility at 7 to 8 months of age, but was not successful due to predation by adult brown bears or other predators (wolf and lynx). He now releases bears at 1.5 to 2 years of age and monitors them via telemetry from an ultra-light aircraft or via GPS-GSM radio collars. Success criteria include post-release avoidance of humans (no conflict behavior), survival, and reproductive success.
**Release strategies used by various rehabilitation programs and monitoring results – Dr. John Beecham**
Dr. Beecham has been involved in rehabilitation of orphaned bear cubs since 1972 and is currently responsible for the release of bears from the Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation (IBBR) facility in Boise, Idaho. John recently completed a white paper on the rehabilitation and release of orphan bear cubs and was involved in organizing this workshop. John presented information on factors surrounding the release and monitoring of bear cubs. His presentation highlighted considerations related to selecting a release site, such as obtaining release site approvals from appropriate governmental agencies, performing habitat assessments to ensure that the area is historical bear habitat and large enough to support a viable bear population, and has adequate natural food resources. Other factors that can influence the suitability of a release site include: presence of other large predators, potential for intraspecific competition, genetic diversity and integrity issues, and the need to prevent the introduction of diseases and parasites into the resident bear population. He briefly discussed factors associated with determining the suitability of cubs for release (physical condition, behavior, and socialization) and release strategies that have been used to release cubs back to the wild (fostering, summer/fall, spring, winter, and assisted releases). John outlined the importance of monitoring releases and discussed the various objectives that are often associated with monitoring efforts (nuisance behavior, survival, and reproduction). He also emphasized the need to develop an intervention plan for bear releases that identified factors responsible for monitoring releases. The intervention plan would also include frequency and duration of the monitoring effort, identify members who would respond to a potential conflict situation, and options for resolving conflicts.
Release site selection is an integral part of the rehabilitation process and, in some cases, dictates the methods used during the rehabilitation process. Selection of remote areas for release provides rehabilitators more flexibility in their approach to rehabilitation than are available to rehabilitators who must release bears in human dominated landscapes. Several factors should be considered in selecting an appropriate release site, including habitat related variables and other factors that may significantly affect the probability of cubs surviving after their release.
**Habitat Variables:**
A primary consideration in selecting a release site is the characteristics of the habitat. The habitat should be within the historic or current distribution range of the species, large enough to accommodate a viable population of bears, and have sufficient food resources, water, and vegetative cover to be classified as good quality habitat. Other important considerations are land-use issues. The presence of human settlements on the landscape can affect the success of releases, as well as how the land is being used. The potential for human-bear conflict increases dramatically in areas where human densities are high and agricultural pursuits (livestock grazing, orchards, apiaries, etc.) dominate the landscape. Recreation and resource extraction activities may also be important factors influencing the success of release efforts and should be considered during the release site selection process.
**Other Ecological Variables:**
A variety of other factors may influence the selection of a release site, including the status of the resident bear population, the presence of large predators, cultural considerations, and political constraints. Competition for resources is often cited as a concern regarding the release of orphan bear cubs into an area that is currently occupied bear habitat. The social structure of bears revolves around a dominance hierarchy system that results in dominant individuals gaining access to limited resources (food, mates, etc.) before sub-dominant bears. Where resources are plentiful all bears have access to those resources. Competition occurs when resources are limited, and it is unlikely that (young) released bears would be able to successfully compete with dominant, resident bears. Where competition does occur, it is likely that released bears, rather than resident bears, are adversely affected. The social organization of bears suggests that survival rates of released cubs may be enhanced by choosing release sites where the social structure of the resident bear population has been disrupted (i.e. hunting), which would typically result in fewer adult males and less competition for food resources, rather than releasing them in protected areas where the resident bear population is stable and dominated by large adults.
The presence of large predators in the release area may also affect survival rates. Several workshop participants cited examples of altering the methods they used to rehabilitate cubs based on the presence of large predators in the release areas that were available to them. In most cases, those participants
chose to release their cubs later (17 to 18 months of age rather than at 7 to 8 months of age), when the cubs were larger and better able to defend themselves against predators. Others elected to use an “assisted” release strategy, where caretakers walked the cubs in the forest each day, gradually increasing the area covered over 4 to 7 months, while providing the cubs with protection from predators.
In many countries, resident wildlife species are considered the property of the government and the “state” is responsible for instituting protective laws and regulations and management programs for those species. As a result, selecting appropriate release sites generally requires direct involvement of government officials in the release process, or at least obtaining the necessary permissions and permits from governmental agencies to release cubs into the wild. In those countries where rehabilitation programs are operated by the government, selection of release sites is an integral part of the operation of the facility. It is important to consider cultural factors in selecting a release site, to properly inform and educate the public in the vicinity of the release location and to gain its support for the program.
**Timing for Releases:**
In addition to size and age of the cubs, release site characteristics significantly influence the timing of releases. Factors such as the abundance of natural food resources, seasonal weather patterns, and human activity patterns are important determinants of optimal release times. Food resources are often available seasonally and are patchy in distribution. Timing releases so that they correspond with the availability of natural foods enhances the probability that cubs will successfully transition to the wild without becoming involved in conflict situations. In those situations where high levels of human activity preclude releasing bears during abundant food periods, alternatives such as placing the cubs in winter dens (in temperate climates) or choosing a remote site for the release may be considered. In areas where bears do not den, human activity is distributed evenly throughout the year, or large predators are a primary concern, using an “assisted” release strategy may be the best alternative. A major cause of mortality in bear populations is human activity (legal hunting, poaching, etc.). Although cubs typically adjust quickly to living in the wild (within several weeks) there is an adjustment period after their release where they may be more vulnerable to hunters and/or poachers. It is advisable to release cubs outside the time frame for legal hunting seasons or excessive poaching activity to minimize the chances that cubs may be killed shortly after their release.
**Release Strategies:**
Preferred release strategies are often based on ecological differences among regions (hibernate during a portion of the year vs. remain active all year). The primary goal is to maximize survival rates within the context of constraints imposed by the environment, the age and physical condition of cubs entering rehabilitation, and the level of human activity that is occurring in the release area. A variety of methods have been used successfully to release cubs back to the wild.
Fostering- Fostering cubs to wild females can be logistically challenging and is not a common technique for returning orphaned cubs to the wild. However, it has been used successfully with American black bears (Alt and Beecham 1984) and with limited success with polar bears in Manitoba, Canada (Hood pers. comm., this workshop). A significant limiting factor for using this method is locating suitable foster mothers in situations where the addition of one or more foster cubs would not put undue stress on the adopting mother’s family group. The additional stress associated with adopting additional cubs can be difficult, especially if the cubs are still nursing. Lactating American black bears readily accepted orphan cubs introduced into their dens. The process of fostering cubs is more difficult for older cubs that are introduced to adult females who have left their winter dens. In those cases, it is necessary to capture the female and her natural offspring and then place the orphaned cub(s) with the family group while the female was tranquilized. Vicks vapor rub can be placed in the nose of the adult female to interfere with her sense of smell and to facilitate her acceptance of the orphaned cub(s). That same procedure was used with polar bears in Manitoba. However, it is unclear if, and for how long, the application of Vicks vapor rub affected the female’s ability to hunt, and if it did, for what duration of time. Ovsyanikov (pers. comm., this workshop) indicated that he has observed natural adoption in polar bears when food resources were abundant. Conversely, he has also observed females killing unrelated cubs during periods of food shortages.
Summer/Fall Releases- Bear cubs are self-sufficient as early as 5 to 7 months of age and can be released when food resources are plentiful. This technique has been used quite successfully by a variety of rehabilitators. Preliminary data from these releases, however, suggests that cubs released prior to the age of 9 months have lower survival rates than cubs released near the age of natural family break-up (17 to 19 months of age). The high mortality rates have been attributed to predation by large carnivores, including bears, and conflicts with people. Summer/Fall releases are logistically easy and cost effective because the cubs were maintained at the rehabilitation center for shorter periods of time and released at a younger age (5 to 7 months).
Spring Releases- Releases that occur near the time of natural family break-up are common and result in good survival rates. Food resources are typically abundant at this time of year and high in protein content. Early spring releases usually occur before people commence using forest habitats heavily and cubs have an extended period of time to adjust to their new environment. Spring releases require that cubs be held over winter in temperate climates. In this situation, cubs are frequently forced into hibernation during the winter period by withdrawing food, although they may be fed throughout the winter period. This decision depends in part on the physical condition of the cub in the autumn and whether it has sufficient resources to withstand a denning period. Spring releases are logistically simple, but are more costly than summer/fall releases, especially for cubs that are fed through the winter.
Winter Releases- In temperate climates, there are two common approaches used for winter release: 1) release the cubs in early winter without
providing a winter den for them (Karen Noyce, pers. comm., Nov. 2007) or 2) place them in a natural or artificial den in mid-winter. Cubs have an innate ability to recognize when, where and how to select and prepare a winter den. This makes early winter releases logistically easier than mid-winter releases and more cost effective than spring releases. Placing cubs in winter dens has also been a very effective approach for successfully releasing cubs. The major advantage of winter releases is the cubs typically emerge from the dens at a time when human use of the forest is negligible and they have adequate time to adjust to their new environment before significant human activity occurs in the spring. Mid-winter releases are definitely more challenging, but excellent success rates make the effort worthwhile.
**Soft Releases**- This release strategy is not commonly used because many rehabilitators do not have the financial resources necessary to fund the process, nor do they have access to appropriate release sites. Soft releases require that the animal be confined to an enclosure at the release site for a period of time (weeks or months) prior to its release. In some cases, the enclosure is located at the rehabilitation facility and it is simply opened up when it is time to release the cubs. In these situations, the cub is free to leave when it chooses and may even be provided with supplemental food in the enclosure for a short transition period. Another approach is to place the cubs in an enclosure that is located some distance from the rehabilitation facility, hold it there for a period of weeks or months and then to release the cub directly from the enclosure. This approach is more difficult logistically and is more expensive than soft releases that occur directly from the rehabilitation facility. Rehabilitation facilities that are located in rural or remote areas have used soft releases for bears, but most facilities are not located in areas where the use of this method is practical or feasible (Bereczky, Jackson, Kilham and Pazhetnov pers. comm., this workshop).
**Assisted Releases**- This release strategy is similar to a soft release approach except that the cubs are taken for daily walks in the surrounding forest and returned to the enclosure at night. Frequent contact between cubs and 1 or 2 caretakers is critical to the rehabilitation process where the “assisted” release method is used to place cubs back in the wild. This method requires that the cubs be imprinted on their caretakers at an early age, so that they will stay with the caretakers during their forays into the forest. The walks in the forest begin shortly after the cubs are weaned and continue until the cubs are approximately 18 months of age. The caretakers provide the cubs with a level of protection while the cubs are acclimating to their forest habitat. Over time, the cubs become independent of the caretakers and, eventually, refuse to return to the enclosure at night. Supplemental food is provided to the cubs in the enclosure for a period of time after “chaperoned” walks are discontinued, but not all cubs will return to the enclosure to feed. The advantage of an assisted release approach is that it allows the cubs to acclimatize over a period of time to their new habitat, while being protected from large predator by their caretakers. The primary disadvantages are the logistical challenges of walking the cubs in the forest every day for several months, and the cost of labor associated with hiring caretakers to walk the cubs. Participants attending this workshop have used this approach
successfully in Russia (Pazhetnov), North America (Kilham), Indonesia (Fredriksson) and India (Ashraf).
**Monitoring:**
A critical part of the rehabilitation process involves monitoring the success of the released cubs. Monitoring entails a variety of considerations, including the objectives of the monitoring effort, methods used, frequency and duration of monitoring, budget, and geographical constraints. The overall goal of the monitoring effort is to determine how well the rehabilitation effort has succeeded in returning cubs to the wild. Beneath that umbrella, rehabilitators are concerned that: 1) movements and survival rates of the released cubs are not significantly different than those of their wild counterparts, 2) the released cubs do not become involved in conflict situations shortly after release, and 3) whether the released individuals become breeding members of the standing wild population of bears in the area.
**Movements and Survival**- The standard approach for monitoring cubs is to equip them with radio collars and to document their movements and survival rates for a period of months or years. Many rehabilitation efforts for bears are carried out by individuals and non-profit organizations (NGOs) that do not have the funding or manpower to conduct extensive monitoring efforts. As a result, most cubs are ear-tagged and released with no radio transmitters. In these situations, data are acquired opportunistically and are not timely in terms of using those data to improve rehabilitation methods from year to year or to intervene quickly in situations where the cubs are involved in conflict activities. However, a few rehabilitators have managed to collect detailed information on cub survival and movements using telemetry equipment (see the Ontario presentation on page 18). Recently, several rehabilitators have begun using GPS, GPS/GSM and GPS/Argos satellite radio collars to monitor bear movements and survival, despite the high cost of GPS radio collars. Monitoring for movements and survival typically occurs for up to 2 years after the cubs are released.
**Conflict Activity**- Every bear has the potential to become involved in conflict activity when environmental conditions negatively affect their natural food supplies. However, if released cubs do become involved in human-bear conflicts, they usually do so within a short period of time after their release. Monitoring for conflict activity therefore typically requires only short-term monitoring for 30 to 60 days after the cubs are released.
**Reproduction**- Collecting information on cubs entering the breeding population is rarely an objective of monitoring efforts because it requires tracking the cubs for 3 to 7 years (age at first breeding for many bear species), and is often impractical and very expensive. However, cubs released in areas where bear research is on-going have been monitored for several years post-release, and reproductive activity has been documented in those cubs (Beecham, Jackson, Jeong, Kilham and Langen, pers. comm., this workshop).
**Intervention Plans**- Developing an intervention plan is clearly part of the monitoring process for conflict activity, but is treated separately here to
emphasize the importance of being prepared to take action should a released cub become involved in a conflict situation. The plan should be developed jointly among responsible wildlife agencies and rehabilitators prior to the release of any orphaned cubs.
The basic elements of the plan should include: 1) identifying who will be responsible for monitoring released cubs, 2) the frequency and the duration of the monitoring effort, 3) identifying who will respond to reports of potential conflicts, 4) what kinds of bear activity are considered conflicts worthy of intervention, and 5) how each type of conflict be resolved. Although the potential for released bears to become conflict animals exists, data from releases suggest that it is low. Nevertheless, it is important to be prepared to intervene, if necessary, to prevent or minimize damages by released cubs.
**Evaluation**- A critical component of the rehabilitation process is evaluating the results and using that information to improve how cubs are raised and subsequently released. Monitoring cubs using telemetry equipment is the only way to gather timely information about how released cubs adapt to their new environment. In areas where it is difficult to monitor cubs using standard VHF or GPS telemetry methods because of geographical constraints, it is important to find the financial resources necessary to use advanced technology to monitor cubs.
**Best Practices**:
- Evaluate habitat characteristics of the release location prior to releasing cubs to ensure suitability
- Monitor all releases and adjust release methods accordingly
- Develop intervention plans prior to releasing bears
- Ensure genetic compatibility between released bears and the recipient wild population
- Keep records for all releases, evaluate and publish results in peer reviewed articles
- Use appropriate release methodology for each species and geographic area
**Evening Presentation**
**Lecture on behavior of black bear cubs raised loose in the wild. – Mr. Ben Kilham**
Mr. Kilham presented an overview of his results from observing the behavior of three litters of cubs that he raised by walking them in the forest, followed by continued contact with some of them as adults. The subjects that he addressed were instinctive and learned behavior; spring, summer and fall foods; breeding, play, and olfactory marking behavior; and the social behavior of the black bear. He also discussed the behaviors that have the most relevance to bear rehabilitation.
According to Ben, black bears appear to be highly social and they form hierarchies with matriarchal control of female relatives that share a common home range. Similar results were found with brown bears in Norway (Zedrosser et al. 2007). These
observations suggest that bears are not solitary animals. Ben has witnessed forceful eviction of unrelated, introduced (rehabilitated) cubs from socially controlled home ranges, implying that the social structure of the resident bear population may be more important than current thinking suggests. The evicted cubs dispersed from the release area; two of the cubs were subsequently killed during the hunting season several kilometers from the release site. In areas like New Hampshire (northeastern USA), where hunting regulates populations, rehabilitated cubs have an easier time finding open home ranges. It was clear from other presentations at this conference that the situations and conditions on the ground vary greatly from location to location. These conditions should be reflected in telemetry data; animals that disperse relatively quickly would indicate socially controlled home ranges at the release site, and animals that are able to find stable home ranges quickly would reflect openings in the social structure. The reasons for these differences may vary from site to site.
Ben also presented evidence of black bear cubs eating fresh ungulate scat. He hypothesized that the bears were ingesting this material to inoculate their intestines with organisms that would aid in the digestion of cellulose. The bear cubs were also able to identify edible plants with the “Kilham Organ”, which he believes is an accessory organ to the vomeronasal system that is designed to identify light aromatic molecules related to food identification and scent detection. It is with this system that cubs are able to find food when released and can learn independently of their natural mother’s training. Ben suggested that cubs may learn what to eat by smelling their mother’s breath as she foraged.
Ben identified two types of scent: 1) aromatic scent from sweat glands and 2) a scent of low volatility carried in the sebaceous oil. He described the function of the olfactory lobe in the brain and its relationship to the nasal epithelium and the accessory olfactory lobe and its relationship to the vomeronasal system. Ben mentioned both intentional and unintentional marking and how they relate to the complex olfactory communication that is a function of living in a food-sharing society. More information can be found in *Among the Bears*, Kilham and Gray, Henry Holt and Company, 2002.
**Session 5. Threats to Bears: Bear Conservation and Welfare and the Role of Public Education.**
Facilitators: Mr. Victor Watkins and Ms. Elena Sitnikova
**Summary of Invited Presentations**
**Brown bears in Russia – Ms. Elena Sitnikova**
Ms. Sitnikova is a scientist based in the Bryansky Les Nature Preserve about 500 kilometers southwest of Moscow. It borders the Ukraine and Belarus. Elena described the distribution of brown bears (a red listed species near the southern extent of its range in Russia) and indicated that there are two
populations in the Bryansky Preserve area. She has been working on brown bear restoration efforts in the Bryansky Preserve since 1996. Between 1996 and 2002, their group released several brown bear cubs that were raised at the Pazhetnov’s facility and four (4) cubs that were raised locally. Two cubs released in 2002 were fitted with ear-tag transmitters, but the transmitters did not work very well and the team lost track of the cubs after the first autumn. In 2005, an ear-tagged adult female with a cub was observed in the Bryansky Preserve (most likely a female released in 2000), suggesting that at least one released cub survived for three (3) years and was actively breeding. Elena also indicated that hunters in the area were pleased with the restoration effort (based on a questionnaire her team developed). She reported that the hunters were cooperating with biologists in the area by reporting sightings and tracks of bears they encountered during the hunting season.
**Brown bears in Estonia – Mr. Peep Mannil**
Mr. Mannil described Estonia as a small country with a relatively large (600) population of bears. The country does not have a large population of people, but they are distributed throughout the country and there are few wild places for releasing bear cubs. The first cubs released by Mr. Mannil’s group were raised initially at the Pazhetnov facility in Russia during 1998 and then released in Estonia. The following year the group took the orphaned cubs to Pazhetnov’s facility and spent some time with the Pazhetnovs learning about their protocol for raising cubs. Estonia now has its own rehabilitation facility where they rehabilitate various species, from song birds to bears. To date, they have released 25 bears. Approximately 30% have gotten into conflict situations shortly after release, but only three (3) have been shot as conflict bears. The others eventually moved away from people and have not been involved in conflict behavior. Two 3-year-old released bears were killed by hunters.
Brown bear cub releases from Kazan Zoo – Dr. Alexander Malev
Dr. Malev described releasing 10 brown bear cubs born in captivity at the Kazan Zoo (Russia). The first 2 cubs were left with their mothers for four months and then were taken to the Pazhetnov’s facility to evaluate their behavior and potential for release. The cubs were eventually released and did quite well in the wild. Since then an additional 8 cubs have been born in the Kazan Zoo, were raised for a period of 4 months by their mothers and were then released back to the wild in the Tartar region where bears are red listed. None have been involved in conflict situations, but they have not been monitored with telemetry equipment, so data on survival are lacking.
Wolf rehabilitation in northern Russia – Mr. Vladimir Bologov
Mr. Bologov uses the Pazhetnov protocol for raising and releasing wolf pups in the Bubonitsy area. He has raised 22 pups using the approach that Valentin uses for brown bear cubs, usually in groups of 1 to 6 animals. Once the animals reach one year of age, they are released by opening the enclosure and letting them leave when they choose. Mr. Bologov uses snow tracking during the winter months to follow the wolves and learn more about their territoriality, social behavior and winter diet.
Public education: Encouraging people to change their ways to live with wildlife – Ms. Angelika Langen
Ms. Langen discussed the benefits of educating the public about bear ecology and rehabilitation of orphaned cubs using examples from her experiences in British Columbia, Canada. Angelika pointed out that educating the public about the ecology of bears and their behavior can dispel many of the misperceptions that people have about various bear behaviors (e.g. the significance of a bear standing on its rear feet). She indicated that people in her province have been successful in changing governmental policies on how to deal with bear conflicts by educating the public about alternative ways to reduce conflicts. They have also experienced some success in changing governmental policies regarding releasing orphaned bear cubs by educating the public about the benefits of rehabilitation programs. Angelika argued for more stringent regulations to prevent people from allowing bears to have access to human foods. She also stated that it was important for those regulations to be enforced if we are to be successful in reducing human-bear conflicts near communities located in bear habitat.
Angelika pointed out one benefit of education that is not often mentioned: the recruitment of volunteers into rehabilitation programs. The encroachment of people into wildlife habitat has resulted in the need for additional rehabilitation programs in many countries. Education is an avenue for recruiting new rehabilitators and volunteers into existing programs.
Conservation threats and issues at stake in Southeast Asia – Ms. Gabriella Fredriksson
Ms. Fredriksson discussed the conservation status of Asiatic black bears and sun bears in Southeast Asia. The main threats to Asiatic black bears in Southeast Asia are poaching, particularly for body parts for markets in China, and habitat loss. Ms. Fredriksson indicated that China and Vietnam currently have about 12,000 and 4,000 to 5,000 bears in bile farms, respectively. Habitat loss due to large wild fires is a more significant threat to sun bears in Indonesia than poaching. Gabriella cited estimates of Asiatic black bear populations at about 50,000. There is a dearth of information on population numbers of sun bears in Asia, including information about their basic ecology. She suggested that the highest conservation priority for sun bears is to ascertain their distribution, evaluate habitat conditions and develop a monitoring protocol.
Bear welfare issues in Russia – Ms. Mila Danilova
Ms. Danilova described two issues that are priorities for IFAW in Russia: 1) the protection and conservation of brown bears and 2) welfare issues. Mila indicated that Russia has a population of about 120,000 to 160,000 brown bears and the population appears to be stable. Brown bear hunting is legal in Russia, and is not a major threat to free-ranging populations. However, the winter hunt for bears does result in orphaned cubs, which is a welfare issue that is of concern to IFAW. Cubs are often orphaned at the den sites and either die, or are captured and placed in rehabilitation facilities, used to train hunting dogs, raised for consumption in restaurants, or exhibited as tourist attractions. Human-bear conflicts are rare in Russia and are not considered a significant threat to populations. Major threats are loss of habitat and habitat fragmentation, particularly as a result of logging activities.
IFAW has been working on hunting legislation for Russia since 1991 and is focusing its efforts primarily on ending the winter hunt for bears and protecting female bears accompanied by cubs. They have had some success influencing hunting regulations in local areas with the help of the Pazhetnovs. IFAW has also worked on legislation to protect captive bears where they are used to attract tourists in the larger cities and some outlying areas.
Summary of Work Session
The discussion during this session centered on identifying the welfare and conservation benefits of rehabilitation programs and approaches we might use to change the perception of rehabilitation by the public, scientists, and governmental officials. Although bears are legally protected in many countries, human encroachment into bear habitats will increase dramatically in the coming decades due to the exponential growth of human populations, which will increase the likelihood of human-bear conflicts and increased mortality rates for bears. Recent advances in technology allow people to work from their homes in rural areas, which may lead to additional pressures on bear habitat.
This scenario is typical in the U.S., Canada and parts of Europe where people are choosing to live in more rural areas rather than in the city. However, in many less developed countries, the situation is very different because the human population is abandoning rural areas and moving into the cities looking for employment. Many wildlife species are expanding into these abandoned rural areas, and populations, including those of bears, are recovering rapidly.
The illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife parts (e.g., bear gall bladders and paws) is also placing significant and ever-increasing pressure on the wild population of bears in Asia. Human encroachment and the activities associated with increasing multiple uses of forest habitats will continue to result in cubs being orphaned. The choices we face in deciding how to manage this challenge are limited to: 1) leaving the cubs in the wild to fend for themselves; 2) capturing them and placing them permanently in a zoo, sanctuary or research facility; 3) capturing them and placing them temporarily in a rehabilitation facility; or 4) euthanizing them (Beecham 2006). Suitable permanent facilities are not available in many areas for taking in orphaned cubs, which eliminates this option for most cubs. Public attitudes generally do not support leaving cubs in the wild where they may starve to death nor do they favor euthanizing small cubs. By necessity, that leaves rehabilitation as the most palatable option for many wildlife managers.
**Welfare Value:**
Rehabilitation and release of orphan bear cubs has recognizable welfare and conservation benefits. The primary benefits, from a welfare perspective, accrue to the individuals who are rescued and brought into a rehabilitation facility. Rehabilitation offers managers a better alternative than euthanasia and can free up resources for other animals kept in permanent captivity. Other than the distinct benefit to the cub, there is an extraordinary opportunity to use the plight of these cubs to raise public awareness about the causes of cub orphaning and the status of wild bear populations and their habitat. Public education efforts surrounding orphaned cubs provides a vehicle for teaching people about bear behavior and ecology, which can effectively improve the public perception of bears and their value to society.
**Conservation Value:**
The conservation value of bear rehabilitation efforts are more difficult to identify. Orphan bear cubs have been raised and released back to the wild for more than three decades, yet much of the information documenting the successes and failures of these efforts remains anecdotal. The participants in this workshop identified the need to collate existing information and to publish it in order to illustrate the conservation value of rehabilitation efforts to the scientific community and governmental entities. They also identified a need to place more emphasis on monitoring of released cubs for the documentation of the success of future releases and the causes of failure, and to prepare intervention plans that will guide how we respond to conflict situations involving released cubs. Conflict activities precipitated by released cubs have the potential to negatively affect bear conservation programs for
wild bears by negatively influencing public perceptions of the value of bears to society.
The methodologies that were described by participants in this workshop were largely developed from experience working in areas with abundant bear numbers. However, it is clear that these methods are reasonably robust and it is likely that they will be effective in future efforts to augment or restore bear numbers in areas where numbers are low and in which limiting factors have been identified and addressed. The first restoration project using orphaned cubs exclusively to repopulate an area where the native population was nearly extirpated is now occurring in South Korea using cubs raised in the Russian Far East (Lee and Jeong, South Korea; Skripova, RFE, pers. comm., this workshop). Another opportunity to use rehabilitation of bear cubs in a conservation context includes introducing new individuals into small, isolated populations where genetic diversity has become a concern. Maintaining genetic integrity in wild populations is an important concern for wildlife managers, and the loss of genetic diversity in some isolated populations is of equal concern.
**Changing Perceptions:**
Participants identified several actions that would work toward improving the perception of the public, scientists, and governmental administrators towards rehabilitation efforts for orphaned bear cubs. Among the suggestions were programs to educate stakeholders about the process and the results of efforts to release cubs back to the wild. Publishing popular and scientific papers and periodically holding workshops and conferences was considered valuable. These efforts would bring together people who have experience, or who are interested in raising and releasing cubs and may be a viable way to build confidence in the methodology that is currently being used to prepare cubs for life in the wild. Strategies for addressing the issue of bear cub rehabilitation will have to recognize that people living in urban environments have a different relationship to bears than those living in rural areas where conflicts with bears are a part of their everyday life. These programs, policies and regulations need to be flexible in order to address factors that may differ among regions and species of bears.
Controversial Issues and Practices to Avoid
There was general consensus among the participants that rehabilitation programs for orphaned bear cubs had welfare and conservation benefits. However, many of the individuals involved in rehabilitation efforts have developed the methods they currently use by trial and error and there are no accepted “standards” for rehabilitating cubs. It was clear from the workshop that there are many differences in the way cubs are raised across geographic regions and, to some extent, among species, to settle on a one-size-fits-all approach. The participants in this workshop documented several aspects of the rehabilitation process that are sensitive issues for wildlife professionals or that are practices which they would recommend avoiding. Those include:
**Sensitive Issues -**
- Little is known about the impacts of releasing cubs into occupied bear habitat. Are there valid concerns regarding issues related to competition, genetics, disease, etc.?
- Is appropriate medical screening occurring prior to releases to ensure that disease transmission is not a risk to resident wild bears?
- Are cubs being released only after a well designed monitoring program and intervention plan is in place?
- Why is there a lack of reporting on the results of releases (successes and failures)?
- Could (and would) funds spent for rehabilitation efforts be better spent on habitat or other conservation programs?
- Are welfare considerations an appropriate reason for releasing cubs where data are not available on the impacts of these releases on wild bear populations?
**Practices to avoid**
- Discourage releases in areas where the potential for human-bear conflicts are high.
- Discourage releases in areas where no legal protection exists for bears or the probability of success of bear establishment and survival is low.
- Discourage substandard practices in rehabilitation and release.
- Discourage close contact between the public and bear cubs in a rehabilitation environment.
- Discourage the release of underweight cubs or very young cubs (no bear cub before his time). Released bears should be large enough to defend themselves from predators (1.5 years of age and >25 kg.)
- Discourage unnecessary medical intervention or excessive handling to administer medical treatment.
- Do not release bears whose provenance of origin is unknown.
- Discourage releases of cubs without monitoring.
- Discourage releases in areas where there is public opposition.
- Discourage releases in areas where little information exists about the resident wild population of bears.
References
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Armando Castellanos, Espíritu del Bosque, Ecuador, personal comm., August 2005.
Banks, M., Monsalve Torraca, L.S., Greenwood, A.G., Taylor, D.C. 1999. Aujeszky's disease in captive bears. The Veterinary Record, 145: 362-365.
Beecham J. 2006. Orphaned bear cubs: rehabilitation and release guidelines. World Society for the Protection of Animals. 71 pp.
Bereczky, Leonardo, Vier Pfoten, Romania, personal comm., October 2005.
Binks, M.J. 2008. Post-release behaviour and survival of shelter reared, juvenile black bears in central Ontario. M.S. Thesis. Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON. 92pp.
Carney, D.W. and M.R. Vaughan. 1987. Survival of introduced black bear cubs in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. International Conference of Bear Research and Management. 7:83-85.
Chomel, B. B., Kasten, R. W., Chappuis, G., Soulier, M., Kikuchi, Y. 1989. Serological survey of selected canine viral pathogens and zoonoses in grizzly bears (*Ursus arctos horribilis*) and black bears (*Ursus americanus*) from Alaska. Revue Scientifique et Technique (Office International des Epizooties). 17: 756-766.
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Collins, J.E., Leslie, P., Johnson, D., Nelson, D., Peden, W., Boswell, R., Draayer, H. 1984. Epizootic of adenovirus infection in American black bears. J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc. 185:1430-1432.
Fredriksson, Gabriella, Univ. of Amsterdam, Netherlands, personal comm., January 2006.
Goodrich, John, WCS, Russia, personal comm., February 2005.
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Lintzenich, B.A., A.M. Ward, M.S. Edwards, M.E. Griffin, and C.T. Robbins. 2006. Polar bear nutrition guidelines. Published by Polar Bears International. 65pp. www.polarbearsinternational.org
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Noyce, Karen, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, personal comm., November 2007.
Paetkau, D., G.F. Shields, and C. Strobeck. 1998. Gene flow between insular, coastal and interior populations of brown bears in Alaska. *Molecular Ecol.* 7:1283-1292.
Reman, D.H., Dubey, J.P., Robinson, D. 1993. Fatal hepatic sarcocystosis in an American black bear. *J. Vet. Diag. Invest.* 5:480-483.
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Waits, L., D. Paetkau, C. Strobeck, and R.H. Ward. 1998. A comparison of genetic diversity in North American brown bears. *Ursus* 10:307-314.
Yunker C.E., C.E. Binninger, J.E. Keirans, J. Beecham, and M. Schlegel. 1980. Clinical mange of the black bear, *Ursus americanus*, associated with *Ursicoptes americanus* (Acarina, Audycoptidae). *J. Wildl. Dis.* 16:347-356.
Zarnke, R.L., Ver Hoef, J.M., DeLong, R.A. 2006. Geographic pattern of serum antibody prevalence for *Brucella* spp. in caribou, grizzly bears and wolves from Alaska, 1975-1998. *J. Wildl. Dis.* 42:570-577.
Zedrosser, A., O.G. Stoent, S.Saebot, and J.E. Swenson. 2007. Should I stay or should I go? Natal dispersal in the brown bear, *Anim. Behavior* 74:369-376.
Questions posed to participants for discussion during technical sessions 1-4.
1) What are the similarities in the approaches taken by the speakers?
2) What are the differences in the approaches taken by the speakers?
3) Are your methods significantly different, and if so, how?
4) Are there any successful or unsuccessful methods that you are aware of, which haven’t been mentioned?
5) Do you have any questions?
Questions posed to participants in Session 5.
1) Which outreach and education methods presented would be right for your situation?
2) What outreach and education techniques do you use, which are different to those presented?
3) What specific welfare and/or conservation issues does your activity address?
4) Do you have any questions?
## Appendix III
### List of Participants
#### Organizers
| Name | Affiliation | Country |
|-----------------------|------------------------------------|---------|
| Karina Agaronyan | IFAW, Russia | Russia |
| John Beecham | Private Consultant | USA |
| AJ Cady | IFAW, USA | USA |
| Mila Danilova | IFAW, Russia | Russia |
| William Gasperini | IFAW, USA | USA |
| Valentin Pazhetnov | OBRP | Russia |
| Sergey Pazhetnov | OBRP | Russia |
| Anand Ramanathan | IFAW, USA | USA |
| Ian Robinson | IFAW, USA | USA |
| Maria Vorontsova | IFAW, Russia | Russia |
#### Participants
| Name | Affiliation | Country |
|-----------------------|--------------------------------------------------|---------|
| N.V.K. Ashraf | Wildlife Trust of India | India |
| Leonardo Bereczky | Assoc. Conserving Natural Values | Romania |
| Vladimir Bologov | Central Forest Reserve | Russia |
| Curt Clumpner | Int. Bird Rescue Res. Ctr. | USA |
| Andrew Criswell | Thai Soc. Conserv. Wild Animals | Thailand|
| Kim Elmslie | IFAW, Canada | Canada |
| Gabriella Fredriksson | PANECO-YEL-SOCP | Indonesia|
| Tony Grant | Aspen Valley Wildl. Sanc. | Canada |
| Anatoly Khokhlov | Pasvik Nature Reserve | Russia |
| Djuro Huber | University of Zagreb | Croatia |
| Alison Hood | Born Free Foundation | UK |
| David Jackson | Andean Bear Project | Ecuador |
| Dong Hyuk Jeong | Species Restor. Ctr., NPS | S. Korea|
| Ben Kilham | Kilham Rehabilitation Ctr. | USA |
| Lee Bae Keun | Species Restor. Ctr., NPS | S. Korea|
| Edward Kruglov | Khabarovsk Rehab. Ctr. | Russia |
| John Knight | Vetcare Centers | UK |
| Name | Affiliation | Country |
|-----------------------|--------------------------------------------------|---------|
| Angelika Langen | Northern Lights Rehab Ctr. | Canada |
| Kati Loeffler | Chengdu Res. Ctr. For Pandas | China |
| Olga Makarova | Pasvik Nature Reserve | Russia |
| Alexander Malev | Kazan Zoo | Russia |
| Peep Mannil | Ctr. Of Forest Protection and Silv. | Estonia |
| Nikita Ovsyanikov | Russian Academy of Sciences | Russia |
| Valentin Pazhetnov, Jr.| OBRP | Russia |
| Svetlana Pazhetnov | OBRP | Russia |
| Christopher Parker | Toronto Wildlife Center | Canada |
| Sergey Piziuk | Inst. Biology and Soil Sci. | Russia |
| Jeff Rohlman | Idaho Dept. Fish and Game | USA |
| Elena Sitnikova | Bryansky Nature Reserve | Russia |
| Kira Skripova | Ussuriisky Nature Reserve | Russia |
| Dianne Wittner | Alberta Inst. Wildlife Conserv. | Canada |
| Victor Watkins | WSPA | UK |
| Jackson Zee | IFAW, USA | USA |
**Interpreters**
George Gause
Igor Sinicin
Saule Tuganbaeva
Vladimir Vetrov
1) **Dr. Kati Loeffler** - Veterinary considerations for rehabilitation and release of bear cubs (with emphasis on principles of anesthesia for bears).
2) **Mr. David Jackson and Mr. Armando Castellanos** - Rescue, rehabilitation, release and post release monitoring of the Andean Spectacled bear (*Tremarctos ornatus*) in Ecuador, South America: A brief overview.
3) **Mr. Leonardo Bereczky** - Orphan bear rehabilitation project in the Romanian Carpathians.
4) **Dr. Kira V. Skripova** - Rearing of orphan Asiatic black bear cubs (*Ursus thibetanus*) to be released into the wild.
5) **Dr. Andrew Renfrew Criswell** - Protocol for the reintroduction of Asiatic black bears (*Ursus thibetanus*) in Thailand.
6) **Dr. A. M. Khokhlov and Dr. O.A. Makarova** - An experiment of returning brown bear cubs into the wild at the northern edge of the brown bear range.
7) **Dr. Nikita Ovsyanikov** - Is rehabilitation of polar bear orphaned cubs possible?
8) **Ms. Angelika Langen** - Rehabilitation of bears - A humanitarian act or a valuable wildlife management tool?
Veterinary considerations for rehabilitation and release of bear cubs (with emphasis on principles of anesthesia for bears)
Kati Loeffler, DVM, PhD
Director of Animal Health
Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
26# Panda Road, Fu Tou Shan, Northern Suburb
Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China 610081
Tel: +86 13980938242
email@example.com
Current affiliation: International Fund for Animal Welfare, Beijing. Tel: +86 138 1080 7421, firstname.lastname@example.org
Notes:
1. Drug doses recommended here are for Asiatic black bears, adapted in most cases from canine doses. Optimal doses for other species of bears may differ.
2. PO = per os (oral)
3. SQ = subcutaneous
4. IM = intramuscular
5. Analgesia: control of pain. Analgesics are drugs that control pain.
6. Peripheral perfusion refers to the blood circulation outside the body’s core areas, e.g. in the extremities (arms and legs) and face.
Introduction
The aim in the rehabilitation of rescued bear cubs is to prepare them for release back into the wild as healthy individuals with an excellent chance to survive. Achievement of this aim depends in part on the degree of physical and emotional injury that the cubs have sustained and how well they are able to heal from the consequences of these injuries. This document provides an overview of the veterinary considerations for the rehabilitation of orphaned cubs to wild. Special emphasis has been placed on anesthesia, with a review of some of the important considerations for performing anesthetic procedures on any animal. While the involvement, or at least the input, of a qualified veterinarian is ideal, it is not always available. This document was written primarily for the lay person with a strong working knowledge of wildlife rehabilitation and common veterinary procedures. Some sections of this document supply details for veterinarians.
Initial Examination - At the time of rescue, the cub must be evaluated to establish his or her (for simplicity, henceforth ‘his’) need for emergency veterinary treatment. The cub’s awareness of and responsiveness to external stimuli, his ability to move, physical coordination and signs of obvious injury should be assessed immediately. The necessity for anesthesia to carry out a physical examination and to administer treatment should be determined at this time. The need to use anesthesia to restrain a stressed and possibly compromised animal must be weighed against the safety needs of the human handlers and of the animal itself. If the cub appears stable and does not have life-threatening conditions that require immediate treatment, it is advisable to
delay anesthesia until he has had time to recover from the stress any physical trauma experienced prior to or during the rescue.
The information gained from the initial health check will determine to a significant degree how much human contact will be required during the rehabilitation process, immediate and long-term veterinary requirements, and the likelihood of the bear to be released following rehabilitation. The health check by a qualified veterinarian will likely include an evaluation of all major organ systems by physical examination and whatever diagnostic procedures are deemed necessary and feasible. Ideally, this includes a complete blood count (CBC) with white blood cell differential, serum biochemistry, serum antibody titers against endemic infectious diseases, fecal parasite exam and ultrasonography (Figure 1). Radiography, microbiology, skin scrapings or special assays may be performed as needed, based on the findings of the physical examination.
If a veterinarian is not available, the physical examination must be conducted as well as possible to assess the animal for obvious injuries or health related issues. The unavailability or expense of diagnostic tools under certain conditions and in some areas may limit the information that may be obtained during a health check. However, a great deal may be learned from a basic physical examination performed by a trained clinician with a stethoscope. A lack of laboratory facilities or tools like radiography and ultrasonography must not compromise the effort to establish the physical condition of the rescued animal. Capabilities in remote or developing areas may be expanded by establishing relationships with local human hospitals to perform basic serum biochemistry, hematology (red blood cell and white blood cell counts), fecal parasitology, microbiology and even radiography.
An important and difficult decision must be made about whether a cub not only can be saved (which depends largely on the available financial, technical and personnel resources available), but if the degree of handling that will be required to treat the cub will compromise his chance at success as a wild bear following reintroduction. This decision depends on the age of the cub, the intensity and duration of hands-on treatment that will be required, and the experience and skill of the rehabilitators to raise cubs for reintroduction.
Dehydration, shock, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), and hypothermia (low body temperature) or hyperthermia (overheating) are the most common presentations that require emergency medical intervention in rescued cubs. Small cubs in particular will often be hypoglycemic and will present as weak, with or without neurologic signs, and may or may not appear hungry. Dextrose may be administered by stomach tube (known as a gastric gavage; 5% in normal (0.9%) saline), subcutaneously (under the skin, 2.5%) or intravenously (2.5%). This will also help to rehydrate the animal, as dehydration is a common adjunct to hypoglycemia. If only oral treatment is an option, 5% dextrose, corn syrup (e.g., Karo syrup) or glucose solution may be applied to the gums for rapid absorption and then via gastric gavage. Neurologic signs normally abate with restoration of blood glucose levels and rehydration but in severe cases may require treatment with anticonvulsant medication. A dehydrated animal will again be weak, with sunken eyes, tacky gums, and skin that “tents” when pinched at the nape of the neck. Dehydration is best treated with intravenous or subcutaneous fluids (normal (0.9%) saline or lactated Ringer’s solution), followed by oral dextrose or
human infant electrolytes (e.g., Pedialyte®). Gastric gavage should be performed only by experienced staff in order to avoid misplacement of the tube into the trachea. Care must also be taken to rehydrate at appropriate rates so as not to overfill the stomach or to overload cardiovascular capacity. Guidelines for evaluation of dehydration are outlined in Table 1; guidelines for calculation of fluid requirements are described in Figure 1.
Normal body temperature of cubs is 37° to 38°C. It may be lower (36°C) in very young cubs who are not yet able to thermoregulate. While gently warming the animal with warm water bottles and blankets, the accompanying dehydration, hypoglycemia and shock must be treated. Alternatively, hyperthermia, or heat stroke, is also a medical emergency. As the body is cooled with cold water or ice, the animal must be rehydrated and treated aggressively for shock.
Shock is caused by a loss of blood volume or circulation (e.g., bleeding or failure of cardiac function), or loss of fluid volume (e.g., dehydration). The animal will have a rapid heart rate with a weak and rapid pulse and rapid, shallow breathing. The gums and other mucous membranes will be pale or gray (or purple, depending on the cause of shock) with slowed capillary refill time. A finger pressed to the gums will make the area temporarily white. The capillary refill time, which is an indication of the strength of the blood circulation, or blood pressure, is the time that it takes for the spot on the gums to regain color. This is normally less than 2 seconds. The animal will be weak, may be vomiting, and may show neurologic signs or be unconscious. Following immediate treatment and stabilization, the cause of shock must be determined and treated specifically (or simultaneously, as in the case of hemorrhage). Treatment for shock requires intravenous fluids, antibiotics, monitoring CBC and clotting time for development of disseminated intravascular coagulation (a life-threatening crisis situation that may develop consequent to shock or infection), restoration of electrolyte imbalances, treatment of neurologic signs, medicine to control vomiting, supplemental oxygen, preparation for transfusion with whole blood or plasma if needed, medication to control pain, and possible additional treatments specific to the case. The consequences of shock (or its cause), such as inflammation of the blood vessels or compromise of kidney function, may not appear for another 24 to 48 hours, and the animal must be monitored closely.
Physical injuries in abandoned cubs are most commonly related to accidents, traps, gunshots and exposure. Again, care must be taken to stabilize the animal by treating shock, hemorrhage and dehydration before wound treatment or surgery. Wherever possible, radiographic evaluation of injured animals is advisable to ensure the identification of foreign objects (e.g., bullets and other penetrating objects) and broken bones. Some controversy exists over the management of gunshot wounds. If a bullet is lodged deep in soft tissue (e.g. muscle tissue) where it is unlikely to interfere with mobility or normal physiologic function, it may be advisable to manage the wound conservatively and to leave the bullet in place rather than to cause extensive tissue trauma in its removal.
Medication to control pain (analgesics) is an important component to treating injuries and should be administered as soon as possible. If injuries appear painful and surgery is considered unnecessary or cannot be performed right away, analgesics (e.g., carprofen 4.4 mg/kg once daily PO) are advised in addition to antibiotics or other
pertinent medications. Care must be taken to rehydrate the animal prior to administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that may compromise kidney function (e.g., carprofen or meloxicam).
The choice of antibiotics depends on the type of wound, concomitant infections (e.g., pneumonia) and the overall condition of the animal. Oral antibiotics are advisable, as they require less stress of handling for administration, but care must be taken over gastrointestinal health, particularly in young cubs. Supplementation with a probiotic or lactobacilli during antibiotic treatment is usually advisable.
**Anesthesia**- The anaesthetization of wild animals has become a relatively common procedure and some of its practitioners, particularly lay practitioners, have consequently developed a certain degree of complacency toward it. This is due in part to access to relatively “safe” anesthetic drugs, and the wide tolerance in most bears to these drugs and to less than ideal anesthetic conditions. Nonetheless, bears exhibit individual and circumstantial variation in their sensitivity and responses to anesthesia. It is important to recognize that every anesthetic event poses a risk to both the animal and personnel, and that a sound understanding of anesthetic principles, thorough preparation for emergencies, and experience with emergency response procedures are important prior to undertaking such a procedure.
Anesthesia may be considered in three steps: induction (going to “sleep”), maintenance and recovery (waking up). Induction and recovery are the most critical periods of an anesthetic procedure, during which most complications and injuries occur. Vomiting and aspiration (breathing vomit or saliva into the airway) are a common and serious risk, particularly if the animal has not been fasted prior to induction. Injuries to the animal and personnel occur when the bear is not adequately restrained prior to induction. Ideally, the bear is in a quiet, dark environment inside a cage that contains no potential threats for laceration, entrapment of head or limbs, or areas from which he can fall. The cage allows rapid access through doors at either end. Minimization of stress and external stimuli is critical.
If an animal is being anesthetized in the wild, these controlled conditions cannot be met. In these cases, potential complications must be anticipated. A protocol must be developed and preparations made in advance to guide the behavior and responsibilities of personnel in the event of such complications. An important factor in the choice of anesthetic agents under these conditions will be speed of induction and recovery. A contingency plan for personnel should include safe areas to which to retreat, communication strategies, and emergency medical care in the event of injury or inadvertent exposure of humans to the anesthetic drugs. The article by Osofsky and Hirsch (2000) provides an excellent list of equipment and drugs to have available for field immobilizations.
**Induction**- If possible, an adult bear will have been fasted for at least 12 hours prior to induction. With cubs, particularly very young cubs, this will be too long a period without food, and these should not be fasted for longer than four hours. Water should not be withheld. For individuals who have vomited in previous anesthetic events, pretreatment with ondansetron (0.06 mg/kg PO) 60-90 minutes prior to induction and,
if necessary, an additional IV dose (0.15 mg/kg, administered slowly over 10 minutes) upon induction has been proven effective (Loeffler, unpublished data).
Anesthesia is usually induced in bears by intramuscular injection with a pole syringe, dart, or, in the case of small cubs that can be manually restrained, hand syringe. In bears older than young cubs, the rump should be avoided as an injection site because of the large fat pad in that area. Drug absorption from fat is very slow and induction will be delayed or even ineffective. The upper arm (triceps area) is generally a good target for intramuscular injections with hand or pole syringes. The neck and shoulder are good sites for the placement of darts; if aiming for the triceps, missing the target may result in the dart entering the thoracic (chest) cavity. Emergency drugs, endotracheal tubes and oxygen should be prepared beforehand. External stimuli (noise, light, presence of people and activity) should be kept to an absolute minimum. With stimulation and stress, higher doses of anesthetic agent are required to induce and maintain anesthesia, which increases the risk of adverse effects. Moreover, during Stage 2 anesthesia (Table 2), the animal may demonstrate a heightened excitatory response, which again compromises induction and may result in injury.
The goal of induction is to bring the animal to the appropriate and safe plane of anesthesia (Table 2) that makes him or her safe to handle and that meets the requirements of unconsciousness, analgesia and skeletal muscle relaxation necessary for the procedure. If any surgery is to be performed, the animal must be in Stage 3 with appropriate analgesia. Depending on the procedure, additional analgesic agents may need to be administered (see below). For non-surgical procedures in a small, non-fractious bear cub, Stage 2 may suffice. Any animal older or larger than such a cub should, for the safety of the animal and the personnel, be in Stage 3 even for non-invasive procedures.
During induction, the animal should be monitored closely and as unobtrusively as possible. Respiration (breathing) should be watched carefully (Table 2). When the bear becomes recumbent (i.e., when they “go down”; Stage 2), he may go down with the neck turned in such a way as to compromise patency of the airway. This requires immediate assistance to prevent the animal from suffocating. A bear in Stage 2 anesthesia is potentially very dangerous and should be handled as though he were fully awake. Observation of personnel safety practices is paramount when trying to assist the bear during this phase of induction.
An important aspect of induction is knowing when to abort the attempt if the bear does not go down. This is where experience with the drugs and the species are invaluable. A maximum cumulative drug dose should be calculated prior to starting the induction: this will depend on the drug, its safety margin and the animal’s tolerance. Generally, if the bear is still in Stage 0 or 1, 10 or 15 minutes after the first injection, the dose may be repeated (full or partial dose, depending on the drug(s) used). A partial effect may be topped up with a partial repeat dose. Once the time and/or dose limit for induction has been reached and the bear is not safely anaesthetized, the procedure should be abandoned and reattempted another day. Environmental conditions, stress, sensitivity of the individual animal, the animal’s previous experience with anesthesia, and drug protocol may all affect the success of induction. All efforts should be made to determine why the effort failed and to correct the problem the next time.
Analgesia- If the bear is to undergo any surgery or treatment of a potentially painful condition, analgesic agents should be on board well before the onset of surgery, and continue thereafter. Carprofen (3.2 mg/kg SQ) may be administered immediately following induction of anesthesia, in order that it has taken effect by the time the animal wakes up. Butorphanol (0.075 – 0.1 mg/kg IM) or morphine (0.1 - 0.5 mg/kg IM or IV) may be administered ca. 15 minutes prior to the onset of surgery to provide analgesia during and after the procedure. Depending on the type and duration of surgery, and the choice of drugs, doses may be repeated. Carprofen may then be continued orally at 4.4 mg/kg once daily for as long as necessary.
Maintenance anesthesia- Once the bear has reached Stage 3 anesthetic plane, he may be removed from the induction cage. Minimization of the duration of anesthesia is the best way to avoid many anesthetic complications. The bear should be placed in lateral or dorsal recumbence (on its side or on its back, respectively) on an even, horizontal surface. Monitoring begins immediately, focusing on “ABC”: Airway, Breathing, and Circulation. Vital signs are recorded every five minutes (Figure 3). While machines like pulse oximeter, capnograph and electrocardiogram are very helpful in the effective monitoring of anesthesia, the most important tools are the eyes, ears, nose, hands and observational skills of the anesthetist.
The following should be considered minimal monitoring parameters and require only basic equipment. Respiratory rate and quality: breaths should be deep and even, and the rate consistent with the normal for the species. Shallow or irregular breaths indicate respiratory complications, pain or a light plane of anesthesia. Certain anesthetic drugs (e.g., ketamine, morphine) may cause irregular or suppressed breathing. The airway must be straight and free of obstruction (including saliva and mucus). Placing an endotracheal tube as soon as possible helps to control the anesthesia (e.g., allows rapid delivery of oxygen or gas anesthesia if necessary) and protects the airway from fluids in the mouth. Heart rate and rhythm are monitored with a stethoscope and by feeling the pulse. Common areas in which to monitor the pulse are the femoral arteries (inner thigh), facial artery (side of the jaw or lateral mandible), dorsal metatarsal artery (distal hind limb near the paw) or carotid artery (either side of throat). As with respiration, potential effects of the anesthetic agent must be taken into account and observed closely. The pulse indicates the strength of the heart beat and blood pressure, and its rhythm should coincide with the heartbeat heard through the stethoscope. Unpigmented mucous membranes should be pink and capillary refill time less than 2 seconds. Blue or purplish mucous membranes indicate hypoxia (low blood oxygen levels) and should be treated as an emergency. Drugs like medetomidine will cause purplish mucous membranes; this is not necessarily an emergency situation that needs to be treated, but respiration must be monitored carefully with this drug. In this case, experience of the anesthetist is important to enable the determination of “normal” responses to drugs and a true problem. Pale mucous membranes suggest inadequate peripheral perfusion due to a problem with cardiac output (the amount of blood pumped by the heart) or low blood pressure, or anemia. Slow capillary refill time also indicates compromised peripheral perfusion. Complications with hypoxia, perfusion or blood pressure may of course be detected sooner with the instruments mentioned above. But a vigilant and experienced practitioner who knows the species with which s/he is working can detect
abnormalities and respond adequately. Again, lack of instrumentation is no reason for poor monitoring.
It is important to know the normal parameters for the species and the anticipated effects of the particular anesthetic agents that one is using. For example, a sinus arrhythmia (a type of irregular heart beat) is not uncommon in Asiatic black bears under tiletamine/zolazepam (Zoletil® or Telazol®) and does not appear to lead to further complications. An abnormal rhythm caused by the heart’s ventricles (ventricular arrhythmia) or air in the chest cavity (pneumothorax), on the other hand, is a life-threatening emergency that must be treated immediately.
Intubation (placement of an endotracheal tube into the trachea) can be done as soon as Stage 3 anesthesia is reached. If the animal is drugged too lightly, e.g., in Stage 2, then there is the danger that he may bite the tube in half and then one has an ugly situation in having to extract the piece of tube from the trachea. An endotracheal tube of appropriate size should be ready in any event, should the animal require respiratory assistance. Intubation is most easily performed with the bear in ventral recumbence (lying on its stomach) and the head elevated to straighten the airway. An assistant standing over and straddling the bear’s head may hold the head up and the mouth open with a rope placed just behind the upper canine teeth. In cubs of course this can easily be done as one would with a dog, i.e., without straddling and ropes. Some people feel more comfortable intubating a bear in a lateral position (on its side). Oxygen should also be available even if gas anesthesia is not used. If the bear is not intubated, oxygen is delivered at a gentle flow rate into the nostrils throughout the duration of anesthesia. Eyes should be lubricated, particularly if the bear is anesthetized with ketamine (ketamine hydrochloride). Under ketamine, the eyes remain open and will dry out because the animal cannot blink.
Body temperature should be monitored carefully, particularly in extreme temperatures and with very small cubs. Warm or cold water bottles, ice packs or electric heat pads may be used during anesthesia to help the animal maintain normal body temperature.
The placement of an intravenous catheter allows delivery of intravenous fluids and provides ready access to a vein in case of the need for emergency IV drugs. Intravenous fluids are recommended if the animal is in any way compromised, if the procedure involves invasive surgery, or if the animal will be anesthetized for more than about 20-30 minutes (again, this is particularly important in young animals). Flow rate will be relatively high in the first hour to replace fluids that were not taken in during the pre-induction fast. This is particularly important in young cubs, for which dextrose (2.5% or 5%, depending on blood glucose levels) may be added to the fluids as well. Maintenance fluid rate during surgery is generally calculated as 10ml/kg body weight/hour. For large bears during long procedures this rate will be slowed. A useful indicator of adequate hydration during longer procedures is the measurement of PCV (packed cell volume; the percentage of red blood cells in the blood) every 30 to 60 minutes. PCV should remain stable (if the bear is in normal physiologic condition): if it begins to drop, then the animal is becoming over-hydrated; if it rises, fluid rates need to be turned up.
Depth of anesthesia can be monitored by several parameters. Respiratory rate and heart rate tend to increase as the animal recovers from anesthesia or if it feels pain.
The jaw should remain slack and the tongue unresisting against gentle pull. The palpebral reflex is a blink in response to a gentle tap on the medial corner (near the nose) of the eye, being careful to avoid touching the cornea. The palpebral reflex should remain absent in Stage 3 anesthesia. There should be no movement other than breathing and visceral (heart, intestine) movements, and the animal should not respond to any physical manipulation of its body. When breathing is too slow and shallow, and heart rate slows below normal, the plane of anesthesia may be getting too deep.
The most frequent complications that may occur during anesthesia include hypotension (low blood pressure) and shock, respiratory depression (slow and/or shallow breathing), cardiac arrest, bronchospasm or laryngospasm (clenching of the airways), compromised circulation (e.g., arrhythmia, high or low blood pressure, high or low heart rate), neurologic complications (e.g., seizure) and vomiting and aspiration. Emergency drugs and trained personnel must be prepared for such events.
The maintenance of records throughout anesthesia is important for the accumulated documentation of experience with anesthetic procedures in individual animals and various drug protocols, and for any potential legal issues or disputes. An example of an anesthesia record form is found in Figure 3.
**Recovery**- Recovery is a particularly fractious period of anesthesia and trained personnel with emergency drugs and equipment should be present. Some anesthetic agents (e.g., medetomidine, xylazine, carfentanil) are reversible, which allows for rapid recoveries. Personnel must be prepared and safety measures put in place to allow for recoveries that may occur within as little as one minute following injection of the reversal agent.
The recovery cage or room should be free of any structures on which the bear might injure itself or get stuck or trapped. The animal should be monitored closely (continuously or at least checked every 5 minutes) until it is able to stand on its own. Time of placement in the recovery cage, time that the bear rights himself into the sternal position (on the chest) and the time that he stands up are recorded (Figure 3). Intravenous fluids should be kept going as long as is safe to do so. The animal must be kept warm or cool (particularly a small cub). The cuff of the endotracheal tube is deflated but the tube kept in place until the animal begins to swallow or cough. This indicates transition into Stage 2 anesthesia. The tube is removed immediately to avoid the bear biting it in half. Unless the bear is young enough to be handled directly, personnel should no longer be in range of unprotected contact with the bear at this point.
Complications for which to be prepared during recovery include seizures, vomiting, cardio respiratory arrest (heart or breathing stop) and self-injury. The administration of diazepam or midazolam prior to recovery is useful to prevent seizures in certain individuals prone to them or with certain anesthetic drugs that tend to induce them (e.g., ketamine). If the animal vomits before the pharyngeal muscles (muscles that control swallowing) are fully functional, aspiration of the vomit is a serious risk. The head should be positioned such that the fluids run out of the mouth rather than down the throat, and the mouth suctioned if possible. In extreme cases, the animal may need to be re-anaesthetized and intubated.
Anesthetic agents - Several excellent publications discuss the use of various anesthetic drug combinations in different species of bears (Boever et al., 1977; Caulkett and Cattet, 1997; Caulkett and Cattet, 2002; Caulkett et al., 1999; Jalanka and Roeken, 1990; Mama et al., 2000; Osofsky and Hirsch, 2000; Ramsay et al., 1995). The degree and duration of the stages of anesthesia differ with each drug and may differ among species and even individual animals. Considerations when choosing an anesthetic protocol include the requirements for analgesia, muscle relaxation, the time and quality of induction and recovery, the size and temperament of the bear, physiologic or pathologic considerations of the individual, environmental conditions for induction and recovery (e.g., free-ranging or caged) and the duration of anesthesia that is required. It is important to remember that environmental conditions, stress, health status of the bear and individual sensitivity will affect the quality of anesthesia regardless of the drugs that are used. The following is a brief overview of some of the injectable anesthetic agents more commonly used with bears. Detailed protocols and further information may be found in the references listed at the end of this paper.
Ketamine combinations
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic, which means that the drug causes a loss in sensory perception and consciousness without actually inducing a sleep-like state. Convulsions, hyperthermia and sudden arousal are some of the risks associated with the use of ketamine alone. It produces poor muscle relaxation and only a superficial analgesia (no visceral analgesia, which means that surgery should never be performed on an animal anaesthetized with ketamine alone), but circulation remains good and laryngeal reflexes remain intact. Eyes remain open under ketamine anesthesia and should always be lubricated immediately that it is safe to handle the animal. The use of benzodiazepines (diazepam, midazolam, zolazepam) with ketamine reduces its convulsive properties and induces muscle relaxation. However, these drugs do not produce an analgesic effect.
The addition of xylazine to ketamine results in greater analgesia, muscle relaxation and sedation. It must be noted, however, that the analgesic effect of xylazine lasts only 15 to 30 minutes, relative to the sedative effect of one to two hours, so one cannot assume analgesia throughout the duration of anesthesia with this drug combination. The volume of ketamine required for anesthesia, when combined with xylazine, remains the same, however, and it does not decrease the convulsive properties of ketamine or the tendency for sudden recoveries.
Medetomidine is in the same class of drugs as xylazine (alpha-2 agonist) but is a more potent sedative. In combination with medetomidine, the volume of ketamine needed to produce anesthesia may be reduced by 50% to 75%. Alpha-2 agonists cause respiratory depression, and supplemental oxygen should be administered. They also produce an initial rise in blood pressure which is followed by an overall decrease in cardiac output, which in turn lowers blood pressure and tends to make the mucous membranes pale and slows peripheral perfusion. Hypothermia may result from muscle relaxation. Alpha-2 agonists are reversible, which allows for rapid recoveries. Xylazine is reversed with yohimbine, medetomidine with atipamezole.
Ketamine alone or in combination with xylazine or medetomidine produces an unreliable anesthesia, in that bears have been known to wake suddenly and without
warning. It is therefore best avoided with bears except for short procedures (20 minutes or less) in small cubs.
**Tiletamine/zolazepam combinations**
Tiletamine is a newer dissociative drug and is sold in combination with zolazepam (Zoletil® in Europe; Telazol® in the United States). In bears, tiletamine has a longer duration of action and a somewhat greater analgesic effect than ketamine, although for invasive or painful procedures, an additional analgesic should be administered. The zolazepam results in good muscle relaxation. The t/z combination produces a more reliable anesthesia than ketamine combinations in bears, with smoother, more predictable, albeit slower, recoveries. The heart rate and blood pressure may initially decrease, and then reflexly increase.
As with ketamine, medetomidine improves the analgesia of t/z alone and reduces the amount of t/z required. Because of its superior reliability, this combination is a safer option than ketamine combinations with large adult bears. Xylazine with t/z produces an effect similar to that of t/z with medetomidine, although generally higher amounts of t/z are required, which may prolong recoveries.
**Carfentanil**
Carfentanil is an anesthetic that may be administered orally in case injection is not a desirable option. When mixed with a sticky substance such as honey, it allows a rapid sublingual (under the tongue) absorption. Black bears immobilized with carfentanil experience tremors and rigidity, which may be avoided or relieved with the injection of diazepam or midazolam. Hypoxia (low blood oxygen) is an expected complication with carfentanil, as it is with all opiates, and the bear should be provided with supplemental oxygen. Atropine may be administered to counteract the hyper salivation (production of high amounts of saliva) seen with opiates. Carfentanil is reversible with the opioid antagonist naltrexone.
**Common health complications of rescued bear cubs**
Most rescued cubs are starved or have been on an inappropriate diet if they were already in the custody of inexperienced handlers. The transition from the bear sow’s milk or a previous diet to an appropriate hand-rearing diet will, by necessity of the situation, be abrupt, which carries with it the risk of diarrhoea, constipation or bloating until the cub’s system adapts to the new diet. The transition may be tempered by dilution of the formula 1:3 or 1:4 with 5% dextrose on the first day, and then gradually worked to full concentration over the course of a week. Management of diarrhoea and constipation are discussed below. Bloating may be managed with simethicone and should resolve within one or two days. If it persists, the diet should be reconsidered and underlying medical issues must be investigated.
Milk of black bears has higher levels of fat and protein, and lower levels of lactose than what is found in milk from cows. When choosing a milk substitute for hand-raising bear cubs, considerations of casein, whey, lactase and curd formation in the stomach are as important as fat, protein and carbohydrate composition. Recommended formulas are made of puppy milk replacer (Esbilac®, Multimilk®; PetAg), or Milk Matrix® (PetAg) products formulated for exotic species. Cow milk carries the risk of forming lactobezoars (concretions of milk solids) in the intestinal
tract of bear cubs, which can be a critical, if not life-threatening, issue. Sun bears, giant pandas, sloth bears and spectacled bears appear particularly prone to forming lactobezoars. It is imperative that if one’s only option is to feed cow milk, it must be pre-digested with lactase prior to feeding. Cubs must be carefully monitored for bloating, inappetance, discomfort and constipation. Excellent reviews on hand-rearing bear cubs may be found in Hedberg, 2001; Papagerogiou et al., 2001; Beecham, 2006.
As the cubs develop, body weight and size should be monitored carefully. Weight gain that is too rapid or too slow may indicate the necessity for adjustment in nutritional components or quantities or, in the case of the latter, a potential behavioral or medical issue that requires attention. Observations of physical activity and play behavior are also very informative. The cubs’ developing strength, coordination and endurance can be monitored in this way, as can their social and behavioral development. Explorative behavior; demonstrations of curiosity; response to novel items, space and sounds are all important points for assessment of cubs’ development. The relationship of cubs to human caretakers must also be monitored and controlled. Over-familiarity and dependence on humans may compromise the ability of bears to form normal relationships and behaviors with conspecifics and may result in problematic behavior even if they remain in captivity.
The most common health issues with hand-raised bear cubs are constipation, diarrhea, lactobezoar formation and aspiration pneumonia (pneumonia caused by the aspiration of milk or other food into the lungs, usually during suckling). Constipation is more common than diarrhea in hand-raised bear cubs, and is usually due to dietary reasons: inappropriate type of milk, or too much or too little or the wrong type of solids. Physical obstruction by a lactobezoar or foreign object (e.g., a toy or other object that was accidentally swallowed) is also a consideration. If the cause is determined to be dietary, one can add a small amount of Karo syrup to the milk, which serves as a gentle osmotic laxative, or add bran or Metamucil to the food. Some rehabilitators, e.g., those working with polar bears, have found that the addition of a small amount of Karo syrup to every milk meal helps to prevent constipation (see Hedberg 2001). A warm water enema may be tried if absolutely necessary; avoid pharmacologic laxatives.
Diarrhea is also usually of dietary etiology. Bacterial infection (e.g., *Clostridium*, *Salmonella*), viral infection, parasites, drugs and toxins must of course also be ruled out. Inadequate intestinal flora may also cause diarrhea, although often cubs with this condition present as generally unthrifty rather than with outright diarrhea. For unthrifty, fussy cubs who don’t appear to have anything clearly wrong with them, transfaunation with a slurry of fresh droppings from deer or moose feeding on grass has proven highly successful in American black bears (Kilham and Gray, 2002). Treatment of diarrhea must focus critically on rehydration and diagnosis and treatment of the underlying cause.
Overfeeding is the most common cause of diarrhea in bear cubs. As a rule, it is much better to underfeed a little than to overfeed. Diarrhea can quickly become life-threatening due to dehydration, particularly in very small or young cubs. The number of daily feedings and volume per feeding depends on the size and age of the cub. The rule of thumb is to feed no more than 2/3 or 3/4 gastric (stomach) capacity per
feeding. Gastric capacity is 5% body weight (50 ml/kg body weight). Each feeding should therefore be no more than 30-35 ml/kg body weight.
Transitions from one type of food to another, e.g., at weaning, are another frequent cause of gastrointestinal upset. All changes of food should be made as gradually as possible, over several weeks.
Aspiration pneumonia occurs easily in young bear cubs because of the strength of the suckling reflex that can draw milk rapidly and forcefully from a bottle into the lungs. The type of nipple (flexibility of the rubber) and the size of the hole in the nipple are therefore critical to the safety of the cub. The holes should be made as small as possible. This allows milk to flow more slowly and decreases the chance for aspiration. Small nipple holes also increase the duration of nursing, which helps to satisfy a cub’s psychological need to nurse. The longer cubs nurse their bottles, the less need they have to suck on their own or companions’ fur and body parts. Should aspiration pneumonia develop, aggressive therapy that includes the correct antibiotic(s), coupage (percussion of the thorax to help remove secretions) and oxygen supplementation is required. The prognosis for these cubs is often poor.
Mange, ringworm and intestinal parasites are common in bear cubs. The first two are usually self-limiting as the health and nutrition of the cub stabilizes, but may require treatment if infections are severe or if cubs are too compromised to adequately cope with the infections. Mange is caused by mites, usually *Ursicoptes* or *Demodex*. The cubs may have a diffuse alopecia (hair loss) or patchy areas of fur loss. It is usually intensely pruritic (itchy). Diagnosis is made by skin scraping and identification of the mites, although it may be difficult to actually find the mites without multiple scrapings. Mild cases may be self-limiting as the cub gains condition and goes outside into sunny, dry weather. Denning bears often have mange lesions on emergence in the spring, and in healthy animals the condition should resolve with exposure to sun and dry air. That said, studies on free-ranging adult American black bears in the United States have documented an endemic occurrence of clinical mange in this species (Mannville, 1978; Yunker et al., 1980; Forrester et al., 1993).
Sarcoptic mange may be treated with ivermectin (0.3 mg/kg SQ, three injections given 3 weeks apart). In black bears, the condition appears to be somewhat resistant to ivermectin, in which case cubs may be treated with selamectin (6.0 mg/kg topically) or moxidectin (0.3 – 0.4 mg/kg PO). Sarcoptic mange is highly contagious, and affected cubs should be isolated. Demodectic mange is generally a sign of immunosuppression and treatment focuses on the underlying cause of this. It is imperative that therapy continue for two months at full dose beyond two sequentially negative, deep, multifocal skin scrapings taken one month apart. Improvement of clinical appearance alone cannot be used as an end point to discontinue treatment for mange. Antibiotic therapy for concomitant bacterial dermatitis may be warranted.
Ringworm, or dermatophytosis, is caused by a fungus, usually *Microsporum*, *Trichophyton* or *Epidermophyton* spp. It is contagious to other animals and to humans. Lesions on bears are usually circular patches of reddish or crusty skin and hair loss with or without purulent exudate and ulceration, but may look like any generalized skin infection. Dermatophytosis is usually not pruritic in animals, unlike in people. Diagnosis is made by fungal culture. Mild cases will resolve on their own.
as the cub gains condition and gets exposure to sunshine and dry environment, or may be treated with baths of lyme sulfur (2%, every 5-7 days), chlorhexidine (2% daily; shampoo every 5-7 days) or povidone iodine shampoo (1:4 dilution, daily). More severe cases may be treated with oral griseofulvin (10 mg/kg bid PO for a minimum of 3 weeks plus 10 days after the resolution of lesions) or itraconazole (5 mg/kg bid PO 5 days, then once daily for the duration indicated for griseofulvin). With both of these drugs, the cub should receive dietary support for intestinal flora, such as probiotic or lactobacilli. Griseofulvin also causes suppression of the white blood cell count, which should be monitored every two weeks throughout treatment.
The most common intestinal parasites of bears are roundworms, which usually respond to standard anthelmintic treatment (e.g., fenbendazole, mebendazole, ivermectin, pyrantel). Diagnosis is made by identification of eggs in fecal floatation. Routine deworming with one of the anthelmintics every one to six months may be warranted, depending on the climate and opportunity for reinfection. This will also serve to treat infection with other nematodes such as *Trichinella*. Coccidiosis and giardiasis (caused by protozoal parasites) may also occur and should be considered in cases of chronic, unresponsive diarrhea in the face of appropriate nutrition. Diagnosis is made by fecal examination for cysts. Cysts may be difficult to detect or shed sporadically, so multiple examinations should be made to avoid a false negative diagnosis. The highly contagious and zoonotic risk of these two organisms must also be taken into account. Tapeworm infections are also diagnosed by fecal floatation and are treated with praziquantel (7.5 mg/kg PO or SQ). Infection with filarial parasites, e.g., *Dirofilaria ursi* or *D. immitis*, has been documented in bears (e.g., Duffyl et al., 1994; Rogers, 1975; Yokohatal et al., 1990) but the author is not aware of clinical cases of heartworm disease in bears. The larval stages of filarial parasites are usually sensitive to ivermectin.
**Infectious disease and vaccination** - The decision of whether and how to vaccinate bear cubs is made on the basis of 1) the risk of contracting diseases commonly found in wildlife and domestic animals in the area, and 2) availability of suitable and safe vaccines. Most of the infectious diseases of carnivores (e.g., canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus, canine parvovirus, and rabies) may potentially be a risk factor for bear cubs, but information about the endemism of these diseases in local domestic and particularly wild animals may be lacking in many areas. Vaccination should be performed with killed or recombinant virus, and not with modified live virus. The use of a modified live virus vaccine that is made for one species (e.g., dog) carries the risk of inducing active disease in another species of unknown sensitivity to the virus or strain of virus. Tetanus may be a common problem in some regions and vaccination of cubs against this organism may be warranted. In any case, good hygiene is imperative to raising cubs successfully and safely. This includes maintaining dry, clean enclosures and bedding, good ventilation, quarantine of newly-arrived and sick cubs, and proper cleaning and sterilization of feeding equipment.
**Prior to release** - Prior to release, every effort is made to ensure that the bear is healthy and sound, is in good nutritional condition (with weight to lose if necessary), is protected against endemic contagious disease, and does not pose a disease threat to wild bears in the area. Depending on the environmental conditions into which the animal is released, the timing of release (e.g., winter) and his or her preparation for
survival, he may undergo a period of stress and privation before stabilizing in the new environment. The bear must therefore have optimal physiologic resources to withstand this transition period. Ideally, a complete physical examination is performed as described above a few days prior to release, to give the bear adequate time to recover from the anesthetic procedure. The bear should be dewormed, and, if warranted, vaccinated.
Table 1. Guidelines for evaluation of dehydration status
| Dehydration | Mucous membranes | Loss of skin turgor | Eyes | Pulse | Consciousness |
|-------------|------------------|---------------------|---------------|-------------|---------------|
| 4-5% | Slightly dry | Mild | Moist, normal | Strong | Normal |
| 6-7% | Dry | Moderate | Moist, normal | Strong | Normal |
| 8-10% | Dry | High | Dry, retracted| Weak, rapid | Weak, depressed|
| 12% + | Very dry | Complete | Severely retracted | weak, rapid | Unconscious or abnormal |
Table 2: Characteristics of anesthetic stages.
| Stage | Anesthetic plane | Characteristics |
|-------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 0 | No effect | No difference from awake state |
| 1 | Analgesia stage | Drowsy appearance, slow to move or respond to stimulus, but conscious. Somewhat diminished perception of pain. Response to noise intensified. |
| 2 | Delirium or Excitatory Stage | Becoming unconscious but still responds reflexly to stimuli. Responses to stimuli may be exaggerated; animal potentially very excitable. Recumbent. Respiration irregular, breath holding possible. Pharyngeal muscles still functioning and animal still able to maintain its own airway. Eyes usually closing, pupils dilating, papillary light reflex (contraction of the pupil in response to bright light) intact. |
| 3 | Surgical anesthesia | Increasing degrees of muscular relaxation. Animal no longer able to protect its own airways (loss of control of pharyngeal muscles). No response to strong stimuli (e.g. firm poke with broom handle). No palpebral reflex, no papillary light reflex, jaw slack, no resistance of tongue when pulled. Respiration regular. |
| 4 | Medullary depression | Suppression of cardiovascular and respiratory centers in brain result in cardiovascular and respiratory collapse and death |
Fluid replacement calculation and record
Animal identification: _______________ Species: ____________ Sex: _______
Weight: ___ kg € estimated € actual Age: ___________ € estimated € actual
DAY 1 Date _____________ Fluid replacement start time ___________
Maintenance: 50 ml/kg/day x _____ kg = ________ ml / day
Dehydration: ____ % x _____ kg = ________ ml
Fever: 20 ml/kg/day x _____ kg = ________ ml/day
Vomiting (ml loss per day): = ________ ml/day
Diarrhea (ml loss per day): = ________ ml/day
Total fluids needed in first 24 hours = ________ ml over first 24 hours
Type of fluids: LRS NaCl glucose ___%
Frequency:
IV infusion: total ÷ 24 = ________ ml per hour
2x per day: total ÷ 2 = ________ ml every 12 hours SQ oral
3x per day: total ÷ 3 = ________ ml every 8 hours SQ oral
4x per day: total ÷ 4 = ________ ml every 6 hours SQ oral
DAY 2 Date _____________ Fluid replacement start time ___________
Maintenance: 50 ml/kg/day x _____ kg = ________ ml / day
Fever: 20 ml/kg/day x _____ kg = ________ ml/day
Vomiting (ml loss per day): = ________ ml/day
Diarrhea (ml loss per day): = ________ ml/day
Total fluids needed in second 24 hours = ________ ml for 24 to 48 hrs
Type of fluids: LRS NaCl glucose ___%
Frequency:
IV infusion: total ÷ 24 = ________ ml per hour
2x per day: total ÷ 2 = ________ ml every 12 hours SQ oral
3x per day: total ÷ 3 = ________ ml every 8 hours SQ oral
4x per day: total ÷ 4 = ________ ml every 6 hours SQ oral
Figure 1. Worksheet for calculation of fluid replacement requirements for dehydrated or compromised animal in first 48 hours.
CLINICAL EXAMINATION RECORD
Identification #: __________ Species: _______________ Sex: _____ Birthdate: ________
Date: __________ House Name: ________ Other ID (chip, band, tattoo): _______________
History_____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
General Appearance: __________________________________________________________
Skin & fur: _________________________________________________________________
Muscular & Skeletal System: ____________________________________________________
Nervous System: _____________________________________________________________
Urinary System: ______________________________________________________________
Genital System: ______________________________________________________________
Digestive System: _____________________________________________________________
Heart & Lungs: _______________________________________________________________
Lymphatic: _________________________________________________________________
Ears: _______________________________________________________________________
Eyes: _______________________________________________________________________
Mouth & teeth: _______________________________________________________________
R MAXILLA L
R MANDIBLE L
- Missing
X Extracted
# Fractured
CA Carious Lesion
Clinical examination form Side 2
Animal ID _______________ Date ___________
Samples and diagnostics
Blood: time collected: ______ ml: ______ Urine: time: ________ cystocentesis [ ] voided [ ]
Hematology: [ ] EDTA [ ] Heparin [ ] Serum [ ] sediment [ ] Dipstick [ ]
Collection site: __________ Feces: voided [ ] rectal [ ] parasite [ ] other __________
Radiographs: _____ Ultrasound: _____ Microbiology: ____ Skin scraping: ____
Serology: ______________________ Other ______________________
Summary of diagnostic results:
CBC: ____________________________________________________________
Serum chem.: _____________________________________________________
Urinalysis: _______________________________________________________
Fecal: ___________________________________________________________
Microbiology: sample: _____________________________________________
Result: ___________________________________________________________
Skin scraping: ____________________________________________________
Radiographs: positions & areas: _____________________________________
Findings: _________________________________________________________
Ultrasound: ______________________________________________________
Other: ___________________________________________________________
Diagnosis: _______________________________________________________
Treatment & monitoring plan:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Medications:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Figure 2. Sample clinical examination record.
ANIMAL SEDATION & ANAESTHESIA FORM
Identification #: ______ Common Name: _____ Sex: _______ Birthdate: ____________
Date: _______House Name: ______Species: ________Other ID (chip, band, tattoo): ____________
Health Status:
1 [ ] Normal
2 [ ] Abnormal
Fasting time:
1 [ ] <8 hours
2 [ ] 8-24 hours
3 [ ] 24-48 hours
4 [ ] >48 hours
Activity:
1 [ ] Calm
2 [ ] active
3 [ ] excited
Immobilizing Condition:
1 [ ] Free ranging
2 [ ] Large Enclosure
3 [ ] Small Enclosure
4 [ ] Squeeze Cage
5 [ ] Manual restraint
Condition: 1 [ ] Obese/fat 2 [ ] good 3 [ ] fair / thin 4 [ ] poor / emaciated
Initial Effect time: ____ Recumbancy time: ____ 1 [ ] isolated 2 [ ] in group
Weight: 1.[ ] kg 2.[ ] lb 3.[ ] gm 4.[ ] actual 5.[ ] estimate
Endotracheal tube:____: ____ Time:____:
DOSE: METHOD ROUTE: SUCCESS EFFECT
Preanesthetic Polesyringe M= Complete 0= no effect
Immobilizing Blowdart intramuscular Partial 1=mild sedation
Supplemental Metal dart V= intravenous None 2=heavy sedation
Maintenance Hand syringe P= 3=light anesthesia
Antagonist Non=metal dart intraperitoneal 4=surgical
Other Oral S=Subcutaneous anesthesia
Facemask 5=excessively
Chamber deep
Endotracheal tube 6=death
Venous Catheter
| Dose | Drug given | Amount (mg or %) | Method & Route | Time Given | Success of Delivery | Effect (Stage) | Time of Effect | Bottle # |
|------|------------|------------------|----------------|------------|---------------------|----------------|---------------|---------|
DRUGS ADMINISTERED
Amount or Rate Route Time
Recovery Data
Time ___: Head Up: 1 [ ] None 1 [ ] Normal Veterinarian: _______
Time ___: Recumbent: 2 [ ] Minor 2 [ ] Abnormal
Time ___: Standing: 3 [ ] Major 3 [ ] Prolonged Recorded by: _______
Time ___: Normal: 4 [ ] Fatal 4 [ ] Stormy
5 [ ] Renarcotized
Complication:
Anesthesia Ratings: Excellent Good Fair Poor
Induction [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Muscle relaxation [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Overall [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Catheter size:_____ Placement Time:____:
Blood Sample Data:
Time collected:___:____ Collected by:
Hematology: [ ] EDTA [ ] Heparin [ ] Serum [clot]
Site: [ ] Cardiac [ ] Cephalic [ ] Ear [ ] Femoral [ ] Jugular
[ ] Metatarsal Vein [ ] Saphenous vein [ ] Other
Animal Sedation and Anesthesia Form – Page 2
| Circuit: | Blood pressure: | Capnograph or Pulse oximeter: | ECG: | Fluids: | Animal: |
|----------|-----------------|-------------------------------|------|---------|--------|
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| Isoflurane | | | | | |
| Flow rate | | | | | |
| Time | | | | | |
| 60 | | | | | |
| 55 | | | | | |
| 50 | | | | | |
| 45 | | | | | |
| 40 | | | | | |
| 35 | | | | | |
| 30 | | | | | |
| 25 | | | | | |
| 2 | | | | | |
| 105 | | | | | |
| 100 | | | | | |
| 95 | | | | | |
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| 85 | | | | | |
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| 65 | | | | | |
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| Key | | | | | |
| HR | | | | | |
| RR | | | | | |
| Syst v | | | | | |
| MAP | | | | | |
| Diast | | | | | |
| ETCO₂ | | | | | |
| spO₂ | | | | | |
| 15 | | | | | |
| 10 | | | | | |
| 5 | | | | | |
| 0 | | | | | |
Figure 3. Sample record form for monitoring anesthesia.
REFERENCES
Beecham J. 2006. Orphaned bear cubs: rehabilitation and release guidelines. World Society for the Protection of Animals. 71 p.
Bernhard, A., K. Eulenberger, U. Ziemann, K.F. Schuppel and S. Langguth. 1999. Ein Beitrag zu den Krankheiten der Lippenbären (Melursus ursinus) und die Anwendung des BILLROTH II-Verfahrens zur subtotalen Gastrektomie bei einem weiblichen Lippenbären mit Verdacht auf extrahepatisches Gallengangskarzinom. Erkrankungen der Zootiere 39:391-399.
Boever, W.J., J. Holden and K.K. Kane. 1977. Use of Telazol (CI-744) for chemical restraint and anesthesia in wild and exotic carnivores. Vet. Med. Small Anim. Clin. (Nov):1722-1725.
Cattet, M.R.L., N.A. Caulkett, S.C. Polischuk, and M.A. Ramsay. 1997. Reversible immobilization of free-ranging polar bears with medetomidine-zolazepam-tiletamine and atipemazole. J. Wildl. Dis. 33:611-617.
Caulkett, N.A. and M.R.L. Cattet. 1997. Physiological effects of medetomidine-zolazepam-tiletamine immobilization in black bears. J. Wildl. Dis. 33(618-622).
Caulkett, N.A. and M.R. L. Cattet. 2002. Anesthesia of bears. In: Heard D, editor. Zoological Restraint and Anesthesia. Ithaca, NY: Intern. Vet. Inform. Serv. 1-6.
Caulkett, N.A., M.R.L. Cattet, J.M. Caulkett, and S.C. Polischuk. 1999. Comparative physiologic effects of Telazol, medetomidine-ketamine, and medetomidinetelazol in captive polar bears (*Ursus maritimus*). J. Zoo and Wildl. Med. 30(4):504-509.
Duffyl, M.S., T.A. Greaves and M.D. Murt. 1994. Helminths of the black bear, *Ursus americanus*, in New Brunswick. J. Parasitol. 80(3):478-480.
Forrester, D.J., M.G. Spalding and J.B. Wooding. 1993. Demodicosis in black bears (*Ursus americanus*) from Florida. J. Wildl. Dis. 29(1):136-138.
Hedberg G. 2001. Polar Bears. In: Gage LJ, editor. Hand-rearing wild and domestic mammals. Desmoins, Iowa: Iowa State Press. p 181-190.
Jalanka, H.H. and B.O. Roeken. 1990. The use of medetomidine, medetomidine-ketamine combinations, and atipemazole in nondomestic animals: a review. J. Zoo and Wildl. Med. 21:259-282.
Kilham, B. and E. Gray. 2002. Among the bears: raising orphaned cubs in the wild. New York, NY: Henry Holt & Co., LLC. 314 p.
Mama, K.R., E.P. Steffey and S.J. Withrow. 2000. Use of orally administered carfentanil prior to isoflurane-induced anesthesia in a Kodiak brown bear. J. Amer. Vet. Med. Assoc. 217(4):546-549.
Mannville, A.M.I. 1978. Ecto- and endoparasites of the black bear in northern Wisconsin. J. Wildl. Dis. 14(1):97-101.
Osofsky, S.A. and K.J. Hirsch. 2000. Chemical restraint of endangered mammals for conservation purposes: a practical primer. Oryx 34(1):27-33.
Papagerogiou, S., D. DeGhettoD and J. Convy. 2001. Black bear cubs. In: Gage LJ, editor. Hand-rearing wild and domestic mammals. Desmoines, Iowa: Iowa State Press. p 170-180.
Ramsay, E.C., J.M. Sleeman and V.L. Clyde. 1995. Immobilization of black bears (Ursus americanus) with orally administered carfentanil citrate. J. Wildl. Dis. 31(3):391-393
Rogers, L.L. 1975. Parasites of black bears of the Lake Superior region. J. Wildl. Dis. 11(2):189-192.
Yokohatal, Y., O. Fugita, M. Kamiya, T. Fujita, K. Kaneko and M. Ohbayashi. 1990. Parasites from the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) on Kyushu Island, Japan. J. Wildl. Dis. 26(1):137-138.
Yunker, C.E., C.E. Binninger, J.E. Keirans, J. Beecham and M. Schlegel. 1980. Clinical mange of the black bear, Ursus americanus, associated with Ursicoptes americanus (Acarina, Audycoptidae). J. Wildl. Dis. 16:347-356.
Rescue, rehabilitation, release and post release monitoring of the Andean Spectacled bear (*Tremarctos ornatus*) in Ecuador, South America: A brief overview.
David Jackson and Armando Castellanos
Andean Bear Project
Fundación Espíritu del Bosque
Ecuador
Dave Jackson [email@example.com](mailto:firstname.lastname@example.org)
Armando Castellanos [email@example.com](mailto:firstname.lastname@example.org)
Introduction
The Andean Spectacled Bear (*Tremarctos ornatus*) is the only member of the bear family occurring in South America. Their distribution spans the Andean mountain belt from western Venezuela to northern Argentina. Andean bears are opportunistic feeders, though their diet consists principally of plant material. They rely heavily on the cloud forest ecosystem for the majority of their sustenance. Unfortunately, due to widespread deforestation and hunting, Andean bear populations are declining throughout their range and the gene pool of the species is weakening. Consequently Andean bears are now listed by CITES as an Appendix I species, and by IUCN (1996) as Vulnerable across their entire range.
Twelve years ago, the Andean Bear Rehabilitation program was founded, and between 1995 and 2001, eight Andean bears were rehabilitated and reintroduced to the wild (Table 1). The program was a pioneering attempt to bolster wild Andean bear populations and considerable information was learned from these early experiences. We learned that: 1) we needed a better knowledge of wild bear ecology to optimize reintroduction success, and 2) rehabilitated Andean bears needed to be released into areas larger than the home range of wild bears to reduce the potential for conflict with humans.
As a result, a wild Andean bear research initiative was established in 2000. The primary goals of this research program were to facilitate the development of rehabilitation and release procedures and to provide grounds for the implementation and extension of protected areas. These wild bear studies are ongoing to date and have provided a great deal of important information on Andean bear diet, behavior, habitat preference, activity patterns, home range sizes and movement patterns. The wild bear findings have proved fundamental in advancing our rehabilitation techniques and also in selecting sites for releasing rehabilitated bears.
This paper is a brief overview of the techniques and procedures we use in rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing Andean bears back into the wild, and how we monitor them after their release.
**Rescue**
Every year orphaned bear cubs are rescued by the Andean bear project in Ecuador. Most often, the mothers are killed by farmers protecting their corn crops. Without their mothers, the orphaned cubs either die or are captured and kept as pets that are often malnourished and poorly cared for. Over the years we have built strong links with communities and authorities throughout Ecuador and frequently receive information about illegally kept or orphaned bear cubs. When we receive information about an illegally kept bear cub, our team immediately travels to the area, accompanied by our project veterinarian, Dr. Leonardo Arias, and the Ecuadorian environmental police force. Bear cubs are confiscated from their illegal owners and are given an initial examination by our veterinarian that includes examining the color and shine of fur, looking for obvious injuries and the general physical condition of the bear. We treat parasites and obvious minor injuries as necessary. We then immobilize the bear to take blood samples for hematology and blood chemistry, to administer injectable vitamins and antibiotics, and to treat serious injuries.
Once it has been confirmed the bear is in good health condition for travel, he is transported directly to our veterinary clinic in the capital Quito for a more detailed examination. After successfully completing the preliminary health examination, bears are relocated to a rescue center. Bears in critical condition are kept in intensive care at the clinic until they are fit to be housed in a rescue center.
Criteria for accepting bears into rehabilitation programs
The primary concern of our rehabilitation program is the welfare of the released animals. Therefore, bears are not considered suitable candidates for release if we determine that releasing them into the wild would potentially prove detrimental to their welfare. The bears need to meet the following criteria before we admit them into our rehabilitation program:
1. Good physical condition with no permanent physical injury or condition that would limit its ability to survive in the wild
2. The bear’s fur, teeth and claws should be intact and in good condition.
3. Normal blood chemistry
4. Lack of hemoparasites/contagious diseases (mange).
Rehabilitation
Andean bear rehabilitation takes place in single, large (12m by 24m) natural enclosure with two caretakers providing all the necessary care during the rehabilitation process. Where possible, we house two bears in the enclosure at the rehabilitation center in order to provide the bears with the opportunity to display social behaviors and interact with one another, a vital skill required by bears once they are released to the wild. Our research on the free-ranging Andean bear population provides essential information which is crucial in making our rehabilitation program successful. Orphaned cubs are bottle fed a mixture of cows’ milk, oats and pureed fruit until they are old enough to eat solids (5 to 7 months of age). The first solid foods that the cubs are fed are oats, fruit and dog biscuits that are supplemented by natural foods such as suro (a type of bamboo), bromeliads, wild avocados, wild figs, berries, palm hearts, worms and insects. As rehabilitation progresses and the release date approaches, the natural food supply is gradually increased proportionally to a decrease in the quantity of oats and dog biscuits. The primary reason for incorporating natural foods in the bears’ diets is to prepare their stomachs for digestion of their natural diet and to sharpen their food recognition skills. To maintain a degree of unpredictability in the rehabilitation enclosure, natural foods are hidden and planted in the ground to encourage natural foraging and food manipulation behavior. The enclosures are equipped with structural enrichment that allows the bears to perform climbing and scratching behaviors they will require in the wild.
During the rehabilitation process, we evaluate each bear’s suitability for return to the wild. Their behavior is closely monitored during rehabilitation to ensure they are displaying normal behavioral patterns. Bears considered suitable for release must show strong evidence that they are able to recognize, find and manipulate their foods before they are released.
Prior to release, all bears are given a final medical examination to confirm they are still healthy, in good physical condition and do not carry transmittable diseases. If any of the bears have a treatable illness, they will be treated and considered for release at a later date. On the other hand, bears that have an incurable disease will be removed from the rehabilitation program.
All Andean bears reintroduced to the wild are a minimum of 18 months of age to ensure that they are less vulnerable to predation from larger bears, pumas and jaguars, which are resident to South American forests.
**Release site selection**
At the Andean bear project, we consider the selection of a suitable release site a major component in ensuring a successful reintroduction. From our previous experiences releasing bears in fragmented forest areas, we were able to determine that fragmented
forests were not good release locations because they often were heavily populated by humans and resulted in human-bear conflicts. In 2001 our team decided to conduct all our future releases in vast areas of primary habitat with no human settlements.
The release site selection process begins in the office by using maps, aerial photos and satellite images of the proposed site and the adjacent areas to ensure that there is an abundance of primary forest/paramo (high elevation grasslands) habitat. Additionally, we review ecological data and general literature on the chosen site to make sure that natural food sources for Andean bears are present.
Field trips are planned to proposed release areas. At least three visits are planned at different times of the year to ensure that there is an abundance of food in the region and that there is no seasonal food shortage. We look for evidence of bear activity such as scratch marks on trees, feeding activity, and scats to verify the existence of a resident population. We also use this evidence to ensure that the area is not overpopulated with bears to minimize the possibility of rejection of the released bear by the resident population. Familiar release sites are re-visited to ensure that no dramatic ecological changes have taken place. Farmers from surrounding villages are also consulted as they often hold vital information on the ecology of the region. We also check the farmers’ perception of releasing bears keeping in mind that wariness and negative attitudes could lead to potential negative attitudes towards the project and project personnel.
**Post-release monitoring**
Reintroduced Andean bears are fitted with either VHF or GPS collars so their progress can be monitored. Because we release the bears in remote areas, they often have to be tracked from the air using light aircraft. Occasionally, the team monitors them on foot or on horseback, but this is difficult due to the mountainous terrain and remote nature of our release sites. Collecting data on reintroduced bears gives us an idea of how they are adapting to their new environment and to an extent how they are interacting with resident bear population. Capturing wild bears in the area would give us a better idea of the extent of home range overlap between wild and reintroduced bears and we may do this in the future should funds be available.
When bears are released in remote areas, GPS collars provide more monitoring data on bear movements. It is nearly impossible to locate released animals using VHF transmitters in this mountainous habitat. We found that the most productive method of data collection on released Andean bears was by combining the use of GPS collars with data collection every 2 to 3 months using a light aircraft. The collars our team uses have a motion sensor so we are also able to monitor the activity of the bears at any given moment, when we are in range. Consequently, we are able to compare the activity patterns of wild and reintroduced bears.
In the past four years we have released four more Andean bears back into the wild; three of them are known to be surviving and have established home ranges. Colleen, a female bear, has now been back in the wild for almost 24 months and has recently been sighted with cubs. Beto, a male bear released 14 months ago, has been detected approximately 20 kilometers from his release site. He is presumably in search of females and food, and is showing the characteristics of a wild bear. Sadly Leo, released at the same time as Beto, had to be returned to captivity after becoming involved in a conflict situation. Celine, another female, who was released in July 2007 is adapting to her new surroundings well after almost 3 months in the wild. Although it is premature to consider her release successful, all the early signs suggest her release may be successful.
With our current monitoring system, we are able to determine whether the bears are surviving, monitor their movements, and check if, in case of the females, they are reproducing and have had cubs. In the future, we would like to examine the effect that the reintroduced bears are having on resident bear population. We believe this is an important factor, which needs to be addressed and we intend to capture wild bears in the region of the release area, to take blood samples for DNA analysis in order to evaluate paternity from released bears.
**Conclusions**
Considerable progress has been made in optimizing Andean bear rehabilitation over the past twelve years. Not all our work has been successful, however we learned more from our failures than our successes. From each element of each rehabilitation case, there is something to be learned, ultimately leading to better rehabilitation techniques. We have found it vital to study wild bear ecology to advance our rehabilitation protocol. The next major step is to thoroughly evaluate rehabilitation success by using sophisticated post-release monitoring techniques (GPS collars) and conducting comparative ecological studies between wild and reintroduced bears. It is vital to test in more detail the effects released bears have on the resident bear populations to
ensure that the releases have a beneficial impact on Andean bear population dynamics in the release area.
We hope to evaluate the impacts of our efforts in the future and to continue successfully releasing bears into the wild in order to counter the declining Andean bear populations. However, this will take time, effort, and funding. We are certainly not lacking in time and effort, yet funding, as always, is our major limitation. With our continued success with Andean bear rehabilitations, we hope to set a benchmark from which other Andean bear biologists may follow, ultimately reinforcing Andean bear populations throughout their range.
The Romanian orphan bear rehabilitation project is based on studies conducted on the ecology and behavior of brown bears in the Eastern Carpathians during the late 1990s. Special attention was paid to behavioral patterns such as social interaction, defensive behaviors, feeding and foraging behaviors, and hibernation. Examination of the behavior patterns of females with cubs indicated that the most important role of a mother was that of protecting her cubs. In bears, information such as recognition of natural food sources, hibernation, and other activities were innate and did not need to be learned from the mother. It is important to note, however, that cubs do learn certain behaviors from their mothers, and probably learn others more quickly based on their observations of their mothers’ behavior.
We conducted a case study, begun in 2000, on three orphaned cubs (two males and one female). They were raised near a remote cabin in the Carpathian Mountains approximately 150 km north of Brasov. The cubs were fed a diet of organically grown fruits and vegetables and occasionally meat from a local butcher shop in addition to the natural foods they were able to obtain inside their enclosure. No contact with people was permitted during the rehabilitation process except for the two caretakers at the facility. We investigated their development from the age of 30 days until two years. At the age of a few months, the bears were “walked” in the forest adjacent to their enclosure where they were able to obtain natural foods growing in the forest. The distance the cubs were walked away from the enclosure was increased gradually as they matured. The cubs spent more and more time in the wilderness, but were returned to their enclosure every day. The first hibernation occurred near the cabin. The following summer they spent more and more time in the forest, discovering for themselves different food sources and methods to obtain them. After their second hibernation, the two males left the area, choosing a home range almost 100 km away. The female remained at home and continued visiting the cabin every week. The males started to visit mountain cabins and weekend houses after a short time, and finally they were captured and relocated to zoos. The female also showed nuisance behavior and finally a permanent enclosure was built for her. The bears managed to find food for themselves but they did not avoid humans after being released. We concluded that rehabilitation of orphaned cubs can only be successful by applying a method where human presence during their development in facilities is restricted as much as possible.
In 2003, we started building the Orphan Bear Rehabilitation Center. The rehabilitation method developed in this project has three basic elements. The first of these is increasing the space available to the bears in a dynamic way in concordance with the ecological needs of the animal. This was solved with enclosures of different sizes, which were located adjacent to one another. After a quarantine of one week, the
animals were placed in a 0.5 hectare (ha) size enclosure (A), made of chain link and electric fence. Since the bear cubs encountered the electric fence for the first time in this enclosure, chain link was used to stop them from running through the fence at the first encounter. After 2 to 3 weeks, enclosure A was opened and the animals were moved into enclosure B; a 5 ha area surrounded by an electric fence (with no chain link fencing acting as a backup).
The natural vegetation and environment offered natural food and ideal places for hibernation and hiding. The natural vegetation of the enclosures consists of a mixture of spruce, willow, birch and beech trees with raspberry and blueberry shrubs. The natural food found in this enclosure included succulent plants and herbs, willow flowers and leaves in spring and first part of the summer, and raspberry and blueberry fruits in late summer. That enclosure provides approximately 35% of the necessary food to the bears.
The gate of enclosure B leads to enclosure C that is approximately 8 ha in size. After the first hibernation, the bears were moved into enclosure C where the natural vegetation is even more complex and offers 50% of the necessary food in some periods of the year.
All the enclosures offered natural, high quality environment for the cubs to explore natural behaviors and physical activity. Vegetation was comprised of 50% old growth spruce forest mixed with young spruce and other tree species and 50% covered by shrubs, wild fruit bearing trees and shrubs, and grass. The facilities are oriented to the south-east and the presence of a good number of caves, holes and roots makes the place ideal for hibernating the cubs during the winter. During the growing season, the bears were allowed to leave the enclosure and forage in the surrounding area (which is very wild), following their handler (always the same person). Those bears who were ready to leave the facility (depends on the individual’s development stage) were allowed to leave at will, while those who still needed the security provided by the facility returned to the enclosure and remained there until they were ready to disperse.
The second basic element of our program is the feeding protocol. After weaning, only natural food was offered to the bears and the food was always placed where the animals would normally find it in nature. For example fruits were often hung in trees, larvae were placed under rotted tree trunks or rocks, eggs under branches, seeds on the ground, etc. The cubs were encouraged to work to obtain their food, which was never placed in the same place. In the first part of the vegetation season (March, April, May) the amount of food provided to the bears was high (near 100% of their caloric needs), but in the summer the volume of food provided was decreased and the bears found it for themselves within the enclosure and, occasionally, outside the enclosure. In late fall food was slowly decreased until this, together with the other external factors, induced hibernation.
The third basic element of the method is the avoidance of human presence around the facilities. Only one handler placed food (meat, eggs, sunflower seeds, wheat, corn, apples, plums, bee larvae) in the enclosures, taking care that the bears never saw when it was done. Human access to the area was totally prohibited, so the animals grew up with minimal human contact.
After completing construction of the rehabilitation center, four cubs were accepted. The only criterion for accepting bear cubs into our center was that the bear needed to
be less than one year age. We also accepted habituated cubs if they were less than one year old.
One of four cubs died immediately from a *Clostridium* toxin. The remaining three individuals offered interesting case studies because of their unique backgrounds in captivity. The first cub (a female) displayed defensive behaviors because she had had limited contact with humans. The second cub (also female) was habituated to humans after being kept in a yard for 5 months and fed by people. The third bear cub (male) was kept in a dark stable for 6 months, and had minimal contact with people and no occasion to interact with other animals or external factors. Interestingly, he did not display any defensive behaviors and was quite friendly to our team.
The development of behaviors in the three bear cubs was interesting during the first year at our center. The first female remained wild and was released immediately after her first hibernation in April. Her behaviors were similar to those of free-ranging bears and she did not get close to human settlements or livestock. However, she was killed by a male bear in the mating season a month after her release.
The natural environment in the enclosure at our facility seemed to have a positive influence on the behavior on the second bear cub. She was released in June after the first hibernation. Unfortunately we could not monitor her for long because she lost her ear tag radio transmitter. We received reports of sightings of this bear after one year from foresters in the area. However, we received no reports of her approaching houses or livestock.
The third bear cub took a longer period of time to adapt to the natural environment provided in the enclosure at our facility. A possible explanation for this could have been the restricted environment he experienced before the rehabilitation. He did not climb trees in the facilities, and was less interactive with the other bears. He was radio collared and released after the second hibernation in May. The radio telemetry results showed that he never approached houses or other human settlements. After several months we found him dead. The carcass was already disintegrated due to the hot weather, but the bones were intact which suggested that the animal was not killed by a predator.
Our experience from the first three rehabilitation attempts lead us to conclude that the natural environment in the enclosures and the strict rehabilitation protocol followed helped in preparing the bears to behave naturally and to avoid human habitation and livestock. The bears that showed nuisance behavior (strong attachment to people, begging for food, and vocalizing when the handler left the enclosure) when they arrived at the facilities discarded this behavior during the one year of rehabilitation. The loss of two individuals probably was a result of the large predator density in the area when the bears were released and probably the wrong time to release small bears. We’ve decided that bears may have higher survival rates if, instead of releasing them during the breeding season (May-June), we release them in July when the wild berry fructification in the area is at its highest and threats from dominant males may be lower.
In 2005, one bear cub was brought to our facility in summer and four more were brought to us in the winter. The 4 bear cubs came from a garbage site located in a neighborhood at a large Transylvanian city. Before they arrived in our facility, the cubs were accustomed to visiting garbage cans near the city edge with their mother.
After losing their mother, they continued to visit this garbage site. After one year of rehabilitation all four were released and radio tracked using aerial radio telemetry. The habitat and home range used by the bears was closely observed to gain an understanding of the reasons why the animals used certain habitats. We were able to observe a spectacular change in their behavior. None of these bears approached human settlements. They primarily used forest covered areas and moved around considerably. All of the cubs moved more than 100 km from the release site. Their strong association with garbage before they were brought to our facility and lack of use of garbage after being released lead us to believe that the bears were habituated to the location of the garbage and not the garbage itself. Changing the topographical setting and the absence of the cause of the conflict behavior (garbage in this case) also may have influenced them in developing a normal bear foraging behavior.
In 2007 only one bear was released, equipped with a GPS-GSM collar. His behavior and habitat use is currently being monitored and documented. Along with aerial observations, the GPS-GSM system is an excellent way to document the bear’s behavior and movements. After receiving the locations of the animal, we fly over the indicated area and study its topographical and vegetative characteristics. This helps us understand why the bear visits those areas. Currently, 10 other individuals are housed at our rehabilitation center and they will be released soon.
From our experience we are able to conclude that each bear has a unique behavioral repertoire which influences his rehabilitation success. Generally bears can be rehabilitated with professional care. The sudden lifestyle and environment change can generate success even if the animal was habituated to human presence. After the age of 6 months, the chance of rehabilitation decreases drastically with every week that the bear remains in an artificial environment. Bears born and raised near garbage sites do not necessarily use garbage after the rehabilitation process. The physical and ethological development of the animal, the characteristics of the release site, and the release period should be taken in consideration. The most dangerous time, from a predation point of view, is the breeding season when adult males try to kill bear cubs. Post release monitoring is very important to prove the success of our work and to get an accurate idea about the survival of released individuals. The most efficient method in this part of Romania to gather data and monitor rehabilitated bears is through the use of GPS technology, combined with a GSM system.
Rearing of orphan Asiatic black bear Cubs (*Ursus thibetanus*) for released back to the Wild
K.V. Skripova, Ph.D.
Senior Researcher,
Ussuri Nature Reserve of Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
692519, Ussuriisk, ul. Nekrasova h1
e-mail: email@example.com
Introduction
To preserve the Asiatic black bear orphan cubs in the Primorsky Kray, in 1998, an agreement was signed between Goskomekologiya and Ussuri Reserve to establish a Center for the Rehabilitation of Orphan Bear Cubs in Russia (referred to as the Center). Funding was originally provided by the International Bear Foundation (Skripova, 2001a).
The study was based on data collected between 1999 and 2005, while rearing bear cubs at the Center in the Ussuriisky Reserve. Thirty-six bear cubs (22 females and 14 males), who were orphaned in Primorsky Krai when their mothers were poached, were brought into the facility and 30 were successfully released back into their natural environment. Five bears died (3 from predation by tigers; 1 from bronchial pneumonia; 1 from trauma) and one female was sent to the Ussuriisk city park zoo because she was too habituated to people. In 2004 and 2005, 12 bear cubs, which were genetically similar to Asiatic black bears from the Korean Peninsula, were sent to Jirisan National Park in South Korea as part of an international cooperative effort to restore Asiatic black bears in the Republic of Korea.
A variety of factors were considered in selecting animals for rehabilitation, including an assessment of their physical condition, behavior characteristics and general health. The method used to raise the cubs was patterned after the original studies conducted by Pazhetnov et al. (1999). During the rehabilitation process, we maintain minimal contact between the bear cubs and humans. Each animal was raised to have a sense of fear of potential enemies, including humans and domestic animals, in order to prepare them to live independently and to protect themselves in their natural habitat (Skripova 2000; Kotlyar and Skripova, 2000). We maintained the bear cubs in an environment which mimicked their natural habitat by excluding visitor presence to avoid habituation to humans.
Criteria for Selection of Bear Cubs for Rehabilitation
Our concept of rehabilitation includes a combination of measures aimed at returning the animals into the wild. Our approach involves providing the cubs with adequate food and water, shelter from the elements, and protection from large predators. At the same time, we strive to minimize the length of time the cubs are kept in the facility and keep human contact with the cubs to a minimum to avoid habituation of the cubs to their caretakers.
We recommend that only cubs under 4 months of age be admitted into rehabilitation programs. The age of Asiatic black bear cubs can be determined by their weight and appearance (Table 1). This definition is based on the description of the development of wild bear cubs given by G.F. Bromley (1965). Bear cubs that were maintained in captivity for long periods of time were unsuitable for release because of habituation related problems. According to zoo studies, the length of time captive animals spent begging for food from humans increases the chances that the animal was habituated (Gallager 1995). In zoos, hand feeding serves to establish close contact between the bear cubs and people, which subsequently leads to the bears becoming habituated to human presence, and this drawback cannot be rectified in many cases.
**Health Conditions**
When selecting the bear cubs for rehabilitation, the general condition of the animal, its weight, and hair condition is taken into account. One can determine the general condition of a bear cub by the condition of its eyes and the color of its mucosa.
Ear disorders are revealed by the presence of brownish-gray malodorous secretions, requiring intervention by a veterinarian. The bear cubs’ paws are to be thoroughly examined for splinters or wounds and for the condition of the claws. The nose needs to be examined for scars, mucous and putrid secretions; the oral cavity for the presence of teeth and their condition; and the fur for luster, parasites, and for hair-loss. When the cubs are examined, one needs to be careful because injured cubs may bite or scratch in self-defense.
A healthy bear cub is active and alert, shy of strangers and sensitive to various sounds. The eyes are wide open, the nose is moist (with no secretions), and its fur is in good condition. A healthy bear cub urinates and defecates with no difficulty. Depending on the diet, the urine ranges from light-yellow to dark-brown in color. We do not recommend rearing cubs with injuries such as fractures of the limbs that call for constant human attention because they need regular human care during the course of which the animals tend to get habituated to humans.
**Behavioral Features**
The activity and the level of manifestation of various behavioral reactions can be useful in determining the suitability of a cub for rehabilitation and release. The defense reaction is assessed in terms of the animal’s boldness and agility. If the bear cub is afraid of humans and attempts to escape or attack a person, it is suitable for rearing for future release. On the other hand, if the cub is not afraid of humans and begs for food, it is not recommended for rearing.
When selecting bear cubs from a group (e.g. of confiscated animals) aggressive or shy individuals should be preferred. It may be difficult to raise and successfully release cubs that are accustomed to playing with children, domestic animals, or feeding at refuse dumps.
Table 1. Assessment of the age of Asiatic black bears.
| Age (Days) | Weight (g) | Body size (mm) | Description |
|------------|------------|----------------|-------------|
| 7-10 | 680 to 718 | Total length: 258 – 265;
Length of the ear: 14;
Chest circ.: 184 -189;
Front paws: 35 x 23;
Hind paws: 36.5x 21.5;
Length of tail : 13 | Bear cubs at this age have no teeth. They are of the right weight, and have a subcutaneous fat layer of 1.5 to 2 mm. Their body is covered with soft, sparse, dark fur of 3 to 4 mm long. The chin region on the neck is covered with darker fur with a brownish hue. The patches of white fur are on the chin, middle part of the throat and on the chest as two bands diverting from the middle towards the shoulders and to the neck. The eyes are not open. Their ears are closed and the auricles are devoid of fur. Their front feet have no fur. The digits have thin curved claws. |
| 20 | 900 | Total length : 321—329;
Front paws: 47 x 38;
Hind paws : 45 x 28;
Length of tail : 25—26 | The wrinkles on the snout are well-defined, as is the fur of 0.5 cm, which render the body dark-brownish in color. Some accumulation of subcutaneous fat may be preset in the groin region. . |
| 25 | 950 | Total length : 270 | Cubs are weak and cannot move independently. The fur is 1 cm long |
| 40 | 1200 | No data | The entire body is covered with black fur and numerous wrinkles are formed on the snout and round the eyes. The front limbs with long and curved claws become markedly elongated. These cubs may still be unstable when they walk, and when they stand on their rear legs they try to grasp something with their front paws. |
| 70-80 | 2000-2500 | No data | Cubs deftly climb trees and run about on land. The fur is 14 to 22 mm long. The white chin and the white patch on the chest are distinguishable. The auricles are covered with fur to a greater extent. |
Critical components of rearing and rehabilitation
Successful rearing depends on observing the rules of selection, maintenance and feeding. Normally, when information about an orphaned cub is received, the opportunity to arrive on the site and decide whether to accept it or not is rare. In this case, it is necessary to ask the following questions, which may be helpful in making the correct decision:
a. What is the age of the cub?
b. Under what circumstances did the cub lose its mother?
c. Under what conditions and for how much time was it maintained after it became an orphan?
d. What contacts did it have with humans and domestic animals?
e. Does the cub have injuries and how serious are they?
In rearing cubs, we applied the rules of maintenance, rearing and feeding that were developed previously (V. Pazhetnov, per comm.). From the time of rescue (March - April) and transfer to a den house (June), the cubs were maintained in a stationary house 300 m from the camp. Upon transfer to the den house (1000 m from the camp) the cubs ranged freely around the Rehabilitation Center. Between June and September, radio-tracking equipment supplied by Korean scientists was used to monitor the bears. As mentioned before, the bear cubs were reared with minimal human contact, so they remained fearful of potential enemies (humans, domestic animals) and were capable of independent existence (finding food and a hibernation site).
Selection Criteria for Release into the Wild
A bear cub is deemed fit for release when it is in good physical condition, has developed a natural behavioral repertoire which will help the cub to forage, explore and gather food, display social behaviors and defensive behaviors to protect itself. According to V.S. Pazhetnov (1990), a brown bear cub in the first year of life is capable of accumulating sufficient body fat for hibernation. The Asiatic black bear in the first year of its life weighs about 20 kg, and brown bears may be 30 kg (Table 2). According to our studies (Skripova, 2004) the loss of body weight over the winter may be 21.4 to 40.4 % or from 6 to 10.9 kg (n=3).
The Asiatic black bear is characterized by a high growth rate. In fact, at an age of up to 3 months, the daily weight increment may be 20 to 170 g (average 130±0.04). At an age of 4 months weight gain ranges from 20 to 256 g daily (average = 120±0.02 g). With the transition to vegetative supplemental feeding at an age of 5 to 9 months, weight increased as an average rate of 80 ±0.01g at 5 months and 110±0.04 g at 9 months.
Table 2. Mean body weight of young brown and Asiatic black bears.
| Age (months) | Body weight of the bear (kg) |
|--------------|------------------------------|
| | Brown (after Danilov, Tumanov, 1991; n=unknown) | Asiatic black (our own data, n=29) |
| 2.5 | 4.6 | 3.3 |
| 3 | 6.4 | 4.3 |
| 3.5 | 8.8 | 5.4 |
| 4 | 11.1 | 6.6 |
| 4.5 | 12.3 | 10.8 |
| 9 | 30.0 | 20.8 |
Bear cubs show sexual dimorphism as early as 3 months of age. Males are bigger than females in terms of body weight (Fig. 1). There is a significant difference in the growth rates in male and female cubs, with males growing more quickly. It is important to note that the subsequent incremental dynamics of weight gain are not affected in bear cubs that are being hand reared. The physical development of hand reared cubs proceeds uniformly.
Figure 1. Dynamics of body weight of females and males in Asiatic lack bear cubs (n=29) over the observation period between 2001 and 2005.
Table 3. Dynamics of the body weight as a function of age. Body size of Asiatic Black bears (n=18) during the observation period between 2001 and 2005.
| Age (months) | Size (cm) |
|--------------|-----------|
| | Body | Ear | Tail |
| 3 | 56.5 (46.5 to 68.0) | 5.4 (4.0 to 6.5) | 3.4 (3.0 to 4.0) |
| 4 | 63.6 (56.0 to 69.0) | 6.3 (4.5 to 8.5) | 3.7 (3.5 to 5.7) |
| 5 | 71.7 (63.0 to 81.0) | 8.1 (7.5 to 9.5) | 5.5 (4.5 to 7.5) |
**Release and Monitoring**
When observing bears, it can be very difficult to identify individuals. Often they can only be distinguished by the size and shape of the patch on their chest, and it is difficult to do that in the forest. Hence, we recommend marking the animals when transferring them to a larger enclosure (at an age of 4 to 5 months), rather than when they are released into the wild. It is most feasible to use ear tags similar to the ones used on cattle. Tags that are shaped as bands or buttons with digital and other marks can also be used. The tags are...
made of plastic and are inserted in the auricles using special pliers. They normally come in two sizes: 10 cm (rectangular) and 2 cm (round). The rectangular tag is small in size and most convenient use.
Monitoring the cubs is based on recording the traces of bear activity and sighting of the animals (Pazhetnov, 2002). To identify the animals sighted in the wild, in addition to ear tags, samples of individual odor of the feces are taken (Malev et al., 2002). However, the best method is to use radio tracking equipment to obtain information about survival and movements of cubs (Turbak, 2001). Our recommendation is to use radio-tracking equipment not only upon release but also in the course of rearing the cubs.
On the basis of studies performed between 1999 and 2005, it was revealed that the best time for attaching the transmitters is before the bear cubs are transferred to the den house. Cubs maintained in the den house enclosure can move about throughout the forest within the enclosure. Periodic monitoring after release provides data on daily movements, feeding, habitat selectivity, den period and, most importantly, the fate of the raised animal.
From our practical experience we found that at age 5 to 7 months it is best to use radio collars. The use of ear radio-tags during that period is not recommended as they are heavy and may cause deformation of the ear. At an age of 5 months radio-collars can be fixed on the cubs without using drugs to immobilize them. The collar is fixed tightly so that the cub cannot remove it. To prevent injury the equipment is checked repeatedly (once a week). If radio-tracking equipment cannot be used, it is necessary to examine the release area on a regular basis, recording the traces of the bear cub activity.
Cubs of the year leave similar signs of their presence as adult bears living in the wild. They leave well-trampled paths in tall grass, characteristic daily bedding in clearings with berry shrubs, claw marks on tree trunks which are quite visible, and they bend or break some small trees and shrubs. By mid-June some small nests made of branches characteristic of adult bears are usually found and a large number of dug up ant hills and torn up logs are also apparent.
**Release**
1. The Center of Ussuri Reserve uses two methods for release of bears:
1. A hard release in late summer – early autumn, which allows the cubs to select their own den.
2. Transfer of hibernating cubs in early spring from the Center to a pre-selected natural den.
Asiatic black bear cubs that were hard released preferred to den in tree hollows. It was revealed that occasionally they may hibernate in a group of two individuals in a single hollow, or they may select two nearby trees with hollows. The preferred tree species are the poplar and Manchurian fir. The hibernation period of the cubs coincides with that of hibernation of wild bears in reserves (Skripova, 2001a). The second method was used
only as an alternative release strategy in situations where it was impossible to use a free release.
2. The restoration of bears in Jirisan National Park, Republic of Korea.
Under a joint project to restore Asiatic black bear population numbers in the Republic of Korea, a total of 12 Asiatic black bear individuals were delivered to officials from Jirisan National Park, South Korea. Summary data has been presented in Table 4.
Table 4. Data on re-introduction of Asiatic black bears handed over from Russia to the Republic of Korea in 2004 – 2005.
| Number of individuals/sex | Age when released | Date of release, site of release | Results |
|---------------------------|-------------------|----------------------------------|---------|
| 6 (♂3/♀3) | 9 to 10 months | 1.10.2004, Munsuri | Hibernation in dens from 01.01.2005 to 20.01.2005. Three dens were selected in the hollows, in rocks at 5 km from the site of release. Exit from the den from 01.04.2005 to 10.04.2005. Two of six cubs became conflict bears and were removed from the wild. |
| 6 (♂2/♀4) | 9 months | 14.10.2005, Chibapmok Shelter | Upon release, the cubs remained in groups of two or three about 2 km from the release site. They separated before denning for the winter. The den period was from 05.12.2005 to 05.04.2006. One cub was lost. |
Conclusions
1. The method used to raise orphaned black bear cubs for their subsequent release into the wild did not involve training the cubs. It primarily provided the cubs with the opportunity to develop a natural behavioral repertoire and other characteristics that would help them survive in wild. To increase their chance of survival in the wild, cubs that were not habituated to humans and that were not older than 4 months of age were selected for release. The rearing at the Center occurred in two stages: 1) in a stationary house and 2) in an enclosure located in the forest. Contact with humans during the entire maintenance period was confined to three people. Between 1999 and 2005, 30 (83%) of the 36 individuals entering the rehabilitation process were raised
and returned to the wild. Twelve (40%) of those bears were reintroduced into natural habitat in the Republic of Korea.
2. The release of cubs occurred at an age of 6 to 9 months in a group of 2 to 3 individuals using two approaches: 1) hard release in late summer – early autumn and 2) transfer of hibernating animals to a pre-selected den in early spring. In the former case the cubs were capable of finding a den on their own and preferred to use the hollows of oak-trees, poplars and firs. They sometimes hibernated in groups of two to three individuals. The second method was used only as an alternative release strategy in situations where it was impossible to use a free release.
3. The main method of monitoring the movement of cubs after the age of 5 months was by radio-tracking. This ensured minimal contact between the cubs and their caretakers and allowed the cubs to adapt to living in the natural environment. Upon release of the bears, radio-tracking permitted us to evaluate the success of the release, and to obtain data on their daily movements, habitat use in the area, and their choice of dens.
4. The development of some behavior patterns in young Asiatic black bears is closely associated with the size of arborous-shrub vegetation. Cubs start climbing trees when they are 2 months old. They climb to a height of at least 1.5 m, using trees of over 20 m in height and at least 60 cm in diameter.
5. The cubs used 51 plants for food as early as 2 months of age, and they preferred arborous and shrub vegetation (68%). Seasonal change of diet was observed in the released bear cubs. In spring, cubs consumed the leaves and shoots of arborous and shrub plants (20 species), the vegetative parts of herbaceous plants (9 species), whereas in summer the fruit of 17 species of arborous and shrub and 3 species of herbaceous plants were consumed.
6. The Asiatic black bear displayed play behavior at 2 months of age, and the 3 main forms of this behavior that were observed were attack, rolling over on the ground, and climbing up and down trees. The sequence of movement in play interactions was frequently incomplete, the play attack remaining unfinished, and the jaws were not closed.
7. The movements of cubs in the course of rearing were associated with their search for food, while they were also exploring accessible habitats. The distance the cubs traveled in search of food resources and foraging sites increased with age. At an age of 5 months the cubs settled in an area within 400 m from the house den while after 6 months they remain within 1400 m of their den. After release, the animals remained in a group located at least 3 km from the human dwellings. The dynamics of the index of separation of individuals from a group indicates that the intra-group links in bear cubs are lost gradually, and the group is finally broken up shortly before or after the first hibernation period.
Reintroduction of Asiatic Black Bears (*Ursus thibetanus*) in Thailand
Andrew Renfrew Criswell, Ph.D.
Director of Research, Thai Society for the Conservation of Wild Animals
Professor, Graduate School, Bangkok University
Email: firstname.lastname@example.org
Summary
Survey work in the Khlong Krua Wai Wildlife Sanctuary, Chanthaburi province, Thailand, and studies on the behavior of captive animals at Thai government facilities show the potential for reintroduction of Asiatic black bears (*U. thibetanus*) into this protected forest area. The location selected for the first stage of the reintroduction project is pristine uninhabited tropical rainforest, not open to the general public for either agricultural use or tourism activities.
Captive bears chosen for release need to satisfy the following criteria: (i), be of a genetic haplotype consistent with bears that would have historically been found in the release area, (ii) display behavioral patterns consistent with those of wild individuals and (iii), be free of any disease that could be transmitted to other organisms in the ecosystem of the release area or reduce the bear cubs’ survivability and ability to successfully reproduce in the wild.
Prior to reintroduction, a large electric-fenced enclosure will be constructed at the release site to hold and observe bears prior to their release. If the bears meet established criteria, they will be released from the enclosure and will be allowed to roam freely in their natural habitat. The bears will be fitted with radio collars so their movement can be monitored and their survival, post-release, can be accurately ascertained.
Aims of the Project
The Thai Society for the Conservation of Wild Animals (TSCWA), working in conjunction with the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, aims to reintroduce a group of four previously captive adult Asiatic black bears (*U. thibetanus*) to the Khlong Krua Wai Wildlife Sanctuary. The objectives of this project strictly follow international guidelines established by the IUCN/SSC Reintroduction Specialist Group (IUCN 1994; IUCN 2000). The goal of the project is to eventually establish a viable, free-ranging population of Asiatic black bears in the wild within the species’ former natural habitat that requires minimal long-term management (Walters and Holling 1990; Servheen 1999). This will enhance the long-term survival of the species
and restoration of natural biodiversity (Dahle and Swenson 2003; Hebblewhite et al. 2003; Preatoni et al. 2005).
The release site chosen is within the historic distributional range of the species and has long-term protection under Thai law. This helps to control some of the factors that caused the decline of Asiatic black bears in the area (Freedman et al. 2003; Larkin et al. 2004; Koehler and Pierce 2005; Brongo et al. 2005; Naves et al. 2006; Rodriguez-Clark and Sanchez-Mercado 2006). Attempts will be made to monitor bears by radio tracking in order to monitor movement, assess survival and monitor interaction, if any, with local villagers (Wong et al. 2004). However, our efforts in radio tracking and GPS tracking will be limited by the density of first generation tropical forest and thick tree canopy, respectively.
**The Status of Wild Populations of Asiatic Black Bears**
Asiatic black bear populations have been declining throughout their range for decades and, despite widespread official protection, the species remains on CITES Appendix I and is categorized “Vulnerable” (VU—A1cd) on the IUCN Red List, 2002. It is generally accepted that the cause of population decline was widespread poaching and degraded natural habitat (Carr et al. 2002; Hwang et al. 2002). In addition to the illegal wildlife trade, there is a boom in Southeast Asia for traditional and herbal Chinese medicines that use bear bile as the active ingredient. Farms stocked with large black bear populations exist in China, Vietnam and Korea—but not in Thailand—and the industry is expanding (Fredriksson 2005). Direct evidence of remnant Asiatic black bear populations is rare in Thailand. However, yearly bear cub confiscations by government authorities attest to their existence. These confiscations occur mostly in regions bordering Thailand so it is possible that the animals originate in Burma, Cambodia and Laos where wildlife protection is less effective.
**Release Site**
The site for the release of bear cubs is large enough to sustain a self-sustaining population and can be protected from human encroachment and associated hunting pressure (Merrill et al. 1999; Wieglus 2002; Mowat et al. 2005; Gaines et al 2005; Dahle et al. 2006). There is a dearth of information available on home ranges and population densities for Asiatic black bears. However, Wong et al. (2004) estimated the average home range for Malayan sun bears (*Helarctos malayanus*), to be 14.8 km$^2$ ranging between 6.2 and 20.6 km$^2$. For bears living in temperate climates in North America and Europe, more data are available (Koehler and Pierce 2003; Boulanger 2004; Romain-Bondi 2004; Brongo et al. 2005; Preatoni et al. 2006; Dahle et al. 2006). This research suggests that home ranges may extend up to 120 km$^2$ if there is a low concentration of high energy food sources. The home ranges of male bears will however still overlap the home ranges of several female bears even when food resources are scarce. The area both inside the Khlong Krua Wai Wildlife Sanctuary and the natural forest areas immediately surrounding its designated boundaries fits this criteria for a release site well and is further designated inaccessible to the public and is fully protected under current wildlife conservation laws.
Data compiled with the assistance of government officials and TSCWA staff at the Sanctuary indicates the presence of a wide range of native wild animals. Figure 1 displays a satellite image of the area north of Chanthaburi and the region bordering Cambodia with a GIS overlay of the Khlong Krua Wai Sanctuary. Figure 2 details a diverse range of wildlife sightings including small felids, primates, elephants, deer and rodents as marked by points along the major foot trail leading from the TSCWA base station to the release site and beyond. Over 24 months of observations failed to detect the presence of a sustainable wild population of Asiatic black bears despite stories heard from local villagers of occasional sightings.
The Status of Asiatic Black Bears in Captivity
The number of Asiatic black bears housed in Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation centers nationwide is approximately 150 and this number is steadily increasing. Beginning in 1996 at the Banglamung Wildlife Breeding Centre, many of these bears were moved to large electric-fenced semi-natural habitat enclosures built by TSCWA with funding from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). Almost all of these animals were taken from the wild as cubs by poachers and then confiscated. Only three cubs are known to have been born in captivity. Asiatic black bears have an average life span of 20 years (Hwang et al. 2002).
Fig. 1. Location of Khlong Krua Wai Sanctuary in eastern Thailand.
At the rehabilitation center bear cubs will be monitored prior to release and only those displaying a greater proportion of natural behaviors such as foraging and resting behaviors will be selected for release (Grandia et al. 2001). Vickery and Mason (2003) argued that stereotypic behavior (repetitive, invariant behavior with no obvious function or purpose) in caged bears correlates with persistent abnormal behavior, indicating that caged bears make poor release candidates. However, Criswell and Galbreath (2005) demonstrated through their research, conducted at Banglamung Wildlife Breeding Centre, that the research conducted by Vickery and Mason (2003) had serious flaws in the methodology and protocols used rendering their results meaningless. Criswell and Fuller (2006) corrected these mistakes in experiments at Pang Thong 2 Wildlife Breeding Centre, Mae Hong Son province in 2004 to 2005 and found that bears released into large enclosures improved adaptive learning. These results are important, as caged bears will need to adapt rapidly upon release to forage for food sources and defend themselves from predators and competition (Hwang et al. 2002; Carr et al. 2002; Robbins et al. 2005; Naves et al. 2006).
Genetic Suitability
The genetic makeup of an animal determines its morphology and its suitability for existence in a specific environment (Paetkau et al. 1998; Solberg 2006). Therefore, it is an important aspect of release programs to match the genetic type of animals as closely as possible to those that existed previously in the area (Rode 2006). To achieve this, a total of 60 different samples from captive black bears known to have originated from areas within Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia have been subjected to DNA typing (Galbreath 2004). During this study a number of different genetic types of Asiatic black bears were identified corresponding to different geographical areas. It is reasonable to assume that bears that historically existed at the release site were of a similar genetic type (Paetkau et al. 1998; Saitoh 2001; Yu et al. 2004; Solberg 2006). Bears suitable for release with an "eastern Thai, Cambodian and Laotian" genotype have been determined and therefore should be suitable for release in the KhlongKhlong Krua Wai Wildlife Sanctuary area. Bears originating in the western areas of Thailand exhibit a different genetic makeup, and should be excluded from reintroduction into Thailand’s eastern Forest Complex (Galbreath 2004).
Release Enclosure
It is proposed that battery-powered energizers will be able to provide an electric current to support a fenced enclosure measuring approximately 500 meters by 500 meters in the center of the release site. A design of six 10 kilowatt-charged wires insulated to steel posts fixed in cleared ground is proven to securely accommodate Asiatic black bears.
Based on existing TSCWA research and published literature, the area chosen for the enclosure will be a good example of a diversified natural habitat for Asiatic black bears. There is a dearth of information on the foods that form a natural diet for wild Asiatic black bears in this region of the world. Hence conclusive research on diets and food choices must be undertaken on the bears placed inside the enclosure and then applied to the overall release site prior to any actual bear release (Hwang et al. 2002; Carr et al. 2002; Robbins et al. 2005; Naves et al. 2006). A maximum of four animals will be housed in the enclosure until the Centre staff believes that the bears have an optimal chance of survival in the wild, in which case the bears are ready for release.
Future Impact
If our initial release has resulted in a successful reintroduction of Asiatic black bears into the Khlong Krua Wai Wildlife Sanctuary, then the following wide-ranging effects would have been established: 1) the return of bears into areas where they once were present and the possibility of the formation of sustainable wild populations of Asiatic black bears in Thailand; 2) the possibility of releasing more captive bears into other sanctuaries by using the same methods; 3) reducing the resources required to keep such a large population of confiscated bears in an unacceptable standard of captivity and, 4) providing information to improve the knowledge base of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation officials, staff and the general public on bear conservation issues.
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An Experiment of Returning Brown Bear Cubs into the Wild at the Northern Edge of the Brown Bear Range
Dr. A. M. Khokhlov and Dr. O.A. Makarova
The State Nature Reserve Pasvik
184404 Rayakoski, Pechenga District, Murmansk Region, Russia
email@example.com
The State Nature Reserve Pasvik, established in 1992 by Russia jointly with Norwegians, is situated in the middle reaches of the Paz River (Pechenga District, Murmansk Region). The brown bear is a common animal in the Paz River valley (Makarova, 2002). The reserve is involved in a joint brown bear monitoring project which includes the collection of genetic material for DNA analysis.
In Murmansk Region, the active season for bears averages 200 days, from the first ten days of April to the end of October (Makarova and Yermolayev, 1986). Normally, females and cubs emerge later from the middle to late April. This is a difficult period in northern communities, particularly for female bears with young. Occasionally, cubs are abandoned by the mother or lost by her. Cubs are known to be born in the den in late January to early February. In our region (Tersky District), in 1996, a female bear with twins was killed. On February 4th, the newborn bears were taken to Murmansk and the next day were transferred to St. Petersburg. The weight of the male was 500 g and that of the female 450 and their eyes were still closed. During the same year in Norway a den was disturbed, and the female bear abandoned her two cubs. The male weighed 3.4 kg and the female weighed 3.1 kg. These cubs were euthanized and mounted for display. These individual examples are suggestive of the weight parameters of young bears at the northern edge of their range when they are born and before their exit from the den. Similarly, in the Ser-Varanger community a male bear cub that lost its mother was found. It was emaciated and had to be euthanized on May 30th. Its weight was 2.5 kg. The cub had been wandering around a building, evidently without food, suggesting that it had lived off its body reserves for at least a week (Makarova, 1998; 2003).
Below is a description of an experiment by Pasvik reserve employees of returning bear cubs to the wild. The experiment was carried out in the spring and summer of 2003, under harsh conditions when the cubs had lost their mothers (Makarova and Khokhlov, 2005). This experiment did not follow the procedures used by V.S. Pazhetnov (Pazhetnov et al. 1999), but provided another example of opportunities to preserve a big terrestrial carnivore in the northern taiga.
At the end of May 2003, employees of the Cascade of the Paz Hydroelectric Stations repeatedly saw two cubs when they were riding to work and back. The cubs were at the road side between the villages Rayakoski and Yanikoski. When no one got off the bus, the cubs would sit quietly at the trunk of an old pine tree or near it, about 50 to 100 m from the highway. When humans tried to approach them, the cubs would run away and climb a tree. The situation was unusual. The cubs remained at the same spot for at least a
week. The hypothesis that the mother had died and its carcass was nearby was not confirmed. Presumably, the cubs had lost their mother.
An old ant hill was dug up, the earth dug up at the tree roots, and skinned trunks of old pines were suggestive that the cubs were trying to forage for food on their own. The spring season is known to be hard on bears, so it was decided to capture them and send them to a zoo. An attempt was made on June 5\textsuperscript{th}, but was unsuccessful because the cubs were not present at that time. Then on the recommendation of the Murmansk Region Game Management Board, it was decided to make use of the Pazhetnov method (1999) for returning the bear cubs into the wild.
To find out whether the bears were in need of supplemental food, condensed milk was poured out on the leaves and grass where they usually seen. The next day the milk was thoroughly licked off and the earth in some place disturbed. The condensed milk can bore the marks of cub teeth.
Supplemental feeding was started on a regular basis after that. Between June 7\textsuperscript{th} and 23\textsuperscript{rd}, food was put out twice a day, morning and evening. The cubs ate everything that was provided to them. The diet was in conformity with Pazhetnov’s recommendations and some of these details were communicated to us by him over the telephone. For some time the cubs would not eat oatmeal porridge willingly. Then the mixture was liquefied. Each meal contained 400 g of curd, 500 g oatmeal, 2 eggs, 2 g of salt, 5 g of sugar and 1 liter cow milk. M. Yu. Klorotkov, a reserve employee, prepared the mixture and added one tablespoon of vegetable oil per cub on the recommendation of Pazhetnov. In addition, we tried to add a mix of carrots and chopped cabbage to the mix (15 g), but the cubs never got used to eating vegetables (they would play with them and scatter them around). Eventually, we discontinued providing them with vegetables.
Gradually, the food bowls were moved further into the forest so the bears would not get habituated to people. The supplemental feeding was done by the same person, the vehicle driver A. A. Shilov. According to him, he would pour out the meal into the bowls and leave immediately. The bears would occasionally run out, but would not approach him. When other vehicles or other humans appeared, they would escape, hide or climb a tree.
All children and adults in the neighboring villages were asked to maintain a distance from the bears and were asked not to walk their dogs in the vicinity of the cubs. The military were also instructed respectively. There probably were instances when our instructions were not followed. However, there were cases where the intruders failed to see the cubs. Occasionally the cubs were spotted, but subsequently they would escape or would not come to their feeding site if they sensed strange odors or sounds. As they grew they learned to play with their bowls. Occasionally, they would take their bowls into the forest, and after a few days the plastic dishes were found at the original site with tooth marks. In late June, feeding was reduced to once per day. Normally, it was taken to them between 9 and 10 in the morning and put into plastic buckets. When those buckets were taken away by the bears and lost, the food was poured into a single enameled bowl. When that bowl was also lost, the food was put on the ground. The bears would regularly feed
on the supplemental food, but occasionally the cubs would take a long time before they would begin feeding, which suggested that they were not hungry.
It was noticed that by mid-June, they had notably grown and become stronger, and their juvenile coats were replaced by new fur. They became evenly brown, but the smaller cub had a light patch on the front of its neck. By July 14\textsuperscript{th} more than a month had passed since the beginning of supplemental feeding. The blackberries and cloudberries had started ripening. But the bears still consumed the supplemental food. Occasionally when the bears did not find any berries, they remembered the site and the time the food was put out. On July 27\textsuperscript{th} to 28\textsuperscript{th} they had stopped consuming the supplemental food, but they continued to return to the site on a regular basis. The bowl and the bucket with food remained intact for several days running, but the bears would not approach them.
In August, the area in the vicinity of the supplemental feeding site was visually examined for evidence of activity by the cubs. There were no cubs around. However, we observed that the site where the cubs lived from May to August was trampled down. There were numerous paths leading from the site in various directions, which eventually disappeared in the forest and bog. One of them was fairly conspicuous crossing the road to get into a large boggy area where it disappeared. The trunk of the sloping pine, which they climbed and slid down, was worn. The base was also worn: presumably, the cubs slept and played there. The bases of several old pines were also worn. The cubs made a bed near a big, old ant hill, and half of the ant hill had been destroyed. The bear feces that were found contained the remains of beetles and also the remains from the contents of the ant hill. Although blackberries had been ripening, no berries were found in the feces. Subsequently, nobody saw bears in the area. On the advice of Valentin Pazhetnov, the supplemental feeding and monitoring of the animals was discontinued. It is not until September that the cubs, who were notably larger, were sighted by a bus driver on the road not far the feeding site. The driver reported the bears to have run in front of the vehicle for some time.
The next year at the end of May 2004, after the snow had melted, we examined the supplemental feeding sites, but no fresh traces of the presence of the animals were revealed. However, later, at the beginning of June a report from frontier guards came about two bears dwelling south of Yaniskosky, in the region of the Yivara Mountains. Again later they were sighted by some employees of the Cascade of the Paz hydroelectric stations at the same sites where they had been found the year before. The bears had grown up but were not as big as was expected. In any case, the cubs overwintered well enough. There are grounds to believe that the returning of the bears into the wild proved successful.
Every year, the reserve employees examine the bear supplemental feeding site. On the road near the feeding site and farther away evidence of the presence of the cubs was observed. There is no direct evidence available that those are the bears that received supplemental feeding in 2003. Still, we believe that this experiment of helping bear cubs to return into the wild proved successful. What many of us were afraid of, i.e., that the animals would become habituated to humans and subsequently be involved in human conflicts, was not observed even though bears were repeatedly seen in the area.
References:
Khokhlov, A.M. and O.A. Makarova. 2006. The status of the population of the brown bear in the early 21st century. In: Makarova. The Status of the Population of the Brown Bear in the Murmansk Region in the Early 21st Century. In the Bears of Russia and Adjacent Countries. The Status of the Population and the System Man-Bear: Exploitation, Protection and Reproduction (Proc. 7th All-Russian Conference of Bear Specialists (Central Forest Reserve). pp.149-152.
Makarova O. A. and V.T. Yermolayev. 1986. The brown bear in the Murmansk Region. In: Ecology of Terrestrial Vertebrates of Northwestern USSR, Petrozavodsk. pp.104-110 (in Russian).
O.A. Makarova. 2002. Big carnivores in the Pasvik Reserve and adjacent regions. In: Biul of the Scientific and Methodological Center for the Study of Big Mammals in the Reserves of Russia. Vyp. 2. The Status of Populations of Big Carnivores in the Reserves of Russia. Moscow. pp.104-108 (in Russian).
O.A. Makarova. 1998. Carnivores. In: Record of Nature of the Pasvik Reserve, Book 3, 1996. Murmansk. pp. 110-117 (in Russian).
O.A. Makarova. 2003. Big mammals. In: Record of Nature of the Pasvik Reserve, Book 7, 2000, Ryazan. pp. 99-106 (in Russian).
O.A. Makarova and A.M. Khokhlov. 2005. Experiment of returning of bear cubs into the wild: behavioral aspect. Proceedings of the Conference: Behavior and Behavioral Ecology, dedicated to the 30th Anniversary of Research and Experimental Base of Chernogolovka. RAS jointly with the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. Moscow. pp. 259-262
Pazhetnov, V.S., S.V. Pazhetnov and S.I. Pazhetnova. 1999. Method for Raising of Orphan Bear Cubs to be Released into the Wild. Tver. Unpubl. Rept. 47pp.
Is rehabilitation of polar bear orphan cubs possible?
Nikita G. Ovsyanikov, Ph.D.
Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences/Wrangel Island State Nature Reserve.
firstname.lastname@example.org
Introduction
Among all the bear species, polar bears may be considered the most challenging to rehabilitate as orphaned cubs. That is because polar bears are obligatory predators on marine mammals and their entire life cycle is strictly linked with dynamics of drifting pack ice in the Arctic. For their basic subsistence and breeding polar bears completely depend on hunting seals on the ice (Lønø 1970; DeMaster and Stirling 1981; Amstrup and DeMaster 1988; Stirling 1988). When orphaned cubs are being rehabilitated other species-specific characteristics such as long-term maternal care (up to the third autumn of cub’s life), the cubs’ inability to hunt successfully on their own, cubs being cannibalized by adult bears and killed by other predators, could also prove as obstacles (Taylor et al. 1985; our observations, in prep.). Life as a predator on drifting ice and the inability to hibernate during the hardest winter months could also influence the rehabilitation process. With such biological features and under these ecological circumstances, is successful rehabilitation of orphaned polar bear cubs possible at all?
To consider this question, we have to review available information on polar bear social and hunting behavior in the wild, with particular emphasis on behavior differences between cubs who have received maternal care and those who have not. The considerations that have been made in this article are based on observations made during the course of my long-term study of polar bear behavioral ecology on Wrangel Island. Data on social, maternal and cub behavior were collected from 1990 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2007 during a total of 15 field seasons on Wrangel Island. Observations were carried out during spring (1990 to 1993) and autumn (1990 to 1993, 1997 to 2007) seasons, when polar bears stayed on the island on a regular basis. The main behavioral methods used were direct visual observations of polar bear behavior, employing a combination of two types of protocols – “focal animal/group” (Altmann 1974) and “Group or Scan sampling” (Ovsyanikov 1993). Social encounters and individual activity of lone bears and groups that were visible were recorded by video whenever possible so as to be able to accurately identify the animals observed and to conduct detailed analysis of the observed behaviors. Bears were identified from a short distance using individual characteristics such as body conformation, facial features and behavior, and by individual-specific natural marks (scars, phenotypic variations). Additional features for short-range identification were coloration of skin and dirt spots on the skin. When observing family groups, the number, condition and general appearance of cubs was documented along with the mother’s identification parameters.
Global environmental changes have resulted in the winter seasons becoming shorter and with the shrinking of ice sheets in the Arctic which have hampered the polar bears’
hunting success across their geographical range (see: *Polar Bears. Proceedings of the 14th Working Meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group, IUCN, №32*). We may reasonably assume that these conditions may facilitate more frequent orphaning of polar bear cubs. There is evidence that under such circumstances more polar bears go hungry as more of them become exposed to extremes of open sea environment (Ovsyanikov, 2006). The increasing proportion of Arctic ice melting each year suggests the possibility of a critical decrease of polar bear populations in the wild. Rehabilitation of polar bear cubs could prove to be a significant method for sustaining local populations of the species in the wild. Bears born and raised in captive or semi-captive environments could also be included in the rehabilitation process for subsequent release into the wild. Although such measures are ecologically and ethically controversial, it should not be excluded from the list of possible conservation efforts in support of the species’ struggle to survive a critical period in its evolutionary path.
The objective of this article is to qualitatively evaluate observations of features of polar bear social and foraging behaviors that we made in the course of our study to identify key factors that would make rehabilitation of orphan cubs successful.
During the study period polar bears were observed in a various social situations (over 2000 extended episodes), from completely solitary foraging on sea ice to prolonged stranding on the shore and the gathering of polar bears into congregations of various sizes on the coast of Wrangel Island in late summer to autumn. Large congregations are formed, when 20 to 160 bears gather for days or weeks at one spot along the shore line of about 1 to 3 km in length. Normally, large, long standing congregations occur at traditional walrus haul-out sites, with or without walruses present. Smaller congregations are formed by bears gathering into smaller short-term bands at single walrus carcasses. During these gatherings, I observed social behaviors displayed by polar bears of both genders and all age categories in a variety of social contexts. In this paper, only social interactions that are important when considering issues of orphan cub rehabilitation are discussed.
**Orphan cub occurrence in the wild**
Our observations during a period of 17 years have shown that loss of polar bear cubs in the wild may occur at any stage of their post-natal ontogenesis after the family emerges from the maternity den. After emerging from the maternal dens, polar bear families spend the initial emergence period near their denning area before their move to the drifting ice. Natural loss of cubs during this initial emergence is unlikely due to the maternal care they receive, stability of environment and access to reliable shelters (maternal dens). During the initial adaptation for cubs, which normally takes 2 to 4 weeks, family groups are particularly sensitive to any kind of disturbances, such as intensive snowmobile activity (Ovsyanikov, 1996).
Although occasional natural loss of cubs cannot be fully excluded, all known cases occurred when yearlings were separated from their mothers during spring (n=3, 1991, 1994, 2006). The losses on Wrangel Island were caused when the family groups were
disturbed by intensive snowmobile or cross-land vehicle driving over denning areas or across bear passes to the ice. One cub was orphaned due to the death of its mother (n=1, 1980). Orphaned cubs at this age (their first spring-summer) do not survive long in the wild, unless they are adopted by another mother shortly after being orphaned. The probability of natural adoption should not be excluded and the existence of this phenomenon is supported by the fact that almost every autumn season on Wrangel Island, I have observed a family group of a mother with two cubs of clearly different ages, with one being a year older than the other.
During autumn seasons, I observed three single and one pair (siblings) of orphaned yearlings in 1990, 1998, 2006 and a 2002 respectively. In 1990, 2002 and 2006 these orphaned cubs appeared during “ice-free” conditions, while in 1998 the island was surrounded by pack ice throughout the autumn.
Occurrence of orphan yearlings is a common thing for the polar bear population in the Wrangel Island region. Every autumn, when polar bears are stranded onshore, I have observed several lone yearlings living on their own. The proportion of such sub-adult bears in the local population (a group of stranded bears, which in fact is a part of the local population) was not high, but still representative – in different years orphan yearlings comprised from 3 to 7.5% within a congregation of a few tens of bears. These orphaned yearlings were well capable of surviving within the polar bear community successfully and a majority of them were in good shape by autumn.
My observations of the local population of polar bears in late summer to early autumn recorded two-year-old cubs living without mother displaying social interactions more frequently than those living with their mothers. Cubs were also observed leaving their family groups by their third autumn (October – November). By this age bears are capable of independent living.
**How do cubs get separated from their mothers?**
Although direct observations of early separation of polar bear cubs from their mothers are rare (n=3, all temporary splitting with subsequent joining of the family), our general behavioral observations lead us to propose the most probable scenarios causing the separation (apart from mother’s death) are:
1. Panic in the family group arising from being disturbed or chased. Some mothers, especially young inexperienced females, when disturbed, panic and run away immediately at a speed the cubs are unable to follow. Normally, even under duress, polar bear mothers protect their cubs and adjust their speed so that the cubs can follow. However, under severe threat if the mother has two cubs and one of them is weaker and has difficulty keeping in pace with the family, the mother may opt to run faster with one cub.
2. Cubs get lost in stormy open seas. When a family group with yearlings is swimming in a storm, one or more cubs may get separated from the mother since it is difficult for the mother to monitor her cubs in the storm and the wind may prevent the bears
from hearing or smelling each other. If they are not chased (by humans or another bear), they have better chances of reuniting.
In autumn 2002, at Cape Blossom, I observed a case of temporary splitting of a family group with three yearlings in the sea. On September 27th, in panic the mother escaped into the sea with one cub about 20 minutes before her other cubs, which swam together and came out of sea as a pair. The family re-joined approximately 0.5 km from the beach when the two cubs found their mother with the third sibling. The reunion was accompanied by an emotional reaction of the cubs and mother, particularly pronounced in the two cubs that were separated.
3. Cubs may get separated on drifting ice in blizzard. Drifting ice is a harsh environment and living on it for a family means sometimes getting out-of-sight from each other behind ice blocks and pressure ridges. It also means often crossing open leads and polynyas, which may be wide and wind may be forceful. In a blizzard, there is a lot of ice moving, degrading visibility. In these conditions it is also difficult for bears to communicate through the sense of smell and sound. I have not observed any evidence of this scenario, but logically, it seems possible.
4. Decreased obedience of cubs. Normally, a polar bear mother takes good care of her cubs and monitors and protects them even for a short period. Some cubs, however, show more initiative and in certain situations may behave rather independently and separate from the mother for a few minutes, going too far to explore their surroundings or approaching other bears. This situation was observed several times in congregations on the coast, especially, when there were various attractions in that area for bear cubs, such as other young bears and remains of killed walruses. In litters of three, two cubs may behave as a group, getting social support from each other and giving them the confidence to move farther away from their mother. The older and stronger a cub is, the more initiative it may take to move farther away from its family group.
There were several cases where sickness was observed, but it was never observed to be a reason for mother’s leaving the cub. Even when a sick cub dies, the mother has been seen to remain near it for hours or days, while behaving nervously and guarding the cub’s body.
**Social status of orphaned cub in the population**
In social encounters, cubs of any age behave as bears of the higher social status, compared to orphans of the same age. In agonistic encounters cubs strictly follow their mother’s response; however, it is not rare that yearlings may take initiative in the family’s aggressive lunge toward an approaching young bear, an adult female or another family group. Orphaned yearlings in such situations are particularly cautious and usually respond by retreating. The approach of an adult male may cause family groups to separate with the cubs escaping ahead of the mother. Orphan cubs tend to retreat when approached by another bear family group. However, if the bear (even adult
male) approaches suddenly or too close to a family group, the mother would likely exhibit defensive aggression, with her cubs hiding behind her.
A bear’s personality seems to be the main factor determining how each individual responds in an encounter. As a general rule, all orphaned yearlings observed within a congregation of bears displayed good skills in managing social distance, demonstrating high sensitivity to immediate social situations, and an ability to take advantage of any chance to get access to available food (a carcass of dead walrus, a beached arctic cod, etc.). In the social context, orphaned cubs were showing more flexibility, freedom and initiative than cubs living in family groups. Some orphaned yearlings in certain situations behaved very confidently, even opposing adult bears, while attempting to feed at a walrus carcass.
Although rare cases of an orphaned cub attempting to hunt seals or a walrus were observed, none of them were successful. Hunting skills in young bears are age-related (Stirling and Latour 1978; our observations). There is no doubt that orphaned cubs in a polar bear population can survive successfully only as scavengers on kills made by adult bears. High social tolerance and communal use of carcasses of either killed or marine mammals found dead are important features of polar bear sociality for species survival in harsh environments (Ovsyanikov, 2005). This feature is important for the survival of orphaned cubs in wild polar bear populations.
In all three cases, when I observed single orphaned yearlings (n=3, in autumn), these cubs were observed for short periods of time (only a few minutes). In all cases the cubs were restlessly moving along the beach, apparently nervous and most likely hungry. One cub (1998), while passing my field cabin quickly explored a plastic box on the porch with his teeth and made a sharp short lunge toward a young arctic fox that happened to trot near the cabin.
Two lost siblings were observed in autumn 2002 and were followed for extended periods of time. They were a special case that provided my research with interesting behavioral information and evidence that even an orphaned yearling may have a chance to survive in the wild.
**Case of Tuff**
A couple of lost siblings were observed, for the first time, on the Cape Blossom spit on October 11\textsuperscript{th}, 2002, at 17:30. By that time, there was a polar bear congregation on the spit of approximately 60 to 70 bears, of which approximately 40 to 45 remained on the spit while the rest dispersed within 2 to 3 km from the core area. The highest concentration of bears was constantly recorded at the end of the spit (approximately 450 m long x 200 m wide) and was up to 25 to 37 bears, with average density of up to 3 to 4 bears per ha. Locally, bears gathered in densities of up to 16 to 21 bears per ha.
At the first sighting, the lost siblings appeared in the crowd of bears, which gathered at the very tip of the spit after responding to a family group (a young female with one yearling that was disturbed, causing the mother to look back towards the tundra) and
then quickly running across the spit. Soon the panic spread over a part of the congregation, resulting in a partial bear gathering at the tip of the spit, with a few bears swimming into the sea, while the majority stopped on the beach close to each other. The two siblings were spotted within this group. They were screaming and grouping with each other, at the same time reacting nervously to any approaching bear. One female with two yearlings was attracted by the screaming orphaned cubs and tried to approach them. When she came up to 2 to 3 meters, the orphaned cubs made aggressive lunges toward her and the female with her cubs turned away. That evening, the siblings were observed on the spit displaying the same behavior – grouping together, screaming, and behaving nervously – while reacting to any approaching or passing bear with defensive aggression.
They were seen together without a mother for the next 5 days, walking back and forth over the spit, feeding on organic material along the surf line on the beach and avoiding contact with other bears. When they approached my cabin, my Samoyed dog Nanuk chased them away. The siblings quickly learned how to stop him by making aggressive lunges at him. When Nanuk chased them, they ran away, if the distance permitted their retreat in advance, or stopped him by making lunges, and then slowly retreated in a defensive profile.
On October 15th, filmmaker Arne Nevra arrived and joined me at the cabin to film a story about polar bears and our research at Cape Blossom. On October 16th, at 11:30, the siblings were seen together again, active and with no signs of sickness. They came to the cabin, hung around the cabin for a few minutes, until Nanuk chased them away and then went to the spit. Arne and I went to the spit a half hour later and observed the cubs in the wide end of the spit, about 1 km from the cabin. An hour and a half after we reached our observation point at the end of the spit, we spotted a mother bear accompanied by one yearling, swimming along the beach from the very end of the spit with a piece of flesh in her jaws. When she came out of sea near our observation shelter (a small metal cabin, 400 meters from the tip of the spit), we could see that the piece she carried was a paw of a polar bear cub. Then, on the low beach at the very end of the spit, we spotted a small group of bears eating something that looked like a fresh kill (bears were stained in bright red blood). There were only females and youngsters in the group at the remains, including a mother with 2 yearlings and two young, lone females. By that time, there were no males near the carcass, none near the end of the spit, and none within the group of bears eating the carcass. Later, when other bears left the spot, we went to the end of the spit to examine the remains of a freshly eaten yearling.
Since then, only one of these lost siblings was seen at Cape Blossom – on the spit, at the cabin, and on the tundra in the vicinity. Later, I discovered that the cub was a female. We filmed and photographed her constantly and her behavior during the rest of our autumn season. The story about her is included in the film titled “Polar Bear Alcatraz”. Since she was seen every day, regularly visited our cabin in search of any food and thus became a part of our lives, I named her – Tuff.
That autumn, walruses did not stop at the island and there were no walrus rookeries at Cape Blossom. As a result, there were no walrus carcasses available for bears in autumn 2002. Before ocean freezing, all bears, including Tuff, were feeding only on the remains of old walrus skins left from the past and on fresh organic material washed up on the beach by the surf, which was comprised of invertebrates and fish (arctic cod). On October 17th, Tuff found the carcass of a dead bird, chewed it, then picked up the remains of the bird’s skin and carried it in her jaws along the beach. Later that day (October 17) she was seen 8 km east of our cabin, collecting organic material along the beach. As long as the ocean was ice free and organics were available on the beach, Tuff could manage to maintain normal body shape, did not look sick, but was apparently hungry. Tuff kept coming to the cabin and sometimes she tried to look inside our cold room where reindeer meat was stored.
On October 24, I started feeding her occasionally with pieces of reindeer carcass. She hungrily accepted the food and since then started coming to us more often and staying by the cabin for longer time. I understood that my decision was controversial, but I could not see the cub suffering and my drive was rather sentimental as I could not believe that she would have a chance to survive the winter.
In 2002, the ocean at Cape Blossom started freezing about October 21st – that day the edge of young ice had reached Cape Blossom from North being blown by strong north-western blizzard. Active freezing began on October 23rd. Most of the bears moved to the ice on October 21st to 23rd as soon as the ice was hard enough to support them. By November 1st, there were no bears on the spit and only occasional short bear scouts along the shore line were recorded. Tuff did not leave and she kept living on the spit and regularly coming to the cabin. When she was by the cabin, I kept Nanuk inside, but occasionally they met and every time Nanuk chased Tuff away. She got used to that and easily managed to escape, stopping him by lunging at him, with no panic in her actions.
As we were preparing to finish the season and leave the cabin, I decided to give her the last gift and a chance, before she was to live completely on her own. During the late evening of November 2nd we gave her a whole reindeer carcass. She fed on it that evening and perhaps all night long, and was seen near it the next morning. Then Nanuk came out of the cabin and Tuff escaped from him onto the fresh ice. She slept on the ice and the next day (November 3rd) the ice, along with Tuff, was blown away to the sea. We did not see her again that autumn and left the island on November 21st.
The following year, autumn 2003, I was at Cape Blossom again. The behavior of polar bears was similar to that observed in 2002. A polar bear congregation of approximately 60 to 70 individuals was observed at Cape Blossom. There were no walruses hauling out on the beach that season and there was only a single walrus carcass washed up on the beach by the surf.
As usual, I was living alone in the same field cabin at Cape Blossom, observing bears in congregations and visiting to other nearby places. On September 17th, at 16:30, I
returned to the cabin (on ATV) after visiting the base camp at Doubtful (90 km from Cape Blossom). An hour later, three rangers drove to my cabin to bring me fuel. They had to stay overnight in my cabin. Just at the moment the vehicle arrived to the cabin and we started unloading, a polar bear cub, an orphaned yearling, came straight to the cabin, approaching the vehicle and humans at a very close distance of 1 to 2 meters, sniffing everything and looking for whatever we had for food. The cub was Tuff – I knew her face very well and would recognize her with no doubt. Her general appearance and face were well documented by photo and video in 2002. The park rangers had two dogs with them, which were in the vehicle’s cabin. When the dogs were released, they immediately chased Tuff away. Her reaction toward the dogs was another confirmation of her identity because she was not terrified, did not panic, but turned against the dogs and managed to safely retreat by stopping their attacks. She behaved as if she was well acquainted with dog behavior and knew how to stop them by lunging at them. In 2003 Nanuk was not with me at Cape Blossom, but apparently his lessons were remembered by the cub.
The next day, the park rangers left, but Tuff remained on the spit and in the vicinity. I observed her continuously throughout the season. She was in good shape, not very fat, but well fed and looked healthy. Occasionally, she visited the cabin, but did not try to enter the door, and did not solicit food from me. While meeting me on the spit or around the cabin, she was not scared and did not run away in panic, as other sub-adult bears would, but at the same time, she did not show any particular attachment to me or to my cabin. In the social context, in 2003, she behaved as an ordinary orphaned yearling. There were 3 other orphaned yearlings in the congregation and in terms of social behavior Tuff did not behave differently. On October 3rd, I observed Tuff at the mouth of Thomas creek, 20 km north of Cape Blossom, within a small, temporary congregation of bears (21 animals) gathered around a fresh walrus carcass. Later she was seen again at Cape Blossom. I did not see her in 2004 or later, at least at distances close enough to make a reliable identification. Her further life history remains unknown.
The case of Tuff is evidence that even an orphaned yearling may have a chance to survive in the wild from the first autumn of its life under certain conditions, which include: 1) the cub is in good shape when it becomes an orphan, 2) feeding conditions in the region are favorable (successful hunts by adult bears often provide food for young, scavenging bears), and 3) the cub is wary and shies away from adult bears. I believe that (in addition to plentiful food sources) advanced sociality of polar bears and their high mental abilities are the key factors for successful survival of orphans in the harsh Arctic environment.
**Ethical aspects for the rehabilitation of orphaned polar bear cubs**
When polar bear cubs are being rehabilitated, ethical aspects in conducting this process precisely must be considered at every stage and this is a priority. The following are most important for rehabilitating bear cubs:
- There is a possibility that rehabilitation may allow a polar bear cub to become habituated to human presence and through this, sooner or later, expose them to
human-bear conflict, which could result in an injury or death to either the bear or a human.
- Occurrence of polar bear orphans in the wild may be a result of just bad luck or it could be a work of natural selection; if the latter, it may mean that rehabilitation efforts will be taken to act against the forces of nature.
In my view, both problems can be avoided by using appropriate rehabilitation methods. Regarding the first point, we should keep in mind that the main source of problem polar bear occurrences would not be a result of rehabilitating orphaned cubs, but mismanagement of human settlements, inappropriate behavior of humans (harassing bears with snowmobiles or feeding bears) and natural climatic changes, which force polar bears to search food everywhere, including in human settlements. Any wild bear may easily become a problem animal, if environmental conditions are right. To reduce the risk of undesirable behavioral patterns in rehabilitated polar bears, rehabilitation should use techniques to develop human avoidance in bears before release. This would help to reduce the probability that a released bear may turn into a conflict animal.
Regarding the second point, we can never be completely sure of actual reason of the occurrence of an orphaned cub. In my view, there is nothing bad in trying to help an orphaned cub and to give it another chance, providing resources are available. Any bear in the wild is subject to natural selection and a personal struggle for survival is unavoidable. However, rehabilitation techniques must not expose another bear family to trouble, which means that forced adoption of an orphaned cubs by another mother, that has her own offspring and own struggle for survival, should never be used. For a polar bear mother, it is not easy to raise cubs and adopting orphaned cubs would put more pressure on the mother and may reduce the chance of survival for her own offspring. Natural adoption, if it occurs, is the work of nature and the mother bears own choice.
**Conclusions**
Known facts of polar bear social behavior suggest that orphaned cubs can survive in the wild, after they are yearlings and, in rare cases, even after their first autumn. Natural adoption may take place allowing orphaned cub survival within a new family from even an earlier age. High sociality and intelligence of polar bears are considered the key factors allowing orphaned cubs to survive successfully on their own as scavengers.
Rehabilitation techniques for orphaned polar bear cub, if applied, should be based on raising orphans in semi-captive environments in a group of at least two conspecific cubs until their second summer of life (the earliest possible age for release) with contact with humans reduced to an absolute minimum. When the cubs are being released, they must be in very good health and body condition. They should be released in late spring into an area with abundant food resources and as far from any human settlements as possible. Pre-release treatment for human avoidance is highly recommended. A protocol based on the forced adoption of an orphan by another bear family is unacceptable for ethical reasons and should not be permitted.
From what we observed in polar bear populations in the wild, it is predicted that developing global climatic changes (Arctic pack ice disappearing) will result in increasing occurrence of orphaned cubs, in addition to other problems for polar bears. This may result in a greater number of situations requiring the rehabilitation of orphaned polar bear cubs. If it comes to this stage, possible role of zoos in this task may be considered, as well as creation of special semi-captive facilities.
At any rate, in terms of polar bear survival as a species in a rapidly changing environment, orphaned cub rehabilitation should be considered an important and additional measure. The main conservation measures to help polar bears survive the critical period as a species should be better protection for polar bears in the wild, effective law enforcement against any illegal shooting, better management of human-polar bear encounters to avoid the forced shooting of bears, territorial protection of areas that are important as terrestrial polar bear refuges, global international efforts to reduce pollution of the oceans and the global warming effects, and preventing the decrease of marine mammals, the main food source for polar bears.
References
Altmann, J. 1974. Observational study of behaviour: sampling methods. Behaviour 49:227–267.
Amstrup, S.C. and D.P. DeMaster. 1988. Polar bear. *Ursus maritimus*. Pages 39–55 in J.W. Lentfer, ed. Selected marine mammals of Alaska: species accounts with research and management recommendations. Mar. Mammal Comm. Washington, D.C.
DeMaster D.P.and I. Stirling. 1981. Ursus maritimus. *Mammalian species*, No. 145, 1-7.
Lønø, O. 1970. The polar bear (*Ursus maritimus*) in the Svalbard area. Norwegian Polar Institute. Skr. 149. 103 pp.
Ovsyanikov, N.G. 1993. Behavior and Social Organization of the Arctic Fox. *Moscow, CNIL Glavokhoti RF*. 243 p. *(In Russian)*
Ovsyanikov, N.G. 1996. Den use and social interactions of polar bears in dense denning areas on Herald Island in spring. Intern. Conf. Bear Res. and Manage. 10:251-258.
Ovsyanikov, N.G. 2005. Behavior of polar bears in congregations on the coast. *Zoological Journal* 84(1):94-103. *(In Russian)*
Ovsyanikov, N.G. 2006. Research and conservation of polar bears on Wrangel Island. Polar Bears. Proceedings of the 14-th Working Meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group, 20-24June 2005, Seattle, Washington, USA. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. №32: 167-171.
Polar Bears. Proceedings of the 14-th Working Meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group, 20-24June 2005, Seattle, Washington, USA. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. №3. 189 p.
Stirling I. 1988. Polar Bears. University of Michigan Press. 220 p.
Stirling I. and W.R. Archibald. 1977. Aspects of predation of seals by polar bears. J. Fish. Res. Board Can., 1977, 34,p.1126-1129.
Stirling I. and P.B. Latour. 1978. Comparative hunting abilities of polar bear cubs of different ages. Can. J. Zool. 56:1768-1772
Taylor, M., T. Larsen, and R.E. Schweinsburg. 1985. Observations of intraspecific aggression and cannibalism in polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Arctic 38:303–309.
Rehabilitation of bears around the world is often not recognized as a valuable wildlife management tool by governments, even though it has been going on for centuries. The most common response is that rehabilitation of bears has no value for the wild population as a whole, but is rather a strictly an animal welfare issue. Therefore, such projects are not promoted by most governments, but grudgingly permitted when there is a strong public demand that cannot be ignored. Some cubs are then rescued and successfully released back into the wild, while others, unable to fend for themselves, are killed by predators, left to die a slow death from starvation or killed in conflict situations.
So what motivates rehabilitators around the world to tackle these issues in spite of this lack of support? The humanitarian aspect of the work cannot and should not be denied. Every rehabilitator gets drawn into this work primarily by feelings of compassion for these highly intelligent mammals. Recognizing the increasing threat to wild populations of bears is imperative in order to save them from going extinct. Diminishing habitats, conflict situations with humans, as well as unnatural death due to human encroachment often leaves orphaned cubs behind. Giving these animals a second chance at life should be a moral obligation since nine times out of ten a cub is orphaned or injured due to human causes. “Managing the harvest” and “letting nature takes its course” are two phrases often used to justify government policy that is simply outdated. However a large proportion of deaths is due to human causes that fall outside of “harvest management”, such as a mother bear killed by a car, truck or train, or being shot legally or illegally.
Bear rehabilitation is more than doing what’s right from an animal welfare perspective. Around the world, rehabilitation of bears is taking on a new meaning because globally most species of bears are endangered as a result of human encroachment and climate change. We are now discussing the survival of bears as species, and not just as individual animals.
This year, IFAW sponsored the 2007 International Bear Rehabilitation Conference in Russia. Rehabilitators from around the world shared their thoughts and experiences. The outcome was incredible. Rehabilitators found that no matter where they came from, the difficulties, doubts and successes were similar.
Although individual methods for rehabilitation differed slightly, the outcomes were mostly the same. It was very interesting to learn that whether the cubs had no or minimal human contact with humans or whether a “human” mother walked with them in the bush, the success of reintroduction to the wild was similar. This suggested that rehabilitation works.
Critics of bear rehabilitation state a number of concerns in defense of their outdated views. The most common arguments are:
1. Cubs will be habituated and seek out humans after release, which will lead to more conflict bears or possible attacks on humans
2. Cubs are unable to survive on their own after being released
3. Cubs are unable to reproduce and rear their young, as they have not learned this from their mother
4. Rehabilitating bears takes away funding from other important bear research projects, such as habitat conservation and conflict management
5. Rehabilitation of bears has no value for the wild population as a whole and is strictly an animal welfare issue.
Are these concerns justified or are they a leftover of old beliefs and misinformation?
1. Early attempts to rehabilitate animals were certainly conducted on a purely humanitarian basis, and occasionally resulted in improper handling of animals, with subsequent habituation to humans that resulted in human conflict situations. Rehabilitation methods have evolved from those early stages and now incorporate the animal’s natural behaviors into the process of preparing them for survival in the wild. In the rehabilitation of bears, their social behavior and the period when they leave their family group have a great impact on the timeline of rehabilitation. Young bears need a certain amount of protection to develop their skills and to grow into an animal that can care for itself. Upon the death of a mother, cubs often lack these important factors in their life. This is where rehabilitation steps in by providing a safe haven until such a time that the cub can take care of itself. This requires suitable species-specific enclosures and food, as well as caretakers knowledgeable and experienced in rehabilitating bears. Release times will differ from species to species, but usually run along the timeline of natural family breakups. Proper handling ensures that habituation to humans diminishes after weaning.
Once the cubs are released, they adapt quickly to their new surroundings and rarely come into contact with humans again. If they do, it may have been because the release site was inappropriate. It is the responsibility of each rehabilitator to identify such individuals that are unsuitable for release because they exhibit behaviors that might create conflict situations in the future. Bears have strong personalities and every once in a while rehabilitators will encounter animals that show a strong inclination to
become more interactive with humans than is desired. These bears are found in the wild, too and so do not necessarily reflect the management practices of the rehabilitation center. It is of great importance to recognize such animals and to prevent their release, as one bad situation can put the whole program in question. Such animals can either become ambassadors for their kind in human care or need to be humanly euthanized.
2. Studies across the world have proven that cubs adapt to the wild very quickly and have strong survival skills. Though efforts are made to provide natural food during rehabilitation, this is not always possible. However, cubs instinctively know what constitutes their natural food supply. When given their favorite non-natural food and the choice of natural food in season, they select the natural food source.
Their instinctive response of flight to avoid threatening situations is also strongly developed and needs to be supported by enclosures that allow them to act on their natural instincts. Depending on the species of bear, this means providing hiding places or climbing opportunities. Natural surroundings will encourage and allow the cub to develop and maintain such natural behaviors. Keeping cubs in unsuitable enclosures that do not allow such natural behaviors to develop may result in bears displaying abnormal behaviors that may prove detrimental after the animal is released.
Natural surroundings are also important in the search for food. Some species dig for roots or forage for fruits in shrubs and trees. Such natural food sources have to be provided (or at the very least mimicked) to support the natural desire to explore, forage and climb.
3. Studies have proven that rehabilitated bears have no trouble reproducing in the wild and that the females make good mothers. Unfortunately funding often does not allow such long term studies and therefore most of this evidence comes from anecdotal accounts. On the other hand, there are no studies as of yet that prove otherwise.
4. Most projects on the rescue and rehabilitation of bear cubs run on a nonprofit basis and, therefore, have no or very little impact on government funded projects. However, in areas where these projects are funded by the governmental entities, it should be recognized that a considerable proportion of the work can be done in conjunction with other projects and studies and these should be combined to make them financially feasible and viable. The lack of communication between research projects is the most common factor which results in several projects and groups working on similar issues that ideally should have been handled under the same umbrella.
5. Rehabilitation of only one cub can and always has an impact on the wild population in a great number of ways. I would like to create an example to demonstrate the opportunities that rehabilitation can provide for the wild population. For example, if a female bear is killed in a car accident and her cub is orphaned and placed in a rehabilitation center, the following have been accomplished:
- The cub’s life is saved which usually has a positive impact on public perception of government management practices, and at the same time preserves the genetic line of the cub’s parents.
- With the public interest raised by the media about the death of its mother and subsequent rescue, this cub is an excellent vehicle for building public understanding and support on issues of biodiversity, habitat management, and human-wildlife interaction.
- By placing the cub in rehabilitation, we provide an opportunity to learn more about bear behavior and biology. This is a fact that is not utilized sufficiently in the current bear management issues. Cubs in human care do not only provide an excellent opportunity to raise public awareness about bear conservation and rehabilitation, but also provide a chance to answer a number of scientific questions.
- Once the rehabilitation period is completed, the cub will be released into the same population from which it came, and therefore does not affect the natural population structure. In cases where cubs are released elsewhere, this is usually done to reintroduce or support a dwindling natural population in affected areas and the cub has now become a tool in preserving the species.
It is clear that rehabilitation of bear cubs supports the wild bear population and in some cases may play an important role toward this end.
The key issues for successful rehabilitation are:
- A cub needs suitable housing and care until it reaches the age at which it can be self-sufficient.
- The cub must be released into a suitable habitat.
- The cub should be released during a time when there is maximum food availability in order to ease the transition back into the wild.
• The cub should be of an age at which free-ranging cubs naturally leave their families in the wild.
Supported by the public, bear rehabilitation is a valuable tool in wildlife management to protect both threatened and non-threatened species. It offers us a unique opportunity to learn about bear behavior, which then allows us to assist in the management of the species through an increased level of understanding. In this way, we hope to protect and maintain healthy numbers of animals in both threatened and non-threatened species. Those in the field of bear rehabilitation are highly motivated and knowledgeable individuals who have a special bond with these animals and are driven by a desire to give them a fair chance at life. Bear rehabilitation has a lot to offer not only to the scientific community but to society as a whole. | c4962164-1f47-4d31-90a0-9f6d1b427a7e | CC-MAIN-2024-22 | https://www.bearcaregroup.org/_files/ugd/eee153_e5cbeb349c41484a838db3eb29b920b0.pdf | 2024-05-24T22:08:58+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-22/segments/1715971058751.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20240524214158-20240525004158-00019.warc.gz | 568,298,590 | 64,769 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.918777 | eng_Latn | 0.997654 | [
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SCOTTSDALE AREA
HIKING, BIKING & TRAIL GUIDE
Experience Scottsdale has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of information printed in this guide, but assumes no liability for errors or omissions. Hours of operation and prices published herein are subject to change without notice.
Scottsdale Area Hiking, Biking & Trail Guide, © 2022. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, in whole or in part, by any means, without the express written permission of Experience Scottsdale is prohibited.
WELCOME
Nature always wears the color of the spirit.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
WE’RE ALL EXPLORERS AT HEART.
We may go about it differently – some with quiet intention, others with wild abandon – but we’re all searching for a new experience to collect, a discovery that quickens our pulse just a bit. Welcome, fellow explorers, to one of the world’s most spectacular natural playgrounds – Scottsdale’s Sonoran Desert!
Known for its boulder-strewn mountain peaks, verdant desert washes and pristine lakes and rivers, our Sonoran Desert invites you to get out and explore. Experience the serenity of a desert trail at sunrise with only the cacti and quail as your companions. Let your curiosity ride shotgun as you bounce along rugged trails on a guided Jeep tour. Plunge through whitewater rapids or settle in to a horse’s gentle sway. The choice, and the adventure, is yours.
If Scottsdale’s bustling Old Town is the city’s heart, then the Sonoran Desert is its soul – and we’d like to share it with you. That’s why we’ve included in this guide some of our favorite places to hike, bike, climb, or just sit and contemplate. We hope that as you learn more about it, you’ll be inspired to see the Sonoran Desert’s beauty for yourself, in every season!
SCOTTSDALE’S SONORAN DESERT BY THE NUMBERS
30,580 Acres in Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve that are available for hiking, biking, climbing and horseback riding
230 Miles of trails in Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve
6 Lakes within a one-hour drive of downtown Scottsdale
330 Days of annual sunshine – perfect weather for outdoor adventures of all kinds
400+ Miles of trails in the Scottsdale area
36 Designated climbing areas in Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve
2 Rivers ideal for rafting, kayaking, tubing, canoeing, fishing and birdwatching
The Sonoran Desert covers more than 100,000 square miles in Arizona, California and northern Mexico, and is one of four major deserts in North America. Geologically, the Sonoran Desert lies in the vast Basin and Range province of the western United States. A land of soaring mountains and flat valleys, the Basin and Range encompasses nearly eight percent of the country’s land area and is one of the nation’s youngest topographies, born between 15 million and eight million years ago.
**Fun Facts**
**DESERT WATER**
- The Colorado River is Scottsdale’s main water source.
- The Sonoran Desert boasts numerous lakes, rivers and streams that create lush riparian areas that support desert wildlife.
- The canals that channel water from area reservoirs are based on an ancient irrigation system designed by the Hohokam Indians, who inhabited the area until 1450 A.D.
- Scottsdale golf courses use reclaimed water for irrigation and water features.
With as much sunshine (330 days per year) and as little rainfall (9 inches annually) as we get in the desert it might seem impossible that so many species could not only exist here, but actually thrive. Their success is largely due to special adaptations that make the most of what little moisture we do get.
- Most cacti have pleated stems that expand to store rainwater for times of drought.
- Cactus spines provide shade for the stem and act as a wind break to reduce water loss.
- The root systems of many desert plants are shallow and grow outward rather than down to better absorb surface moisture.
- Certain plants, like palo verde trees, conserve water by dropping their leaves during the dry season.
- Small mammals, including cottontails and jackrabbits, get most of their water from the vegetation they eat.
- Desert tortoises have large bladders that can store up to 40 percent of their weight in water for use when needed.
Scottsdale’s Sonoran Desert is overflowing with botanical treasures, from regal saguaro cacti and lacy mesquite trees to cactus blossoms and wildflowers in all the colors of the rainbow. Here’s a sampling of the desert plants you might see as you explore.
The highly fragrant blossoms of the **Queen of the Night** open only for one night and close with the morning sun.
Juice from **Prickly Pear** fruit buds is used in drinks, syrups and candy. Prickly pears produce vibrantly colored fruit and blossoms.
The Tohono O’odham people use the leaves of one species of **Yucca** for basketry fiber. Yucca fruits and flowers are edible fresh or dried.
The bean-like pods of the **Mesquite Tree** provided a source of food for pre-Columbian desert dwellers.
The **Agave** is best known as the plant from which Tequila is made. It also was cultivated by the Hohokam as a major food crop.
It’s hard to miss the bright gold blossoms and green, chlorophyll-bearing trunks and branches of the **Palo Verde Tree**.
**Fun Facts**
**GIANT SAGUARO**
- The saguaro blossom is the state flower of Arizona.
- A 10-year-old saguaro may measure only about the size of your thumb.
- Saguaro arms typically appear when the plant is between 50 and 100 years of age.
- A mature saguaro can store one ton of water.
- In the right conditions, saguaros can live to be 150 to 200 years old.
- They’re considered the “indicator plant” of the Sonoran Desert because they grow only here.
- It is the largest cactus in the United States and can grow to 50 feet in height.
The Barrel Cactus tends to grow leaning toward the south, which is why it is also called the “compass” cactus.
The Jojoba shrub is highly valued for its brown, acorn-like seeds that contain a high-quality liquid wax.
A member of the Agave family, the Century Plant grows a flowering stalk that can reach up to 15 feet in height.
Devil’s Claw has long trailing stems and scalloped leaves. It is a signature material in baskets created by the Tohono O’odham and Pima people.
The barbed thorns of the fuzzy-looking Cholla have earned them the nickname “Velcro of the desert.”
Ironwoods are spiny trees that sprout small leaves when the soil is moist. They bloom in May/June with violet, wisteria-like flowers.
The whip-like branches of the Ocotillo sport fiery red blossoms in the spring.
The stem of the Brittlebush exudes a gum that can be chewed or used as incense. This shrub blooms from late winter to early spring.
**Fun Facts**
**CREOSOTE**
- Creosote is thought to be the oldest living plant in the world.
- A ring of creosotes looks like separate plants, but all are descendant from a common seed.
- Native people used creosote secretions to waterproof baskets and mend pottery.
- The creosote’s flowers and foliage feed more than 60 species of insects.
- It gives off a fresh, unmistakable fragrance following a rain.
- These common evergreen shrubs can live to be over 100 years old.
Pause for a moment and you’re likely to hear it – the scurrying of quail, the chatter of a cactus wren or, at sunrise or sunset, the howl of a coyote. The Sonoran Desert is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including these common critters.
Coyotes are best known for their mournful howl, the signature sound of the Southwest.
Feisty Cactus Wrens are strikingly spotted and typically nest in saguaros, chollas and palo verde trees.
Staying true to its name, the Roadrunner can reach ground speeds of up to 15 miles per hour.
Harris Hawks can be identified by their dark brown bodies and long black-and-white tail feathers.
Gambel’s Quail are gregarious birds that spend most of their time scurrying along the ground in search of food.
Arizona Blond Tarantulas are hairy-looking spiders that measure between three and four inches in length.
Resembling small wild boars, Javelina can weigh up to 55 pounds and live in groups of 2 to 20 animals.
Measuring nearly two feet tall, Great Horned Owls have white throats, striped undersides and prominent ear tufts.
Desert Tortoises are gentle creatures that can live for up to 40 years and measure up to 14 inches in length.
Scorpions fluoresce under ultraviolet light, so a black light is a must for nocturnal hunting (don’t touch these venomous insects).
Jackrabbits are known for their huge ears, long hind legs and large feet.
Venomous Rattlesnakes often hide under shrubs, rocks and other desert debris. They’re known for the warning buzz of their tail rattle.
Desert Cottontails, the most abundant desert “bunnies,” rarely drink, getting most of their water from the food they eat.
Most of the holes you’ll see in desert saguaros were drilled by Gila Woodpeckers for their nests.
Venomous Gila Monsters can grow up to 18 inches in length and are pink and black, usually in a reticulated pattern.
Sonoran Desert Hummingbirds range in length from two and a half to five inches. Their wings beat up to 80 times per second.
Butterflies, like monarchs and painted ladies, are often spotted in the Sonoran Desert during their late summer and early fall migrations.
The Western Banded Gecko’s tail, which is almost as long as its body, stores food and water for the lizard to use during lean times.
**WILDLIFE WATCHING TIPS**
- Dress in neutral-colored clothing that blends with the desert landscape.
- Avoid wearing perfume or other scented products.
- Head out early in the morning when most desert animals are active.
- Look near blooming or fruiting plants, as well as around moist, lush areas like desert washes, streambeds, rivers and ponds.
- If you encounter snakes or large mammals like coyotes and javelina, observe from a safe distance.
- Never get between mothers and babies of any species.
- Don’t step or put your hands in places that you can’t see, like burrows, under rocks, or behind bushes – you never know who might be living in there.
- Remember your binoculars and camera!
| THE FIVE SEASONS OF THE SONORAN DESERT |
|----------------------------------------|
| **DATES, AVERAGE TEMPERATURES & SEASONAL RAINFALL:** | **WHAT TO EXPECT:** |
| **WINTER** | Dec. 1 – Feb. 15
Average High: 70 F / 21 C
Average Low: 40 F / 4 C
Seasonal Rainfall: 2" | Mild to cool sunny days and clear, brisk nights; possible light rain
Creosote sprouting new leaves after a winter rain; desert wildflowers beginning to show their colors |
| **SPRING** | Feb. 16 – April 30
Average High: 79 F / 26 C
Average Low: 47 F / 8 C
Seasonal Rainfall: 1.5" | Warm, sunny days and cool nights
The desert landscape blooming with wildflowers and annuals |
| **DRY SUMMER** | May 1 – June 30
Average High: 99 F / 37 C
Average Low: 64 F / 18 C
Seasonal Rainfall: <0.25" | Clear, dry, warm days and balmy evenings; little to no rain
Prickly pears blooming in early May followed by saguaros from mid-May to mid-June |
| **WET SUMMER** | July 1 – Sept. 15
Average High: 103 F / 39 C
Average Low: 73 F / 23 C
Seasonal Rainfall: 2.25" | Warm to hot days with moderate humidity; afternoon thunderstorms
Butterflies emerging after the rains; hummingbird activity increasing before the birds head south for the winter |
| **FALL** | Sept. 16 – Nov. 30
Average High: 87 F / 31 C
Average Low: 56 F / 13 C
Seasonal Rainfall: 1.74" | Warm days followed by refreshing, cool nights
Wintering hawks beginning to arrive; desert mammals active in the daytime and sleeping during cooler nights |
things to bring
Must-haves for exploring the Sonoran Desert.
1 SUNSCREEN: Sunscreen is a necessity no matter what time of year you visit!
2 WHISTLE: If you need assistance, the sound of a whistle carries farther than your voice.
3 WATER: Carry more than you think you’ll need for everyone in your party, including pets. Bring at least one quart per person for short hikes and at least one gallon per person for longer hikes.
4 TRAIL MAP: Maps of Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve can be found in the back of this guide or downloaded at scottsdaleaz.gov/preserve.
5 CELL PHONE: A fully charged cell phone is the best item to have in the event of an emergency.
6 SNACKS: Refuel with snacks like nuts, dried fruit, jerky or energy bars.
7 COMB: A fine-tooth comb comes in handy for flicking away cholla cactus buds that can attach to shoes, skin or clothes if you brush against them.
While Scottsdale’s fresh air, sunshine and picturesque terrain are inviting, preparation is imperative to help ensure that your outdoor experience is both fun and safe.
**HYDRATE**
Be sure you’re well hydrated before hitting the trail and bring along more water than you think you’ll need for everyone in your hiking party, including pets. In general, bring at least one quart per person for short hikes (less than two hours) and a minimum of one gallon per person for longer hikes. When half your water is gone, it’s time to turn back toward the trailhead.
**CHECK THE WEATHER AND START EARLY**
Daytime temperatures in the desert rise quickly, particularly during the summer. Know the forecast for the time you’ll be hiking and avoid hiking in temperatures above 90° degrees Fahrenheit (32° C). If you get caught in one of our rare desert rainstorms, do not take shelter in washes or low-lying areas as they will flood quickly.
**TELL A FRIEND**
Always let someone know where you’re going and when you plan to return.
**DRESS APPROPRIATELY**
Closed-toe hiking or athletic shoes are a must for desert exploration. Long-sleeved shirts and long pants offer protection from the sun and heat, as well as prickly desert plants. Other musts include a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and plenty of sunscreen.
**KNOW YOUR LIMITS**
Choose an adventure that matches your abilities and experience. All trails in this guide are ranked by difficulty. Inexperienced hikers will do best on trails rated “Easy.” Trails rated “Difficult” or “Extremely Difficult,” such as Camelback Mountain’s summit trails, should only be tackled by experienced hikers who are in very good health.
**PACE YOURSELF**
If you become fatigued while hiking or riding, stop, rest, drink plenty of water and turn back toward the trailhead as soon as you feel able. Don’t hesitate to ask a fellow hiker for assistance – most are friendly and more than willing to help.
**STAY ON THE TRAIL**
Always bring a trail map to keep you on course and stay on the designated trail. Doing so not only helps you avoid natural hazards such as prickly cacti, snakes and unstable terrain, it also helps protect the desert’s delicate ecosystem. If an emergency arises, staying on the trail will allow first responders to find you as soon as possible.
FOLLOW TRAIL ETIQUETTE
Be considerate of other trail users – you’re all here for the same reason. All trail users yield to horses and always follow the rider’s instructions. Bicyclists yield to all other users. Downhill traffic yields to uphill traffic.
PROTECT YOUR DOG
You wouldn’t hike the desert barefoot – don’t make your dog do it! Foot protection for your dog will help avoid painful injuries from sharp rocks and cactus spines. Carry plenty of water for your dog, keep your pet on a leash at all times, and remember that dogs have physical limits, too. If your dog is not used to hiking or the weather is forecast to be above 90F (32C) at any time during your hike, leave your pet at home or at your hotel. The desert heat can kill your dog with little or no notice, and you can be charged with animal cruelty under state law. Always clean up after your dog!
LEAVE IT AS YOU FOUND IT
Do not destroy, deface or remove desert plants, rocks, artifacts, etc.
THINKING
Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. ~ John Muir
Ready to get your adventure on? Great! This section of the guide will help you find your perfect hiking trail, whether you’re looking for a casual stroll or a serious workout. Let’s start with a look at the trail rating symbols you’ll see on the following pages.
### TRAIL RATING GUIDE
| RATING SYMBOL | DEFINITION | SURFACE | AVERAGE TRAIL GRADE / MAX GRADE | OBSTACLES / STEPS |
|---------------|-------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| O | ADA accessible trail | Paved or hard and smooth | <5% Max 5% | None |
| | | | | |
| ● | Mostly smooth and wide | Dirt with occasional unevenness| <5% Max 10% | 2" or less, rocks and ruts |
| | | | | |
| □ | Mostly smooth, variable width | Dirt with occasional unevenness| <10% Max 15% | <8", rocks and ruts, loose material |
| | | | | |
| ◆ | Mostly uneven surfaces | Dirt and rock | <15% Max 20% | <12", rocks and ruts, loose material |
| | | | | |
| ◇ | Long rocky segments with possible drops and exposure | Dirt and loose rock with continual unevenness | >15% Max >20% | 12" or taller, loose rocks, exposure to drops |
| | | | | |
| ◇◇ | Long rocky segments with possible drops and exposure | Dirt and loose rock with continual unevenness | >15% Max >20% | 12" or taller, loose rocks, exposure to drops and excessive heat >90°F |
**NOTE:** All trails are rated one difficulty level higher when temperatures exceed 90°F (32°C). DO NOT bring your dog if it is not used to hiking or the temperature is forecast to exceed 90F (32C) at any time during your hike.
DISCOVER SCOTTSDALE’S McDOWELL SONORAN PRESERVE
CRaving the feel of a new trail under your boots? Head for Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve! At 30,580 acres (and growing), it’s the largest urban preserve in the nation and offers more than 230 miles of shared-use trails for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. And you don’t have to be an experienced outdoorsman to enjoy the natural beauty and tranquility of this desert gem. There are trails for everyone, from ADA-accessible interpretive paths to challenging summit climbs.
To help you get started, we’ve collected some of our favorite Preserve hikes on pages 22-31. Each hike includes a difficulty rating, turn-by-turn directions and a brief description of the natural wonders you’ll see along the way. You’ll also find removable Preserve maps in the back of this guide – be sure to take them along on your hike.
Access to Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve is free and all 11 Preserve trailheads are open daily from sunrise to sunset. Leashed dogs are welcome at the Preserve and several trailheads, including Gateway, Lost Dog, Pima Dynamite and Brown’s Ranch, offer doggie comfort stations.
For more information on the Preserve, contact:
McDowell Sonoran Conservancy
480.998.7971
mcdowellsonoran.org
City of Scottsdale
480.312.7013
scottsdaleaz.gov/preserve
AS YOU EXPLORE SCOTTSDALE’S McDOWELL SONORAN PRESERVE, you’re likely to come across someone wearing a distinctive blue shirt bearing the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy logo. Stop and say hello, because you’re in the presence of a true Sonoran Desert superhero! These friendly volunteer stewards possess a wealth of knowledge about the Preserve and are happy to answer questions about trails, as well as the natural and human history of the Sonoran Desert.
In addition to knowledgeable stewards, the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy provides a variety of complimentary ways for you to get involved with nature and the Preserve, including guided hikes, educational and birdwatching walks, trailside naturalists and guided mountain bike rides. Find the full calendar of seasonal Preserve events at mcdowellsonoran.org.
In addition to helping locals and visitors explore the Preserve, the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy conducts scientific research in order to better understand and protect our unique Sonoran Desert and its many inhabitants. Research priorities include understanding the effects of urban stressors and climate change on natural resources, and discerning best practices for ecological restoration and control of non-native species. The Conservancy’s work also actively supports STEAM education. Keep your eyes peeled and you might see some of their citizen scientists out in the Preserve!
The McDowell Sonoran Conservancy’s 650 tireless volunteer stewards, staff and partners share one vision of a culture that ensures, preserves, and values natural open spaces for all to enjoy. To learn more about this important nonprofit organization and support their work, visit mcdowellsonoran.org.
The McDowell Sonoran Conservancy invites visitors of all ages to discover the secrets of the Sonoran Desert and build lasting memories!
GATEWAY TRAILHEAD
The largest of the Preserve’s trailheads, the Gateway is fully barrier-free and has all the amenities an outdoor recreation enthusiast could want. Its central-Scottsdale location, ample parking and easy access make it one of the Preserve’s most popular trailheads.
ADDRESS: 18333 N. Thompson Peak Parkway, Scottsdale 85255
HOURS: Sunrise to sunset daily
AMENITIES: Restrooms, water, shade ramadas, passenger vehicle and horse trailer parking, hitching rails, water trough, interpretive signage
RECOMMENDED HIKES
BAJADA NATURE TRAIL LOOP
This ADA accessible trail is ideal for families with young children or strollers, the elderly, people using wheelchairs or walkers, and others with mobility challenges. As the trail winds across the bajada, interpretive exhibits reveal fascinating stories of the plants and animals that call the McDowell Sonoran Preserve home. It’s the perfect introduction to the Sonoran Desert!
Route: Head east on the Saguaro Trail for 0.1mi (0.16km) and follow the signs to the Bajada Nature Trail on your right.
LENGTH: Two loop options – 0.45mi or 0.7mi / 0.72km or 1.13km
ELEVATION CHANGE: 43ft / 13.1m
DIFFICULTY: Easiest / ADA Accessible
USE: Hiking, walking, wheelchairs, strollers
GATEWAY LOOP
One of the most popular trails in the Preserve, the Gateway Loop gives you the feeling of being immersed in the serenity of the Sonoran Desert while providing a great fitness opportunity. The trail passes over the Gateway Saddle, from which you’ll enjoy expansive scenic views of the surrounding landscape. Bump up your pace if you’d like to get a good workout while enjoying the views.
Route: From the Gateway Trailhead, head east on the Saguaro Trail to the junction with the Gateway Loop Trail. From this point, you can go left or right, as it is a loop trail and will return you to this location.
LENGTH: 4.5mi / 7.2km (loop)
ELEVATION CHANGE: 655ft / 199.6m
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
USE: Hiking, biking, horseback riding
WINDGATE AND BELL PASS LOOP
If you’re an experienced and well-prepared hiker looking for a challenging trek, this is the hike for you. Stunning desert terrain, spectacular mountain and valley views, and a great workout are your rewards for tackling this calorie-crunching hike known for its steep inclines and rugged stretches.
Route: From the trailhead, go east on the Saguaro Trail, then left on the Gateway Loop Trail to the Windgate Pass Trail. Follow the Windgate Pass Trail as it climbs to Inspiration Viewpoint, then on to Windgate Pass. Continue east and you’ll begin your descent along the eastern slope of the McDowell Mountains. At the Bell Pass Trail junction, turn right and begin your ascent to Bell Pass. Continue west and turn left at the Gateway Loop Trail then left again on the Saguaro Trail to return to the trailhead.
LENGTH: Approx. 9.6mi / 15.5km (loop)
ELEVATION CHANGE: 1,400ft / 426.7m
DIFFICULTY: Difficult
USE: Hiking*, biking*, horseback riding* (*experienced and well-prepared only)
LOST DOG WASH TRAILHEAD
This trailhead provides easy access to the Preserve’s southern regions. It offers somewhat shorter and easier trails that meander around and across a natural desert wash. The wash’s lush vegetation makes it an excellent spot for catching glimpses of desert wildlife, including Gambel’s quail, cactus wrens and lizards. You may even be lucky enough to spot an elusive bobcat or mule deer!
ADDRESS: 12601 N. 124th St., Scottsdale 85259
HOURS: Sunrise to sunset daily
AMENITIES: Restrooms, water, shade, passenger vehicle and horse trailer parking, hitching rails, water trough, interpretive signage
RECOMMENDED HIKES
KOVACH FAMILY NATURE TRAIL
This trail provides a fun and exciting educational experience that emphasizes family and family relationships in nature. Signs along the trail explore such topics as “Ancient Families in the Wash,” “Water is Powerful!” and “Can Cactus Jump?” This trail is ADA accessible, making it ideal for families with young children or strollers, the elderly, people using wheelchairs or walkers, and others with mobility challenges.
Route: This trail is located just beyond the trailhead building on the Preserve side of the Lost Dog Trailhead.
LENGTH: 0.5mi / 0.8km (loop)
ELEVATION CHANGE: Minimal
DIFFICULTY: Easiest / ADA Accessible
USE: Hiking, walking, wheelchairs, strollers
LOST DOG WASH TRAIL TO TALIESIN OVERLOOK
On this hike, you’ll parallel the Lost Dog Wash as it spills out of the McDowell Mountains. Your goal is the Taliesin Overlook, where you’ll enjoy scenic views of north Scottsdale and Phoenix to the west. You’ll also catch a distant glimpse of Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert masterpiece, Taliesin West, from the overlook.
Route: From the trailhead, take the Lost Dog Wash Trail approximately 2.4mi (3.9km) to Taliesin Overlook. Return the way you came on Lost Dog Wash Trail to the trailhead.
LENGTH: 4.8mi / 7.7km (round trip)
ELEVATION CHANGE: 300ft / 91.4m
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
USE: Hiking, biking, horseback riding
SUNRISE TRAIL TO SUNRISE PEAK
From its juncture with the Lost Dog Wash Trail, the Sunrise Trail climbs steadily along mountain ridges studded with lush Sonoran Desert vegetation. The views from Sunrise Peak are magnificent, giving you a bird’s-eye view of the desert below.
Route: From the Lost Dog Wash Trailhead, travel north on the Lost Dog Wash Trail approximately 0.25mi (0.4km) to the junction with the Sunrise Trail. Turn right and head east toward Sunrise Peak. From Sunrise Peak, you can return the way you came, or take an excursion out and back from the Sunrise Trail on the Andrews Kinsey Trail for great eastern views, including the famous Fountain Hills fountain. Note: the full out-and-back side trip will add approximately 4mi / 6.4km to the distance given below.
LENGTH: 5.8mi / 9.3km (round trip)
ELEVATION CHANGE: 1,300ft / 396.2m
DIFFICULTY: Difficult
USE: Hiking, biking*, horseback riding* (*experienced riders only)
TOM’S THUMB TRAILHEAD
The Tom’s Thumb Trailhead is popular with hikers and rock climbers alike, offering access to many of the Preserve’s most notable natural features, including Tom’s Thumb, Gardener’s Wall, Sven Slab, Windgate Overlook and Mesquite Canyon.
ADDRESS: 23015 N. 128th St., Scottsdale 85255
HOURS: Sunrise to sunset daily
AMENITIES: Restrooms, shade, passenger vehicle and horse trailer parking, interpretive signage; NO WATER
RECOMMENDED HIKES
TOM’S THUMB, FELDSPAR, MESQUITE CANYON LOOP
Feldspar is one of the three minerals that make up the granite boulders prominent in this area of the Preserve, which winds along the northern slope of the McDowell Mountains. This easy hike also provides dramatic views of Mesquite Canyon.
Route: From the trailhead, head south on the Tom’s Thumb Trail, then left on the Feldspar Trail, then left again on the Mesquite Canyon Trail, back to the Tom’s Thumb Trail. Take a quick right, and you will return to the trailhead. Note: You can extend this hike to 1.4mi (2.3km) plus 80ft (24.3m) elevation change if you stay on the Feldspar Trail until it connects with the Marcus Landslide Trail. Take a left on the Marcus Landslide Trail to return to the trailhead.
LENGTH: 1.1mi / 1.8km (loop)
ELEVATION CHANGE: 150ft / 45.7m
DIFFICULTY: ● Easy
USE: Hiking, biking, climbing, horseback riding
MARCUS LANDSLIDE INTERPRETIVE TRAIL
This beautiful trail has interpretive signs explaining the origin of the Marcus landslide, one of the largest ever discovered in Arizona. Highlights include tremendous views of the little-seen eastern side of the McDowell Mountains and an interesting area of huge boulders. Add an additional 0.8mi (1.3km) of distance and 200ft (61m) of elevation change if you take the loop trail on top of the landslide.
Route: Follow the signs to this trail from the south end of the parking area. Go east on the Marcus Landslide Trail and stay straight on the trail past various junctions on the right and left. Return the way you came.
LENGTH: 3.0mi / 4.8km (round trip)
ELEVATION CHANGE: 280ft / 85m
DIFFICULTY: ◇ Moderately Difficult
USE: Hiking, biking*, climbing, horseback riding* (*final loop on the Landslide is foot traffic only)
TOM’S THUMB TRAIL TO THE BASE OF TOM’S THUMB
This steep trail climbs through fantastic boulder formations into an area high in the McDowell Mountains that showcases many unique plants and provides some of the finest views in the Preserve. Please note that seasonal access restrictions may be in place at the base of the thumb (approximately March through June) due to nesting birds of prey.
Route: From the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead, head south on the Tom’s Thumb Trail. After following the TT Trail for approximately 2.0mi (3.2km), you will reach the TT7 emergency marker where you will turn right and follow the 0.3mi (0.5km) spur trail to the base of Tom’s Thumb.
LENGTH: 4.6 mi / 7.4km (round trip)
ELEVATION CHANGE: 1,100ft / 335.3m
DIFFICULTY: ◇ Difficult
USE: Hiking, biking*, climbing, horseback riding* (*experienced riders only)
GRANITE MOUNTAIN TRAILHEAD
This relatively new trailhead provides access to pristine areas in the Preserve’s northern region around Granite Mountain. These are some of the highest elevations in the Sonoran Desert, which means the area enjoys slightly cooler temperatures and a bit more rainfall than other regions of the Preserve. As a result, vegetation is even more verdant here, including an abundance of stately saguaro cacti.
ADDRESS: 31402 N. 136th St., Scottsdale 85262
HOURS: Sunrise to sunset daily
AMENITIES: Restrooms, passenger vehicle and horse trailer parking; NO WATER
RECOMMENDED HIKES
BOOTLEGGER, GRANITE MOUNTAIN, SADDLEHORN TRAIL LOOP
This hike passes through magnificent granite boulders along the eastern slope of Granite Mountain. Be on the lookout for mule deer and Gila monsters that are commonly seen in the area. The views to the east across the Verde River Valley to the Matazal Mountains are stunning, especially on cold winter mornings if the distant Matazal’s are dusted with snow.
Route: Start off on the Bootlegger Trail, named for the felonious activities that occurred in the area long ago. Travel approximately 1.3 miles to the intersection with the Granite Mountain Loop Trail. Turn left and follow the Granite Mountain Loop Trail to the Saddlehorn Trail. Turn left again to return to the Bootlegger Trail, where a right hand turn will return you to the trailhead.
LENGTH: 2.9mi / 4.7km (loop)
ELEVATION CHANGE: 175ft / 53.3m
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
USE: Hiking, biking, horseback riding
GRANITE MOUNTAIN LOOP TRAIL
This trail loops the boulder-studded slopes of Granite Mountain, affording fabulous views of the surrounding desert and distant Matazal Mountains. Consider adding a side trip to Balanced Rock, a molar-shaped giant perched precariously on a slab of igneous stone (adds approximately 0.75mi / 1.2km to the length given below).
Route: From the trailhead, travel 1.3 miles on the Bootlegger Trail to the Granite Mountain Loop Trail. Turn right and follow the trail, as you circumnavigate Granite Mountain. You can follow the loop all the way around the mountain and return to the Bootlegger Trail, or you can use the Saddlehorn Trail as a short cut back to the Bootlegger Trail where you’ll turn right to return to the trailhead (trims approximately 1.1mi / 1.8km off the length given below).
LENGTH: 6.9mi / 11.1km (loop)
ELEVATION CHANGE: 330ft / 100.5m
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
USE: Hiking, biking, horseback riding
GRANITE MOUNTAIN LOOP W/ EXTENSION THROUGH COYOTE CANYON
The Coyote Canyon Trail passes through a unique narrow canyon rimmed by steep granite walls. The canyon was given its name by locals who frequently saw coyotes in the area.
Route: Follow the route description for the Granite Mountain Loop above (Bootlegger to Granite Mountain), then turn right on the Cow Poke Trail, then left on the Dove Valley Trail, then left on the Coyote Canyon Trail, then right on the Granite Mountain Loop. Trail length below was calculated using the Saddlehorn Trail shortcut described in the prior Granite Mountain Loop route.
LENGTH: 7.9mi / 12.7km
ELEVATION CHANGE: 330ft / 100.5m
DIFFICULTY: Difficult
USE: Hiking, biking, horseback riding
Hikers visiting the Brown’s Ranch Trailhead will find interpretive exhibits about the human history of the Preserve. This trailhead serves as the major access point to the vast network of trails in the area and provides access to such unique destinations as Granite Mountain, Cholla Mountain, Brown’s Mountain and Cathedral Rock.
**ADDRESS:** 30301 N. Alma School Pkwy., Scottsdale 85262
**HOURS:** Sunrise to sunset daily
**AMENITIES:** Restrooms, water, shade ramadas, passenger vehicle and horse trailer parking, hitching rails, water trough, interpretive signage
RECOMMENDED HIKES
JANE RAU INTERPRETIVE TRAIL
This trail is named after Jane Rau, one of the original advocates for the creation of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, and a founding member of the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy. Interpretive signs along the trail provide information about the flora and fauna of the area and the human history of the Preserve.
Route: The Jane Rau Trail loop begins on the eastern side of the trailhead complex.
LENGTH: 0.5mi / 0.8km (loop)
ELEVATION CHANGE: 37ft / 11.2m
DIFFICULTY: Easiest / ADA Accessible
USE: Hiking, walking, wheelchairs, strollers
BROWN’S MOUNTAIN LOOP
From the summit of Brown’s Mountain, you’ll enjoy a 360-degree view of the beautiful upper Sonoran Desert. To the north you’ll see remnants of Brown’s Ranch, which was a working cattle ranch from the early 1900s through the 1970s.
Route: From the trailhead, head north on Brown’s Ranch Road approximately 0.7mi (1.1km) and turn left on the Brown’s Mountain Trail. From the summit, continue west on the Brown’s Mountain Trail to the Upper Ranch Trail and turn left. From that juncture, it is approximately 2.0mi (3.21km) back to the trailhead. For a shorter hike, simply return from the summit the way you came and deduct 1.3mi (2.1km) from the length given below.
LENGTH: 3.9mi / 6.3km
ELEVATION CHANGE: 500ft / 152.4m
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
USE: Hiking, biking, horseback riding
CHOLLA MOUNTAIN LOOP
There’s plenty to see on this moderately challenging hike, from the site of the historic Brown’s Ranch to the Amphitheater and Cathedral Rock formations. At Cathedral Rock, look for the indentations in the bedrock, known as metates, where Native Americans ground mesquite pods into flour.
Route: From the trailhead, proceed north on the Brown’s Ranch Road Trail approximately 1.3mi (2.1km) to the junction of the Corral Trail. Turn right and head east on the Corral Trail. After roughly 0.75mi (1.2km), turn right on the Dry Gulch Trail and follow that to the Cholla Mountain Loop Trail. You can go left or right on this 3.1mi (5.0km) loop and return to the junction of the Dry Gulch Trail. From that point, retrace your path back to the trailhead.
LENGTH: 8.7mi / 14.0km
ELEVATION CHANGE: 300ft / 91.4m
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
USE: Hiking, biking, horseback riding
When the McDowell Sonoran Preserve was established in 1995, the intent was to protect a beautiful swath of desert and enhance the quality of life for Scottsdale residents and visitors alike. Mission accomplished. Within the 30,580 acres sheltered by the preserve, you’ll find incredible scenery, a network of trails and more than a few surprises.
BY ROGER NAYLOR
PHOTOS BY AN PHAM
Number One
BALANCED ROCK
Balanced Rock, located near Granite Mountain, always comforts me. It has absolutely no business being upright, yet there it stands, a multi-ton, mushroom-shaped boulder, precariously perched on a foundation of bare stone. Completely exposed and alone in the desert, it serves as a reminder that seemingly impossible things exist. See *Granite Mountain Loop Trail* on pg. 29
Number Two
DOUBLE CRESTED SAGUARO (left)
The saguaro is the unquestioned king of the Sonoran Desert, towering over the landscape. Yet despite their royal status, few wear a crown. Those that do are called crested saguaros.
When the growing tip of a saguaro produces a fan-like shape instead of columnar arms, it’s referred to as crested or cristate. The specimen at the junction of the Coyote Canyon and Desperado trails is one of the most rare. The main trunk forks, with both ends fanning out into a regal double crest. It’s beautiful and eerily reminiscent of Princess Leia’s twin-bun hairdo. See *Granite Mountain with Coyote Canyon extension* on pg. 29
Number Three
CATHEDRAL ROCK METATES
On the loop surrounding Cholla Mountain, I stop to enjoy Cathedral Rock where mighty boulders are stacked together and pocked with shady grottoes. In the largest room, metates, the shallow indentations in the bedrock where Native Americans would grind food such as mesquite pods, are still visible. See *Cholla Mountain Loop* on pg. 31
Number Four
TALIESIN OVERLOOK
Lost Dog Wash Trail slips immediately into the embrace of mountains, leaving all trace of the city behind. Ramble through desert flora, crossing washes and making a gentle climb. Just as you forget there’s even a city nearby, you crest a ridge with a signed overlook. From this short path you savor views of the sprawling urban valley and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, the famed architect’s winter home and architectural school. See Lost Dog Wash to Taliesin Overlook on pg. 25
Number Five
FACES OF COYOTE CANYON (right)
Boulders give shape to narrow Coyote Canyon and also provide it with personality. This is a canyon full of whimsy. It’s only a sliver of a defile but erosional forces have added flavor, carving a variety of shapes and faces into the rough skin of the granite. I notice eyes peering at me, and world-weary grins. This, I decide, is where the Easter Island heads go to retire. See Granite Mountain with Coyote Canyon extension on pg. 29
ExperienceScottsdale.com
| CITY | TRAILHEAD / PARK NAME | TRAIL & ACCESS | APPROXIMATE LENGTH (MI / KM) (one way unless otherwise noted) | ELEVATION CHANGE (FT / M) | DIFFICULTY RATING | USE |
|--------------|------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------|-------------------|----------------------|
| SCOTTSDALE | Florence Ely Nelson Desert Park | Nature Trail 8950 E. Pinnacle Peak Rd.| < 1.0 / < 1.6 | Minimal | Easiest | Walking |
| | George “Doc” Cavalliere Park | Hiking Trail 27775 N. Alma School Pkwy.| 1.0 / 1.6 Loop | Minimal | Easy | Hiking |
| | Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt | Varies Along Hayden Rd. from Shea Blvd. south to Tempe | Varies | Minimal | Easy | Walking, Biking, Rollerblading |
| | Nature Area | Nature Area Trail 6901 N. Hayden Rd. | <1.0 / <1.6 | Minimal | Easiest | Walking |
| | Pinnacle Peak Park | Pinnacle Peak Trail 26802 N. 102nd Way| 1.75 / 5.6 | 1,300 / 396.2 | Moderate | Hiking, Climbing |
| | Scottsdale Ranch Park | Desert Garden Park 10400 E. Via Linda | <1.0 / <1.6 | 0 / 0 | Easiest | Walking |
| FACILITIES AT ACCESS TRAILHEAD (restrooms may be porta-potties or plumbed) | LEASHED DOGS ALLOWED | ENTRANCE FEE | PARK HOURS | TRAIL NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restrooms, picnic areas, ramadas, playground, spray pad | Y | N | Sunrise to 10:30 p.m. daily | Easy trail exhibiting desert plants and cacti. |
| Restrooms, water, picnic tables, ramadas, basketball courts | Y | N | Sunrise to 10:30 p.m. daily | This short loop trail provides a nice introduction to the North Scottsdale desert. |
| Restrooms, ramadas, picnic tables, lakes, sports courts, dog park | Y | N | Greenbelt pathways are open 24/7. City parks open sunrise to 10:30 p.m. daily. | Eleven miles of paved paths connect Scottsdale to Tempe. The greenbelt doubles as a flood-control channel during rare times of heavy rain. |
| Restrooms, ramada | Y | N | Sunrise to 10:30 p.m. daily | An easy walking trail located within a nine-acre park adjacent to the Arizona canal. |
| Restrooms, drinking fountain, ramada, picnic tables | N | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | This scenic trail has a very smooth tread with a number of ups and downs and offers panoramic Valley views. Interpretive desert tours, astronomy talks and other programs are held throughout the year. |
| Restrooms, ramadas, sports courts, playground, exercise course | Y | N | Vary seasonally; see website for details | The Garden Park has three zones: a hummingbird nest for the low desert area, a saguaro and bat sanctuary for the high desert area, and a butterfly garden for the riparian community area. |
| CITY | TRAILHEAD / PARK NAME | TRAIL & ACCESS | APPROXIMATE LENGTH (MI / KM) (one way unless otherwise noted) | ELEVATION CHANGE (FT / M) | DIFFICULTY RATING | USE |
|--------------|------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------|-------------------------------|
| SCOTTSDALE | Stonegate Equestrian Park | Nature Trail 9555 N. 120th St. | <1.0 / <1.6 | Minimal | Easiest | Walking, Horseback Riding |
| | Cave Creek Regional Park | Go John 37900 N. Cave Creek Pkwy. Through park entrance to north end of picnic area | 5.8 / 9.3 Loop | 411 / 125 | Moderately Difficult | Hiking, Biking, Horseback Riding |
| | Overton 37900 N. Cave Creek Pkwy. Through park entrance to picnic area | 2.1 / 3.4 | 408 / 124 | Moderate | | Hiking, Biking, Horseback Riding |
| | Quartz 37900 N. Cave Creek Pkwy. Through park entrance to north end of picnic area (Go John Trailhead) | 1.4 / 2.3 | 300 / 91 | Moderate | | Hiking, Biking, Horseback Riding |
| CAVE CREEK | Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area | Spur Cross Trail 44000 N. Spur Cross Rd. | 5.2 / 8.4 | 485 / 148 | Moderate | Hiking, Biking, Horseback Riding |
| FOUNTAIN HILLS| Fountain Hills | Adero Canyon Ridgeline Trail 14800 N. Eagle Ridge Dr. | 3.7 / 5.9 Out and Back | 675 / 205 | Moderate | Hiking |
| FACILITIES AT ACCESS TRAILHEAD (restrooms may be porta-potties or plumbed) | LEASHED DOGS ALLOWED | ENTRANCE FEE | PARK HOURS | TRAIL NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restrooms, ramada, equestrian arenas, playground | Y | N | Sunrise to 10:30 p.m. daily | A scenic nature trail within a 23-acre equestrian park. |
| Restrooms, water, picnic tables, horse staging area | Y | $7 per motorized vehicle + $3 per person | May 1 - Oct. 31: 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily Nov. 1 - April 30: 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily | This popular loop trail offers views of New River, Mesa, Piestewa Peak, Elephant Butte, Camelback Mountain and other local landmarks. |
| Restrooms, water, picnic tables, horse staging area | Y | $7 per motorized vehicle + $3 per person | May 1 - Oct. 31: 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily Nov. 1 - April 30: 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily | You can hike this scenic trail out and back or use it to create longer or shorter routes with the Go John trail. |
| Restrooms, water, picnic tables, horse staging area | Y | $7 per motorized vehicle + $3 per person | May 1 - Oct. 31: 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily Nov. 1 - April 30: 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily | A well-graded trail that slowly descends and follows the contours of the hills on the park’s southern end. |
| Restrooms, picnic tables, horse staging area | Y | $3 per person | May 1 - Oct. 31: 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily Nov. 1 - April 30: 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily | Spur Cross is a lightly trafficked trail on the outskirts of Cave Creek. The Trail winds through lush riparian areas and crosses Cave Creek several times. |
| Restrooms, shaded picnic tables | Y | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | This trail starts from a higher vantage point along a ridgeline, so it offers beautiful panoramic views – including the famous Fountain Hills fountain – with minimal elevation gain. |
| CITY | TRAILHEAD / PARK NAME | TRAIL & ACCESS | APPROXIMATE LENGTH (MI / KM) (one way unless otherwise noted) | ELEVATION CHANGE (FT / M) | DIFFICULTY RATING | USE |
|----------------------|-----------------------|----------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------|-------------------|---------------------|
| Fountain Hills | Botanical Garden Trail| Fountain Hills Blvd. at Kingtree Blvd. | 0.6 / 0.9 | 50 / 15.2 | Easy | Hiking |
| | Dixie Mine | Golden Eagle Rd. north of Palisades Blvd. | 5.9 / 9.5 | 1,115 / 339.9 | Difficult | Hiking |
| | Lake Overlook Trail | Trailhead is across Panorama Dr. from lake’s eastern parking lot | 1.5 / 2.4 Loop | 150 / 45.7 | Moderate | Hiking |
| McDowell Mountain Regional Park | Lousley Hill | 16300 McDowell Mountain Park Dr. | 1.2 / 2.0 Roundtrip | 268 / 81.7 | Moderate | Hiking |
| | North | 16300 McDowell Mountain Park Dr. | 2.9 / 4.7 Loop | <170 / <51.8 | Easy | Hiking, Biking |
| | Pemberton | 16300 McDowell Mountain Park Dr. | 15.4 / 24.9 Loop | 800 / 243.8 | Difficult | Hiking, Biking, Horseback Riding |
| FACILITIES AT ACCESS TRAILHEAD (restrooms may be porto-potties or plumbed) | LEASHED DOGS ALLOWED | ENTRANCE FEE | PARK HOURS | TRAIL NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Y | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | Twenty-nine desert plants are identified along this meandering trail that provides interesting views of rock formations, desert flora, animal life and an abandoned P-Bar Ranch campsite next to the April 25, 1941 constructed dam wall. |
| Restrooms | Y | $2 Self-Pay | Sunrise to sunset daily | This trail meanders over rolling hills in the scenic McDowell Mountain foothills. |
| Nearby Fountain Park includes restrooms, ramadas, water fountains, playground, splash pad, picnic tables | Y | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | Although this urban trail passes close to hillside homes, it offers spectacular views of the town’s famous fountain, desert flora and fauna, and the Four Peaks mountains. The fountain goes off for 15 minutes on the hour from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. |
| Park offers restrooms, nature center, gift shop, horse staging and water fountains. | Y | $7 per motorized vehicle | May 1 - Oct. 31: 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily Nov. 1 - April 30: 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily | This scenic trail offers views of Bartlett Lake, Verde Valley, Superstition Mountains and Four Peaks. |
| Park offers restrooms, nature center, gift shop, horse staging and water fountains. | Y | $7 per motorized vehicle | May 1 - Oct. 31: 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily Nov. 1 - April 30: 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily | A loop trail, the North Trail offers outstanding views of desert vegetation as well as distant views of the Four Peaks, Mazatzal and Superstition mountains. |
| Park offers restrooms, nature center, gift shop, horse staging and water fountains. | Y | $7 per motorized vehicle | May 1 - Oct. 31: 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily Nov. 1 - April 30: 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily | The longest of the park’s trails, the Pemberton passes through very dense desert vegetation. Lots of dips and climbs, gorgeous scenery and a long downhill stretch at the end make it a favorite ride for mountain bikers. |
| CITY | TRAILHEAD / PARK NAME | TRAIL & ACCESS | APPROXIMATE LENGTH (MI / KM) | ELEVATION CHANGE (FT / M) | DIFFICULTY RATING | USE |
|--------------|----------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|------------------------------|---------------------------|-------------------|--------------------------|
| FOUNTAIN HILLS | McDowell Mountain Regional Park | Scenic 16300 McDowell Mountain Park Dr. | 3.5 / 5.6 | Minimal | Moderate | Hiking, Biking, Horseback Riding |
| | Wagner 16300 McDowell Mountain Park Dr. | 1.1 / 1.8 | 117 / 35.7 | | Easy | Hiking, Biking |
| PHOENIX | Camelback Mountain | Echo Canyon Summit 4925 E. McDonald Dr. | 1.2 / 1.9 | >1,400 / >426.7 | Extremely Difficult | Hiking |
| | | Cholla Summit 6131 E. Cholla Ln. | 1.5 / 2.4 | 1,420 / 432.8 | Extremely Difficult | Hiking |
| | | Bobbie’s Rock ▲ 4925 E. McDonald Dr. | 0.2 / 0.3 | 200 / 61.0 | Easy | Hiking |
| | Desert Botanical Garden | Desert Discovery Loop 1201 N. Galvin Pkwy. | 0.3 / 0.5 | Minimal | Easiest | Walking |
▲ Only accessible via other trails. Please refer to the map and account for the access trail mileage when planning your hike.
| FACILITIES AT ACCESS TRAILHEAD (restrooms may be porta-potties or plumbed) | LEASHED DOGS ALLOWED | ENTRANCE FEE | PARK HOURS | TRAIL NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park offers restrooms, nature center, gift shop, horse staging and water fountains. | Y | $7 per motorized vehicle | May 1 - Oct. 31: 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily Nov. 1 - April 30: 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily | The trail ascends a low ridge with good views from the top. The valley portion of the trail follows several washes, which, when lush with vegetation, offer good opportunities to spot birds and other desert wildlife. |
| Park offers restrooms, nature center, gift shop, horse staging and water fountains. | Y | $7 per motorized vehicle | May 1 - Oct. 31: 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily Nov. 1 - April 30: 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily | The low-rolling Wagner Trail offers you a choice between a “short loop” and “long loop,” both of which run through easy desert terrain. |
| Restrooms, picnic table | N | N | Sunrise to sunset | Warning: Experienced hikers in good health ONLY. Do not attempt in temperatures above 90F/32C. Spectacular sandstone formations and Valley views reward hikers along this legendary trail. Trailhead parking is limited. |
| Restrooms, drinking water | N | N | Sunrise to sunset | Warning: Experienced hikers in good health ONLY. Do not attempt in temperatures above 90F/32C. This summit trail features panoramic views of the Valley and The Phoenician resort. Trailhead parking is limited. |
| Restrooms, picnic table | N | N | Sunrise to sunset | This short path off the Echo Canyon Trail winds its way along the head of the Camel. Parking is limited. |
| Access to full Garden amenities including restrooms, snack bar, etc. | N | See website for current admission prices. | Regular Garden Hours (vary seasonally) | This is the Garden’s main trail and highlights the great diversity of form, texture and color found in cacti and succulents from around the world. |
| CITY | TRAILHEAD / PARK NAME | TRAIL & ACCESS | APPROXIMATE LENGTH (MI / KM) (one way unless otherwise noted) | ELEVATION CHANGE (FT / M) | DIFFICULTY RATING | USE |
|------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------|-------------------|---------|
| PHOENIX | Desert Botanical Garden (continued) | Plants & People of the Sonoran Desert Loop 1201 N. Galvin Pkwy. | 0.3 / 0.5 | Minimal | Easiest | Walking |
| | Sonoran Desert Nature Loop | 1201 N. Galvin Pkwy. | 0.25 / 0.4 | Minimal | Easiest | Walking |
| | Center for Desert Living Trail | 1201 N. Galvin Pkwy. | 0.1 / 0.16 | Minimal | Easiest | Walking |
| | Desert Wildflower Loop | 1201 N. Galvin Pkwy. | 0.3 / 0.5 | Minimal | Easiest | Walking |
| | Papago Park | Hole in the Rock | 0.2 / 0.3 | 200 / 61 | Easy | Hiking |
| | Nature Trail | Papago Park Rd. east of Galvin Pkwy. | 0.5 / 0.8 Loop | 20 / 6.1 | Easy | Walking |
| FACILITIES AT ACCESS TRAILHEAD (restrooms may be porta-potties or plumbed) | LEASHED DOGS ALLOWED | ENTRANCE FEE | PARK HOURS | TRAIL NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access to full Garden amenities including restrooms, snack bar, etc. | N | See website for current admission prices. | Regular Garden Hours (vary seasonally) | Learn about plants that have been used for food, fiber, medicine and cultural purposes for 2,000 years. You’ll also explore examples of Tonoho O’odham, Western Apache and Hispanic houses. |
| Access to full Garden amenities including restrooms, snack bar, etc. | N | See website for current admission prices. | Regular Garden Hours (vary seasonally) | This trail focuses on the plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert. Experience majestic organ pipe cactus and find out if the cholla cactus really jumps. |
| Access to full Garden amenities including restrooms, snack bar, etc. | N | See website for current admission prices. | Regular Garden Hours (vary seasonally) | A desert gardener’s delight – this trail showcases ideas and strategies that demonstrate efficient, useful, sustainable and harmonious ways to work with nature in the desert environment. |
| Access to full Garden amenities including restrooms, snack bar, etc. | N | See website for current admission prices. | Regular Garden Hours (vary seasonally) | This trail boasts interpretive exhibits illustrating the complex relationships between desert wildflowers and their pollinators (bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths and bats). |
| Restrooms, ramadas, picnic areas within Papago Park | Y | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | This short trail leads to a large, wind-eroded hole in the rock where visitors can look over the Phoenix metropolitan area. |
| Restrooms, ramadas, picnic areas within Papago Park | Y | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | This trail, which begins at the ranger office, features interpretive signs that describe Sonoran Desert plants and animals. |
| CITY | TRAILHEAD / PARK NAME | TRAIL & ACCESS | APPROXIMATE LENGTH (MI / KM) (one way unless otherwise noted) | ELEVATION CHANGE (FT / M) | DIFFICULTY RATING | USE |
|----------|----------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------|-------------------|--------------------|
| PHOENIX | Papago Park (continued) | Ranger Office Loop<br>Papago Park Rd. east of Galvin Pkwy. | 0.6 / 1.0 Loop | 20 / 6.1 | Easy | Walking |
| | Big Butte Loop ▲ | Papago Park Rd. west of Galvin Pkwy.; access from Double Butte Loop Trail | 0.8 / 1.3 Loop | 50 / 15.2 | Easy | Hiking, Biking |
| | Double Butte Loop | Papago Park Rd. west of Galvin Pkwy. | 2.3 / 3.7 Loop | 50 / 15.2 | Easy | Hiking, Biking |
| | Elliot Ramada Loop | Papago Park Rd. west of Galvin Pkwy. | 2.7 / 4.4 Loop | 50 / 15.2 | Easy | Hiking, Biking |
| | Little Butte Loop ▲ | Papago Park Rd. west of Galvin Pkwy.; access from Double Butte Loop Trail | 0.5 / 0.8 Loop | 50 / 15.2 | Easy | Hiking, Biking |
| | Papago Park 5K Fitness Trail | Papago Park Rd. west of Galvin Pkwy. | 3.1 / 5.0 | 70 / 21.3 | Easy | Hiking, Biking |
▲ Only accessible via other trails. Please refer to the map and account for the access trail mileage when planning your hike.
| FACILITIES AT ACCESS TRAILHEAD (restrooms may be porta-potties or plumbed) | LEASHED DOGS ALLOWED | ENTRANCE FEE | PARK HOURS | TRAIL NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restrooms, ramadas, picnic areas within Papago Park | Y | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | A short, scenic trail that passes two of the park’s lakes. |
| Restrooms, ramadas, picnic areas within Papago Park | Y | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | A spur off the Double Butte Loop that encircles the larger of the area’s two buttes. |
| Restrooms, ramadas, picnic areas within Papago Park | Y | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | The trail circles two of the Papago Buttes’ namesake formations. |
| Restrooms, ramadas, picnic areas within Papago Park | Y | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | A partially paved/part dirt trail that is accessible to people using wheelchairs. The trail offers spectacular views of the downtown Phoenix corridor. |
| Restrooms, ramadas, picnic areas within Papago Park | Y | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | From the Double Butte Loop, this spur trail makes a close circle around the smallest of the buttes in the western portion of the park. |
| Restrooms, ramadas, picnic areas within Papago Park | Y | N | Sunrise to sunset daily | This trail is a multi-use crushed granite trail that features multiple outdoor exercise stations, giving users the opportunity to stretch or work different muscle groups. |
Biking
Life is like riding a bicycle, to stay balanced you must keep moving. ~Albert Einstein
Looking for a cycling experience that’s more urban than off-road? There are plenty of ways to have fun on two wheels throughout the city – here are some of our favorites:
**Explore the Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt:** The Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt is an oasis of parks, lakes, golf courses and paved, shared-use trails that stretches 11 miles through the heart of the city. Riders can access the greenbelt at almost any point, and its 24 grade-separated crossings allow users to easily avoid major cross traffic. This world-renowned flood control project is one of the top urban “green spaces” in the state.
**Take the Self-Guided Mountain Vista Bike Tour:** The Mountain Vista Route is a 2.3-mile loop that begins and ends by the banyan tree at Main Street and Brown Avenue in Old Town. The route includes two stops where mountain views are framed within interpretive art panels that tell the story of the peaks on display.
**Rent an Electric Bike:** Old Town’s Pedego Scottsdale rents top-of-the-line electric bikes that are easy and fun to ride. Do as much (or as little) pedaling as you’d like while you explore the area’s galleries, restaurants and shops. For an urban ride on the edges of the Sonoran Desert, head to Pedego McDowell Mountain. They can recommend routes within the DC Ranch and McDowell Mountain Ranch communities that give you easy access to restaurants and amenities while serving up spectacular Sonoran Desert views. [pedegoscottsdale.com](http://pedegoscottsdale.com)
**Ride with REI Co-op Experiences:** In addition to offering bike rentals for DIY tours, REI’s Scottsdale Adventure Center offers 1/2-day guided road bike tours tailored to each guest. Each tour is led by an experienced professional guide who knows the city’s best cycling routes. [destinations.rei.com](http://destinations.rei.com)
MOUNTAIN BIKING
The undulating mountain foothills of Scottsdale’s Sonoran Desert are ideal for mountain biking. If you’re a beginner, Scottsdale’s adventure outfitters provide all-inclusive, guided experiences that include transportation, how-to and safety briefings, and interpretive information about the desert’s geology, flora and fauna. For those who don’t want to do all the pedaling, there’s even a battery-assisted bike tour option (note: not allowed in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve). If you prefer to hit the tracks on your own, select outfitters will deliver rental bikes, helmets and accessories right to your resort.
TOUR TIME: Guided tours from 4 hours to a full day are available. Visit ExperienceScottsdale.com for a list of local adventure outfitters.
CYCLING TIPS
▶ For a desert riding experience, Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve offers more than 230 miles of gorgeous shared-use trails. Note: Motorized and battery-assisted bikes are not allowed in the Preserve.
▶ McDowell Mountain Regional Park also offers miles of desert biking trails.
▶ Dress in layers based on the forecasted temperature and always wear sunscreen.
▶ Always wear a helmet.
▶ Carry snacks and more water than you think you’ll need.
If asked for a list of small- to mid-sized cities in the American West with incredible mountain biking trails, you might answer Moab, Boulder, or Sedona. It’s time to add Scottsdale to the shortlist. Check out this selection of some of the best mountain bike routes in Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
BY ANNEMARIE KRUSE
Number One
CORRAL LOOP AT BROWN’S RANCH Beginner, 6 miles
From the Brown’s Ranch trailhead, head north along Brown’s Ranch Road, a historic wagon trail built by EO Brown to access the ranch house he built on the property in 1916. Ride this route as a lollipop loop heading clockwise along Corral trail. As you wind along, you’ll notice the vegetation changes to an oasis of lush grasses and leafy trees as you round a small peak of volcanic rock. Enjoy the mellow gradients of climbs and descents along this easy-to-navigate, decomposed granite trail until it brings you back to Brown’s Ranch Road.
Number Two (left)
DESERT PARK TRAIL TO GATEWAY LOOP Advanced, 5+ miles
The Gateway Trailhead at the base of the McDowell Mountains offers the right kind of challenge for every advanced mountain biker. This loop shows off the best of the McDowell’s advanced terrain over an easy distance, mixing rocky climbs with technical descents. Pace yourself as you climb Desert Park trail to reach Windgate Pass trail. Enjoy ascending chunky washes and punchy climbs, then take a breather at the intersection to appreciate the mountain views before heading down the mountain until you reach the Gateway Loop. Head left on the Gateway loop, low gears at the ready, and climb up to the saddle for your final exhilarating descent back to the trailhead through a series of rocky switchbacks.
Number Three (right)
SOUTH AND NORTH DIABLO TRAILS AT BROWN’S RANCH Advanced, 5+ miles
These trails in the northern section of Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve offer a totally different experience for riding Scottsdale’s granite boulders. You can enter at the south end of South Diablo trail to ride the two trails consecutively or use the access point where South Diablo ends and North Diablo begins to make your route shorter. Choose from “difficult” and “more difficult” routes and take the time to session every line – including slickrock-like drops and options to ride up, down, over, and between the giant boulders. There are many options to ride to the start and end of the Diablo trails, so you can make your ride as long as you like.
Number Four
TALIESIN & QUARTZ TRAIL LOOP
Intermediate, 8 miles
Park at the WestWorld Trailhead and warm up with an easy pedal along a paved trail and dirt access road before beginning a steady climb along Taliesin trail. You’ll pass under a bridge and hit the first rocky features of the trail. Keep pedaling for a moderate ascent to an intersection with Quartz trail. Look down and you can pick out Scottsdale’s famous landmarks, including Camelback Mountain, perfectly silhouetted in the distance. From here, advanced riders can opt to make the technical climb to Taliesin Overlook, (+1 mile), or turn left at the main intersection to descend the Quartz trail, winding through a lush desert wash. Small rock gardens and perfectly banked turns offer the best combination of flow and challenge.
Number Five
GRANITE MOUNTAIN FROM 136TH STREET TRAIL Beginner, 6 miles
Offering incredible scenic views to the east of Scottsdale, the route around Granite Mountain is best enjoyed by bike. Begin at the 136th Street trailhead and pedal out Bootlegger trail to kick-off a counterclockwise loop on Granite Mountain trail. It’s easy to appreciate the Dr. Seuss-like geology of Granite Mountain when navigating between oddly shaped, house-sized boulders punctuated by giant saguaros and strange, spindly ocotillo plants. The smooth trail surface allows your attention to be drawn to the panoramic views of the Mazatzal Mountains, the Superstition Wilderness, and Arizona’s iconic Four Peaks on the eastern horizon. Work on your cornering skills as you pedal up around the back of the mountain to be rewarded by a long descent that takes you nearly back to Bootlegger.
New On the Scene
by Scott Hamilton
SCORPION LOOP Technical, 7.5 miles
For mountain bike riders looking for an easily accessible technical ride, try the Scorpion Loop! This route is roughly 7.5 miles long and is accessible from the McDowell Sonoran Preserve’s recently opened Pima Dynamite Trailhead. Along this route you’ll experience the thrilling combination of flowy, cross-country trail riding and technical stretches of exposed granite bedrock for which the northern region of the Preserve is so well known. There are plenty of challenging alternate lines as you pass through the Sidewinder area, as well as along various sections of the Scorpion, Dare A Sarah and Snake Eyes Trails. Be sure to take the marked side route and enjoy the breathtaking views from the Scorpion Point overlook.
GUIDED ADVENTURES
Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. ~Frank Lloyd Wright
Working with an adventure outfitter is a great way to take the guesswork out of exploring a new area or trying a new sport. In addition to providing you with interesting information about the desert’s history, geology and ecosystem, they know of hidden treasures (like secret caves and petroglyph sites) that you might not find on your own.
- Confirm what gear is included in the tour cost and what you are responsible for providing. Most outfitters offer rental equipment at an additional cost.
- Find out if your outfitter provides transportation from your hotel or if you need to meet them at a rendezvous point.
- Ask if the outfitter provides water and snacks, or if you’ll need to bring your own.
- Wear comfortable clothing that is weather-appropriate and allows freedom of movement.
- Tips are customary and are always appreciated on guided tours, so you may want to have some cash on hand.
CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE STYLE
LOW-KEY ADVENTURE
▶ Wander along the themed trails at the Desert Botanical Garden.
▶ Explore Old Town on a segway tour.
▶ Enjoy a calm-water float on the Lower Salt River.
▶ View the desert from above on a guided helicopter tour.
▶ Saddle-up for a two-hour horseback ride.
▶ Glide over the desert in a hot air balloon.
HIGH ADVENTURE
▶ Traverse rugged trails and rocky streambeds behind the wheel of a Tomcar or C2 vehicle.
▶ Conquer class III and IV rapids on the Upper Salt River (seasonal).
▶ Don your night-vision goggles for an after-dark Jeep or Hummer tour.
▶ Try your hand at stand-up paddleboarding on the Lower Salt River.
▶ Go target shooting with NRA-certified instructors.
CRUISE
Climb aboard an open-air Jeep or heavy-duty Hummer for a guided off-road tour of the Sonoran Desert. There are even you-drive options in Tomcars, C2 vehicles and ATV/UTVs. No matter which tour you choose, expert interpretive guides provide insight into the desert’s delicate ecosystem, as well as the area’s colorful history. Options include ecotours, night-vision tours, cultural history excursions and combination adventures that add in activities like river rafting, hot air ballooning, horseback riding, or target shooting.
⏰ TOUR TIME: Guided tours range from 4 hours to full day. Visit ExperienceScottsdale.com for a list of local adventure outfitters.
OFF-ROAD TOUR TIPS
▶ Wear sturdy closed-toe shoes since you may leave the vehicle to explore on foot.
▶ Off-road tours travel on uneven terrain, so be prepared for a bumpy and exciting ride.
▶ Classic Jeeps, some Hummers, and Tomcars/C2 vehicles and ATV/UTVs are open-air, while other Jeeps and Hummers are climate-controlled; inquire when you make your reservations.
▶ Many off-road tour companies provide resort pick-up and drop-off. Those that don’t will meet you at an easily accessible location to begin your adventure.
▶ Carry a small day pack for keys, money, ID and other necessities.
▶ Leave good jewelry, purses and other valuables secured at your hotel.
RIDE
Saddle up and get a taste of the Old West on a horseback riding excursion. You’ll experience the beauty of Sonoran Desert plants and cacti, see curious critters and, on some rides, cross pristine desert streams. Whether you’re a first-time rider or have logged some serious saddle time, Scottsdale’s experienced outfitters will match you with a horse that complements your abilities and will be the perfect companion for your cowboy-style adventure. Some stables also provide cookouts, hay wagon rides and other activities.
TOUR TIME: Guided tours from 2 hours to a full day are available. Visit ExperienceScottsdale.com for a list of local adventure outfitters.
HORSEBACK RIDING TIPS
▶ Wear jeans or long pants and closed-toe shoes to protect you from the sun and brushes with prickly desert plants.
▶ Carry a small day pack for keys, money, ID and other necessities.
▶ Leave good jewelry, purses and other valuables secured at your hotel.
▶ Dress in layers depending on the weather forecast.
▶ Wear a hat and sunglasses with a securing strap.
▶ A bandana will help protect you from dust.
CLIMB
Whether you’re new to the sport or are a certified rock rat, you’ll find your perfect climb in the Sonoran Desert. Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve alone is home to 36 designated climbing areas with a wide range of difficulty ratings on formations like Tom’s Thumb, Sven Slab and Granite Ballroom. Beginners will love the personalized instruction and encouragement from Scottsdale’s experienced climbing guides.
TOUR TIME: Guided climbs range from 4 hours to a full day. Visit ExperienceScottsdale.com for a list of local adventure outfitters.
CLIMBING TIPS
If you’re climbing on your own:
- Research the route you’re planning to take so that you know what to expect.
- Climb with a buddy if at all possible.
- Tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to be back.
- Carry snacks and more water than you think you’ll need.
- Make sure your cell phone is charged and carry it with you at all times.
If you’re climbing with an outfitter:
- Confirm what gear is provided in the tour cost and what you are responsible for providing. Most outfitters offer rental equipment at an additional cost.
- Ask if the outfitter is providing water and snacks or if you are responsible for bringing your own.
FLOAT
The Scottsdale area is home to eight scenic lakes and rivers that are perfect for getting your feet wet on a river rafting, tubing or kayaking adventure. The calm waters of the Lower Salt River are ideal for wildlife watching from a raft, kayak or inner tube, while the Upper Salt’s class III and IV rapids (seasonal) provide plenty of whitewater thrills and chills. On local lakes, choose from waterskiing, fishing, jet skiing, kayaking, wake boarding, canoeing, SUPing and touring by paddle boat.
⏰ TOUR TIME: Guided tours range from 4 hours to full day. Visit ExperienceScottsdale.com for a list of local adventure outfitters.
WATER ADVENTURE TIPS
▶ A swimsuit and/or shorts are ideal for most water adventures.
▶ You may want a t-shirt to wear over your swimsuit to help protect you from the sun.
▶ Bring a change of clothes and a towel for after your trip.
▶ Wear water sandals that secure with straps (not flip flops) as lake and stream bottoms can be rocky.
▶ Waterproof sunscreen and a waterproof camera are musts.
▶ A valid Arizona fishing license is required for anglers 14 years or older fishing any public accessible water in Arizona. Licenses may be purchased through Arizona Game and Fish or at local sporting stores.
SOAR
For the most expansive scenic views of the Sonoran Desert, take to the skies! Hot-air balloon flights offer a serene experience as you float quietly over rolling desert terrain, at times low enough to see desert creatures scurrying about below. Helicopter and fixed-wing tours to popular sites like the Grand Canyon, Sedona and Monument Valley are also great ways to enjoy Arizona from the air.
TOUR TIME: Guided tours from ½ day to full day are available. Visit ExperienceScottsdale.com for a list of local adventure outfitters.
AERIAL ADVENTURE TIPS
▶ Get ready for an early morning – most flights take place at sunrise because that’s when wind and thermal conditions are calmest.
▶ Dress in layers – temperatures at altitude will be cooler than on the ground.
▶ Wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes since balloon take-offs and landings will be in the desert.
▶ A hat is recommended for hot air balloon flights since the radiant heat from the burners can be warm on your head.
▶ Please note that most balloon outfitters preclude pregnant women from flying.
One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure. ~ William Feather
SCOTTSDALE
ARIZONA
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A MODEL FOR PARENT-TEACHER COMMUNICATION
IN THE KINDERGARTEN YEAR
CENTRE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND STUDIES
TOTAL OF 10 PAGES ONLY
MAY BE XEROXED
(Without Author's Permission)
JEANETTE MARIE NEWHOOK
CENTRE FOR NFLD. STUDIES
MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY
OF NEWFOUNDLAND
NOV 8 1986
MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY
MEDICAL
NOV 8 1986
DIVISION
OF NEWFOUNDLAND
NOTICE
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LA THÈSE A ÉTÉ MICROFILMÉE TELLE QUE NOUS L'AVONS RECUE
A MODEL FOR PARENT-TEACHER COMMUNICATION IN THE KINDERGARTEN YEAR
by
Jeanette Marie Newhook, B.A.(Ed.)
A Thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education
Department of Educational Administration
Memorial University of Newfoundland
February 1985
ABSTRACT
This project was undertaken to devise a two-way system of communications for parents and teachers, specifically for use in the kindergarten year. Current practices tend to consist of contact initiated by the school, and less frequently include a partnership approach to education by the home and school. In keeping with modern philosophies, this study assumes the young child will be offered a more beneficial education if parents and teachers develop co-operative attitudes.
The research for this project was carried out in Newfoundland, in schools of the Avalon Consolidated School Board. Initial contacts were made through interviews with principals of elementary schools and parents of the 1982-83 kindergarten children, and through questionnaires mailed to kindergarten teachers. The information so gathered provided an outline of current practices in parent-teacher communications and the degree of satisfaction with these practices. Based on this research, and on a survey of the literature, a model for communications including a progress reporting instrument, was devised and redistributed to principals, teachers and parents for their evaluation.
The two major needs were identified by this project: (1) educators need a standardized guideline for communications
with parents to ensure consistent and efficient communications, and (2) increased parental awareness of school programs is desired by both parents and teachers.
There were two major conclusions to this study. First, parents and teachers indicated willingness to make additional contacts and desired a partnership type of relation for the benefit of the child. Secondly, the model that was developed was judged by principals, teachers and parents to be feasible and adaptable for practical use in schools.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Much gratitude is extended to Dr. H. Kitchen, Dr. L. Parsons, and Dr. E. Janes for their assistance in completing this project. Research for the purposes of devising a model would have been impossible without the co-operation and aid of Mr. N. Kelland, Mr. W. Oakley, and the educational staff of the Avalon Consolidated School Board. This report is dedicated to my parents, Gerald and Marie, and to N. Franklin Dawe, a very special friend, who have provided the encouragement and constant support necessary to complete the project.
# TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Chapter | Title | Page |
|---------|--------------------------------------------|------|
| | ABSTRACT | ii |
| | ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | iv |
| | LIST OF TABLES | x |
| | LIST OF FIGURES | xiii |
| I | INTRODUCTION | 1 |
| | Statement of the Problem | 2 |
| | Rationale | 3 |
| | The Project | 10 |
| | Outline of the Project | 10 |
| | Duration | 12 |
| | Delimitations | 12 |
| | Limitations | 13 |
| | Definitions | 13 |
| | Significance | 14 |
| II | REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE | 16 |
| | Definitions | 17 |
| | Kindergarten | 17 |
| | Communication | 18 |
| | Progress Reporting | 19 |
| Chapter | Page |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Need for Parent-Teacher Communication | 21 |
| Information Sharing | 24 |
| Developing a Co-operative Approach | 25 |
| Providing Meaning to Program Content and Process | 27 |
| The Provincial Situation | 28 |
| Summary | 29 |
| III. METHODOLOGY | 31 |
| Interviews with Principals | 31 |
| Teacher Survey | 32 |
| Parent Interviews | 33 |
| Development of the Model | 35 |
| IV COMMUNICATING WITH PARENTS OF KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN - CURRENT PRACTICES AS VIEWED BY PRINCIPALS AND TEACHERS | 36 |
| Results of Interviews Held with Elementary School Principals | 37 |
| Initial Home-School Contacts | 37 |
| Kindergarten Orientation | 39 |
| Family Preparation for Kindergarten | 42 |
| Continued Contact with the Home | 43 |
| Progress Reporting to Parents | 49 |
| Principals' Assessment of Present Procedures | 53 |
| Summary | 55 |
| Chapter | Page |
|---------------------------------------------|------|
| Results of Teacher Surveys | 56 |
| Initial Parent-Teacher Contacts | 56 |
| Children's Desired Progress | 57 |
| Parental Involvement | 58 |
| Children's Home Experiences | 59 |
| Home Enrichment | 61 |
| Reporting Progress to Parents | 62 |
| Format of Report Cards | 63 |
| Teacher Assessment of Report Cards | 64 |
| Problems Encountered When Reporting to Parents | 65 |
| Priority Topics for Report Cards | 66 |
| Progress Records | 68 |
| Summary | 69 |
| V RESULTS OF INTERVIEWS WITH PARENTS | 70 |
| Parental Awareness of the Kindergarten Program | 70 |
| Parental Attitudes toward Progress Reporting | 74 |
| Progress and Assessment of Children | 79 |
| Summary | 85 |
| VI A MODEL FOR PARENT-TEACHER COMMUNICATION | 87 |
| Kindergarten Registration | 89 |
| Chapter | Page |
|----------------------------------------------|------|
| Registering the Child | 89 |
| Initial Parent-Teacher Meeting | 91 |
| Orientation for Children and Parents | 93 |
| Orientation for Children | 93 |
| Orientation for Parents | 94 |
| Introducing Parents to Progress Reporting Procedures | 98 |
| Report Cards | 100 |
| Parent-Teacher Interviews | 109 |
| Additional Contacts | 110 |
| Kindergarten Newsletter | 110 |
| Parent Volunteers | 110 |
| VII EVALUATION OF THE MODEL | 112 |
| Results of Questionnaires Distributed to Principals and Kindergarten Teachers | 113 |
| Registration Procedures | 113 |
| Orientation Procedures | 117 |
| Progress Reporting Information | 118 |
| Reporting Instrument | 121 |
| Results of Parent Surveys | 123 |
| Summary | 128 |
| Chapter | Page |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| VIII SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS | 129 |
| Summary | 129 |
| Findings | 130 |
| Recommendations | 131 |
| Concluding Statement | 131 |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY | 132 |
| APPENDICES | |
| A INTERVIEW SCHEDULE FOR ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS OF THE AVALON CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL BOARD | 141 |
| B QUESTIONNAIRE FOR KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS OF THE AVALON CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL BOARD | 144 |
| C INTERVIEW SCHEDULE FOR PARENTS OF CHILDREN WHO ATTENDED KINDERGARTEN SEPTEMBER 1982 TO JUNE 1983 | 149 |
| D QUESTIONNAIRE DISTRIBUTED TO PRINCIPALS AND GROUPS OF TEACHERS TO DETERMINE ACCEPTABILITY OF MODEL | 152 |
| E QUESTIONNAIRE DISTRIBUTED TO PARENTS TO DETERMINE ACCEPTABILITY OF MODEL | 158 |
| F SAMPLE OF MODEL AS DISTRIBUTED TO PRINCIPALS, TEACHERS AND PARENTS FOR REVIEW | 162 |
| Table | Title | Page |
|-------|--------------------------------------------|------|
| 1 | Kindergarten Registration Procedures | 38 |
| 2 | Kindergarten Orientation | 40 |
| 3 | Family Preparation for Kindergarten | 42 |
| 4 | Formal Contacts | 44 |
| 5 | Parental Visits to Classrooms | 46 |
| 6 | Teacher's Familiarity with the Home | 47 |
| 7 | Parent-Teacher Associations | 48 |
| 8 | Progress Reporting - November Interviews | 49 |
| 9 | Report Cards for Kindergarten | 51 |
| 10 | Progress Reporting - Special Cases | 52 |
| 11 | Principals' Assessment of Communications | 54 |
| 12 | First Contact with Parents | 57 |
| 13 | Children's Desired Progress | 58 |
| 14 | Parental Involvement | 59 |
| 15 | Child's Home Environment | 60 |
| 16 | School Assistance in Home Enrichment | 61 |
| 17 | Progress Reporting | 63 |
| 18 | Format of Report Cards | 64 |
| 19 | Teacher Assessment of Report Card | 65 |
| 20 | Problems Encountered When Reporting to Parents | 66 |
| 21 | Priority Topics for Report Cards | 67 |
| Table | Title | Page |
|-------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| 22 | Progress Records | 68 |
| 23 | Awareness of Curriculum | 71 |
| 24 | Teachers' Expectations | 72 |
| 25 | Parental Involvement in Kindergarten | 73 |
| 26 | Importance of Kindergarten | 74 |
| 27 | Frequency of Progress Reports | 75 |
| 28 | Parental Expectations of Progress Reporting | 76 |
| 29 | Report Cards | 79 |
| 30 | Teachers' Suggestions for Assistance | 80 |
| 31 | Teachers' Requests for Assistance | 81 |
| 32 | Anecdotal Records of Progress | 82 |
| 33 | Changes Desired by Parents | 83 |
| 34 | Relationship of Teachers and Parents | 85 |
| 35 | Feasibility of Registration Process | 113 |
| 36 | Requested Changes in Procedure | 114 |
| 37 | Benefits of Initial Meeting | 115 |
| 38 | Least Benefited by Meeting | 116 |
| 39 | Feasibility of Orientation Procedures | 117 |
| 40 | Recommended Additions or Deletions | 118 |
| 41 | Willingness to Conduct Meeting | 119 |
| 42 | Benefit of Meeting about Progress Reporting | 120 |
| 43 | Recommended Changes | 120 |
| Table | Title | Page |
|-------|--------------------------------------------|------|
| 44 | Suitability of Report Card | 121 |
| 45 | Evaluation of Parental Understanding | 121 |
| 46 | Format and Potential for Use | 122 |
| 47 | Willingness to Attend Meetings | 124 |
| 48 | Suggested Changes | 124 |
| 49 | Benefits of Contact | 125 |
| 50 | Suitability of Report Card | 126 |
| 51 | Rating of Report Card | 127 |
| 52 | Parental Opinion of Model | 128 |
| Figure | Title | Page |
|--------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| 1 | The Child as the Central Figure in Parent-Teacher Communication | 5 |
| 2 | Dual-Directional Communication | 19 |
| 3 | Components of the Model for Parent-Teacher Communication in the Kindergarten Year | 88 |
| 4 | Recommended Procedures for Registering the Kindergarten Child | 89 |
| 5 | Recommended Initial Parent-Teacher Meeting | 91 |
| 6 | Recommended Agenda for Initial Meeting | 92 |
| 7 | Orientation for Children | 93 |
| 8 | Orientation Meeting for Parents | 94 |
| 9 | Agenda for Parent Orientation Meeting | 96 |
| 10 | Suggested Outline for Kindergarten Orientation Handbook | 97 |
| 11 | Meeting to Introduce Progress Reporting Procedures | 98 |
| 12 | Suggested Agenda for Meeting to Introduce Progress Reporting Procedures to Parents | 99 |
| 13 | Recommended Report Card | 101 |
| 14 | Parent-Teacher Interviews | 109 |
| 15 | Suggested Format for Letter to Parents Regarding Volunteer Activities | 111 |
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The kindergarten year should provide valuable experiences for the child, the parent and the teacher. The progress report of the primary school should be a tool for improving and individualizing education. This project is an attempt to improve the quality of progress reporting during the kindergarten year. The approach taken is the development of a program of communication between parents and teachers, designed to focus upon enrichment of the kindergarten child's education through mutual co-operation and understanding.
Inherent in this study is the belief that a partnership between home and school is important for the development and growth of each child. This point is stressed by the Manitoba Department of Education in a publication designed for use by kindergarten teachers:
The child needs to feel accepted [in school] while continuing to retain that sense of personal worth which should have been developed in an accepting home environment. Learning flourishes where the individual is respected; a confident sense of self is basic to the motivation to achieve.\(^1\)
\(^1\) Betty Gibson, *Early Childhood: A Time for Learning, A Time for Joy* (Winnipeg: Department of Education, Province of Manitoba, 1979), p. 7.
Some of the communication procedures developed during this project were aimed toward increased parental involvement in the formal education of the child through planned orientation programs and discussions arranged by the school. Such programs should serve to make the progress report a valuable tool for use in enriching the educational process.
At present, methods of progress reporting at the kindergarten level are numerous and very diverse. While no rigid programs of any kind can be utilized in the kindergarten year, it is hoped this project will produce guidelines which may be adapted to any public school.
Statement of the Problem
The problem examined in this study is communication between school and home during the kindergarten year. The literature suggests this should be continuous and two-way. More often, however, contact is initiated by the school at kindergarten registration, at designated reporting periods in November, March, and June, but rarely, if at all, by parents.
The most tangible element of communication for which the teacher is accountable to the parent is the document used in progress reporting - the report card. Report cards vary from school to school and are often laden with educational jargon.
The problem can be summarized by the following points:
1. Parents have a limited knowledge of the kindergarten program.
2. Teachers have a limited knowledge about the child's out-of-school environment, particularly the educational environment in the home.
3. Teachers often tend to "tell" parents about their children rather than "discuss" the child's progress in school.
4. Principals and teachers have insufficient operational guidelines for preparation of information for distribution to parents.
5. In many schools, parents and teachers operate independently of each other rather than as a team. Where this problem exists, insufficient measures are taken to rectify the situation.
**Rationale**
Primary education should be based on a foundation of co-operation and understanding. The National Education Association Code of Ethics makes the construction of this foundation a basic responsibility of teachers:
Members of the teaching profession share with parents the task of shaping each student's purposes and acts toward socially acceptable ends. The effectiveness of many methods of teaching is dependent upon co-operative relationships with the home. In fulfilling the obligations of this principle the teacher will-
Respect the basic responsibility of parents for their children. Seek to establish friendly and cooperative relationship with the home. Help to increase the students confidence in his own home and avoid disparaging remarks which might undermine that confidence. Provide parents with information that will serve the best interests of their children, and be discreet with information received from parents.
This holds implications for the child, the parent and the teacher, in that it creates a pattern of communication that can only be successful when a working partnership has been established. Strang states: "...regardless of what reporting procedures are used, it is extremely important that teachers and parents mutually understand their purpose." Figure 1 illustrates this point:
---
2 Gordon McCloskey, *Education and Public Understanding* (2nd ed., New York: Harper, Row Publishers, 1967), p. 324.
3 Ruth Strang, *Reporting to Parents* (New York: Teachers College Press, 1965), cited by McCloskey, *op. cit.*, p. 325.
The absence of any one of the connecting arrows in the preceding diagram would cause a breakdown in the system. The child, because he is the central figure, suffers the consequences of a poor information system.
For the five-year old, kindergarten provides a transition from preschooler to student - a change which can be very traumatic. During this year, says Gibson, children, "...emerge from a state of total dependence on family and home and become involved with a much larger world which includes many children of their own age group. The new relationship to this extended peer group, as well as to adults outside the family sphere, will influence and possibly threaten the child's self concept."
4Gibson, p. 7.
The kindergarten child should be given the opportunity to discover his own potential. His learning should be consistent so that knowledge he brings from school is enhanced at home, while that which he brings from home is respected in the school. The reporting process should not be a threat to the children, who should feel that any communication between parent and teacher is in their own best interest.
Implications for parents within the school's communication system are summarized by the following:
Parents are the child's first teachers and have the responsibility of guiding and teaching the child during the most formative years. Parents, therefore, need help and support as they become aware for the first time that knowledge and skill are necessary for good parenting, and that being "just a parent" is a cause for pride.\(^5\)
The help and support indicated above should be offered through the school, as the teacher is in a position to observe growth and changes in the child and relate these to the parent.
The initiative to involve parents must lie with the school's administrators and teachers. Parents are the outsiders of the school system and they need both to feel welcome, and to be encouraged to participate in the educational process. Involvement is particularly important
\(^5\)Gibson, p. 136'
"...so that they can reinforce those desirable habits and attitudes encouraged at school and help the teacher to understand what they consider important for their particular child". It is important that the goals of education are the same for both parents and teacher:
The task of the parent and the teacher is to be sensitive to the right moment for a particular learning. Skills are most likely to develop when physical and psychological growth has assured that they can be used. Instruction is most effective when it is begun at the stage of readiness.
If the basic goal of reporting is communication, with the child's best interest in mind, the purpose of reporting can be outlined as recommended by the Toronto Board of Education:
(1) To inform parents of their child's progress at school.
(2) To provide parents with an understanding and appreciation of the school's goals and program.
(3) To provide a means of exchange of useful information between the home and the school.
(4) To suggest ways in which parents can encourage and guide their children.
---
6 Marguerita Rudolph and Dorothy H. Cohen, *Kindergarten - A Year of Learning* (New York: Appleton Century Crofts, 1964), p. 355.
7 Gibson, p. 10.
8 Board of Education for the City of Toronto, *Reporting to Parents*, 1966, p. 1.
The teacher must assume the role of observer, be prepared to interpret behavior, and inform the parent about the strengths and deficiencies in the child's learning in an objective manner. At the same time the teacher must be a skilled listener, for she may learn a great deal about the child through conversation with the parent. Coates says:
Kindergarten teachers are the bridge builders of the public school system. They support children in their early transitions between home and school with bridges of trust built by... information exchanges with parents that replace or augment written reports.9
The kindergarten year should consist of guided play, challenge, continuous observation, and, most of all, consistency of lifestyle between home and school. The first three elements are skills the teacher developed during teacher training; the last can only be achieved when the teacher approaches the parent. A point of particular importance is explained by Rudolph and Cohen:
...a teacher's first response, and correctly so, is to the child himself as she sees him. She works for the establishment of their special relationship, and for the integration of this little individual into the new and unfamiliar world of school. Only in time as a teacher wants to know a child better still...10
---
9 Coates, Dona. "Some Basic Facts about the Transition between Pre-School and School", Prime Areas, 23 (Fall, 1980), p. 32.
10 Rudolph and Cohen, p. 355.
It is the teacher who must implement the curriculum, and follow school board policy. She has taken time to learn what needs to be, and what must be presented to the child. This places the parent, for a time, in the position of listener - but only to the point where he or she can be an effective participant in the child's education. The responsibility for planning parent education programs must also lie with the teacher and school administrators.
The relationships outlined above should be realistic in every school. This does, however, take a great deal of initial planning, especially where both parents are employed, or where parents have little formal education. The degree of success with which these problems are overcome, lies in the willingness of the school's administrators to make alternate arrangements so the needs of all parents can be met.
It is possible that the kindergarten year may, at some point, pose a threat to parents in that they will be competing for their child's respect for the first time. It is essential that the teacher stress to the parent the importance of support for the child's education from home. This parental input should be based upon familiarity with the kindergarten program, and an open relationship with the teacher. The Manitoba Department of Education further explains:
The parents may feel inclined to leave the responsibility for intellectual growth with the teacher, but they are becoming increasingly aware of the important part they play in stimulating a child's thinking and in creating a healthy attitude toward learning. Many parents are actively seeking help in providing the environment their growing child needs.
**The Project**
**Outline of the Project**
This project was to produce a model, or set of recommended procedures for home-school communications including progress reporting with respect to kindergarten pupils.
The project had six stages:
(i) Determining the procedures presently used in the schools of the Avalon Consolidated School Board.
This involved obtaining from all primary principals, a copy of their kindergarten report cards, and other information about communication procedures. An interview schedule was used.
(ii) Reviewing the literature concerning home-school communication models with respect to kindergarten children. Included were orientation procedures,
---
11 Gibson, p. 134
progress reports, parent teacher conferences, kindergarten registration, home visitations, spontaneous consultations, the subject matter of communications, the time and frequency, the location, and the people to be involved.
(iii) Determining the views of parents and teachers with respect to school communication procedures for their kindergarten children.
This involved interviewing a random sample of parents, as well as all kindergarten teachers of the Avalon Consolidated School Board during 1983-84. Interview schedules were used to gather information concerning:
(a) the adequacy of current communication procedures including report cards
(b) how current procedures might be improved
(c) possible new procedures mentioned to them by the researcher (derived from the literature on innovations in education)
(d) the problem areas to be provided for in the procedures - academic, social, financial...
(iv) Developing from the data gathered, a model, or set of recommended procedures for home-school communications, including orientation procedures, interviewing arrangements and a report card.
(v) Having the model assessed by the previous respondents, namely the kindergarten teachers, the elementary school principals and the parents.
(vi) Revising the model in light of the assessment.
**Duration**
The literature review was carried out and interview schedules for stages one and three designed during the months of July and August 1982. Some report cards were collected and some pilot interviews conducted during the summer, with actual interviews conducted during the fall. The questionnaires were distributed in the fall of 1982.
**Delimitations**
The following are delimitations of this study:
(1) The project, particularly the aspects dealing with progress reporting, was based upon the curriculum as presently prescribed. No attempt was made to change, revise or criticize the Program of Studies followed in Newfoundland schools.
(2) There was no intent to deal separately with the needs of any particular religion, social class, or other social sub-grouping but rather to establish a general reporting system adaptable to any school.
Limitations
The following are limitations to this study:
(1) Any references to curriculum are based upon the Program of Studies issued by the Newfoundland Department of Education, and the policies of the Avalon Consolidated School Board, thereby limiting this study to schools under the jurisdiction of this board.
(2) The study was limited by the skill of the interviewer in establishing rapport and eliciting worthwhile responses from respondents.
(3) The study was limited by the willingness of respondents to truthfully respond to the questionnaire distributed as part of the study.
(4) The study was limited by researcher bias.
Definitions
The terms defined in this section are essential to the understanding of this project.
Kindergarten Child: a child who will be five years of age on or before December 31 of the year for which he is registered for kindergarten.
Orientation: a session, or sessions, which take place in the school for the purpose of familiarizing the child and parent with the school.
Reporting Periods: specific times designated by individual school boards in which to conduct parent interviews or distribute written progress reports. For the Avalon Consolidated School Board, these periods are after 60 school days, after 120 school days, and the last school day of the year.
Parent-Teacher Conferences: private interviews between a parent and a particular child's teacher, during a reporting period in lieu of, or complementary to a written report. Where there is a specific problem, the principal, guidance counsellor, nurse, or other persons may also be involved.
Spontaneous Consultation: an unscheduled meeting, or telephone conversation, initiated by either parent or teacher to make inquiries or convey information about behaviour or progress of a particular student.
Significance
This project was intended to produce recommendations and documents which may be used to promote parent-teacher communication and co-operation during the kindergarten year. The problem upon which the project was based was generally experienced in public schools, therefore, the procedures that emerge will hopefully be for kindergarten teachers in
any public school. This study is of particular significance to:
(1) Kindergarten teachers of the Avalon Consolidated School Board.
(2) Parents who have children of kindergarten age, or who will be eligible for kindergarten registration in the near future.
(3) Elementary principals and primary co-ordinators who are presently searching for a model which may be used in their own schools.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Parent-teacher communication including progress reporting, with specific reference to the kindergarten program has received limited attention in educational research. Much of the available recent material outlines current and relatively new trends in developing parental attitudes and co-operative relationships.
The review of the literature which follows is divided into six sections. Firstly, to ensure the relevance of the literature to this project, a number of terms used in this report are defined. Secondly, the need for parent-teacher communication is explored and the research outlined briefly. The third section deals with information sharing between teacher and parent. Several studies regarding developing an approach to communications are presented in section four. The fifth section deals with providing meaning to program content and process. The final section reviews the research dealing specifically with kindergarten reporting in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The literature review concludes with a summary of the major points.
Definitions
The definitions which follow are presented in an attempt to clarify the purpose of this report, namely, to develop a model for parent-teacher communication.
Kindergarten
Today's kindergarten had its beginnings in Germany with educators who were followers of Freidrich Froebel.\(^1\) The evolution of kindergarten programs also owes much to Maria Montessori\(^2\) and to John Dewey\(^3\) both of whom believed in active, experiential learning for very young children.
The most modern theories portray the kindergarten as an immersion into a school environment integrated with home life, and designed to aid the whole child with regard to "physical, intellectual, social, emotional, moral and spiritual development."\(^4\) Kindergarten programs modelled in this fashion are based on theories of continuous and
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\(^1\)Freidrich Froebel, *The Education of Man*, trans. M.W. Hailman (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1887).
\(^2\)Maria Montessori, *The Montessori Method* (New York: Stokes Publishing Co., 1912).
\(^3\)John Dewey, *The Child and the Curriculum* (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1899).
\(^4\)Provincial Kindergarten Committee, *Kindergarten Education* (St. John's: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1981), p. 2.
developmental learning wherein integration of subject areas provides a curriculum core.\textsuperscript{5} In further exploration of primary school development, Blenkin and Kelly\textsuperscript{6} outline the theories and practices which have led to the current school situation.
\textbf{Communication}
Communication between parents and teachers is one dimension, but an important one, of the public school system. Theorists advocate honesty and continuity in informing the public about all aspects of the school.\textsuperscript{7} Communication, specifically dual-directional communication, as shown in McCloskey's model in Figure 2, remains an effective tool in linking the home and school for the child.\textsuperscript{8}
\textsuperscript{5} Fairfax County Schools, \textit{Program of Studies: Early Childhood Education: Kindergarten Section}. U.S., Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 111 526, 1976.
\textsuperscript{6} Geva M. Blenkin and A.V. Kelly, \textit{The Primary Curriculum} (London: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1981), pp. 15-62.
\textsuperscript{7} Leslie W. Kindred et al., \textit{The School and Community Relations} (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1976).
\textsuperscript{8} Gordon McCloskey, \textit{Education and Public Understanding} (2nd ed.; New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1967), p. 72.
The figure below shows the communication process as it applies to the teacher-parent relationship.
Figure 2. Dual-Directional Communication (From Gordon McCloskey, *Education and Public Understanding*, op. cit.; p. 72.)
**Progress Reporting**
Progress reporting from the traditional point of view, entails informing parents of achievement measured within the school by teachers. Favor has fallen on the
---
9 Board of Education for the City of Toronto, *Reporting to Parents*, 1966, p.2.
parent-teacher interview method of reporting, but the report card document is a required component in most schools. It must, as a professional document, present a concise, accurate synopsis in an appropriate manner.
The goals of reporting to parents have been outlined for kindergarten teachers in a thematically-based teaching resource book which has been circulated to all Newfoundland kindergarten classrooms. Listed among these goals are co-operative assistance from teacher and parent toward the child, assessing and realizing realistic objectives, and a healthy exchange of information between the home and school.
Nash suggests that teachers can become skilled diagnosticians, and proposes that for reporting purposes they carry out the assessment of children within the
---
10 Provincial Kindergarten Committee, *Beginnings: A Guide for Kindergarten Teachers* (St. John's: Department of Education, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1983), Chapter 6, p. 3.
11 Board of Education for the City of Toronto, *op. cit.*, p. 8.
12 Susanne Eden, *Early Experiences: Resource Guide for Developmental Programs in Early Childhood Education* (Toronto: Nelson, Canada, 1982), p. 59.
13 Chris Nash, "Early Identification or Early Childhood Education - A Matter of Choice", *Newsletter-Canadian Association for Young Children*, (May, 1981), p.42.
kindergarten classroom. The Newfoundland Provincial Kindergarten Committee has adopted much the same view. The use of standardized tests for assessment of children is not encouraged and is viewed merely as reinforcement of the conclusions drawn and expressed through anecdotal reporting.
The Need for Parent-Teacher Communication
The benefit to the child of frequent, positive parent-teacher communication has been widely researched and advocated. A frequently quoted work in this area is the Plowden Report, which found that most parent-teacher relations were of a social nature rather than co-operative involvement in school programs.
A study carried out in Israel outlines curriculum, evaluation and parent-participation. More familiar in North America are Headstart programs designed for
---
14 Provincial Kindergarten Committee, *op. cit.*, p. 35.
15 The Central Advisory Council for Education (England) *Children and Their Primary Schools* (The Plowden Report) (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1967), V. 2, p. 146.
16 Elinor Schulman Kolumbus, *Is It Tomorrow Yet? Handbook for Educators of the Very Young*, U.S., Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 205 262, 1981.
17 Melvin E. Allerhand, *Headstart Operational Field Analysis, Progress Report II*, U.S., Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 015 775, 1966.
economically and socially disadvantaged children and their parents. Many research studies about kindergarten deal with children from disadvantaged and minority families, their pre-school experiences, parental involvement and subsequent achievement. Cosgrove\textsuperscript{18} evaluated a program designed to help such parents refine their home teaching skills. Diaz\textsuperscript{19} related learning problems to a home environment process measure. Howell\textsuperscript{20} found that parental involvement in conferences and similar activities was related neither to kindergarten achievement nor to pre-school attendance. Kendrick\textsuperscript{21} found no relationship between kindergarten pupils' behavior and whether the family was nuclear, single-parent, or remarried.
That appropriate parental attitudes can positively affect learning has been demonstrated by
\begin{itemize}
\item Gregory T. Cosgrove, "Home Training of Parents of Culturally Different Junior Kindergarten Children" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Toronto, 1982).
\item Martha Yolanda Valdez Diaz, "Home Environmental Factors on Indicators of Learning Problems among Hispanic Kindergarten Children" Dissertation Abstracts International, 44 (September, 1983), p. 734-A.
\item John F. Howell, A Follow-Up Evaluation of A Preschool Program, U.S., Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 115 669, 1975.
\item Martha L. Kendrick, "The Relationship between Kindergarten Children's Classroom Behavior and Family Unit Type", Dissertation Abstracts International, 44 (February, 1984), p. 2353-A.
\end{itemize}
Hines, Macleod, and Honig. Honig indicates that parental involvement is critical to the success of a program. Robison and Spodek expound the importance of consistency in the home and school, and feel this should be initiated by the school. Parents often feel they are outsiders of the educational environment. Peine has discovered that lack of school support to the parent could be detrimental to the child's achievement. Moles as well as Law and Mincey show
22 Burnett A. Hines, "Concomitant Effects of Parental Involvement in Federally Supported Early Childhood Programs", Dissertation Abstracts International, 44 (July, 1983), p. 66-A.
23 Flora Macleod, "Home Based Early Learning Project", Early Child Development and Care, 12 (1983), pp. 111-118.
24 A.S. Honig and J.R. Lally, "Family Development Research Program: Retrospective Review", Early Child Development and Care, 10 (1982), pp. 41-62.
25 Alice S. Honig, Parent Involvement in Early Childhood Education (Washington, D.C.: National Association for Education of Young Children, 1976), p. 81.
26 Helen F. Robison and Bernard Spodek, New Directions in the Kindergarten (New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1965), pp. 142-3.
27 Hermann A. Peine and Roy Howarth, Children and Parents (Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1975), p. 107.
28 Oliver C. Moles, "Synthesis of Recent Research on Parent Participation in Children's Education", Educational Leadership 40 (November, 1982), pp. 44-47.
29 Naomi A. Law and Ethel Berry Mincey, "Parents vs. Teachers or Parents and Teachers: What Shall It Be?", Early Child Development and Care, 11 (1983), pp. 123-30.
that often, communication between home and school begins on a negative note if the parents feel the school is competing for the child's attention. Plowden attributes this reaction to the growth of professional education.
Contrary to the research presented above, two recent studies by Howell and by Lopez and Holmes show that parental involvement does not appear to influence particular types of achievement in the kindergarten.
**Information Sharing**
Information sharing is inherent in dual-directional communication. When viewed in a home and school context, the information is very often of a personal nature, requiring trust and respect. Murton, as quoted by Sharp, suggested that the move from home to school can be the occasion for strong teacher-parent relationships to be built.
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30 The Central Advisory Committee for Education (England), *op. cit.*, V. 2, p. 147.
31 John F. Howell, *op. cit.*
32 Linda C. Lopez and William M. Holmes, "Maternal Involvement and Academic Success for Kindergarten Pupils", *Reading Improvement*, 20 (Winter, 1983), pp. 248-51.
33 Alice Murton, *From Home to School* (Toronto: MacMillan Co. Ltd., 1971), p. 11. cited by Dorothy C. Sharp, "Early Childhood Programs: A Study of Provision for Kindergarten and Preschool Programs in Newfoundland" (Unpublished Master's thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1976), p. 30.
By age five, the child has been exposed to five entire years of his home learning environment. The flow of information to the school from the home becomes essential as parents make use of these five years in many various ways. Lillie contends this flow of communication is essential for home-training and teacher's insight into the individual child.
**Developing a Co-operative Approach**
The responsibility for developing a co-operative approach to a child's education lies with the kindergarten teacher. The main elements of such an approach, according to Lillie, must be respect, honesty and teamwork. As outlined previously the parent must not feel as though he or she is an outsider.
School handbooks and group meetings with parents of older children have become fairly common tools for developing parental co-operation with the school. These help alleviate
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34 David L. Lillie, *Early Childhood Education: An Individual Approach to Developmental Instruction* (Palo Alto Science Research Associates, 1975), p. 192.
35 Provincial Kindergarten Committee, *Beginnings; op. cit.*, chapter 6, p. 1.
36 Lillie, *op. cit.*, p. 192.
some tension on the part of the parent, and are advocated by many educators including Dobbin.\textsuperscript{37}
Honig\textsuperscript{38} has presented data outlining the success of parent-involvers visiting the homes of kindergarten children. Becker and Epstein\textsuperscript{39} present the general approach to parental co-operation as involving the parents in the home, for example, with homework. An alternative presented is to bring parents into the classroom, or into school decision-making.
Some excellent communications proposals have been published and some examples are outlined in McInerney\textsuperscript{40}, Kolumbus\textsuperscript{41}, and locally by Buffett\textsuperscript{42}.
\textsuperscript{37} Provincial Kindergarten Committee, \textit{op. cit.}, Ch. 6, p. 1.
\textsuperscript{38} Honig, \textit{Parent Involvement in Early Childhood Education}, \textit{op. cit.}, p. 81.
\textsuperscript{39} Henry Jay Becker and Joyce L. Epstein, "Parent Involvement: A Survey of Teacher Practices", \textit{The Elementary School Journal}, 83 (November, 1982), pp. 85-102.
\textsuperscript{40} Beatrice L. McInerney et al., \textit{Preschool and Primary Education Project. 1967-68 Annual Progress Report to the Ford Foundation}, U.S., Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 027 936, 1969.
\textsuperscript{41} Kolumbus, \textit{op. cit.}
\textsuperscript{42} Fred Buffett, ed., \textit{Developing a School-Community Communications Program} (St. John's, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1981).
Providing Meaning to Program Content and Process
In order for the parent to support the school, he must fully understand the program and the methods by which the school operates. The teacher must be prepared for many varying parental attitudes: the pre-school home environment and experiences have a direct influence on parental expectations. To overcome what could be a dramatic change in the child's habits and lifestyle, the teacher must extend herself to personal contact with parents, preferably, according to Eden, within the direct environment of the school building. She continues to say that explanations of school programs presented to parents before the child enters school are most effective in fostering positive attitudes. Discovering the why and how of a teacher's methodology can be as important to the development of positive parental attitudes as being included in the program itself. Parents, upon understanding the school will, in turn, begin to understand their children better and observe their growth more effectively.
43 Dona Coates, "Some Basic Facts about the Transition between Pre-School and School", Prime Areas, 23 (Fall, 1980), p. 33.
44 Eden, op. cit., p. 241.
45 Department of Education, Division of Curriculum, A Kindergarten Handbook: A Guide for Teachers, Parents, and Others. Bulletin No. S-22 (St. John's: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, undated), p. 41.
The Provincial Situation
Traditionally in Newfoundland, kindergarten teachers, in consultation with their principals, have been responsible for contacting and reporting to parents and for distributing information to them. This has led to a variety of school-home communications procedures. In 1980, the Department of Education appointed a Provincial Kindergarten Committee, chaired by Dr. Teresita Dobbin. After consulting kindergarten teachers the Committee made a series of recommendations designed to improve kindergarten programs throughout the province.
Little research related to the present study has been carried out in this province. The most closely related, discovered by the researcher, was a master's thesis by Dorothy Candlish Sharp entitled "Early Childhood Programs: A Study of Provision for Kindergarten and Pre-School Programs in Newfoundland". While Sharp's study dealt only marginally with parent-teacher communication in kindergarten, she did find from over 400 responding kindergarten teachers that parent participation in the classroom was relatively uncommon, although parents did participate in other school activities. Most teachers held interviews with parents once a term, and informally at the wish of parents.
46 Provincial Kindergarten Committee, op. cit.
47 Sharp, op. cit., pp. 123-124.
The remaining sources of provincial literature were handbooks and report cards obtained from elementary school principals in the Avalon Consolidated School Board. These are listed in the Bibliography.
Summary
The survey of the literature revealed that research into the reporting process in kindergarten was quite limited. The major terms used in the study were discussed, namely kindergarten, communications, and reporting.
The need for parent involvement in kindergarten education was advocated by most writers and researchers. Several studies dealt with the positive effects of parental involvement on pupil achievement and pupil attitudes, as well as on parental attitudes. Two studies found no such relationship.
Information sharing is essential to the parent-teacher relationship. The parent must trust the teacher's observations and opinions to be in the best interest of the child. At the same time, the teacher is new to the child, who has had five years of learning by this time, and must rely on the parent for accounts of the past.
The development of a co-operative approach to a child's education must be initiated by the school. Parents must feel welcome and important in this strange environment.
Various media, including kindergarten handbooks, have been used to facilitate the teacher's task. Some consideration is given to the teacher making home visits.
The parent must understand the program content, and school procedures in order for the co-operative relationship to be effective. Parental attitudes are an important consideration at this stage, as the school should be seen in as positive a light as possible.
The provincial situation regarding kindergarten reporting is improving. Though few academic studies dealing with this have been undertaken, teachers are becoming more vocal in their search for better methods of reporting. The work of the Provincial Kindergarten Committee, though incomplete to date, has helped to give kindergarten teachers new direction.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
The final product of this project was highly dependent on current practices in communications and the degree of satisfaction with these. Therefore, three sources were necessarily contacted in order to gather data: elementary school principals, teachers of kindergarten students, and parents of kindergarten students. Each of these groups has a particular input within the communication system to be studied, and each has a very different function. The interest in communications for all three sources is providing the best possible education for each individual child enrolled in the kindergarten program.
Interviews with Principals
The administrative content and input into communication with parents of kindergarten was studied through interviewing elementary principals. To ensure the inclusion in this study of all variations in communicating with parents, all principals of elementary schools were interviewed. There were, at the time of the project, eighteen schools operated by the Avalon Consolidated School Board which had kindergarten classes.
An interview schedule was devised, based on the administrative operations, and viewpoints of communicating with parents. The central topics were: initial contact, maintaining parental contact and support, and progress reporting methods. The interview schedule was drawn up by the researcher in consultation with her supervisory committee and piloted with four principals. Necessary revisions for clarity were consequently made. A copy of the interview schedule is found in Appendix A.
Interviews were approximately twenty minutes each in duration, and, where possible, tape recordings were made to facilitate the transcription of information. In all cases notes were made during the interview and transcribed as soon as possible thereafter. Interviews were held in the Spring of 1984. When possible, they took place in the principal's office. Six principals were contacted by telephone.
Data from each question asked of principals is presented in Chapter IV.
Teacher Survey
The reaction of teachers to home and school communications methods was considered to be an essential element to this study. In most schools the teacher is responsible for initiating and maintaining contact with the home.
For the purpose of gathering data a questionnaire was devised by the researcher in consultation with the supervisory committee, to gather information on current parent-teacher communications and reporting practices and the teacher's satisfaction with these. Questions were designed so as to require marking a chosen response or noting a short comment. The questionnaire was piloted by eight teachers before being distributed to all thirty-two kindergarten teachers of the Avalon Consolidated School Board. Copies of the questionnaire were mailed to teachers with a letter of explanation, guarantee of confidentiality and a stamped return envelope.
After a two-week period, efforts were made to gather questionnaires which had not been returned. At six weeks a request was made of a number of principals to remind their teachers to return the questionnaires as soon as possible. In several schools with more than one stream of students, teachers collaborated. A total of twenty responses was received, representing 14 of the 18 schools.
The results are presented in Chapter IV.
Parent Interviews
A third set of data; parental reaction to the communications system in the school, was gathered by interviewing twenty sets of parents. The criterion for
choosing parents was that their child must have attended kindergarten from September 1982 to June 1983 at a school under the jurisdiction of the Avalon Consolidated School Board.
In order to obtain a random sample, numbers were chosen from the total kindergarten enrolment of the Avalon Consolidated School Board for 1982-83, by using a table of random numbers. It was then determined, through ordering schools alphabetically by name, and counting enrolment cumulatively, which schools would be assigned chosen numbers. In order to select parents, kindergarten registers were ordered alphabetically by teachers' last names where more than one kindergarten class existed. Principals were then asked to number children as they appeared in the register and release the names which corresponded with particular numbers.
When all names required were obtained, parents were interviewed individually by telephone. An interview schedule was designed for parents and tested by the interviewer in consultation with the supervisor and piloted on four parents. The emphasis of the questions asked of parents was awareness of the kindergarten program, amount of involvement, contact with the school, degree of satisfaction with the above, and desired changes. Four of the original twenty sets of parents were unavailable. As additional sets of parents had been chosen randomly the
first four of these were contacted by the interviewer. The interview schedule is found in Appendix C. Responses by parents are presented in Chapter V.
**Development of the Model**
The purpose of this project was to develop a communications and reporting system for use by parents and teachers in the kindergarten year. The model was developed by the researcher based on the literature review, information drawn from the three research sources, and the researcher's personal experience as a kindergarten teacher. The completed communications model includes recommendations for initial contact through to the final report card used in the kindergarten year.
The model was distributed for evaluation, with an accompanying questionnaire, to all eighteen of the elementary principals of the Avalon Consolidated School Board, thirty-two kindergarten teachers, and a group of twenty parents of children who attended kindergarten in 1982-83. As in the parent interviews, this group was selected randomly from kindergarten enrolment records.
Based on questionnaire responses, the model was revised. A copy of the questionnaire is found in Appendix D and a copy of the model in Appendix F.
CHAPTER IV
COMMUNICATING WITH PARENTS OF KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN - CURRENT PRACTICES AS VIEWED BY PRINCIPALS AND TEACHERS
Critical to this project, was the examination of present practices employed by educators in communicating with parents of kindergarten children. Data was gathered through a series of interviews of elementary school principals and through a mailed survey of kindergarten teachers. In this chapter, an effort has been made to report on information gathered by these methods. As might be expected within a large school board, many administrative procedures for communicating with parents are standardized among schools. Variations do occur in actual practice, however, depending on the size of each school, its location, and the teaching style of kindergarten teachers. The schools involved vary in size from one to three streams, that is, having one to three kindergarten teachers, each having responsibility for her own group of students. Class groups are heterogeneous, and generally divided equally among teachers. Two schools have classes in French Immersion for kindergarten.
School populations are drawn from a variety of environments including rural, suburban and inner city homes.
Teachers, being granted a certain amount of autonomy in planning kindergarten programs, aim to suit the program to their class groups, and as much as possible to individuals.
On the pages following, the researcher has made an attempt to define those practices which are indeed standard, and outline variations which occur in communicating program information and children's progress to parents.
**Results of Interviews Held with Elementary School Principals**
Personal contact was made by the researcher with all eighteen principals having kindergarten classes in schools of the Avalon Consolidated board. Following is an account of the data gathered for each question of an interview schedule planned by the researcher. The interview schedule is found in its entirety in Appendix A.
**Initial Home-School Contacts**
As shown in Table 1, the initial contact, with parents of kindergarten age children is, in each school, made during kindergarten registration. Notification to the general public regarding school registration is made through an advertisement placed in the classified section of local newspapers by the school board. Principals of each school make an effort to publicize kindergarten registration through their school newsletters, memos, and public events such as parent-teacher association meetings.
Table 1
Kindergarten Registration Procedures
Question: What are the kindergarten registration procedures in your school?
Response:
| Initial contacts | 18 |
|---------------------------|----|
| through local newspaper | |
| through school memos | |
| Persons present | 18 |
|---------------------------|----|
| Principal/School Secretary| |
| Public Health Nurse | |
| Kindergarten Teacher | |
| Assessment of children | 6 |
|---------------------------|----|
| Yes | |
| No | |
Registration is held at each school in February or March for kindergarten classes beginning in September of the same year. Each school has defined territorial boundaries, and students are accepted for attendance based on the location of their homes. In twelve schools, registering a new pupil is strictly an administrative operation. The principal and/or the school secretary meet parents at the school and help to complete registration forms. A public health nurse from the provincial Department of Health is also present to verify medical information and to begin a school medical record for each child.
Though it is not required in most schools, children often accompany their parents on registration day. A number
of principals indicated the child might be invited to view the kindergarten classroom, or other areas of the school. In many cases this day is the first visit to the school by the child and the parent.
Six schools have made provisions for the kindergarten teachers to be free from teaching regular classes at registration time. In these cases, the teacher meets each child individually and may request the child to perform a variety of tasks. These might include counting, reciting the alphabet, or categorizing shapes. This interview between teacher and child is not intended as a formal assessment of the child, but rather a positive initial contact. Any information gathered by the teacher is useful in measuring progress only when combined with school assessments which occur much later in the year. The parent is usually welcome to stay with the child during this meeting, and along with the child has the opportunity to become familiar with the teacher and the classroom.
**Kindergarten Orientation**
Each principal interviewed indicated that an orientation for new students is held toward the latter part of May each year, as illustrated in Table 2.
Table 2
Kindergarten Orientation
Question: Does orientation for children or parents follow registration?
Response:
| | |
|----------------------|-------|
| orientation for children | 18 |
| for parents | 15 |
The orientation program is planned by the principal and kindergarten teachers and therefore varies from school to school. Sessions extend for sixty to ninety minutes and usually involve only ten to twelve children at one time.
Most commonly, children attend a "class" session with their kindergarten teacher where they are permitted a short play time, and then may learn a song, make a small craft item and perhaps discuss some school rules. In one school, new children visit the classroom while current-year students are in attendance. Children interact, and those attending orientation experience what is to them, a "real" school situation.
Parent orientation sessions are far more diverse. Of the fifteen schools which offer parent orientation, twelve have sessions in late spring, one in early fall and one in both spring and fall. From year to year principals, in consultation with their teachers, may elect to change
times and format of orientation programs. Sessions may take place in the evening or concurrently with child orientation sessions in the morning and afternoon.
The general procedure for parent orientation is for the principal to welcome parents and discuss important general information. The teacher then explains her program and classroom procedure. Several schools offer a narrated slide presentation, to more clearly illustrate their procedures. Classroom displays are common, along with a tour of the library, gymnasium, and other areas kindergarten children will frequent.
Guest speakers are often invited to parent orientation session, quite frequently in the person of Miss E. Strong, the Primary Co-ordinator, and, where French is taught, Mr. C. Warren, the French Co-ordinator, both of the Avalon Consolidated School Board. Where available, school reading specialists or primary special education teachers might also attend.
One school in this system has experimented with parents of current-year students informally meeting parents of newly registered students. The relay of information has been found to be extremely effective and more relaxed than in a lecture situation.
Family Preparation for Kindergarten
Each of the eighteen schools makes additional attempts to prepare the family for kindergarten, as indicated in Table 3. The schools supply parents with printed matter pertaining to kindergarten. The Newfoundland Teachers' Association has prepared, for all schools, a booklet entitled, Those First School Days. Therein are listed necessary school materials; good nutritional and health care practices, and general, introductory rules which would be of benefit to any parent. Not all schools have elected to circulate this publication, favouring instead a school-produced booklet. These are usually colorful, very specific and extremely informative to people who may not have recent experience dealing with public schools.
Table 3
Family Preparation for Kindergarten
| Question: Are additional attempts made to prepare the family for kindergarten? | Response: |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|
| | yes |
| | no |
18
0
Several schools circulate copies of a handbook prepared by the Avalon Consolidated School Board. Also supplied by the school board are leaflets with recommended book and record lists for preschoolers.
As yet another method of preparing the family, parents are encouraged to contact the principal or teacher should questions arise.
**Continued Contact with the Home**
Once children begin school, contact with the parent tends to be by letter or telephone, and sometimes through parent-teacher meetings but rarely by personal visits to the home. Table 4 indicates that principals report that parents are contacted by teachers to confirm the time and date the child will begin kindergarten, at three prescribed times for reporting purposes, as dictated by student need, as necessary for volunteer purposes, and at times when changes or variations in programming occur.
Table 4
Formal Contacts
Question: How, and how often, are parents formally contacted by teachers?
Response: methods
letters 18
telephone 18
teacher visits to home 0
frequency
frequent intervals 18
infrequently 0
varies from parent to parent 18
The confirmation of dates and each student's schedule is generally transmitted to the home by letter or booklet, as are progress reports in February and June. The report given to parents in November takes interview form and is usually prearranged by school memo or telephone.
When the school detects special needs for any student formal contact is increased to the extent possible for teacher and parent. Also, the school encourages parents to initiate contact if they feel it will be beneficial to their child.
School volunteer programs vary greatly. In some suburban and rural areas parents are able to give freely of their time in many capacities. However, at times when many families need more than one income, it is often
difficult to find volunteers for schools. One school contacts an estimated fifty parents per year for volunteer work, others require a similar number, while others seek a much smaller number, depending on the location and size of the school.
Other formal contacts are frequently carried out by telephone or memo and are spontaneous in nature, dealing with such matters as changed plans, or a teacher workshop.
Principals were asked about the frequency of home visits. It is very unusual for the teacher to visit the home of a pupil unless the teacher has an established friendship with a parent. If a teacher becomes aware of any difficulty or abnormality in a child's lifestyle, the principal is usually notified immediately. Together, principal and teacher will contact the school guidance counsellor, and if necessary the public health nurse or Department of Social Services. If contact with the home is deemed necessary, it becomes the business of the area social worker. It was generally agreed by principals that parents would be surprised and most probably offended should a teacher make a visit to their homes on school business.
As Table 5 indicates the principals' responses to parents entering the kindergarten classroom at any time were unanimously negative. Each principal stressed, however, that parents of kindergarten children are frequent and welcome visitors both before classes begin and at dismissal.
time. The positive, informal contact established at these times is seen as an important link to parental understanding of the school program. Principals claim that the parent who visits regularly in this manner is well-informed about the kindergarten and usually very aware of the classroom environment.
Table 5
Parental Visits to Classrooms
Question: Are parents encouraged to "drop in" to the classroom at any time during class?
Response:
| Response | Yes | No |
|----------|-----|----|
| | 0 | 18 |
Principals report that they encourage parents, through memos and PTA meetings to always show interest in the kindergarten by reinforcing and enriching what the teacher has introduced to the child. Library books, and sometimes even short worksheets are brought home by children in an effort to bring parent, child and school together.
As shown in Table 6, according to principals' responses, kindergarten teachers make every effort to know a child's background. The seventeen principals who
responded that the teachers knew parents very well, attributed much of the familiarity to having taught older siblings of the kindergarten child, or from information transmitted by other teachers in the school staffroom.
The one principal who responded his teacher knew parents well, stated that she was teaching her first year in that school, and was indeed making every possible effort toward knowing each child's background; the benefit of her being familiar with older children will be missed only for a short time.
Table 6
Teacher's Familiarity with the Home
Question A: How well do teachers know a pupil's parents? (Specifically with regard to home environment, academic press, child care).
| Response | Count |
|----------------|-------|
| very well | 17 |
| well | 1 |
| not well | 0 |
Question B: Do teachers take it upon themselves to advise parents on these matters?
| Response | Count |
|---------------------------|-------|
| academic advice | 18 |
| non-academic advice | 0 |
All principals felt their teachers would freely offer advice regarding home practice or recommended books and games, but not on home care or social environment. Teachers keep largely to the curriculum and their classrooms, and though they may feel strongly about home environmental matters related to academic achievement, they channel their concerns through the schools' public health nurse and social services personnel.
As Table 7 indicates, the majority of schools have an active Parent-Teacher Association.
Table 7
Parent-Teacher Associations
Question: Is there a Parent-Teacher Association in your school? Please outline its function.
Response: active P.T.A.
yes 16
no 2
Both principals who currently have inactive parent-teacher groups intend to hold regular meetings during the next school year. Of the sixteen schools which do have parent-teacher groups, one was described by the principal as provisional, that is, its function is to keep the school from closing due to low enrolments. The majority of the
This interview is held in the school during the month of November. In one school, with a small enrolment, parents are contacted by telephone. In another, parents telephone the school secretary who then makes appointments at the parents' convenience.
The most common method of arranging parent-teacher interviews is to send a note to the parent with a specific date and time written in by the teacher. Generally, teachers plan these co-operatively so the parent with more than one child will see all of their children's teachers on the same day.
The school makes every effort to contact the home for a personal interview at this time. If a parent does not attend the interview, a second appointment is arranged by telephone. Where absolutely necessary the report is given over the telephone or sent in letter form by mail to the parent. This occurs at almost every school, but usually involves only four to six students per year.
Several schools have tried to overcome low parental attendance while increasing accurate record-keeping by having a form for parents to sign. Several schools use a guidesheet - a one page, itemized report - designed to stress the most important details of a child's progress. Some principals and teachers have provided on the report card an area designated for the November report. Due to large classes, most interviews are restricted to fifteen
minutes; the use of guidesheets or report cards can be crucial to a successful interview.
There does not exist, at this time, a kindergarten report card developed at the school board level. Because kindergarten programs are so diverse, teachers and principals have designed or adapted their own school reports as shown in Table 9.
Table 9
Report Cards for Kindergarten
Question: Are report cards used for kindergarten children in your school? Was it designed within the school?
Response: report cards in use
yes 18
no 0
designed within school 16
used by teacher in other schools 2
borrowed design 0
One school, in presenting a newly designed report to parents, followed it with a short survey to determine parental satisfaction. The response was very favorable and now in its second year, this report card, as reported by the principal, appears to be a very effective communication tool.
Teachers constantly strive to send to the home accurate and useful report cards. Many schools change certain aspects of their report cards yearly. No principals indicated recurring difficulties with their reports.
The format of report cards varies from comments itemized in point form to booklets containing samples of the pupil's work. The design of the report card depends on the teacher's style and the relevance to the children and parents of the report.
None of the schools in this system have a set policy for dealing with parents in special circumstances as shown in Table 10.
Table 10
Progress Reporting - Special Cases
Question: Are there special procedures for dealing with single/working parents and those with limited formal education?
Response: special provisions
| school policy | yes | no |
|---------------|-----|----|
| | 0 | 18 |
dependent on parent
| yes | no |
|-----|----|
| 18 | 0 |
However, adjustments are made on a needs basis. Where parents have difficulty arranging afternoon appointments, evenings are made available. Should a parent have difficulty interpreting report cards, personal interviews are arranged at convenient times.
**Principals' Assessment of Present Procedures**
Principals were asked to assess the current state of parent-teacher communications and the procedures used to convey student progress reports to the home.
As indicated in Table 11, while none of the eighteen principals were totally satisfied, all spoke favorably of the level of home and school communications they perceived within their schools. Without exception, teachers were highly commended for their efforts. Several principals commented on occasional difficulties with jargon and methods of grading, but also stated that these were corrected as soon as they caused problems for parents or teachers.
Table 11
Principals' Assessment of Communications
Question: What is your assessment of the present home/school communications procedures? Please indicate strong points and desired improvements.
Response: assessment of communications
- excellent: 0
- good: 18
- fair: 0
- poor: 0
A number of principals stated that neither the teachers, nor themselves were totally satisfied, as education and methods of communicating constantly change. Some principals expressed a desire for a standardized report card, if that were indeed possible considering the various philosophies held by teachers.
One principal expressed a desire for much earlier contact with the home; beginning as early as age three. Regrettably, he stated, schools are limited as to pre-school contacts because of staffing and other costs. Another principal expressed desire for more personal contacts - extended and frequent interviews. Directly related to this is one principal's comment regarding parents who do not make an effort to visit the school for progress reports. It appears that many parents do not attach any great
importance to the kindergarten year. This opinion was in fact expressed by a number of parents interviewed as shown in Chapter V.
Summary
Home-school communications for kindergarten children are remarkably similar throughout the district. Initial contacts are made with the principal or secretary at registration, sometimes with the teacher. Orientation procedures for pupils, and to a lesser degree for parents, have been established. All schools used written reports, usually designed by the school. All follow the board's policy of twice yearly parent-teacher interviews which usually last up to fifteen minutes. Although parents may visit the school they do not visit the classroom while class is in session, unless they are volunteer helpers; neither do principals and teachers visit the homes of pupils. The two solitudes of home and classroom are breached through indirect, often formal means -- report cards, scheduled interviews, parent-teacher association meetings, orientation meetings, and where necessary by home visits by a social worker.
Principals express general satisfaction with current procedures and are highly supportive of the efforts of their teachers in home-school communications. However, some reservations were expressed about the lack of effort of some parents.
Results of Teacher Surveys
The data gathered from the kindergarten teachers of the Avalon Consolidated School Board proved to be essential to this project. The teacher is the most direct and the closest link between home and school. All thirty-two kindergarten teachers were surveyed and twenty responses were received by the researcher. In three schools, one with three kindergarten teachers and the remaining two with two kindergarten teachers, one questionnaire was returned in a collaborative effort. In fact, the questionnaires returned represented twenty-four teachers. The non-respondents' questionnaires would, the researcher feels, not have greatly altered the results tabulated below.
The complete questionnaire can be found in Appendix B.
Initial Parent-Teacher Contacts
As indicated in Table 12, four teachers stated they met parents of new students on registration day. Within the present organization of public schools this is the earliest possible contact. The majority of teachers have opportunity to meet with parents in late spring during parent orientation. This meeting is usually very informative for the parent, and offers the first real opportunity for worthwhile communication.
Table 12
First Contact with Parents
Question: When do you make the first contact with parents of new kindergarten students?
Response:
- Registration Day: 4
- Parent Orientation: 12
- First Day of School: 0
- Other: 4
All teachers have some form of meeting with the parent before the child actually begins school. Each of the teachers who responded in the "other" category indicated a first meeting during the children's kindergarten orientation session in late spring.
Children's Desired Progress
Parent orientation is the first available opportunity for teachers to explain to parents what will be expected of the child in class. As indicated in Table 13, five teachers responded that they include this information in their parent orientation programme. This is a general indication of expectations as the teacher does not yet know individual abilities of children.
Table 13
Children's Desired Progress
Question: When do you first explain the child's expected/desired progress to the parents?
Response:
- Parent Orientation: 5
- November Interview (or report): 10
- Other: 6
The ten teachers who indicated they discuss their expectations with parents in November, are able to give more personal and detailed information to parents. In private interviews the parent would feel more comfortable about questioning the teacher, providing two-way communication channels.
Of the six teachers who chose "other" as their response, three spoke to parents about children's progress both at parent orientation and during the November interview. The remaining three used earlier contacts though no specific time was indicated.
Parental Involvement
As illustrated in Table 14, in the majority of schools, parents are encouraged to reinforce learning from the home. Classroom help from parents is restricted to relatively few schools.
Table 14
Parental Involvement
Question: To what extent are parents involved in your kindergarten program? (Check as many as necessary.)
1. Teacher Aides
2. Occasional Assistance
3. Helping Child at Home with Special Projects
4. Helping Child at Home in Areas of Weakness
Response:
- all of the above: 6
- 2, 3 and 4: 7
- 2 and 4: 4
- 1, 2 and 4: 2
- 2 only: 1
Occasional assistance is required of parents for concerts, supervision on field trips, organization of sports days, and many other events. Teachers endeavour to include parents in the classroom at these times so experiences can be shared by the child and parent.
Children's Home Experiences
As indicated in Table 15, all teachers consider the home environment important to the child's success in kindergarten. Four teachers commented in the 'other' category indicating additional factors they felt were important to the child's success. These included the positive feeling of parents toward the kindergarten program.
the degree to which parents felt they could contact the teacher, and the child's pre-school experiences. Comments were made on the final point above regarding the enrichment obtained by such experiences as travel, restaurant outings and movies.
Table 15
Child's Home Environment
Question: Which components of the home environment do you feel are important to a child's success in kindergarten? (Check as many as necessary.)
- Books and Educational Materials
- Parental Attitude towards child's success in school
- Parent/Child Relationships
- Other
Response:
- all of the above 15
- all of the above and parental attitude to program 2
- all of the above and teacher accessibility 1
- all of the above and child's background experience 1
- books and educational materials only 1
Home Enrichment
Table 16 shows teacher preference for parent orientation and booklets sent to the home as methods of assuring each child has good educational materials in the home.
Table 16
School Assistance in Home Enrichment
Question: In which way(s) might the school assist in assuring these components are present in the home? (Please comment.)
Response: These are listed by choice of preference as indicated by teachers.
| Component | Count |
|-------------------------------------------------|-------|
| Parent Orientation | 8 |
| Booklets from the School | 7 |
| Library Materials from School | 5 |
| Home and School Meetings | 4 |
| Parent-Teacher Interviews | 3 |
| Letters or Telephone Calls | 2 |
| Contact by Nurse or Social Worker | 2 |
| Close Contact with Parents | 2 |
| Parent Visits during Class Time | 1 |
Library materials from schools have been carefully chosen by teachers, and provide yet another source of enrichment for children. Four teachers selected home and school association meetings as an opportune time to make suggestions to parents. The difficulty here, as pointed out
by principals, is the generally poor attendance at parent-teacher association meetings. Indirect contact, either by telephone or through a school associated agency, was a far less favored method of relaying educationally oriented information. Only one teacher mentioned parent visits during class time, none mentioned home visits by the teacher.
**Reporting Progress to Parents**
Table 17 indicates that most teachers report pupil progress by interviews in November and by written reports in February and June. There are, however, alternate methods used when dictated by individual needs. Where a student is functioning at a distinctively individual level - whether extreme weakness or at an advanced stage - teachers may elect to interview parents instead of, or along with the written report.
An alternate method of reporting - a written report in December, April and June - is employed by a teacher who reports as themes or units of learning are completed.
Table 17
Progress Reporting
Question: What type of progress report is offered to parents in each of the three reporting periods?
Response:
| Month | Type | Count |
|---------|-----------------------------|-------|
| November| interview | 12 |
| | written | 2 |
| | combination | 6 |
| February| interview | 0 |
| | interview where necessary | 5 |
| | written | 13 |
| | combination | 3 |
| | combination where necessary | 4 |
| June | interview | 0 |
| | interview where necessary | 2 |
| | written | 13 |
| | combination | 1 |
| | combination where necessary | 6 |
| Alternate| written report in December | |
| | April and June | 1 |
Format of Report Cards
As indicated in Table 18, the anecdotal report card is the most popular among kindergarten teachers. This is the most detailed, and accurate way of communicating to the parent without an interview. Anecdotal reports are based on anecdotal records kept by the teacher for each child.
Table 18
Format of Report Cards
Question: The format of your kindergarten report card is:
| Response | Count |
|---------------------------|-------|
| work samples | 5 |
| anecdotal | 8 |
| check marks | 0 |
| graded | 2 |
| combination of above | 5 |
| other | 0 |
| none | 1 |
Five teachers elect to send home a carefully selected set of work samples. These are based on current classroom activity and are intended to illustrate the child's progress to the parent.
Five teachers have combined anecdotal, graded and work sample elements in their reports. The intention is to clearly illustrate the child's present work habits and at the same time to include teacher assessments.
One teacher indicated that she used no report card, but rather a letter-form report.
Teacher Assessment of Report Card
The responses in Table 19 indicate that most teachers are satisfied with the report card they presently use. These reports are teacher-designed and altered as necessary, therefore making them acceptable to teachers.
Table 19
Teacher Assessment of Report Card
Question: What is your feeling toward your present report card?
Response:
- Satisfactory: 11
- Could be improved: 6
- Changing next year: 1
- No ideal: 1
- No report: 1
Of the six teachers who responded that their present report could be improved, two commented they would prefer a standard report card used by all kindergarten teachers within the school board. One teacher indicated a change in report cards for the coming year, and another commented she had used many reports and had found none truly satisfactory.
Problems Encountered When Reporting to Parents
When asked about problems encountered at reporting time, six teachers expressed no difficulty as indicated in Table 20. The remainder of responses indicated many and varied problems, mostly with the attitudes and expectations of parents. The most common difficulty is with parents who expect more than their child is able to accomplish, who have negative attitudes or who lack understanding. One teacher expressed a desire for more parental contact, and another for a more effective system of assessment.
Increased parental contact and their clearer understanding of educational goals seem to be the major elements in improving reporting methods. In teachers' views, positive development of parental attitudes must begin early in the child's school life.
Table 20
Problems Encountered When Reporting to Parents
Question: What types of problems do you encounter at reporting time? (Please comment.)
Response:
| Response | Count |
|-----------------------------------------------|-------|
| none | 6 |
| parental expectations and interest | 4 |
| parental attitudes | 3 |
| evaluation of children | 1 |
| lack of parental contact | 1 |
| parental understanding | 1 |
| no response | 3 |
Priority Topics for Report Cards
Each teacher was asked to indicate priority topics of her written report. As indicated in Table 21, each teacher who responded showed language arts as at least one of her priorities in reporting. This would include the child's abilities in reading, comprehension, oral expression and printing.
Table 21
Priority Topics for Report Cards
Question: What are the priority topics in your written report?
Response:
- Language: 2
- Math: 0
- Social Development: 0
- Whole Child Development: 7
- Language and Social Development: 6
- Language and Math: 1
- Language/Math/Social Development: 2
- Various Topics: 2
Social development is second to language arts in teacher's priorities. Much of the kindergarten year is devoted to developing social skills such as sharing, cooperation in group activities and communication skills. The seven teachers who indicated that the whole child development was a priority, would necessarily include both language arts and social skills in their responses.
It seems, from answers indicated, that most teachers are reluctant to isolate elements of the kindergarten experience. Rather, the child's entire learning process is assessed along with achievements in particular learning elements.
Progress Records
Cumulative progress reports, beginning in September and continuing through June are currently the most common method of assessment of children's progress as shown in Table 22.
Table 22
Progress Records
Question: Please explain briefly how records of each student's progress are kept throughout the year.
Response:
- Continuous evaluation, three written reports 3
- Continuous evaluation, four written reports 1
- Periodic testing 3
- Cumulative evaluation 6
- Cumulative evaluation, scrapbook/file 7
Teachers have various record-keeping methods such as itemized record sheets, notebooks and check lists. Many teachers also keep a file or scrapbook of selected work samples by each child. In this way, visual comparisons of a child's progress can be made, and are clearly illustrated for the parent during the November interview as well.
Other teachers indicated somewhat differing methods of assessment, but all are carried out frequently so that progress is continuously monitored.
Summary
Twenty-four of the thirty-two teachers responded. Most of the respondents met parents for the first time during parent orientation meetings held during the spring prior to the child's entering kindergarten. Most explain the child's desired progress at the November interview.
Most parents are involved in the kindergarten program only through the help they give their child at home, although some act as teacher aides or render assistance to the school on sports day or field trips. Teachers feel that books and additional materials in the home and positive attitudes towards the child's success are important.
Progress reports are made to parents at least three times a year, through parent-teacher interviews in November, and by means of written reports in February and June supplemented by interviews when necessary. Written reports tend to be anecdotal and deal with social as well as academic development. When asked about problems at reporting time, teachers mentioned the unrealistic expectations and negative attitudes of some parents.
CHAPTER V
RESULTS OF INTERVIEWS WITH PARENTS
The final source of data for this project was a set of interviews held with parents whose children attended kindergarten in schools of the Avalon Consolidated School Board. These parents have had one complete year of contact with the kindergarten teacher, and recently enough that details would be recalled. The sample of parents was a random one as described in Chapter III of this report.
The initial reaction of all parents toward being interviewed was very positive. The pages following detail questions asked of parents and their responses. A copy of the interview schedule can be found in Appendix C.
Parental Awareness of the Kindergarten Program
The questions of this section deal with the degree of awareness parents felt at the beginning and throughout the school year.
As shown in Table 23, a majority of parents interviewed indicated they had a vague idea of the content of the kindergarten program. Concepts such as rote counting and knowledge of the alphabet were quoted by parents as basic to the kindergarten year. Many of these parents have had no previous experience in dealing with the school system.
Table 23
Awareness of Curriculum
Question: Did you know what would be taught in kindergarten before your child started school last September?
Response:
- yes 4
- some idea 10
- no 6
Those who indicated they were aware of what would be taught have older children, or had had their child in preschools. These parents indicated awareness of the social exchange offered in the kindergarten year.
Those who responded that they had no idea of program content, did not have older children, and the child who attended kindergarten did not attend a preschool.
As shown in Table 24, parents who indicated they knew what would be expected of their child in kindergarten had previous experience with schools, or early contact with the teacher. Through early meetings and distribution of pamphlets most expectations of the teacher were outlined.
Table 24
Teachers' Expectations
Question A: Did you know what would be expected of your child during the kindergarten year?
| Response | Count |
|-------------------|-------|
| yes | 9 |
| some idea | 4 |
| no | 7 |
Question B: How did you find out?
| Response | Count |
|-----------------------------------|-------|
| pamphlets/parent orientation | 12 |
| have older children | 4 |
| child's work and reaction | 2 |
| spouse | 1 |
| did not find out | 1 |
Those who indicated they had no knowledge of expectations, had little contact with the school throughout the year. These parents relied on their child's reactions to school experiences, or on information from a spouse who met with the teacher. One parent indicated she is still not aware of the kindergarten teacher's expectations, though her child now attends grade one.
Fewer parents indicated they had some idea of what would be expected of their child. These parents did receive school pamphlets.
Table 25 shows that the majority of parents interviewed were employed on a part- or full-time basis and were
unable to participate in activities during the regular school day. In the case of working parents, the child was given assistance at home - in some homes on a regular basis and in others when the child's school-work indicated weakness in a particular area.
Table 25
Parental Involvement in Kindergarten
Question: To what extent were you involved in the kindergarten program during your child's year in kindergarten?
Response:
- Teacher Aide: 4
- Assisting with home assigned tasks only: 11
- Special Projects, field trips: 4
- Other: 0
- None: 1
Four mothers participated in special school projects, and four as teacher aides. These parents all had very positive impressions of the kindergarten year. In none of the twenty families were fathers involved as aides or in special projects.
The majority of parents interviewed, as shown in Table 26, viewed the kindergarten year as very important to their child's education. Most parents regard the program as preparation for grade one and further education.
Table 26
Importance of Kindergarten
Question: How important do you feel kindergarten was to your child's education?
Response:
- very important: 12
- somewhat important: 3
- socially important only: 4
- not important: 1
A number of parents, some of whose children attended preschool classes, felt kindergarten was somewhat important, but lacked academic challenge. The children were not able to function in a grade one class due to their maturity level, parents indicated, however the children had learned many of the skills taught in kindergarten before they began school.
Four parents indicated the program was only important in that children were afforded the opportunity to socialize with peers.
Parental Attitudes toward Progress Reporting
The following questions and comments were designed to reveal parental attitudes toward progress reporting. Included is the degree of effectiveness these parents judged reporting systems to possess.
The Avalon Consolidated School Board policy states that progress reports to the parents shall occur at sixty, one hundred and twenty and the last day of school. As shown in Table 27, all parents received the regulation number of reports, but four parents neglected to consider the November interview as an actual progress report.
Table 27
Frequency of Progress Reports
Question A: How often did you receive progress reports concerning your child?
| Response | Count |
|---------------------------------|-------|
| one report received | 0 |
| two reports received | 5 |
| three reports received | 14 |
| more than three reports received| 1 |
Question B: Did you seek additional reports?
| Response | Count |
|----------|-------|
| yes | 11 |
| no | 9 |
Half of the parents interviewed sought additional reports on either a regular or spontaneous basis. The frequency was determined in each case by individual child needs.
The remainder of those interviewed were satisfied with their children's progress and sought no further reports. All parents did indicate frequent visits to the school while transporting children to and from class. Parents whose children were bussed made visits when possible also. The opportunity arose almost daily to speak with the kindergarten teacher; Parents indicated much information was gathered through these meetings.
The parents interviewed, as shown in Table 28, indicated current progress of their children in relationship to skills currently being taught should be the main aim of reporting.
Table 28
Parental Expectations of Progress Reporting
Question: What do you feel should be the purpose of progress reporting?
Response:
- to explain current progress 13
- identify weaknesses 2
- progress in comparison to classmates 1
- offer suggestions for home help 2
- don't know 2
Question: Are these purposes being met?
Response:
- yes 7
- somewhat 8
- no 2
- don't know 3
There were a variety of individual ideas about the purposes of reporting. Two parents felt the report should include ways in which they could help their children achieve more. The report card should offer suggestions for enrichment in academic areas, and also for social adjustment.
One parent felt children should be compared to classmates for more accurate reports. Grading and standard achievement scales would be included. Two parents responded that they did not have enough information about the program of the reporting process to make a judgement.
As to the level of satisfaction with present reporting procedures, seven parents, representing one-third of the total, felt their desired purposes were being met. Eight others indicated the purposes were not totally achieved, and expressed desire for an increased number of interviews. Two parents responded negatively and three were uncertain as to whether the goals of reporting were presently achieved in kindergarten. Thus, only a minority felt the purposes were being achieved.
It has been established through interviews with principals and teachers, that all schools of the Avalon Consolidated School Board do have a form of written report in kindergarten. As shown in Table 29, the negative responses to this question indicate parents do not perceive the written communication as a true report card. The various forms of reports are reasonably well accepted by
parents with a third of those interviewed fully satisfied with the report received, and eight more indicating that some of the requirements were met. Five parents were unsatisfied with the report, and sought interviews with the teacher for further explanation. Again, only a minority were satisfied that the report card met the specific requirements.
The difficulties experienced by parents include imprecise grading, too few formal interviews and being misled with regards to progress. The parents who felt misled might have also benefited from a different method of grading or increased interviews to dispel misunderstandings.
Table 29
Report Cards
Question: Did you at any time receive a report card?
Response:
- yes 17
- no (not traditional) 3
Question: Was it easily understood?
- relevant?
- inclusive of all areas of development?
Response:
- met all of these requirements 1
- met some requirements 8
- met no requirements 5
Question: What do you feel was the most important problem?
Response:
- report is satisfactory 7
- methods of grading (poor now) 3
- visits more effective 2
- misled regarding progress 3
- don't know - 5
Progress and Assessment of Children
The following indicate the parents' awareness of, and involvement in assessment of children. Parental opinions are also included in responses.
As indicated in Table 30, the fifteen parents who responded positively to this question, received suggestions
for helping their children as dictated by child need. Booklets, home-made games and library materials were, in many cases, sent to the home by the teacher.
The five negative responses came from parents whose children excelled or progressed at a satisfactory level in kindergarten.
Table 30
Teachers' Suggestions for Assistance
Question: On the report card or during the interview, were suggestions offered by the teacher as to how you might assist your child to do well in kindergarten?
| Response | yes | no |
|----------|-----|----|
| | 15 | 5 |
In the present system, as responses to this question indicate, and as shown in Table 31, the teacher is the advice-giver. Unless asked specifically, usually when difficulty arises, parents do not generally offer suggestions to the teacher.
Table 31
Teachers' Requests for Assistance
Question: Were you asked by the teacher for suggestions as to how she might effectively teach your child?
Response:
- yes: 2
- no: 18
The present school system is quite separate from the home, and this is even more obvious where both parents are employed. Many parents do not have the opportunities, or the materials the kindergarten teacher has access to for enriching the child's education. The flow of information and advice is generally unidirectional from teacher to parent.
The responses offered by parents regarding their awareness of the use of anecdotal records illustrates a further discrepancy between practice and parents' knowledge, as shown in Table 32. The majority of parents either did not know, or felt the teacher did not keep anecdotal records. All kindergarten teachers indicated they did, in fact, keep a file or booklet outlining each child's progress.
Table 32
Anecdotal Records of Progress
Question: Do you know if the kindergarten teacher kept anecdotal records about your child?
Response:
- definitely did: 7
- did not: 3
- don't know: 10
Question: How useful do you feel this practice is when in use?
Response:
- very useful: 14
- not useful: 1
- dependent on use: 3
- don't know: 2
Parental reaction as to the usefulness of anecdotal records was widely varied. Many parents felt the keeping of records is, or would be very useful. One response indicated the child should not know of this for fear of inhibiting the child's relationship with the teacher.
One parent responded this would be far too time-consuming for teachers, while two others felt it might be useful, but could also be a virtual waste of teaching time. Two parents had never considered the possibility of a teacher keeping such records, and could not comment on usefulness.
As indicated in Table 33, though parents indicated through previous responses that they in fact were misinformed or uninformed about reporting, eight indicated satisfaction with present assessments. Several parents did recognize their lack of information and responded in like.
Two parents felt kindergarten programs, and assessments should be more academically challenging to children. The remainder of those interviewed desire more precise grading categories. These parents did not find accuracy in scales ranging from U - unsatisfactory to S - satisfactory as appear on many reports. A desire for letter grades A, B, C, D and E was expressed.
Table 33
Changes Desired by Parents
Question: What, if any, changes would you like to see in the way kindergarten children are assessed - or in the way reporting is carried out?
Response:
- no changes: 8
- don't have enough information: 4
- make program more challenging: 2
- more precise assessment: 2
- more grading categories: 1
- don't know: 3
As shown in Table 34, eighteen parents felt the parent-teacher relationship was very important in the kindergarten year. The parents who chose to respond that this relationship should be dependent on the child's needs had children who excelled in the kindergarten program. One parent expressed a desire for a closer working relationship than presently exists.
Most parents indicated they made frequent, if not daily, visits to the school—usually to deliver or pick-up the child. This is a desirable practice as spontaneous meetings with the teacher are possible.
The reaction to teachers visiting the home was somewhat different. Nine parents responded with an unconditionally negative reaction. Several parents indicated some reservations depending on the purpose of the visit. One parent expressed the fear that teachers could easily gather false impressions in a limited number of visits.
The parents who indicated willingness to have the teacher visit their homes responded positively to all previous questions. These parents regarded such visits as having a purely social nature, appropriate for example, if the child was ill and could not attend classes for a long period of time.
Table 34
Relationship of Teachers and Parents
Question: Do you feel kindergarten teachers and parents should work closely together?
Response:
- yes: 18
- no: 0
- dependent on child's needs: 2
Question: How often should parents visit teachers in school, and should teachers visit the home?
Response:
- parents visiting school:
- frequently: 18
- sometimes: 2
- infrequently: 0
- teachers visiting home:
- yes: 5
- no: 9
- maybe: 6
Summary
A great number of parents are unaware of the program and procedures in local schools. Satisfaction with these procedures appears to be based on the accuracy of reports on academic areas of the program.
Parents expressed a consistent desire throughout the interviews for increased personal contact with the teacher.
for reporting purposes. Progress interviews are favored far more than written reports by parents.
The flow of communication between teachers and parents is generally unidirectional from school to home. Parents realize the importance of a firm working relationship with the teacher, but the majority of those parents interviewed prefer to restrict their relationship to school visits rather than teacher visits to the home.
CHAPTER VI
A MODEL FOR PARENT-TEACHER COMMUNICATION
The culmination of this project was the development of a model for communication acceptable to both parents and teachers for use during the kindergarten year. This project is based on data gathered from those employed in or having children enrolled in kindergarten classes of the Avalon Consolidated School Board. The model has been evaluated and appears feasible, with some adaptation, to most schools.
It should be emphasized that a model for kindergarten cannot be prescribed and adhered to rigidly. Rather, a set of guidelines should be set forth in order to standardize procedures while allowing for teachers' and parents' personal preferences and individual circumstances. It is hoped this model will meet these requirements and be of use to kindergarten teachers in the province of Newfoundland.
In the remaining pages of this chapter the model will be presented in detail (Figures 3-15) and discussed.
As indicated in Figure 3, the model of parent-teacher communication developed by this project comprises six major components - registration, orientation for child
and parents, the introduction of parents to progress reporting procedures, report cards, parent-teacher interviews, and additional contacts.
Kindergarten Registration - registering the child
- initial parents-teacher meeting
- agenda for initial meeting
Orientation
- orientation for children
- orientation for parents
- agenda for parents' orientation meeting
- outline for orientation handbook
Information about Reporting Procedures
- meeting for parents
- agenda for parents meeting
Report Cards
Parent-Teacher Interviews
Additional Contacts
- kindergarten newsletter
- parent volunteers
Figure 3. Components of the Model for Parent-Teacher Communication in the Kindergarten Year.
Kindergarten Registration
Registration is the first major component of the parent-teacher communication model. It comprises registering or enrolling the child in kindergarten, and an initial meeting of parents with the teacher and other school personnel.
Registering the Child
TIME: January (as defined by School Board)
PURPOSE:
To enroll the child for kindergarten.
To furnish information for school medical records.
To introduce the child to the teacher on an individual basis.
ATTENDED BY: Principal and/or Secretary
Public Health Nurse
Kindergarten Teacher(s)
Parent(s) and Child
LOCATION: Any convenient location in the school which will afford privacy to the teacher, parent and child.
PROCEDURE: Parent(s) with the child present complete registration forms with school principal or secretary, then go to the school nurse to provide medical information. Parent(s) and child visit the kindergarten teacher.
The teacher will interview the child about family members, likes/dislikes, and may request that the child complete a sequence of tasks such as rote counting. This will not serve as any type of evaluation, but will foster a positive attitude toward the teacher.
The parent will be present during this interview, and should inform the teacher of medical disabilities or handicaps at this time.
Figure 4. Recommended Procedures for Registering the Kindergarten Child
Figure 4 displays the detailed procedures recommended by the model for registering the child in kindergarten. The time of registration is advertised in local newspapers, school newsletters and memos. Traditionally, registration for kindergarten in schools of the Avalon Consolidated School Board is held in late February or early March. The change of time to January as recommended here is precipitated by teacher requests for earlier registration. As indicated in previous chapters, pre-school contact with the home helps to establish better parental attitudes and to prepare the child for kindergarten.
The addition of a teacher-child meeting during registration is relatively uncommon. The philosophy behind such a meeting is not intended to be one of advocating early assessments. Rather, the child is given the opportunity to meet the teacher in a relaxed atmosphere, and on a one-to-one basis. At the same time, the child is afforded the security of a parent being present.
In schools where a teacher-child interview is conducted at registration the next contact, usually orientation, where the parent is not present, tends not to be traumatic for the child. A further advantage may be to the parent, who may be less anxious. Due to meeting the teacher previously, the parent is aware of the teacher's manner and attitudes.
Initial Parent-Teacher Meeting
TIME: An evening as soon as possible after registration.
PURPOSE: To introduce parent(s) to the teacher, principal. To inform parents as to how they can prepare their child for the kindergarten year.
ATTENDED BY: Principal, Teacher(s), Parents, Primary Co-ordinator/Guest Speaker
LOCATION: A room in the school which will accommodate all attending, and will house a display of suitable materials.
PROCESS: A short talk by teacher/co-ordinator/guest. Suggested topics include: the benefit to the child of outings, store visits, vacations, restaurant visits, story reading, etc. An informal discussion session. A display of educational toys, books, and records suitable for pre-schoolers.
Figure 5: Recommended Initial Parent-Teacher Meeting
The inclusion of the meeting recommended in Figure 5 is a result of educators requesting earlier contact with the home, and of parents desiring to better prepare their children for kindergarten. An evening time slot has been chosen for this meeting for two reasons: first, the majority of parents work during the day, and secondly, the actual registration, which would be the most logical alternate time, is a time for the child to experience, whereas this meeting is held for the purposes of discussing children and their development.
The rationale for conducting this meeting is that many parents have a real desire to help prepare their children for school but may not know where to begin. The teacher, however, has been trained in this area, and it is to the advantage of teacher, parent and child, for her to share her knowledge of child development.
A recommended agenda for this meeting is displayed in Figure 6.
**Topic:** Preparing Your Child for School
- importance of early experiences and early learning
- the child's natural curiosity and desire to learn
- advantages of "experiences"
- travel
- animal parks/zoo
- museums
- library visits
- restaurant meals
- shopping trips
- importance of good language habits, encourage use of full sentences, use of storybooks
- importance of praise, tapping child's interests
- recommended books, games, television shows
**Display of Materials**
- selected primary games and toys
- picture and story books
- school-distributed pamphlets of related material
- records and cassettes
Figure 6. Recommended Agenda for Initial Meeting
Orientation for Children and Parents
The second major component of the proposed model of parent-teacher communication is the orientation of children and their parents to kindergarten. Separate orientation sessions are recommended for children and their parents, along with distribution to parents of a school orientation handbook.
Orientation for Children
Figure 7 displays the proposed orientation for children.
TIME: Late May/early June, a one hour session
PURPOSE: To introduce children to classmates. To allow children to become familiar with school environment.
ATTENDED BY: Teacher A group of ten to fifteen children.
LOCATION: The kindergarten classroom.
PROCEDURE: The teacher will provide a short lesson plan of her choice. Parents should be accommodated in a waiting area outside the classroom.
Figure 7. Orientation for Children
Orientation is designed to be a special time for the preschooler to experience "real school" for the first time and to develop a positive attitude toward a totally new environment. A short, small group session is recommended.
to help keep the child at ease.
The parent is excluded from this session; the child gains some confidence by being alone with the teacher and classmates. This makes the separation of parent and child much easier on the first day of school in September.
**Orientation for Parents**
The model recommends that orientation for parents consist of attendance at a carefully planned orientation meeting, and the distribution to parents of an appropriate handbook. Figure 8 displays the details of the meeting, Figure 9 highlights the agenda, and Figure 10 outlines suitable items for inclusion in the handbook.
| TIME: | An evening as soon as possible following children's orientation. Approximately 90 minutes. |
|---|---|
| PURPOSE: | To familiarize parents with the content of the kindergarten program, and stress its importance. To introduce parents to various facilities of the school. |
| ATTENDED BY: | Principal
Teacher(s)
Parents
Primary co-ordinator/guest speaker
A selected number of parents of grade one students. |
| LOCATION: | A room in the school suitable for slide presentation and display. |
| PROCEDURE: | Talk: The importance of kindergarten
Talk: The components of the program/thematic approach
Slide presentation
Informal discussion with parents of last year's kindergarten student/question and answer session
Display of teaching materials: DUSO, Family Life posters, etc.
Take-home materials: school handbook, N.T.A. handbook, other suitable materials. |
Figure 8. Orientation Meeting for Parents
This orientation meeting is the second of three group meetings recommended for parents and teachers. As the agenda deals with curriculum and programming, the teacher should be present. In some schools parent orientation coincides with child orientation. However, an evening meeting is suggested here to accommodate working parents.
An uncommon practice to date is to involve parents of grade one students. The intention is to involve selected parents as hosts or hostesses who may impart a great deal of information to newly involved parents. These people are familiar with the school and program, and are able to relate directly to the questions of parents of newly registered children. In schools where this practice is employed, it has proven to be successful.
The slide show recommended should be no longer than fifteen minutes and kept to a maximum of forty to forty-five slides. A video film may better serve the purposes of orientation, if available.
The information to be shared with parents during this meeting is essential to their understanding of the kindergarten program. The agenda displayed in Figure 9 outlines in point form, the basis for the philosophy of the teachers and the school. An outline for a school handbook is contained in Figure 10.
Topic: Importance of Kindergarten
Introduction
- working with others
- learning through play
- individual experiences are designed to benefit the "whole" child
- personal worth
- parents are partners
Slide Presentation
- curriculum areas
- learning centers
- class groups
- enrichment - library
- field trips if available
- music
- physical education
- support staff - nurse
- librarian
- grouping, ie. - rotation of classes
- when
- why
- recess - nutritious snacks
- free play
Display of Teaching Aids:
Curriculum Kits
ie. DUSO
Family Life
Language Arts
Figure 9. Agenda for Parent Orientation Meeting
Decorative Cover
Lists of teaching and support staff
- secretary
- nurse
- principal
- music and physical education teachers
- prefects (if known)
Greetings from the principal
List of materials required to buy
- checklist of school supplies
Recommended recess snacks, lunches
- canteen services
Schedule of attendance
- should include at least all of September
Figure 10. Suggested Outline for Kindergarten Orientation Handbook
Introducing Parents to Progress Reporting Procedures
TIME: Evening session - October
PURPOSE:
- To explain to parents assessment procedures.
- To express generally desired goals for children.
- To illustrate reporting purposes, methods.
ATTENDED BY:
- Principal
- Teacher(s)
- Parents
LOCATION: A room in the school which will accommodate all attending.
PROCEDURE:
- Talk: The Purpose and Importance of Progress Reporting
- Talk: Methods of Assessment Used in the Classroom. Desirable Goals for Kindergarten Children
- Samples of Progress Reports for Review
- Discussion Period.
Figure 11. Meeting to Introduce Progress Reporting Procedures
As indicated in Figure 11, an important component of the parent-teacher communication model is a meeting of parents with the teacher and the principal, to introduce parents to methods of assessment and progress reporting. Discussion of specific children should be completely avoided during this session. Parents should be made aware of the need for privacy for progress reporting. The need for such a meeting was indicated through discussion with parents and teachers. Misconceptions about assessment are abundant and
must be dispelled if schools are to change parental attitudes toward kindergarten. As indicated in Chapter II, teacher-conducted assessments are professional activities. As such, procedures should be documented and shared with the parent.
The agenda offered in Figure 12 is an attempt to assure parents their child is learning with a purpose in mind, and that there are goals the parent can share in achieving.
---
**Introduction - Importance of Reporting**
**Assessment**
- The Developmental Review
- observation of children
- Anecdotal Records
- sample record
- methods of completing record
- frequency of recording
- files of work samples
- Assessing to find strengths as well as weaknesses
**Reporting**
- Interviews with teacher
- how to make appointments
- convenient appointment times
- Information Sharing
- parental involvement
- The Report Card
- sample report
- explanation of grading
**Discussion Period**
---
**Figure 12. Suggested Agenda for Meeting to Introduce Progress Reporting Procedures to Parents**
Report Cards
The design of an appropriate report card suitable for use in all schools of the Avalon Consolidated School Board was a major goal of this project. Information was gathered from literature, educators and parents while this report card was being drafted. When completed, copies were circulated for evaluation, as described in Chapter VII.
To facilitate inclusion of the report card in this study, it has been printed to conform with thesis regulations. However, the intended form consists of three sheets of colored legal size (8½ x 14) paper printed on both sides and folded in half to make a document 8½ inches high and 5½ inches in width, consisting of a cover and four pages. The cover page should bear the name of the school, student and teacher and possibly a school crest or some other suitable sketch.
The recommended report card is displayed as Figure 13 in the eight pages following.
This report, presented to you at the end of each school term, is a summary of your child's progress and activities in kindergarten. We encourage you to review the report, and to contact your child's teacher if you wish to discuss any aspect of the kindergarten program.
Terms used in this report are as follows:
E - Excellent
S - Satisfactory
N - Needs Improvement
N/A - Not Applicable at this time
When you have examined this report to your satisfaction, if you do not require an interview with the teacher, please sign in the appropriate space on the final page and return to the school.
Figure 13: Recommended Report Card (continued next page)
LANGUAGE ARTS
1. ALPHABET
- says alphabet from memory
- recognizes capital letters
- recognizes lower case letters
- matches capital and lower case letters
| TERM 1 | TERM 2 | TERM 3 |
|--------|--------|--------|
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
2. READING READINESS
- understands rhyme
- understands opposites
- recognizes colors
- prints own name
- sees likenesses and differences
- sequence (first, next, last)
| TERM 1 | TERM 2 | TERM 3 |
|--------|--------|--------|
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
3. READING
- recognizes color words (red, blue, yellow, green orange, white, brown, black)
- recognizes initial consonant sounds
- word recognition
- comprehension
| TERM 1 | TERM 2 | TERM 3 |
|--------|--------|--------|
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
Figure 13 (continued)
LANGUAGE ARTS - COMMENTS
TERM 1
TERM 2
TERM 3
Figure 13 (continued)
MATHEMATICS
1. SHAPES and SETS
identifies four basic shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle)
comparison of shape and size
comparison of sets:
- one-to-one matching
- more and less
2. NUMERALS
rote counting (0 - __)
recognizes numerals (0 - __)
numerical order
matches numerals and quantities
prints numerals (0 - __)
understands simple addition
Figure 13 (continued)
MATHEMATICS - COMMENTS
TERM 1
TERM 2
TERM 3
Figure 13 (continued)
| FINE-MOTOR CO-ORDINATION | TERM 1 | TERM 2 | TERM 3 |
|--------------------------|--------|--------|--------|
| Printing | | | |
| Coloring | | | |
| Cutting | | | |
**COMMENTS**
TERM 1
TERM 2
TERM 3
---
**MUSIC**
| Interest and Participation | TERM 1 | TERM 2 | TERM 3 |
|----------------------------|--------|--------|--------|
**COMMENTS**
TERM 1
TERM 2
TERM 3
---
**PHYSICAL EDUCATION**
| Interest and Participation | TERM 1 | TERM 2 | TERM 3 |
|----------------------------|--------|--------|--------|
**COMMENTS**
TERM 1
TERM 2
TERM 3
---
Figure 13 (continued)
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT / WORK SKILLS
TERM 1
Social Development
Listening/Work Skills
TERM 2
Social Development
Listening/Work Skills
TERM 3
Social Development
Listening/Work Skills
Placement for September 198_
Teacher's Signature
Figure 13 (continued)
| TERM 1 | Conference Held | Parent's Signature |
|--------|-----------------|--------------------|
| TERM 2 | Conference Held | Parent's Signature |
| TERM 3 | Conference Held | Parent's Signature |
Figure 13 (concluded)
Parent-Teacher Interviews
As indicated in Figure 14, the model of parent-teacher communication developed in this project recommends several parent-teacher interviews during the year -- preferably in November, in February, and subsequently as necessary.
| TIME: | November
| | February
| | subsequently as needed |
| PURPOSE: | For teacher and parent to share information about the child. |
| ATTENDED BY: | Teacher
| | Parent(s) - preferably both
| | Guidance Counsellor - if involved in assessment |
| LOCATION: | Preferably the classroom if total privacy is available. |
| PROCEDURE: | Parent should be presented with a completed report card.
| | Discussion should center around report and anecdotal records. |
Figure 14. Parent-Teacher Interviews
Interviews have been proven to be the most successful form of reporting. The number of interviews conducted should be determined by need and on a co-operative basis.
Time limits generally dictate a fifteen to twenty minute interview during reporting periods. Subsequent meetings should be set in a time period allowing for a
relaxed, unpressured discussion.
Work samples from individual children's files may be distributed to parents during the interview. In areas where parental response is low, this practice often improves attendance.
**Additional Contacts**
Additional contacts are recommended by the model, including a kindergarten newsletter, and the involvement of parents as volunteer workers in the school and on field trips.
**Kindergarten Newsletter**
Completely separate from the school newsletter, a kindergarten newsletter, really should be sent to the home on a monthly or thematic basis. Included may be an outline for learning of the current theme along with booklists and related games or experiences which may be shared by parent and child.
Other items would include: a calendar of the current month for parent and child to complete by marking off each date; a suggested list of "home work" items such as learning to tie, or naming letters of the alphabet; and, finally, summaries of field trips or other class activities.
**Parent Volunteers**
Parents are often invaluable resources. The teacher would be wise to poll parents in September and keep a list of names and talents on file. In this way, the teacher is
able to choose parents who will best enhance a particular activity. Figure 15 recommends a format for the note to parents.
---
Dear Parent:
From time to time the kindergarten class will require parent volunteers for many different activities. If you are able to give of your time please complete and return the form below.
---
I am able to: supervise field trips
provide transportation
help in the classroom
demonstrate a craft
other
Weekdays available:
parent's signature
---
Figure 15. Suggested Format for Letter to Parents regarding Volunteer Activities
CHAPTER VII
EVALUATION OF THE MODEL
The communications model, as presented in Chapter VI of this report, was condensed to a form found in Appendix F, and distributed to a number of educators and parents for their evaluation. Two questionnaires were devised (as found in Appendices D and E), one for educators and the second for parents, and distributed in the following manner:
- one copy for each of the eighteen elementary principals of the Avalon Consolidated School Board
- one copy per school for kindergarten teachers (eighteen schools for thirty-two teachers)
- one copy per household for fourteen of the twenty parents previously contacted for survey purposes
The total number of questionnaires distributed was thus fixed at fifty. Sixty-four people were actually polled. Forty-nine responded.
The results of this survey are condensed and presented on the pages following, along with comments by principals, teachers and parents. The responses did not indicate a need for major changes in the model as presented. Alterations to the model as required have been completed.
Results of Questionnaires Distributed to Principals and Kindergarten Teachers
The combined data from principals' and kindergarten teachers' returned forms is presented in table form in this section. The total number of questionnaires and models distributed was thirty-six; nineteen responses were received representing ten principals, and seventeen teachers, from ten of the eighteen schools.
Registration Procedures
As shown in Table 35, with the exception of one teacher, all responses indicate the proposed method of registration for children would be suitable for use in schools of the Avalon Consolidated School Board. Further details regarding this question are presented in the comments offered in response to question 2.
Table 35
Feasibility of Registration Process
Question: Would the method of registration as outlined here be feasible in your school?
| Response | yes | no |
|----------|-----|----|
| | 18 | 1 |
As indicated in Table 36, the comments offered in part one of the question served to confirm the appropriateness of this method of registration for most schools. The exclusion of the parent from the child's initial meeting was not recommended in the model as the child would feel very uncomfortable if suddenly left alone with a stranger. This point has been further explained in Chapter VI of this report.
Table 36
Requested Changes in Procedure
Question: If yes (to question 1) would you like to see additions or changes?
Responses:
- no comment: 12
- quite adequate: 2
- exclude parent: 1
- have registration earlier: 2
- child should observe present kindergarten in progress: 1
Unsuitability of Registration Procedure
Question: If no (to question 1) what would be the cause of difficulty?
Response: too many children to interview: 1
Child observation of a class in progress may indeed prove productive, but would not fulfill the purpose of the meeting of child and teacher as outlined previously.
The difficulty which may be encountered by long line ups as indicated in part two is reasonably infrequent in local schools. Registration is generally an "all day" event, and as completion of forms by the secretary and nurse are done individually, children are delayed by five to ten minutes each.
As shown in Table 37 the majority of respondents felt the registration procedure as presented would be beneficial for parent, teacher and child.
Table 37
Benefits of Initial Meeting
Question: Do you feel the initial meeting of parents and teachers outlined here would be beneficial to:
- The child
- The teacher
- The parent
Response:
| Response | Yes | No |
|----------------|-----|----|
| The child | 17 | 2 |
| The teacher | 17 | 2 |
| The parent | 17 | 2 |
The negative responses to this question appear to have been the result of misunderstanding the question as shown below in Table 38.
Table 38
Least Benefited by Meeting
Question: If your response to question 3 was negative, who do you feel would benefit least and why?
Response: the child should not be required to complete tasks
The assumed misunderstanding by the respondents is that question three was misread as actual registration procedures. The question is, in fact, based on the initial parent-teacher meeting, and children do not attend.
The concern about children completing tasks during their first meeting with the teacher has been explained in Chapter VI, page 90. The tasks are not a form of assessment, but rather a starting point for relaxed conversation and positive attitudes toward school.
Orientation Procedures
The proposed method of orientation appears to be satisfactory based on the data received and presented in Table 39.
Table 39
Feasibility of Orientation Procedures
Question: Would the orientation procedures, as outlined, be feasible in your school?
Response:
yes 19
no 0
As shown in Table 40, eleven respondents offered no further suggestions for change in the orientation process. Four respondents questioned the involvement of grade one parents. These parents are involved only to promote a relaxed atmosphere for newly involved parents. Parent volunteers are actually on hand.
Table 40
Recommended Additions or Deletions
Question: If yes (to question 1) would you recommend additions or deletions?
Response:
- no comment: 10
- very important process: 1
- question attendance of grade: 4
- one parents: 1
- a question and answer session should be provided: 1
- conduct in the fall: 1
- co-ordinate with child orientation in afternoon: 2
The addition of a question and answer session to the parent orientation meeting outlined in the model has been completed as recommended.
The time change to fall or to afternoon session has not precipitated change in the model. Many parents would be unable to attend such a meeting during regular working hours. A fall session would not provide sufficient notice for purchase of materials, babysitting arrangements for working parents or preparation time in general.
Progress Reporting Information
As indicated in Table 41, the majority of respondents would be willing to plan and host a meeting to specifically
discuss assessment and reports. The five negative responses were accompanied by the request for inclusion of this material in the parent orientation or private interview.
Table 41
Willingness to Conduct Meeting
Question: Would you be willing to conduct such a meeting for parents?
Response:
yes 14
no 5
The inclusion of this material in other meetings would make sessions much longer, and take valuable time from parent interviews. The meeting to discuss assessment has been included in the model as originally presented.
As Table 42 illustrates, the majority of respondents indicated this meeting would be of benefit to teacher-parent relationships. Two respondents did not answer this question.
Table 42
Benefit of Meeting about Progress Reporting
Question: Do you feel this meeting would be beneficial to parents and/or teachers?
Response:
- yes: 17
- no comment: 2
Table 43 shows that fourteen respondents offered no comments or suggestions, indicating approval of this form of meeting. One teacher would prefer smaller group sessions, a change easily made within the individual school based on teacher preference. This is one of many adaptations which can be introduced to this model.
The combination of this and other meetings has been discussed in the question dealing with willingness to conduct the meeting.
Table 43
Recommended Changes
Question: Would you recommend a change of scheduling or of content?
Response:
- no: 11
- no response: 3
- smaller group: 1
- combine with other meetings: 5
Reporting Instrument
As Table 44 shows, the report card presented is apparently satisfactory to all respondents.
Table 44
Suitability of Report Card
Question: Do you feel this report card would be easily completed, and at the same time inclusive of all important details?
Response:
- yes: 19
- no: 0
All respondents indicated they felt this report card would be suitable for distribution to parents, as shown in Table 45 below.
Table 45
Evaluation of Parental Understanding
Question: Do you feel parents would find this report easy to understand?
Response:
- yes: 19
- no: 0
The nature of the responses to the question presented in Table 46 do not lend themselves to tabulation. These comments are discussed on the pages following.
Table 46
Format and Potential for Use
Question: Please comment on the format of this report in general and its potential for use in your school.
Response:
Seven respondents offered no comment. The great majority of the comments were very positive. Portions of these comments follow:
this report is in good taste
this proposed report is more precise than the one we presently use
very applicable. It would achieve understanding and positive attitudes.
comprehensive - quite feasible
lots of space for comments - clear and concise - all excellent features
similar to our own. We would like to use a cross between the two,
excellent - but I need it in French.
The above comments indicate complete satisfaction with the reporting document by a number of principals and teachers. Some respondents did offer suggestions for alteration:
- more space is needed for children with exceptional needs
- more space is desirable
- there is no need for a report in November
- I like it but it could follow the curriculum guide more closely.
These comments indicate the need for a report card which is not rigid but rather adaptable to individual needs. The inclusion of a November report is, however, an important component of this model. The purpose of a written report is to record progress for future reference and to avoid misunderstanding during the parent-teacher interview.
The final comment listed suggests co-ordinating the report with a curriculum guide. This "guide" is a teacher's resource book entitled *Early Experiences* and is published by Nelson-Canada. The book is very detailed and must be condensed before interpreting for parents.
All comments were very constructive and proved to be very important to this project.
**Results of Parent Surveys**
Questionnaires were distributed to fourteen parents. Five responses were received.
As shown in Table 47, all respondents indicated willingness to attend the three meetings suggested in the model. It has been generally found that parents of kindergarten children do attend scheduled meetings at the request of the school.
Table 47
Willingness to Attend Meetings
| Question: | Would you be willing to attend the three meetings outlined here if your child was registered for kindergarten? |
|-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Response: | yes 5
no 0 |
Table 48 indicates that none of the parents who responded indicated they would not seek changes in these meetings.
Table 48
Suggested Changes
| Question: | Would you as a parent like to see deletions or changes in these meetings? |
|-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Response: | yes 0
no 5 |
When parents were asked if they felt the contact outlined in the model would be beneficial to them and their child, they all responded in the affirmative. As shown in Table 49, comments which accompanied the response to this question were very positive. Some of these were:
- this would help the parent to understand in more detail the kindergarten program.
- especially important for parents who have not had previous contact with the school.
One parent indicated that meeting number three; dealing with progress reporting procedures may not be completely necessary, but that she would attend.
Table 49
Benefits of Contact
| Question: | Do you feel contact with the school as outlined here would be of benefit to you and your child? |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Response: | yes |
| | no |
Comments indicated in Table 50 show respondents felt that this report is quite detailed. One parent suggested two of the four grading terms (excellent and satisfactory) be
deleted. This contrasts with parental requests in the original interviews for more precise grading. (See page 83.)
Table 50
Suitability of Report Card
Question: Do you feel the enclosed report card includes everything you would like to know about your child's school work?
Response:
yes 5
no 0
The respondents indicated, as shown in Table 51, that they were satisfied with the report card as presented with four parents rating it "very good" and one rating it "excellent".
Table 51
Rating of Report Card
Question: Would you rate this report card as:
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Adequate
- Needs Revision
- Poor
Response:
- Excellent: 1
- Very Good: 4
- Adequate: 0
- Needs Revision: 0
- Poor: 0
When asked to note their reaction to the type of contacts indicated in the model, as shown in Table 52, responses were quite detailed. Some of the major points are noted below.
There are not enough contacts at present... there seems to be a rushed attitude... the "orientation of parents" appears to be a good idea.
The first year is most important... a positive reaction is important... if a parent can help in any way the responsibility should be taken.
This parent teacher contact should be encouraged beyond kindergarten level.
These contacts will affect parents a great deal... kindergarten consists of a team - the child, the teacher and you, the parent.
Table 52
Parental Opinion of Model
Question: Please note your reaction to the type of contacts listed on the attached pages as they might affect the parents of kindergarten students.
Summary
The communications model as presented in Appendix F was distributed to principals, teachers and parents. Responses were received from ten principals, seventeen teachers and five parents.
It is noted with much appreciation that all respondents took time to make a critical review of the model. The great majority of responses supported the model in its original form. Legitimate criticisms were noted and subsequent alterations were made in the format of the model where required.
CHAPTER VIII
SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
The purpose of this project was to determine need and subsequently design a communications model for use by parents and teachers during the kindergarten year.
Interviews were conducted with the eighteen elementary school principals and questionnaires distributed to the kindergarten teachers of the Avalon Consolidated School Board. The purpose was to determine current communication practices and the level of satisfaction with these. Following the gathering of this data, twenty parents whose children had completed kindergarten were interviewed. The interview was designed to gather information about parents' awareness and satisfaction with the kindergarten program. The parents interviewed were chosen by a method of random sampling.
Following a literature search and tabulation of data gathered from educators and parents, a model for communications was devised. The model includes recommendations for initial and subsequent parent-teacher meetings and a report card for use by kindergarten teachers. The intention is for this model to be used specifically in the kindergarten year with adaptations made for individual need.
The completed model was distributed to principals, teachers and parents for their evaluation. When responses were gathered, data was compiled, considered and necessary revisions subsequently made.
Findings
The interviews and surveys conducted demonstrated two major needs. Firstly, educators indicated a need for some standardized guidelines for communicating with and reporting to parents. The point most emphasized was the wide variety of report cards used by kindergarten teachers.
The second major requirement for parent-teacher communications was found to be increased parental awareness. Teachers indicated poor parental attitudes to be an obstacle to communications, and parents indicated that even after their child had completed the program there were many unanswered questions. Several parents discounted the importance of academic and guided learning in kindergarten and also showed some dissatisfaction with reporting procedures. All parents advocated increased parental contact and involvement in the school.
Recommendations
It is recommended that the model developed herein be considered for adoption within this district and perhaps elsewhere in the province. The guidelines are flexible enough to allow for deletions or insertions as individually needed while affording some standardization in parental contact.
The limited research on home-school communications suggests the need for further research. Studies might profitably be directed at the relationship between parental involvement in kindergarten programs and their attitudes towards them, and at parental concerns about being misled by reporting procedures.
Concluding Statement
The data gathered during the course of this project points to the need for increased parental awareness and involvement in kindergarten. Those surveyed - parents as well as teachers and principals - indicated a willingness for greater contact and a desire for a partnership type of relationship between home and school. The evaluations for the communications model developed for the project were positive and supportive, suggesting that its adoption can contribute to that relationship, to the benefit of the kindergarten child.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Bagin, Donald. *School Communications: Ideas That Work*. Chicago: McGraw-Hill, 1972.
Blenkin, Geva M. and A.V. Kelly. *The Primary Curriculum*. London: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1981.
Bortner, Doyle M. *Public Relations for Teachers*. New York: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Company, 1959.
Buffett, Fred (ed.). *Developing a School-Community Communications Program*. St. John's, Newfoundland: Department of Educational Administration, Memorial University, 1981.
Buskin, Martin. *Parent Power: A Candid Handbook for Dealing With Your Child's School*. New York: Walker, 1975.
Campbell, William G. and Stephen V. Ballou. *Form and Style: Theses, Reports, Term Papers*. 5th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1978.
Central Advisory Council for Education (England). *Children and their Primary Schools*. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1967.
Dewey, John. *The Child and the Kindergarten*. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1899.
Eden, Susanne. *Early Experiences: A Resource Guide for Developmental Programs in Early Childhood Education*. Toronto: Nelson Canada, 1982.
Froebel, Freidrich. *The Education of Man*, trans. M.L. Hailman. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1887.
Gibson, Betty. *Early Childhood: A Time for Learning; A Time for Joy*. Winnipeg: Department of Education, Province of Manitoba, 1979.
Honiq, Alice S. *Parent Involvement in Early Childhood Education*. Washington, D.C.: National Association for Education of Young Children, 1976.
Kindred, Leslie W. et al. *The School and Community Relations*. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1976.
Lillie, David L. *Early Childhood Education: An Individualized Approach to Developmental Instruction*. Palo Alto: Science Research Associates, 1975.
McCloskey, Gordon. *Education and Public Understanding*, 2nd ed. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1967.
Meyers, Elizabeth S. et al. *The Kindergarten Teachers' Handbook*. Los Angeles: Gramercy Press, 1973.
Mills, Belen Collantes. *Understanding the Young Child and His Curriculum*. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1972.
Moehlman, Arthur B. and James A. Van Zwoll. *School Public Relations*. New York: Appleton Century Crofts, 1957.
Montessori, Maria. *The Montessori Method*. New York: Stokes Publishing Co., 1912.
Nash, Chris. *The Learning Environment*. Toronto: Methuen, 1976.
Peine, Hermann A. and Roy Howarth. *Children and Parents*. Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1975.
Rioux, J. William and Stuart A. Sandow. *Children, Parents, and School Records*. Columbia, Maryland: The National Committee for Citizens in Education, 1974.
Robison, Helen F. and Bernard Spodek. *New Directions in the Kindergarten*. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1965.
Romer, Terry L. *Complete Kindergarten Handbook*. New York: Parker Publishing Company, Inc., 1979.
Ross, Elizabeth Dale. *The Kindergarten Crusade: The Establishment of Preschool Education in the United States*. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1976.
Rudolph, Marguerita and Dorothy H. Cohen. *Kindergarten, A Year of Learning*. New York: Appleton Century Crofts, 1964.
Sharrock, Anne N. *Home/School Relations: Their Importance in Education*. London: MacMillan and Company Ltd., 1970.
PERIODICALS
Becker, Henry Jay and Joyce L. Epstein. "Parent Involvement: A Survey of Teacher Practices." *Elementary School Journal*, 83 (November, 1982), 85-102.
Coates, Dona. "Some Basic Facts about the Transition between Pre-School and School." *Prime Areas*, 23 (Fall, 1980), 32-35.
Fredericks, A.D. "Positive Partnerships." *Early Years*, 14 (August-September, 1983), 72.
Herman, Joan L. and Jennie P. Yeh. "Some Effects of Parent Involvement in Schools." *Urban Review*, 15 (1983), 41-17.
Honig, A.S. and J.R. Lally. "Family Development Research Program: Retrospective Review." *Early Child Development and Care*, 10 (1982), 41-62.
Iverson, B.K. et al. "Parent-Teacher Contacts and Student Learning." *Journal of Educational Research*, 74 (July-August, 1981), 394-6.
Law, Naomi A. and Ethel Berry Mincey. "Parents vs. Teachers or Parents and Teachers; What Shall It Be?" *Early Child Development and Care*, 11 (1983); 123-30.
Lopez, Linda C. and William M. Holmes. "Maternal Involvement and Academic Success for Kindergarten Pupils." *Reading Improvement*, 20 (Winter, 1983), 248-51.
Macleod, F. "Home-Based Early Learning Project." *Early Child Development and Care*, 12 (1983), 111-118.
Manitoba Research Council. "First Grade Entry ~ Is There a Right Age?" *Newsletter - Canadian Association for Young Children*, (March, 1980), 38.
Moles, Oliver C. "Synthesis of Recent Research on Parent Participation in Children's Education." *Educational Leadership*, 40 (November, 1982), 44-47.
Nash, Chris. "Early Identification or Early Childhood Education - A Matter of Choice." *Newsletter - Canadian Association for Young Children*, (May, 1981), 40-49.
Richards, Merle. "Moving toward Continuity in Childhood Education." *Newsletter - Canadian Association for Young Children*, (March, 1980), 39.
Starkey, M.A. "Conference Day: Parent, Teacher, Student." *Day Care and Early Education*, (Spring, 1983), 24-7.
**UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS**
Allerhand, Melvin E. *Headstart Operational Field Analysis Progress Report II.* U.S., Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 015 775, 1966.
Avon Public Schools. *Elementary and Middle School Reading Program.* U.S., Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 092 862, November, 1974.
Bishop, Claude. "A Survey of Public Relations in the School Districts of Newfoundland and Labrador as Perceived by the District Superintendent." Unpublished Master's thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1972.
Bromley, Father Ronald M. "Developing and Executing a Plan for a School-Community Communications Program." Unpublished Master's project, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1972.
Cosgrove, Gregory Tracey. "Home Training of Parents of Culturally Different Junior Kindergarten Children." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Toronto, 1982.
Fairfax County Schools. *Program of Studies. Early Childhood Education: Kindergarten Section.* U.S., Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 111 526, January 1976.
Grace, Thomas. "A Parental Attitudinal Assessment as a Basis for a Public Relations Program." Unpublished Master's thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1973.
Hines, Burnett Alexander. "Concomitant Effects of Parental Involvement in Federally Supported Early Childhood Programs." *Dissertation Abstracts International*, 44 (July, 1983), 66-A.
Howell, John F. *A Follow-Up Evaluation of a Preschool Program*. U.S., Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 115 669, 1975.
Kendrick, Martha Louise. "The Relationship between Kindergarten Children's Classroom Behaviour and Family Unit Types." *Dissertation Abstracts International*, 44 (February, 1984), 2353-A.
Kolumbus, Elinor Schulman. *Is It Tomorrow Yet? Handbook for Educators of the Very Young*. Israel, Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 205 252, December, 1981.
Land, Betty Lou. "Parent-Child Educational Interaction: A Longitudinal Study of the Effects of a Kindergarten Involvement Program." *Dissertation Abstracts International*, 44 (October, 1983), 982-A.
Lane, Elizabeth M., ed. *Early Childhood Education Program, ESEA Title I, FY 1970 Project Reports, Volume 5, Book 2*, 1970. U.S.; Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC Document ED 052 820, November, 1971.
McInerney, Beatrice L., et al. *Preschool and Primary Education Project. 1967-68 Annual Progress Report to the Ford Foundation*. U.S., Educational Resources, ERIC Document ED 027 936, August, 1969.
Oglesby, Shirley Ann. "A Comparison and Analysis of Parents and Teachers of Kindergarten Children on Selected Issues Related to Kindergarten Education." *Dissertation Abstracts International*, 44 (February, 1984), 2350-A.
Sharp, Dorothy Candlish. "Early Childhood Programs: A Study of Provision for Kindergarten and Preschool Programs in Newfoundland." Unpublished Master's thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1976.
Valdez Diaz, Martha Yolanda. "Home Environmental Factors on Indicators of Learning Problems Among Hispanic Kindergarten Children." *Dissertation Abstracts International*, 44 (September, 1983) 734-A.
PUBLICATIONS AND PAMPHLETS OF GOVERNMENTS, SCHOOL BOARDS AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
Avalon Consolidated School Board. Kindergarten Assessment: Policy, Rationale, Procedures. St. John's: Avalon Consolidated School Board.
Board of Education for the City of Toronto. Reporting to Parents. Toronto: Board of Education for City of Toronto, 1966.
Department of Education, Division of Curriculum. A Kindergarten Handbook: A Guide for Teachers, Parents and Others. Bulletin S-22. St. John's: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Department of Education, Division of Curriculum. Program of Studies, 1984-85. St. John's: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1984.
Department of Health. School Health Services: Notes for Teachers. St. John's: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
District Media Center. Books for Preschoolers. St. John's: Avalon Consolidated School Board, 1981.
District Media Center. Records for Preschoolers. St. John's: Avalon Consolidated School Board, 1983.
Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Schools Act, 1969 (R.S.N., 1970).
Provincial Kindergarten Committee. Assessment. St. John's: Department of Education, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (Incomplete).
* Provincial Kindergarten Committee. Beginnings: A Guide for Kindergarten Teachers. St. John's: Department of Education, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1983.
Provincial Kindergarten Committee. Kindergarten Education. St. John's: Department of Education, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1981.
* This was an incomplete draft copy released to the school districts for critical appraisal during provincial inservice in 1982. The Advance Edition of the Kindergarten Curriculum Guide was released during provincial inservice in 1984. In January 1985, the Department of Education's authorized copy of the Kindergarten Guide came off Confederation press.
SCHOOL HANDBOOKS
Avalon Consolidated School Board
Cowan Heights Elementary School
Goulds Elementary School
Morris Academy
Newtown Elementary School
Park Avenue Elementary School
St. Michael's Elementary School
Vanier Elementary School
Virginia Park Elementary School
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE FOR ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS
OF THE AVALON CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL BOARD
Interview Schedule.
Elementary Principals of the Avalon Consolidated School Board
1. What are your kindergarten registration procedures?
- the first contact with the home
- who attends
- assessment of children
2. Does orientation for children or parents follow orientation?
- when
- duration
- number in attendance
- adults involved
- media
3. Are additional attempts made to prepare the family for kindergarten?
- booklets
- meetings
- other
4. How, and how often, are parents formally contacted by teachers?
- reporting periods
- parent volunteers
- home visits
- letters to the home
5. Are parents encouraged to "drop in" at any time?
Are they encouraged to become involved in the kindergarten program?
6. How well do teachers know a pupil's parents with regard to:
- home environment
- academic press
- books in the home
- child care
- family size
B. Do teachers take it upon themselves to advise parents on these matters?
7. Is there a parent-teacher association at your school?
- is programming discussed?
- to what extent is it geared to kindergarten?
- what is the proportion of kindergarten parents who regularly attend?
8. How is contact made with the home for progress reporting purposes?
- telephone
- memos
- appointments
9. Are report cards or guidesheets used for reporting?
A. Who designed the one presently in use?
B. What were the most important considerations in design, and are there any particular recurring difficulties in usage?
10. Are there special procedures for dealing with single or working parents, and those with limited formal education?
11. In general what is your assessment of the present home/school communications procedures?
- what are the particular strong points?
- what improvements would you like to see?
APPENDIX B
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS OF THE AVALON CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL BOARD
2 Earle Street
St. John's, Newfoundland
A1E 3Z1
January 30, 1984
Kindergarten Teacher:
Presently, I am employed as a kindergarten teacher, and I realize that time is at a premium. It would be much appreciated, however, if you would complete the enclosed questionnaire at your earliest convenience, and return it to me in the envelope provided.
I am, at this time working on the development of a kindergarten home/school communication system as part of the requirement for the degree of Master of Educational Administration. The input from kindergarten teachers presently working in the Avalon Consolidated School Board is essential to make this report relevant, and therefore applicable to present school situations.
This study has the approval of the School Board and I have already held discussions with most of the principals.
Thank you for your time and co-operation.
Yours sincerely,
Jeanette M. Newhook
Encl.
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS
Please check (✓) appropriate answers.
1. When do you make first contact with parents of new kindergarten students?
Registration day
Parent orientation
First day of school
Other (please explain)
2. When do you first explain the child's expected/desired progress to the parents?
Parent orientation
November interview (or report)
Other
3. To what extent are parents involved in your kindergarten program? (check as many as necessary)
Teacher aides
Occasional assistance (e.g., field trips)
Helping their child at home with special projects
Helping their child at home in areas of weakness
4. Which components of the home environment do you feel are important to a child's success in kindergarten? (check as many as necessary)
Books and educational materials
Parental attitude towards a child's success in school
Parent/child relationships
Other
5. In which way(s) might the school assist in assuring these components are present in the home? (please comment)
6. What type of progress report is offered to parents in:
| Month | Type |
|--------|---------------|
| November| interview |
| | written |
| | combination |
| February| interview |
| | written |
| | combination |
| June | interview |
| | written |
| | combination |
7. The format of your kindergarten report card is:
- work samples
- anecdotal
- check marks
- graded
- combination of above
- other
no report card
If none, alternative
8. What is your feeling toward your present report card?
Satisfactory
Could be improved ___ Please comment ________________
9. What types of problems do you encounter at reporting time? (i.e., parental understanding, initiating contact) (please comment) ________________________
10. What are the priority topics in your written reports?
Language
Math
Social development
Other
11. Please explain briefly how records of each student's progress are kept throughout the year.
APPENDIX C
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE FOR PARENTS OF CHILDREN
WHO ATTENDED KINDERGARTEN, SEPTEMBER
1982 TO JUNE 1983
Interview Schedule
Parents of Children Who Attended Kindergarten
September 1982 to June 1983
1. Did you know what would be taught in kindergarten before your child started school last September?
2. Did you know what would be expected of your child during the kindergarten year?
How did you find this out? (example: pamphlets, PTA)
3. To what extent were you involved in the kindergarten program during your child's year in kindergarten?
- Teacher aide
- Assisting with home-assigned tasks
- Special projects
- Field trips
- Other
4. How important do you feel kindergarten was to your child's education?
5. How often did you receive progress reports concerning your child?
Did you seek additional reports?
6. What do you feel should be the purpose of progress reporting?
Are these purposes being met?
7. Did you at any time receive a report card?
Was it:
- easily understood,
- relevant,
- inclusive of all areas of development?
What do you feel was most important?
8. On the report card, or during the interview, were suggestions offered by the teacher as to how you might assist your child to do well in kindergarten?
9. Were you asked by the teacher for suggestions as to how she might effectively teach your child?
10. Do you know if the kindergarten teacher kept anecdotal records about your child?
How useful do you feel this practice is?
11. What, if any, changes would you like to see in the way kindergarten children are assessed - or in the way reporting is carried out?
12. Do you feel kindergarten teachers and parents should work closely together?
How often should parents visit with teachers in school?
Do you feel teachers should visit the home?
APPENDIX D
QUESTIONNAIRE DISTRIBUTED TO PRINCIPALS AND GROUPS OF TEACHERS TO DETERMINE ACCEPTABILITY OF MODEL
2 Earle Street
St. John's
Newfoundland
A1E 3Z1
June 1, 1984
Principals
Elementary Schools
Avalon Consolidated School Board
St. John's, Newfoundland
Dear Sir or Madam:
You may recall our contact earlier this year concerning your methods of communication between teachers and parents during the kindergarten year. This was in part, a requirement for the Degree of Master of Educational Administration. The final requirement of the study was to develop a model communications system, inclusive of a progress reporting instrument for use in kindergarten.
The model has been devised, and a condensed version of same is enclosed for your examination. Your reaction to this on the enclosed survey form would be very much appreciated at this time.
I realize the school year is drawing quickly to a close, and that time is at a premium for all principals. It is important to the study however, that the questionnaires be returned as quickly as possible. Please complete the form by June 15 if possible. A pre-addressed return envelope is enclosed for your convenience.
I thank you in advance for finding the time of offer your help, and I take this opportunity to thank you for your invaluable help during the early stages of this study.
Respectfully,
JN/mk Jeanette M. Newhook
Kindergarten Teacher:
Several months ago, a survey was sent to you regarding your methods and feelings toward communication with parents during kindergarten. The information gathered from these surveys was one source used to devise a model for communication between teachers and parents in order to further benefit the child.
The model described above has now been completed, and a condensed version is enclosed. I would appreciate your examination of this, and your completion of the enclosed survey form.
As a kindergarten teacher, I realize the pressure on all teachers at this time of year. Your co-operation would be invaluable, however, as it proved to be in the previous questionnaire. Please feel free to collaborate where there is more than one kindergarten teacher in the school. A copy of the model has been enclosed for each teacher, but only one survey form per school.
Please return the completed survey form in the envelope provided by June 15 if at all possible.
I thank you in advance for your co-operation, and wish to express my appreciation also for your past involvement in this study.
Thank you,
JMN/mk
Jeanette M. Newhook
QUESTIONNAIRE
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
1. Would the method of registration, as outlined here, be feasible in your school?
Yes _____
No ______
2. If yes, would you like to see additions or any changes?
Please comment _______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
If no, what would be the cause of difficulty?
Please comment _______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3. Do you feel the initial meeting of parents and teachers outlined here would be beneficial to:
The child Yes _____ No _____
Teacher Yes _____ No _____
Parent Yes _____ No _____
4. If your response to question 3 was negative, who do you feel would benefit least, and why?
Please comment _______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
ORIENTATION PROCEDURES
1. Would the orientation procedures, as outlined, be feasible in your school?
Yes ______
No ______
2. If yes, would you recommend additions or deletions?
Please comment _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
If no, what would be an acceptable alternative?
Please comment _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
PROGRESS REPORTING INFORMATION
1. Would you be willing to conduct such a meeting for parents?
Yes ______
No ______
2. Do you feel this meeting would be beneficial to parents and/or teachers?
Please comment _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
APPENDIX E
QUESTIONNAIRE DISTRIBUTED TO PARENTS TO DETERMINE ACCEPTABILITY OF MODEL
Dear Parent:
I am a graduate student at Memorial University working toward the completion of a Master's Degree in Educational Administration. You may recall our earlier contact where you were asked to express opinions about your child's year in kindergarten. The previous interview, and the enclosed materials are part of the design of a model for teacher-parent communications in kindergarten.
I ask for your co-operation in reviewing the enclosed, and responding to the attached questionnaire by June 22 if possible. Please regard the materials as to suitability for your own contact with the teacher.
I thank you for your response, and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your past involvement with this study.
A pre-addressed return envelope has been enclosed for your convenience.
Thank you,
Jeanette M. Newhook
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Would you be willing to attend the three meetings outlined here if your child was registered for kindergarten?
Yes ___
No ___
2. Would you, as a parent, like to see any additions, or deletions in any of these meetings?
Meeting 1. _______________________________________________________
Meeting 2. _______________________________________________________
Meeting 3. _______________________________________________________
3. Do you feel contact with the school as outlined here would be of benefit to you and your child?
Please comment _________________________________________________
4. Do you feel the enclosed report card includes everything you would like to know about your child's school work?
Please comment _________________________________________________
APPENDIX F
SAMPLE OF MODEL AS DISTRIBUTED TO
PRINCIPALS, TEACHERS AND
PARENTS FOR REVIEW.
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION
TIME: February/March (as defined by School Board)
PURPOSE:
To enroll the child for kindergarten.
To furnish information for school medical records.
To introduce the child to the teacher on an individual basis.
ATTENDED BY:
Principal and/or Secretary
Public Health Nurse
Kindergarten Teacher(s)
Parent(s) and Child
LOCATION: Any convenient location in the school which will afford privacy to the teacher, parent and child.
PROCEDURE:
Parent(s) and child complete registration forms with school principal or secretary.
Proceed to school nurse with medical information.
Parent(s) and child visit the kindergarten teacher.
The teacher will interview the child about family members, likes/dislikes, and may request that the child complete a sequence of tasks such as rote counting. This will not serve as any type of evaluation, but will foster a positive attitude toward the teacher.
The parent will be present during this interview, and should inform the teacher of medical disabilities or handicaps at this time.
INITIAL PARENT/TEACHER MEETING
TIME: An evening as soon as possible after Registration.
PURPOSE:
- To introduce parent(s) to the teacher, principal.
- To inform parents as to how they can prepare their child for the kindergarten year.
ATTENDED BY:
- Principal
- Teacher(s)
- Parents
- Primary Co-ordinator or Guest Speaker
LOCATION: A room in the school which will accommodate all attending, and will house a display of suitable materials.
PROCEDURE:
- A short talk by teacher/co-ordinator/guest. Suggested topics include: the benefit to the child of outings, store visits, vacations, restaurant visits, story reading, etc.
- An informal discussion session.
- A display of educational toys, books, and records suitable for pre-schoolers.
ORIENTATION FOR CHILDREN AND PARENTS
ORIENTATION FOR CHILDREN
TIME: Late May/early June, a one hour session
PURPOSE: To introduce children to classmates. To allow children to become familiar with school environment.
ATTENDED BY: Teacher
A group of ten to fifteen children.
LOCATION: The kindergarten classroom.
PROCEDURE: The teacher will provide a short lesson plan of her choice. Parents should be accommodated in a waiting area outside the classroom.
ORIENTATION FOR PARENTS
TIME: An evening as soon as possible following children's orientation. Approximately 90 minutes.
PURPOSE: To familiarize parents with the content of the kindergarten program, and stress its importance. To introduce parents to various facilities of the school.
ATTENDED BY: Principal
Teacher(s)
Parents
Primary Co-ordinator/Guest Speaker
A selected number of Parents of grade one students.
LOCATION: A room in the school suitable for slide presentation and display.
PROCEDURE: Talk: The Importance of Kindergarten
Talk: The Components of the Program/Thematic Approach
Slide Presentation
Informal discussion with parents of last year's kindergarten students.
Display of teaching materials: DUSO, Family Life Posters, etc.
Take-home materials: School handbook, N.T.A. handbook, etc.
PARENT MEETING: PROGRESS REPORTS
PROGRESS REPORTING
TIME: Evening session - October
PURPOSE:
- To explain to parents assessment procedures.
- To express generally desired goals for children.
- To illustrate reporting purposes, methods.
ATTENDED BY:
- Principal
- Teacher(s)
- Parents
LOCATION: A room in the school which will accommodate all attending.
PROCEDURE:
- Talk: The Purpose and Importance of Progress Reporting.
- Talk: Methods of Assessment Used in the Classroom.
- Desirable Goals for Kindergarten Children.
- Samples of Progress Reports for Review.
- Discussion period.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS
PARENT/TEACHER INTERVIEW
The report card will be made available to parents at the November interview as well as in February and June. Interviews beyond the initial progress report in November will be determined largely by need, but there would be at least one more scheduled interview at a time convenient for teacher and parent.
KINDERGARTEN NEWSLETTER
Completely separate from the school newsletter, an information sheet will be sent to the home on a monthly basis. This may include a ditto copy of a calendar for parent and child to complete, a list of suggested "home work" such as learning to tie, printing the child's name with an initial capital letter and all additional letters in lower case, etc. The teacher may choose to summarize field trip events, etc.
The following is a list of the most important and frequently used terms in the field of computer science:
1. Algorithm: A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or performing a task.
2. Data Structure: A way of organizing data that allows efficient access, modification, and manipulation.
3. Database: An organized collection of data stored in a computer system.
4. Database Management System (DBMS): Software that manages databases and provides an interface for users to interact with them.
5. Encryption: The process of converting information into a coded form so that it can be securely transmitted or stored.
6. Hashing: A technique for mapping data of arbitrary size to fixed-size values.
7. Interface: A way for two systems to communicate with each other.
8. Object-Oriented Programming (OOP): A programming paradigm that emphasizes the use of objects to represent real-world entities and their interactions.
9. Protocol: A set of rules that govern how data is transmitted between two systems.
10. Query: A request for information from a database.
11. Security: The protection of data from unauthorized access, modification, or destruction.
12. Software: A set of instructions that tell a computer what to do.
13. System: A collection of hardware and software components that work together to perform a specific task.
14. User Interface (UI): The part of a computer program that interacts with the user.
15. Virtual Machine (VM): A software implementation of a computer system that runs on top of another computer system.
16. Web Application: A software application that runs on a web server and is accessed through a web browser.
17. XML: eXtensible Markup Language, a markup language used to structure and organize data in a web application.
18. API: Application Programming Interface, a set of rules and protocols that allow different software applications to communicate with each other.
19. Cloud Computing: The delivery of computing resources over the internet, allowing users to access and use these resources without having to install and maintain the underlying infrastructure.
20. Big Data: Large volumes of data that require specialized techniques and tools for analysis and management. | a86b64e7-f61b-4891-b4b2-1f5777d0b586 | CC-MAIN-2024-26 | https://research.library.mun.ca/7875/1/Newhook_JeanetteMarie.pdf | 2024-06-20T12:12:07+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-26/segments/1718198861940.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20240620105805-20240620135805-00739.warc.gz | 434,935,372 | 36,070 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.918897 | eng_Latn | 0.995128 | [
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Piezoelectric is the concept used in electric power generation here. In this farm, power will produce with the help of Piezo-trees. Leaves of these trees are made of special not fragile material with piezoelectric properties. Wind makes the leaves of these trees move such as any other trees in the world with the difference that collision of Piezo-leaves produce an amount of DC electric current. Energy produced by a leaf is small but if we collect total energy of all leaves then we have considerable electrical energy.
The main advantage of Piezo-trees than wind turbines are: The Piezo-trees are more beautiful, no danger to birds, no need for generator or big equipment, less probability of failure.
Raised Farm has been dug from the ground and has been raised. Roots of trees in this farm are visible. They are designed to a specific shape, the roots are really vertical and horizontal arms from suitable material. The roots have three applications: 1. bearing of trees weight, 2. energy transmission 3. A place for "TV-storages" installation.
How the transmission system works? Energy of every Piezo-leaf moves through stem and trunk of tree to roots, energy then transfers through roots to underground where they join and attach to some electrical cables. Cables finally deliver energy to substation. Substation is a room with required equipment (e.g., converters) that convert DC electric current to AC and gives the final energy to Copenhagen's grid. But it's not all, "TV-storages" (Will be described in the next paragraph) may take or give energy to this network.
Copenhagen Wind Direction over the Entire Year
Over the course of the year, typical wind speeds vary from 4 mph to 21 mph (light breeze to fresh breeze), rarely exceeding 30 mph (strong breeze). The highest average wind speed of 14 mph (moderate breeze) occurs around January 3, at which time the average daily maximum wind speed is 21 mph (fresh breeze). The lowest average wind speed of 10 mph (gentle breeze) occurs around August 1, at which time the average daily maximum wind speed is 15 mph (moderate breeze).
The wind is most often out of the west (24% of the time), south-west (17% of the time), south (15% of the time), and east (11% of the time).
This report describes the typical weather at the Copenhagen Airport (Kastrup near Copenhagen, Denmark) weather station over the course of an average year. It is based on the historical records from 1974 to 2012. Earlier records are either unavailable or unreliable.
Kastrup near Copenhagen has a humid continental climate with warm summers and no dry season. The area within 25 miles of this station is covered by oceans and seas (47%), croplands (41%), built-up areas (10%), and grasslands (3%). | <urn:uuid:85d6e56d-3175-49a0-8f61-b1933c8f514e> | CC-MAIN-2019-13 | http://upload.landartgenerator.org/09773680-9fb3-4880-a68c-45ec2d96a999.pdf | 2019-03-24T03:15:41Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-13/segments/1552912203168.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20190324022143-20190324044143-00190.warc.gz | 216,604,798 | 599 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.998391 | eng_Latn | 0.998391 | [
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THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL
CERTIFICATE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION EXAMINATION
072
ARCHITECTURAL DRAUGHTING
TIME: 3 Hours
Wednesday November 19, 2003 a.m.
Instructions
1. This paper consists of sections A, B and C.
2. Answer ALL questions in sections A and B, and TWO (2) questions from section C.
3. Electronic calculators are not allowed in the examination room.
4. Cellular phone are not allowed in the examination room.
5. Write your Examination Number on every page of your answer booklet(s).
This paper consists of 6 printed pages.
SECTION A (20 marks)
Answer ALL questions in this section.
1. For each of the items (i) to (x) choose the correct answer from among the given alternatives and write its letter beside the item number.
(i) Drawing is a
A language for the introverts
B means of communication by lines
C subject for the dull pupils
D military language
E subject for technicians.
(ii) Details within the drawing are shown by
A overall dimensions
B dotted lines
C hatched lines
D sectional lines
E leader lines.
(iii) Dead loads are loads caused by
A moving wind
B resting equipment
C moving bodies
D the static and non moving bodies
E non living things.
(iv) Shingles are a type of roofing material manufactured from
A sisal yarns
B cement
C galvanised steel
D wood
E man made material.
(v) Scales can be expressed as
A an instruction
B a fraction
C whole number
D picture
E a model.
(vi) Dotted lines or broken lines are used to show
A visible areas
B hidden areas
C unnecessary areas
D cut views
E built areas.
(vii) The following information is necessary and should appear on a drawing:
A Decor and window schedule
B Type of brick to be used
C Contractor’s name
D Bearing load of the roof supports
E Bearing capacity of the surrounding environment.
(viii) A person who initiates a drawing is the
A clerk of works
B material engineer
C architect
D client
E site engineer.
(ix) The element which shows the true picture of the building materials in a drawing is the
A ground plan
B rear elevation
C drainage layout
D vertical section drawing.
E section drawing.
(x) The block plans in a drawing office are initiated by
A a village headman
B a land officer
C a town planner
D a surveyor
E an architect.
2. Match the items in list A with the correct responses in List B by writing the letter of the corresponding response beside the item number.
| LIST A | LIST B |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|
| (i) Earth used to fill in areas around a foundation wall. | A Detum line |
| (ii) The strip on the door jambs against which the door closes. | B Pitch |
| (iii) An offer and guarantee by a contractor that the performance | C Proper line |
| of the built work will be in accordance with the conditions | D Combination of |
| of the contract. | neighbourhoods |
| (iv) A reference that remains constant. The sea level is commonly | E Door stop |
| used. | F Bid condition |
| (v) Community. | G Density |
| (vi) The number of residential structures and people in a given | H Back fill |
| amount of space. | I Blase |
| (vii) Legal limits of a plot on all sides. | J Dimension line |
| (viii) Thin unbroken lines upon which building dimensions are placed.| K Plot |
| (ix) A slope of roof usually expressed as a ratio. | L Performance bond |
| (x) The agreement between an architect, builder and owner, indicating fee and conditions under which the project is undertaken. | M Materials bond |
| | N Location |
| | O Wedge |
| | P Degree |
| | Q Free regulation |
| | R Site |
| | S Centre line of main |
| | roads |
| | T Triangulation point |
| | U Lean to roof. |
SECTION B (40 marks)
Answer ALL questions in this section.
3. Give names and sizes of any 4 drawing papers.
4. With the aid of a sketch, indicate using an arrow the ascending and descending stair on the plan of a stair.
5. Name two broad classes of roofs.
6. List four features shown on elevation drawing.
7. Give four (4) factors on which the classification of windows depend.
8. State four (4) uses of architectural scale.
9. The needs and tasks of clients differ from one client to another. Give the method which the designers use to make sure that they satisfy them.
10. Sketch a typical traditional casement window to
(a) open out-ward
(b) open in-ward.
11. Sketch the door conventions for a
(a) double acting door
(b) folding door.
12. Arrange the leads/pencils according to degree of hardness.
SECTION C (40 marks)
Answer TWO (2) questions from this section.
13. (a) Define
(i) total rise of stair
(ii) total going of stair.
(b) A straight flight concrete stair is constructed between two floor levels with a room height of 2665 mm. The floor slab thickness is 110 mm and the rise of one step is 185 mm. Calculate
(i) the number of risers
(ii) the number of treads
(iii) the going
(iv) the total going
(v) the pitch of stair.
(c) To a scale of 1:5 draw a single line sectional elevation of a stair showing at least two steps. Assume that \(2r + g = 650 \text{ mm}\) and waist of stair 100 mm.
14. (a) With the aid of sketches explain briefly the difference between a high pitched roof and a low pitched roof if their spans remain the same.
(b) A gable end side roof elevation with its roof plan projected below (not in scale) is shown in the figure below.
(i) Copy the views by transferring the measurements directly from the given views.
(ii) Draw the roof surface development projecting on both sides of the roof plan given.
15. The construction details of a ledged, braced and battened door consists of seven tongue and grooved battens each of size 20 mm thick x 140 mm wide x 1950 mm high (excluding the tongues and grooves), tongue and grooves 10 mm x 10 mm size, three ledges each of 20 mm thick x 120 mm wide and two braces each of 20 mm thick x 120 mm wide.
Guided with a door layout below and to a scale of 1:10, draw
(a) the internal elevation of a door
(b) the end elevation viewed from left side
(c) the horizontal cross section with the cutting plane line passing through the bottom brace.
LAYOUT OF ELEVATION (NOT TO SCALE)
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The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for commemorating members of the armed forces of the Commonwealth who died during the two world wars and for the care of their graves and memorials throughout the world.
Canada is one of six partner governments which make up the Commission, the others being the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India. Newfoundland was a full and equal partner in the Commission until it became Canada's tenth province in 1949, when its status as a separate Dominion ceased.
The cost of the Commission's work is met by the participating countries in proportion to the number of their war graves in the Commission's care, the Canadian contribution being in the region of 10%.
The Role of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commission's work is guided by fundamental principles which were established in 1920:
- that each of the dead should be commemorated individually by name either on a headstone over the grave or by an inscription on a memorial if the grave was unidentified;
- that the headstones and memorials should be permanent;
- that the headstones should be uniform; and
- that there should be no distinction made on account of military or civil rank, race or creed.
The theme of common sacrifice and equal honour in death was reflected in the non-sectarian design of the headstones used throughout the world and in the policy of non-repatriation of remains for members of the Commonwealth forces which resulted in the location of the memorials and cemeteries truly reflecting the scope of both conflicts. The Commission commemorates 1.7 million war dead in 148 countries in over 23,000 burial grounds.
CANADA IN THE
The Land Forces at the Western Front
When Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 the automatic participation of Canada and Newfoundland in the First World War was virtually unquestioned and, in the four years that followed, the Canadians and Newfoundlanders built reputations as warriors which were second to none. The impact of the battles they took part in is seen today in the street names and cenotaph inscriptions in virtually every Canadian town or city - Cambrai, Passchendale, Somme, Courcelette, Mount Sorrel, Arras, Amiens - and a host of other battle honours.
Ottawa Memorial, Canada
The Commission's Head Office is located in the United Kingdom. Normal day to day operations are the responsibility of the Director-General while the Commission's members meet quarterly to approve corporate plans and review progress of work. Canada is represented on the Commission by its High Commissioner resident in London.
The Commission's responsibilities are executed through geographically organized Areas or Agencies. All ensure that war graves in their care receive due attention and there is a solid management cycle in place which allocates and expends the funds granted to the Commission by the participating governments.
**The War Dead of Canada**
The 110,000 war dead of Canada are commemorated in 75 countries around the world. Outside Canada, the countries in which the largest numbers of Canadian war dead are commemorated are France (47,500), Belgium (15,800), the United Kingdom (12,700), Italy (5,700) and the Netherlands (5,700).
It is, of course, impossible to mention all of the cemeteries in which they lie or the memorials on which they are named but a selection is given in the following narratives summarising Canada's contribution in the two world wars.
**FIRST WORLD WAR**
In January 1915, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry became the first Canadian battalion to see action on the Western Front. By March, the 1st Canadian Division, mobilised at the outbreak of war, was in France at the Battle of Neuve-Chapelle and in April it took part in the 2nd Battle of Ypres in Belgium. Joined later in September by a 2nd Division, and in August 1916 by a 3rd and a 4th Division, the Canadian Corps fought valiantly on the Western Front to the end of the war.
The Ypres Salient
Canadians lie buried in many of the hundreds of cemeteries crowded into the old Ypres Salient area; half of the graves in Ridge Wood Military Cemetery, an old front-line burial ground, are Canadian as are those in Maple Copse Cemetery, which lay right at the heart of the Mount Sorrel battlefield. Many of the Canadians killed in the 3rd Battle of Ypres are buried in Passchendaele New Military Cemetery and in Tyne Cot Cemetery. In both cases, well over half of them are unidentified. Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, at the centre of a collection of casualty clearing stations, has the greatest concentration of Canadian graves in the area with more than 1,000. Of the 43 graves in Quievrain Communal Cemetery, 35 are Canadian, all dating from the very last days of the war. The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial commemorates 54,000 men who died in the Salient and have no known grave. Almost 7,000 of them were Canadian.
The Somme
Fresh from a reorganisation in Egypt after four months in Gallipoli, the Newfoundland Regiment (later Royal Newfoundland Regiment) arrived in France in time for the 1916 Allied offensive on the Somme. The first day of the battle, 1 July, saw the regiment virtually annihilated at Beaumont-Hamel, where their terrible loss is remembered by the Beaumont-Hamel (Newfoundland) Memorial.
The Canadian Corps arrived on the Somme in August 1916 and in the following months played significant roles in the actions at Courcelette and Pozieres. The fighting left many Canadian graves, a large number of them unidentified, in *Courcelette British Cemetery*, and in *Adanac Military Cemetery, Miramont*, the latter built up around a single existing grave after the Armistice when the battlefields were cleared. *Regina Trench Cemetery, Grandcourt*, was named after a German earthwork much fought over by the Canadians in October and November 1916. The *2nd Canadian Cemetery, Sunken Road, Contalmaison*, contains just 44 graves, all from the 2nd Canadian Infantry Battalion.
**Vimy**
Perhaps Canada's most famous battle, which many assert helped to forge a distinct sense of Canadian identity, began on Easter Monday, 9 April 1917. The Canadian Corps successfully captured this strongly held feature during the opening stages of the Battle of Arras and in France the greatest concentration of cemeteries with Canadian interest is centred on Vimy. *Villers Station Cemetery, Villers-au-Bois*, had close associations with the nearby Canadian Corps headquarters and contains many graves from April 1917. The artillery of the 2nd Canadian Division had their headquarters near *La Targette British Cemetery, Neuville-St Vaast*, where almost a third of the burials have an artillery connection.
The Canadian Corps took the village of Thelus on 9 April 1917. *Thelus Military Cemetery* was begun immediately afterwards with one large grave in what is now Plot II and in nearby *Nine Elms Military Cemetery* eighty men of the 14th Bn Canadian Infantry are buried together in Plot I Row A. Givenchy was taken by the 2nd Canadian Division on 13 April 1917 and some of their dead are buried in *Givenchy-en-Gohelle* and *Givenchy Road Canadian Cemeteries*. The latter is exclusively Canadian.
At the foot of Vimy Ridge, *La Chaudiere Military Cemetery*, originally known as Vimy Canadian Cemetery No 1, was greatly enlarged when the Vimy battlefields were cleared after the Armistice, as was *Canadian Cemetery No 2, Neuville-St Vaast*. Much smaller, *Petit-Vimy British Cemetery* was a front-line cemetery in 1917; all but four of the 94 burials it contains are Canadian.
On 25 May 2000, the remains of an unidentified Canadian soldier were exhumed by staff of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission from *Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez* and entrusted to Canada at a ceremony held at the Vimy Memorial. The remains were returned to Canada and laid to rest at the foot of the National War Memorial in Ottawa in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
After the war, Vimy was chosen as the site for the *Canadian National Memorial* which remembers all Canadians who served their country in battle during the First World War, and particularly the 54,000 who gave their lives in France and Belgium. It also bears the names of 11,000 Canadian servicemen who died in France who have no known grave.
The Final Days
The Canadians fought over the Arras battlefields again in the autumn of 1918 during the final stages of the Allied advance to victory, the Last Hundred Days, and the cemeteries from this period of movement are small with a distinct identity. Many French Canadians of the 22nd and 24th Infantry Battalions are buried at Quebec Cemetery while Ontario Cemetery, Sains-les-Marquoin, contains many graves from battalions raised in Ontario. Most of the graves in Niagara Cemetery, Iwuy, date from a single day in mid-October. Unsurprisingly, all but ten of the 265 graves in Canada Cemetery, Tilloy-les-Cambrai, are Canadian.
In the Air
It was as members of the Royal Flying Corps, the Royal Naval Air Service and, from April 1918, the Royal Air Force that Canada made its contribution to the war in the air. Over 23,000 Canadians served in the various components of this new, hazardous, method of modern warfare earning a great number of decorations and awards for valour. One third of all Canadian pilots died in combat, almost 1,600.
Those Canadian airmen killed on the Western Front whose graves are not known are commemorated by name on the Arras Flying Services Memorial.
At Sea
Canadian Naval participation in the First World War was limited. When war broke out the Royal Canadian Navy possessed only two old cruisers which saw active service conducting patrols. Fleets of trawlers and small craft carried out minesweeping and anti-submarine operations in coastal waters and by the end of the war the navy had built up a force of over 100 coastal anti-submarine and minesweeping vessels which protected convoys as they sailed to Britain. In addition over 3,000 members of the Royal Canadian Navy served in British ships in European waters while an unrecorded number of Canadians and Newfoundlanders enlisted directly into the Royal Navy.
Many of the seamen lost while serving with the Canadian naval services are among those commemorated on the Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia, and the Victoria Memorial, British Columbia, Canada. The latter includes most of those lost in the sinking of HMCS Galiano in October 1918. Men of the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve and Mercantile Marine are among those remembered on the Beaumont-Hamel (Newfoundland) Memorial in France.
The Cost to Canada
From the Western Front to Russia, from the garrisons of Bermuda and St. Lucia to the hospitals and engineering units of the Middle East, hundreds of thousands of Canadians and Newfoundlanders served throughout the First World War; almost 65,000 did not return.
Top to bottom: Nine Elms Military Cemetery, France, Tilloy-les-Cambrai Cemetery, France, Maple Capse Cemetery, Belgium and Quiévrain Communal Cemetery, Belgium
Left: Beaumont Hamel (Newfoundland) Memorial, France
The Land Campaigns
When hostilities broke out in September 1939 Canada declared war and its citizens and those of Newfoundland rushed to serve. By December the first contingent of Canadians had arrived in the United Kingdom to begin training for their part in the Allied victory that would not come for almost six years.
Hong Kong
In late 1941 Canadian troops sailed for Hong Kong, destined to become the first Canadian ground units to fight in the Second World War. When Hong Kong surrendered on 25 December 1941 some 290 Canadians had been killed and a further 490 wounded. Those taken prisoner endured brutal treatment and near starvation. More than 550 of the original 1,975 who landed in Hong Kong died and the majority of them are commemorated in Hong Kong at Sai Wan War Cemetery and Memorial.
Sai Wan War Cemetery, Hong Kong
The Dieppe Raid
The Canadian Army’s activities in Europe started with a long period of training in the United Kingdom with their first trial coming in the Dieppe Raid of 19 August 1942. Critics continue to debate the value of the raid which cost Canada dearly – 3,370 casualties including 970 killed and almost 2,000 taken prisoner – but most agree that the lessons learned were invaluable in the planning of the eventual invasion of the continent on D-Day 1944. Many of those who died in the raid are buried in France at Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery or at St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, where some of the wounded were taken. Other wounded were evacuated to the United Kingdom and those who died were buried in the large Canadian plot at Brookwood Military Cemetery.
Italy
In July 1943 the Canadians joined the Allied landings in Sicily as a prelude to the invasion of Italy. Agira, taken by the 1st Canadian Division, was later chosen as the site for the burial of the vast majority of Canadians killed in the Sicilian campaign. All 490 graves in Agira Canadian War Cemetery are Canadian.
In September the Allies invaded mainland Italy and Canadian forces were heavily involved in the fiercely fought campaign that drove the Germans north. In December 1943 the 1st Canadian Division suffered heavy losses in the fighting at Moro River and Ortona, leaving almost 1,400 of their dead in Moro River Canadian War Cemetery. Most of the 850 Canadian graves in Cassino War Cemetery date from May 1944 and some of the most intense fighting of the campaign. Significant numbers of Canadian graves will also be found further north in such Commonwealth cemeteries as Montecchio, Cesena, Ravenna and Villanova.
Normandy and Beyond
In February 1945 Canadian troops in Italy were moved to north-west Europe to fight alongside other Canadians already engaged in the liberation of France and the Low Countries, a campaign which had begun on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Landing at Juno Beach in Normandy, the Canadians then pushed south through Caen and Falaise. Almost 5,000 Canadian dead from the campaign lie in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery and Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery, and more than 250 whose graves are not known are commemorated on the Bayeux Memorial.
Following the break-out from Normandy, the First Canadian Army was given the task of clearing the coastal ports of France, Belgium and the Netherlands before finally advancing into Germany. The 600 Canadian burials in Calais Canadian War Cemetery relate to the liberation of the town in September 1944. Most of those who died as the front swept thorough Belgium are buried in Adegem Canadian War Cemetery and in the Netherlands, there are substantial Canadian cemeteries at Bergen-op-Zoom, Holten and Groesbeek.
The Growing Role at Sea
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) expanded from a force of 2,000 men in 1939 to nearly 100,000 by the war's end. From six ships it grew to a force of nearly 400, the third largest navy in the world. Their main duty was to act as convoy escorts in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and to Murmansk, Russia. They rendered invaluable service in the Battle of the Atlantic against the German U-Boats and supported the landings in the Sicilian, Italian and Normandy campaigns. In actions ranging over most of the world's seas the RCN lost more than 2,000 officers and men. Canada's Merchant Navy also served with distinction as they plied the Atlantic on treacherous supply convoys suffering losses of more than 1,300.
Those members of the Canadian naval services who have no known grave are commemorated on the Halifax Memorial.
The Developing Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was also an extremely small force at the outbreak of hostilities. Initially many Canadians served with the Royal Air Force, eventually comprising some 25% of the service. The RCAF grew rapidly however, becoming the fourth largest allied air force which by the end of the war had 48 squadrons serving outside Canada.
Members of the RCAF served with distinction in Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean, India and the Far East. There was also considerable activity on the Home Front patrolling Canada’s vast coastline and conducting training for Commonwealth Air Forces under the umbrella of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. But it was perhaps with Bomber Command that her largest contribution was made with the RCAF forming No 6 Bomber Group and flying countless missions over Germany. The Honour Roll of the RCAF lists 17,000 names of whom 14,500 died overseas, the majority with Bomber Command.
More than 3,000 Canadian airmen who died in the air war over north-west Europe and have no known grave are commemorated on the Air Forces Memorial, Runnymede, in the United Kingdom. Airmen missing in other theatres are commemorated on memorials at El Alamein, Malta, Singapore and Ottawa. Many of the Canadian airmen killed in bombing raids over Germany are buried in the war cemeteries at Reichswald Forest and Rheinberg, near the Dutch border, Berlin, and Durnbach near Munich. No 6 Bomber Group had its headquarters in Harrogate in the United Kingdom and the air forces section at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery contains the graves of 700 Canadian airmen.
Commonwealth War Graves in Canada and the United States
There are over 19,000 Commonwealth war dead commemorated in almost 3,300 cemeteries in North America and on three principal Memorials to the Missing. The majority of those buried in North America died as a result of disease or accident, or of wounds received on active service elsewhere. Many others died in air or naval operations and were denied a known grave.
Services Available to the Public
Locations
Records are kept at the Commission's Head Office in the United Kingdom and at the Canadian Agency which enable the staff to help enquirers locate a particular grave or a name on a memorial.
Directions to Visitors
The Commission can provide directions to all Commonwealth war cemeteries and memorials throughout the world, or enquirers can find out for themselves from the Commission's web site at www.cwgc.org.
Publications
Publications relating to the Commission's work can be supplied on request.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
2 Marlow Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
SL6 7DX
United Kingdom
Tel: 44 (0) 1628 507200
Fax: 44 (0) 1628 771208
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org
Canadian Agency
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
66 Slater Street, Suite 1707
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0P4
Canada
Tel: 1 613 992 3224
Fax: 1 613 995 0431
E-mail: email@example.com | <urn:uuid:7ed382a5-5986-43ae-9cd0-21bc6b60a3c1> | CC-MAIN-2018-47 | http://wyrdlight.com/brookcwgc/Canada%20MG.pdf | 2018-11-15T21:52:36Z | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-47/segments/1542039742937.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20181115203132-20181115225132-00404.warc.gz | 558,293,646 | 4,047 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.996443 | eng_Latn | 0.997603 | [
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BLEAKER ISLAND
Wonderful wildlife on a Falkland farm
www.falklandsconservation.com
Bleaker Island lies close to the south-east coast of East Falkland, at the entrance to Adventure Sound.
Cassard Point (named after a French sailing vessel wrecked here in 1906) is only half a mile (800 m) away from Driftwood Point on the mainland.
Bleaker Island is reached by a 30-minute flight from Stanley, or Mount Pleasant Complex, with the Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS). Passengers from cruise ships arrive by Zodiac on the 1·6 km (1 mile) long beach at Sandy Bay.
Together with its outlying islands, the Bleaker Island Group is internationally recognised as an Important Bird Area (FK04). The northern part of the Island is a National Nature Reserve.
The Falkland Islands archipelago lies 350km (280 miles) to the east of the South American continent. It consists of two large islands, East and West Falkland, and more than 750 small islands and islets.
Visitor Accommodation
Constructed in 2011, Cassard House provides high quality accommodation for eight people in four ensuite bedrooms. The house has solar-powered underfloor heating and hot water, triple glazing, high insulation levels, a large conservatory and a heat recovery unit.
The nearby Cobb’s Cottage (named after Arthur Cobb, farm manager and naturalist, who lived on the Island from 1906 to the 1920s) has two twin ensuite bedrooms, a sun lounge, full central heating, TV/radio and WiFi.
Both units have fully equipped kitchens, provided bed linen and 24-hour power, and are available on a self-catering or full board basis. They are located within easy walking distance to penguins, cormorants, seals and wildfowl.
Booking enquiries to:
Tel: +500 32491
Email: email@example.com
Website: www.bleakerisland.com
COVER PHOTO: Imperial cormorants
Bleaker Island was first known as Long Island (and referred to as such on the chart compiled by the *Beagle* survey of which Charles Darwin was a part in 1834). It subsequently became Breaker Island, after the large waves that crash against it, but since at least 1857 it has been called Bleaker Island – although it is far from bleak.
The island covers 2,070 ha (5,155 acres) with a varied coastline of low cliffs, sloping bedrock beaches, wide sandy bays and sheltered coves. It is 20 km (12½ miles) long and never more than 3·2 km (2 miles) wide, with gentle hills, the highest point being Semaphore Point 27 m (89 ft), north-east of the settlement.
For many years the Island was owned by the Falkland Islands Company and it has been a sheep farm for over 100 years. Now privately owned, and under organic sustainable management, it has 1,000 sheep and a nucleus of 55 Hereford breeding cows (imported from Chile in 2004). Here wildlife and domestic animals happily co-exist.
Extensive greens around the Island provide excellent pasture – naturally fertilised by geese and seabirds. An extensive tussac grass fringe of 4 km (2½ miles) is found on the eastern coast of the island near the settlement and is a haven for songbirds and sea lions. Other bare and eroded areas have been fenced and are being replanted with tussac. Established tussac areas are managed sustainably to provide winter fodder for cattle. The farm is organic, using no fertilisers or drugs.
Flowers on Bleaker include the yellow and dog orchids, lady’s slipper, common violet and vanilla daisy. Queen of the Falklands fritillary butterflies breed in the Pebbly Bay area, feeding on native violet flowers. Forty different breeding birds have been recorded, including Magellanic, southern rockhopper, macaroni and gentoo penguins and a very large colony of imperial cormorants. Peale’s dolphins reside in the bays south of the settlement year round. Sea lions are found on Bleaker in the summer months. Sei whales can be seen frequently off the island in late summer and autumn.
Please follow the guidelines
MAINTAIN A DISTANCE of 6m (20ft) between you and any wildlife at all times.
WILDLIFE HAVE RIGHT OF WAY AT ALL TIMES. Do not block wildlife from returning or entering the sea.
TAKE CARE on steep slopes and slippery rocks.
LEAVE GATES as you find them.
BE AWARE of biosecurity. Do not introduce invasive species to the area.
BE CAREFUL not to trample the burrows of nesting seabirds, particularly those of Magellanic penguins. Avoid walking across areas of high burrow density.
LAMBLING SEASON
The lambing season is from October to December. During this time visitors are asked to take extra care not to disturb ewes as they may abandon lambs if startled.
KEY
- Hiking route
- Pond
- Stream
- Kelp Beds
- Tussac
- Wildlife Viewing Area
- Cruise Ship Anchorage
- Airstrip
- Wire Fence
- Gate
The lady’s slipper is endemic to the Falkland Islands.
Avoid areas where Magellanic penguins are nesting underground.
The yellow orchid is protected by law.
The northern end of Sandy Bay (cruise ship landing beach) teems with gentoo penguins. There are 2,000 breeding pairs on Penguin Hill. An easy short walk south from Sandy Bay to Long Gulch will reward the visitor with good views of many Falkland breeding birds. Watch out in particular for Magellanic penguins, southern and striated caracaras, brown skuas, ruddy-headed geese and two-banded plovers. Snowy sheathbills, a non-breeding visitor, can be seen particularly around the colonies of penguins and imperial cormorants.
Between Sandy Bay and the Settlement lies Big Pond. This and the two smaller ponds to the north are popular with Chiloë wigeon, southern silvery and white-tufted grebes, speckled and silver teal and Falkland steamer duck. Black-necked swans also breed here occasionally.
On the south-east facing coast, among the tussac plantations (watch out for Sedge wrens), is a deep fissure in the cliffs known as the Long Gulch. It is a favourite spot for an impressive number of seabirds which breed on the rocky ledges. Because it is an area inaccessible to rats, tussacbirds can also be found here.
**Bird checklist**
- King penguin
- Gentoo penguin
- Macaroni penguin
- Southern rockhopper penguin
- Magellanic penguin
- White-tufted grebe
- Southern silvery grebe
- Southern giant petrel
- Southern fulmar
- Rock shag
- Imperial cormorant
- Black-crowned night-heron
- Black-necked swan
- Kelp goose
- Upland goose
- Ruddy-headed goose
- Falkland steamer duck
- Chiloë wigeon
- Speckled teal
- Crested duck
- Yellow-billed pintail
- Silver teal
- Turkey vulture
- Variable hawk
- Southern caracara
- Striated caracara
- Peregrine falcon
- Magellanic oystercatcher
- Blackish oystercatcher
- Two-banded plover
- Rufous-chested dotterel
- South American snipe
- White-rumped sandpiper
- Snowy sheathbill
- Brown skua
- Kelp gull
- Dolphin gull
- Brown-headed gull
- South American tern
- Short-eared owl
- Tussacbird
- Dark-faced ground-tyrant
- Correnerda pipit
- Austral thrush
- Sedge wren
- Long-tailed meadowlark
- White-bridled finch
- Black-chinned siskin
Seabirds of Bleaker Island
This Island is particularly important for its colonies of cormorants. Over 8,000 pairs of imperial cormorants breed in the main colony in the centre of the Island. During the breeding season these handsome birds develop a bright blue eye-ring, deep orange caruncles and a recurved crest on their forehead, which all diminish as the season progresses. The Long Gulch is favoured by the smaller rock shags, often seen as solitary feeders in kelp patches.
Seven sub-colonies of southern rockhopper penguins (about 720 pairs) breed along the southern side of the Long Gulch. They climb up very steep cliffs with ease bounding together with both feet and using their bill for support in difficult places. They are summer visitors and will leave their colony in April to spend the winter at sea. A single pair of macaroni penguins (with golden yellow head plumes and a larger bill) can sometimes be seen in amongst the rockhoppers, with the king penguin also an occasional visitor. There is one large colony of gentoo penguins on Penguin Hill. They will approach sitting observers if you avoid sudden movements, but will panic and rush away if approached too closely. Magellanic penguins, which nest in 2 m (6 ft) deep underground burrows, can be found right across the island.
Southern giant petrels nest at a number of sites along the Adventure Sound coast. When breeding (from September to December with young fledging in late March), these large birds are very sensitive to disturbance and must not be startled or approached any closer than 200 m. They are scavengers which seek out carcasses of dead seals, penguins, sheep or whales – and are an excellent indication of beach strandings.
Bleaker Island qualifies as an Important Bird Area (FK04), a global standard set by BirdLife International.
Tussacbird (above), still occasionally found on Bleaker Island, is particularly threatened by rats accidentally introduced in the 1980s whose presence has led to a reduction in the number of Falkland songbirds. However, the offshore islands of North Point, Halt and Sandy Bay remain rat-free and support populations of the endemic Cobb’s wren. It is hoped that rats can be eradicated from the main island and wildlife diversity restored to its former level. It is vitally important that invasive species are prevented from spreading to new islands in the Falklands archipelago. In the absence of trees, native ground-nesting bird populations can be devastated by rodent predation.
To prevent the spread of invasive species and diseases, you are asked to comply with a few simple measures when travelling around the islands: make sure all of your clothing, equipment and luggage is free from soil, animal faeces, seeds, insects and rodents, and scrub your footwear before each visit to a new wildlife site or seabird colony. If you have any questions about biosecurity, or wish to report diseased wildlife, please speak to the landowners or call the Department of Agriculture 27355 / Falklands Conservation 22247 for advice.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Photos: Ann Brown, Alan Henry, Tim Mason, Mike Morrison, Mike Rendell, Nick Rendell and Kevin Schaefer. Maps by Jeremy Smith and Robert Still.
Published by Falklands Conservation July 2016. Designed by Eye on The Ball Ltd +44 1256 478309.
Registered Office: Bridge House, 4 Borough High Street, London, SE1 9QR, UK.
Falklands Conservation is a company limited by guarantee in England and Wales No 03661322 and registered charity No 1073859. Falklands Conservation is registered as an Overseas Company in the Falkland Islands.
Falkland Office: Jubilee Villas, Ross Road, Stanley F1QQ 1ZZ | UK Office: The Gatehouse, The Lodge, Sandy, Beds SG19 2DL
Falklands Conservation works to conserve the wildlife of the Falkland Islands. To find out more about us and how you can support what we do, visit us at Jubilee Villas, Ross Road, Stanley or go to our website:
www.falklandsconservation.com
Information about other areas of outstanding wildlife and scenery, can be found in A Visitor’s Guide to the Falkland Islands.
Find us on Facebook
@FI_Conservation
PENGUIN ADOPTION FORM
• Adopt a king penguin at the remote colony of Volunteer Point in the Falkland Islands for £25/US$40 for 12 months.
• Help conservation efforts to protect the penguins of the Falklands.
• Receive an adoption pack by post comprising a personalised adoption certificate, king penguin photo, king penguin pin badge, postcard, Volunteer Point leaflet and FC magazine.
• Receive your adopter’s newsletter by post with your renewal request.
• Receive an invitation to renew by post or by email if provided to the person named below.
☐ Yes, I would like to Adopt a Penguin! (payment form overleaf)
You may wish to Adopt a Penguin as a gift or on behalf of someone else, if so just let us know the details.
☐ I would like the adoption pack to be sent to:
PLEASE WRITE IN BLOCK CAPITALS
Name: ____________________________________________________________
Recipient’s date of birth (if aged 16 and under): _______________________
Address: _________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Postcode: ___________________________ Tel: __________________________
Email: _______________________________________________________________________
Penguin Name: _______________________________________________________
MEMBERSHIP
• Join Falklands Conservation and help to protect the spectacular wildlife of the Falkland Islands. We will keep in touch about our conservation, campaigning, fundraising and research work that supports Falklands Conservation.
• Receive a joining pack comprising welcome letter, FC magazine, newsletter, and member’s pin badge.
• Receive two magazines and two newsletters a year (if you provide an email address we will send your newsletter by email) and information on our AGM and members’ evening held in the UK.
• Receive an invitation to renew by post to the person(s) named overleaf.
☐ I would like to become a member of Falklands Conservation (payment form overleaf)
Membership category (please tick)
☐ Individual (UK, EU or FI) £30/$50
☐ Individual (overseas) £50/$80
☐ Household/family £50/$80
☐ Gold £100/$170
☐ Life (one-off payment) £1,000/$1,700
☐ Student £15/$20
To adopt a penguin and/or become a member please complete both sides of this form.
You can also purchase securely online at www.falklandsconservation.com
Falklands Conservation is a UK registered charity no. 1073859 and a company limited by guarantee in England and Wales no. 03661322.
PAYMENT DETAILS
GIFT AID With Gift Aid on every £1 you give us we can claim an extra 25p back from HM Revenue & Customs. To qualify, what you pay in UK Income and/or Capital Gains Tax must at least equal the Gift Aid all your charities will reclaim in the tax year.
☐ YES: I would like Falklands Conservation to treat all the donations I have made in the last four years, and all I will make until I notify you otherwise as Gift Aid donations. I am a UK taxpayer and understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year it is my responsibility to pay any differences.
Signed: ____________________________
Dated: ____________________________
DATA PROTECTION
All details provided will be retained securely for the duration of your membership/adoption. Providing an email address or phone number enables us to contact you should we need to in order to service your membership/adoption. We will retain or use this information only during the duration of your membership/adoption..
All financial information will be securely destroyed on successful completion of the transaction.
Our promise to you: we will keep your data safe and our communications with you relevant. We will never sell your personal details to a third party. If you have signed a gift aid declaration we do use the information you provided to claim back gift aid from HMRC. You can change how you hear from us or unsubscribe from emails at any time, just let us know by contacting firstname.lastname@example.org For more information, please see our privacy policy at www.falklandsconservation.com
RETURN COMPLETED FORM TO:
Falklands Conservation,
The Gatehouse, The Lodge, Sandy,
Beds, SG19 2DL, UK
Please use this form for both Penguin Adoption and Membership purchase, completing the relevant sections. Thank you.
Name: _______________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Postcode: ________________ Tel: _________________________________
Email: _______________________________________________________
☐ Please tick this box if you would like to receive your newsletter /renewal by email.
PURCHASE INFORMATION *Please indicate £ sterling or US$
Penguin adoption for a year – £25 / $40
Membership fee payable (see overleaf for categories)
Donation
Please make cheques payable to Falklands Conservation.
☐ I wish to pay by Visa/Mastercard (please tick)
My card number is
___________________________________________________________
Expiry date _______/_______
Signature ____________________________
Cardholder’s name ______________________
Cardholder’s address (if different from applicant)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________ Postcode ________________
Have you considered a Standing Order? (UK BANK ACCOUNT HOLDERS ONLY)
This helps us keep our administration costs down. Either download the form from our website or set up your own using the following details: Falklands Conservation, Barclays Bank, King George Street, Yeovil, Somerset BA20 1PX. Sort code: 20-99-40 / Account Number 90442542.
You can also purchase securely online at www.falklandsconservation.com
Falklands Conservation is a UK registered charity no. 1073859 and a company limited by guarantee in England and Wales no. 03661322. | 4a6329c1-0a7d-4ac0-b656-738f05cd7ca0 | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | https://www.falklandislandsholidays.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Bleaker-Island-2018.pdf | 2021-01-22T19:31:27+00:00 | crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610703531335.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20210122175527-20210122205527-00507.warc.gz | 755,208,458 | 3,840 | eng_Latn | eng_Latn | 0.973121 | eng_Latn | 0.99841 | [
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