Children's misconceptions and the teaching of early years science: a case study

The aim of this paper is to examine how teachers’ awareness of children’s misconceptions can affect children’s acquisition of scientific concepts. In other words, this paper is aimed at examining whether teaching is altered when teachers are aware of pupils’ misconceptions of a specific science concept. This paper details a case study focused on two kindergarten classes of five year-old children and their teachers and took place in Cyprus. Two lessons were observed and three children from each class were interviewed. Through the analysis of children’s responses it was possible to identify specific misconceptions related to the concept of rain. The results indicate that it is very important for teachers to be aware of what misconceptions children have, because this can help them plan lessons for children to overcome their misconceptions. It seems that it is more likely for children to overcome their misconceptions when teachers take these misconceptions into account as they plan and teach science lessons.

Observing wind, aerosol particles, clouds and precipitation: Finland's new ground-based remote-sensing network

The Finnish Meteorological Institute, in collaboration with the University of Helsinki, has established a new ground-based remote-sensing network in Finland. The network consists of five topographically, ecologically and climatically different sites distributed from southern to northern Finland. The main goal of the network is to monitor air pollution and boundary layer properties in near real time, with a Doppler lidar and ceilometer at each site. In addition to these operational tasks, two sites are members of the Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research InfraStructure Network (ACTRIS); a Ka band cloud radar at Sodankylä will provide cloud retrievals within CloudNet, and a multi-wavelength Raman lidar, PollyXT (POrtabLe Lidar sYstem eXTended), in Kuopio provides optical and microphysical aerosol properties through EARLINET (the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network). Three C-band weather radars are located in the Helsinki metropolitan area and are deployed for operational and research applications. We performed two inter-comparison campaigns to investigate the Doppler lidar performance, compare the backscatter signal and wind profiles, and to optimize the lidar sensitivity through adjusting the telescope focus length and data-integration time to ensure sufficient signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in low-aerosol-content environments. In terms of statistical characterization, the wind-profile comparison showed good agreement between different lidars. Initially, there was a discrepancy in the SNR and attenuated backscatter coefficient profiles which arose from an incorrectly reported telescope focus setting from one instrument, together with the need to calibrate. After diagnosing the true telescope focus length, calculating a new attenuated backscatter coefficient profile with the new telescope function and taking into account calibration, the resulting attenuated backscatter profiles all showed good agreement with each other. It was thought that harsh Finnish winters could pose problems, but, due to the built-in heating systems, low ambient temperatures had no, or only a minor, impact on the lidar operation – including scanning-head motion. However, accumulation of snow and ice on the lens has been observed, which can lead to the formation of a water/ice layer thus attenuating the signal inconsistently. Thus, care must be taken to ensure continuous snow removal.

Shared cognition in childhood anxiety: interpretation bias in preschool children and their parents

Although interpretation bias has been associated with the development and/or maintenance of childhood anxiety, its origins remain unclear. The present study is the first to examine intergenerational transmission of this bias from parents to their preschool-aged children via the verbal information pathway. A community sample of fifty parent–child pairs was recruited. Parents completed measures of their own trait anxiety and interpretation bias, their child’s anxiety symptoms, and a written story-stem measure, to capture the way parents tell their children stories. Interpretation bias was assessed in preschool-aged children (aged between 2 years 7 months and 5 years 8 months) using an extended story-stem paradigm. Young children’s interpretation bias was not significantly associated with their own anxiety symptoms. Neither was there evidence for a significant association between parent and child interpretation bias. However, parents who reported they would tell their child one or more threatening story endings in the written story-stem task had significantly higher anxiety than those who did not include any threatening story endings. In turn, children whose parents did not include any threatening endings in their written stories had significantly lower threat interpretations on the child story-stem paradigm, compared to those with parents who included at least one threatening story ending. The results suggest that parental verbal information could play a role in the development of interpretation bias in young children.

Do arbuscular mycorrhizas or heterotrophic soil microbes contribute toward plant acquisition of a pulse of mineral phosphate?

Aims: We investigated the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and heterotrophic soil microbes in the uptake of phosphorus (P) by Trifolium subterraneum from a pulse. Methods: Plants were grown in sterilised pasture field soil with a realistic level of available P. There were five treatments, two of which involved AMF: 1) unsterilised field soil containing a community of AMF and heterotrophic organisms; 2) Scutellospora calospora inoculum (AMF); 3) microbes added as filtrate from the field soil; 4) microbes added as filtrate from the S. calospora inoculum; 5) no additions, i.e. sterilised field soil. After 11 weeks, plants were harvested: 1 day before (day 0), 1 day after (day 2) and 7 days after (day 8) the pulse of P (10 mg kg−1). Results: There was no difference among treatments in shoot and root dry weight, which increased from day 0 to day 8. At day 0, shoots and roots of plants in the colonised treatments had higher P and lower Mn concentrations. After the pulse, the rate of increase in P concentration in the shoots was slower for the colonised plants, and the root Mn concentration declined by up to 50 % by day 2. Conclusions: Plants colonised by AMF had a lower rate of increase in shoot P concentration after a pulse, perhaps because intraradical hyphae accumulated P and thus reduced its transport to the shoots.

What do effective teachers of literacy do? Subject knowledge and pedagogical choices for literacy

This article explores the fine detail of practice by three teachers, recognised as effective teachers of literacy. All three were observed during nine literacy lessons, working with Year 2 (6/7 year olds) classes of successful inner-city primary schools in the South of England. Data collection took place in 2003, just as their schools were moving away from the early prescription of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS), and follow up visits were made in 2005. My initial interest had been in what these three teachers did with the NLS in order to motivate pupils and ensure high pupil attainment. Following observations, interviews and coding of teacher-pupil interaction, it became clear that The NLS Framework for Teaching (DfES, 2001) was not the driver of their success but a valuable vehicle for subtle and intuitive teacher behaviours that grew from a detailed understanding of how children develop as readers and writers. Implications for training student teachers to marry theoretical understanding with the expectations of a prescribed curriculum for literacy are discussed.

Links between tropical Pacific seasonal, interannual and orbital variability during the Holocene

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the leading mode of interannual climate variability. However, it is unclear how ENSO has responded to external forcing, particularly orbitally induced changes in the amplitude of the seasonal cycle during the Holocene. Here we present a reconstruction of seasonal and interannual surface conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean from a network of high-resolution coral and mollusc records that span discrete intervals of the Holocene. We identify several intervals of reduced variance in the 2 to 7 yr ENSO band that are not in phase with orbital changes in equatorial insolation, with a notable 64% reduction between 5,000 and 3,000 years ago. We compare the reconstructed ENSO variance and seasonal cycle with that simulated by nine climate models that include orbital forcing, and find that the models do not capture the timing or amplitude of ENSO variability, nor the mid-Holocene increase in seasonality seen in the observations; moreover, a simulated inverse relationship between the amplitude of the seasonal cycle and ENSO-related variance in sea surface temperatures is not found in our reconstructions. We conclude that the tropical Pacific climate is highly variable and subject to millennial scale quiescent periods. These periods harbour no simple link to orbital forcing, and are not adequately simulated by the current generation of models.

Short communication: estimation of the financial benefit of using Jersey milk at different inclusion rates for Cheddar cheese production using partial budgeting

Partial budgeting was used to estimate the net benefit of blending Jersey milk in Holstein-Friesian milk for Cheddar cheese production. Jersey milk increases Cheddar cheese yield. However, the cost of Jersey milk is also higher; thus, determining the balance of profitability is necessary, including consideration of seasonal effects. Input variables were based on a pilot plant experiment run from 2012 to 2013 and industry milk and cheese prices during this period. When Jersey milk was used at an increasing rate with Holstein-Friesian milk (25, 50, 75, and 100% Jersey milk), it resulted in an increase of average net profit of 3.41, 6.44, 8.57, and 11.18 pence per kilogram of milk, respectively, and this additional profit was constant throughout the year. Sensitivity analysis showed that the most influential input on additional profit was cheese yield, whereas cheese price and milk price had a small effect. The minimum increase in yield, which was necessary for the use of Jersey milk to be profitable, was 2.63, 7.28, 9.95, and 12.37% at 25, 50, 75, and 100% Jersey milk, respectively. Including Jersey milk did not affect the quantity of whey butter and powder produced. Althoug further research is needed to ascertain the amount of additional profit that would be found on a commercial scale, the results indicate that using Jersey milk for Cheddar cheese making would lead to an improvement in profit for the cheese makers, especially at higher inclusion rates.