Lesotho.

Mode of access: Internet.

INCORPORATING STIMULATING QUICK-WRITE PROMPTS WITHIN A SECONDARY SCIENCE CLASSROOM: A CASE STUDY IN LESOTHO

The use of intriguing open-ended quick-write prompts within the Basotho science classroom could potentially provide a way for secondary teachers in Lesotho to have a time-efficient alternative to stimulate student thinking and increase critical thinking or application of scientific principles. Writing can be used as a powerful means to improve the achievement of students across many subject areas, including the sciences (Moore, 1993; Rivard, 1994; Rillero, Zambo, Cleland, and Ryan, 1996; Greenstein, 2013). This study focuses on the use of a non-traditional nor extensively studied writing method that could potentially support learning in science. A quasi-experimental research design, with a control and experimental group, was applied. The study was conducted at two schools, with one experimental classroom in one school and a second control group classroom in the second school for a period of 4 weeks. 51 Form B (US Grade 9 equivalent) students participated as the experimental group and 43 Form B students as the control group. In an effort to assess learning achievement, a 1 hour (35 mark) pre-test evaluation was made by and given to students by Basotho teachers at the beginning of this study to have an idea of student’s previous knowledge. Topics covered were Static Electricity, Current Electricity, Electromagnetic Waves, and Chemistry of Water. After the experimental trial period, an almost completely identical post-test evaluation was given to students in the same fashion to observe and compare gains in achievement. Test data was analyzed using an inferential statistics procedure that compared means and gains in knowledge made by the experimental and control groups. Difference between the gains of mean pre-test and post-test scores were statistically significant within each group, but were not statistically significant when the control and experimental groups were compared. Therefore, there was no clear practical effect. Qualitative data from teachers’ journals and students’ written feedback provides insight on the assessments, incorporation of the teaching method, and the development of participating students. Both mid and post-study student feedback shows that students had an overall positive and beneficial experience participating in this activity. Assessments and teacher journals showed areas of strength and weaknesses in student learning and on differences in teaching styles. They also helped support some feedback claims made by students. Areas of further research and improvement of the incorporation of this teaching method in the Basotho secondary science classroom are explored.

Rallying to a cause: the plays of Zakes Mda 1979-1989

Zakes Mda, dubbed one of South Africa's most prolific playwrights, produced his richest and most powerful theatre work during the 70s and 80s. Ironically, it is only in the 90s that he has been acknowledged in his own country as one of its foremost dramatists - ironic since he has recently moved away from drama into the realms of fiction. Fortunately Mda has accumulated a worthy canon of dramatic works, spanning radio and film, as well as theatre, and there is no reason to believe that he will not return to play writing. Mda has worked extensively in theatre in various capacities but most notably in the area of theatre-for-development. For example, he worked as director with Maratholi Travelling Theatre in Lesotho, an experience which contributed, in part, towards his book "When People Play People: Development Communication Through Theatre". Mda's plays have been produced in the United States, Britain, Spain, France and Russia as well as in southern Africa. "The Nun's Romantic Story" has been translated into Castilian and Catalan and "We Shall Sing for the Fatherland" and "Dark Voices Ring" have both been translated into Russian and French. In South Africa he won the Merit Award of the Amstel Playwright of the Year Society for "We Shall Sing for the Fatherland" in 1978 and in 1979 he was Amstel Playright of the Year for "The Hill". For his novel "She Plays with the Darkness", he won the Sanlam Literary Award in 1995.

The Tamaricetea arceuthoidis: a new class for the continental riparian thickets of the Middle East, Central Asia and the subarid regions of the Lower Volga valley

The new class, the Tamaricetea arceuthoidis, is described covering riparian and intermittent shrubby vegetation of the Irano-Turanian Region in the southwestern and Central Asia and the Lower Volga valley. The dominating species are species of the genus Tamarix that refer high water table in arid and semi-arid habitats with high to moderate salinity. This new class is an ecological analogon of the Nerio-Tamaricetea occurring in the Mediterranean Basin.

Mole-rats from higher altitudes have greater thermoregulatory capabilities

Subterranean mammals (those that live and forage underground) inhabit a challenging microenvironment, with high levels of carbon dioxide and low levels of oxygen. Consequently, they have evolved specialised morphological and physiological adaptations. For small mammals that inhabit high altitudes, the effects of cold are compounded by low oxygen partial pressures. Hence, subterranean mammals living at high altitudes are faced with a uniquely demanding physiological environment, which presumably necessitates additional physiological adjustments. We examined the thermoregulatory capabilities of two populations of Lesotho mole-rat Cryptomys hottentotus mahali that inhabit a 'low' (1600 in) and a 'high' (3200 m) altitude. Mole-rats from the high altitude had a lower temperature of the lower critical point, a broader thermoneutral zone, a lower thermal conductance and greater regulatory non-shivering thermogenesis than animals from the lower altitude. However, minimum resting metabolic rate values were not significantly different between the populations and were low compared with allometric predictions. We suggest that thermoregulatory costs may in part be met by animals maintaining a low resting metabolic rate. High-altitude animals may adjust to their cooler, more oxygen-deficient environment by having an increased non-shivering thermogenesis whilst maintaining low thermal conductance. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Interdependence in Southern Africa: an examination of the relations between Zimbabwe and South Africa

Most research on southern Africa focuses on the total dependency of the region's states--Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, zambia and Zimbabwe--upon the dominant power, South Africa. This thesis examines the relationship between South Africa and Zimbabwe and argues that these two states are more interdependent than dependency scholars would acknowledge. Although a study of the historical period reveals that dependency theory, as defined by Raul Prebisch, Andre Gunder Frank and A. Valenzuela, is helpful for understanding the development of relations between the two states, it is unable to account for many of the characteristics of the relationship which are found in the contemporary context, especially since 1980. An examination of various economic areas of interaction, including investment, trade and transportation, as well as the political realm, indicates that each state exhibits a degree of dependence upon the other. Thus, it is possible to characterize the relationship as one of "mutual dependence," or interdependence as defined by Robert Keohane and Joseph S. Nye. Interdependence is further examined through the concepts of sensitivity and vulnerability. Sensitivity signifies the ability of a state to respond effectively to policy changes made by another state wi thin a given area of interaction without incurring large costs, while vulnerability denotes that an actor is unable to respond, or only at great cost. By applying these concepts to the relationship between Zimbabwe and South Africa, it is determined that although South Africa tends to be sensitive while Zimbabwe is generally vulnerable, the degrees to which these two states are sensi ti ve and vulnerable varies over time and issue area. As the changes wi thin South Africa start to affect relations wi th the rest of southern Africa, it wi 11 be necessary to understand the interaction between the states from an interdependency perspective if cooperation within the region wi 11 be successful. By appl ying an interdependence framework, this study aims at contributing to the understanding of relations among the countries of southern Africa in general, and between South Africa and Zimbabwe in particular.