O ensino da dança no curriculo de educação física

O presente trabalho irá tratar a Dança no Currículo de Educação Física escolar realizando um estudo sobre as dificuldades na leccionação desta temática, assim como o porquê de a mesma ser tão pouco abordada nas aulas de educação Física. Na bibliografia consultada sobre este tema, existem vários autores que utilizei como “fio condutor” do meu trabalho devido à sua importância no desenvolvimento desta matéria. Entre os vários autores pesquisados, destaco Luís Bom, Luís Xarez (ambos responsáveis pela criação de um currículo de dança nos PNEF), Helena Coelho, Alberto Sousa, Ralph Buck, Rossum e Judith Bell. O Trabalho de Campo foi concebido por duas etapas distintas. A primeira etapa consistiu em entregar questionários a docentes de E.F. focando as opções pedagógicas dos mesmos nas suas aulas e as maiores dificuldades encontradas na leccionação da Dança. Posteriormente foi realizado um estudo de caso à secundária José Gomes Ferreira visto esta ser um bom exemplo de sucesso desta matéria uma vez que de alguns anos para cá mantém a leccionação da Dança no currículo de E.F. de forma consistente e continuada. Uma das conclusões do estudo refere como principal dificuldade/problema: a falta de formação específica em dança por parte dos professores, mas o mesmo, evidencia a dança como uma matéria muito importante no desenvolvimento dos alunos, potencializando as suas capacidades motoras e sociais.

Evaluating social skills in long term cochlear implant recipients

A longitudinal study observing cochlear implant recipients' social skills using ratings from their parents and the students themselves over time. The study looked at how adolescents using cochlear implants rate their own social skills compared to an age matched normative group of hearing students, and compared these ratings with social skills ratings obtained from their parents. The study also compared social ratings in adolescence to previous ratings of the same children obtained in elementary school.

Crop yield reduction in the tropics under climate change: Processes and uncertainties

Many modelling studies examine the impacts of climate change on crop yield, but few explore either the underlying bio-physical processes, or the uncertainty inherent in the parameterisation of crop growth and development. We used a perturbed-parameter crop modelling method together with a regional climate model (PRECIS) driven by the 2071-2100 SRES A2 emissions scenario in order to examine processes and uncertainties in yield simulation. Crop simulations used the groundnut (i.e. peanut; Arachis hypogaea L.) version of the General Large-Area Model for annual crops (GLAM). Two sets of GLAM simulations were carried out: control simulations and fixed-duration simulations, where the impact of mean temperature on crop development rate was removed. Model results were compared to sensitivity tests using two other crop models of differing levels of complexity: CROPGRO, and the groundnut model of Hammer et al. [Hammer, G.L., Sinclair, T.R., Boote, K.J., Wright, G.C., Meinke, H., and Bell, M.J., 1995, A peanut simulation model: I. Model development and testing. Agron. J. 87, 1085-1093]. GLAM simulations were particularly sensitive to two processes. First, elevated vapour pressure deficit (VPD) consistently reduced yield. The same result was seen in some simulations using both other crop models. Second, GLAM crop duration was longer, and yield greater, when the optimal temperature for the rate of development was exceeded. Yield increases were also seen in one other crop model. Overall, the models differed in their response to super-optimal temperatures, and that difference increased with mean temperature; percentage changes in yield between current and future climates were as diverse as -50% and over +30% for the same input data. The first process has been observed in many crop experiments, whilst the second has not. Thus, we conclude that there is a need for: (i) more process-based modelling studies of the impact of VPD on assimilation, and (ii) more experimental studies at super-optimal temperatures. Using the GLAM results, central values and uncertainty ranges were projected for mean 2071-2100 crop yields in India. In the fixed-duration simulations, ensemble mean yields mostly rose by 10-30%. The full ensemble range was greater than this mean change (20-60% over most of India). In the control simulations, yield stimulation by elevated CO2 was more than offset by other processes-principally accelerated crop development rates at elevated, but sub-optimal, mean temperatures. Hence, the quantification of uncertainty can facilitate relatively robust indications of the likely sign of crop yield changes in future climates. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stratospheric communication of El Nino teleconnections to European winter

The stratospheric role in the European winter surface climate response to El Niño–Southern Oscillation sea surface temperature forcing is investigated using an intermediate general circulation model with a well-resolved stratosphere. Under El Niño conditions, both the modeled tropospheric and stratospheric mean-state circulation changes correspond well to the observed “canonical” responses of a late winter negative North Atlantic Oscillation and a strongly weakened polar vortex, respectively. The variability of the polar vortex is modulated by an increase in frequency of stratospheric sudden warming events throughout all winter months. The potential role of this stratospheric response in the tropical Pacific–European teleconnection is investigated by sensitivity experiments in which the mean state and variability of the stratosphere are degraded. As a result, the observed stratospheric response to El Niño is suppressed and the mean sea level pressure response fails to resemble the temporal and spatial evolution of the observations. The results suggest that the stratosphere plays an active role in the European response to El Niño. A saturation mechanism whereby for the strongest El Niño events tropospheric forcing dominates the European response is suggested. This is examined by means of a sensitivity test and it is shown that under large El Niño forcing the European response is insensitive to stratospheric representation.