Watching the words: drama and poems

Some poems are inherently dramatic due to their narrative content or the events, characters, places and emotions that are their subject. Others have the potential for dramatisation because of some aural or visual quality of their poetic form. However, if dramatising poems is to be meaningful and effective children need to be taught something about the art form of drama rather than just being left to their own devices. This chapter explores the learning potential of considering the printed text of a poem as a notation of sound, movement, gesture and use of space. The chapter recognises a progression from simple nursery rhymes to the sophisticated use of poetic language in different types of literature that is mirrored in the journey from infants’ clapping games to the dramatic juxtaposition of aural and visual images in theatre and the performing arts.

A framework for adapting survey design through time for wildlife population assessment

Sampling strategies for monitoring the status and trends in wildlife populations are often determined before the first survey is undertaken. However, there may be little information about the distribution of the population and so the sample design may be inefficient. Through time, as data are collected, more information about the distribution of animals in the survey region is obtained but it can be difficult to incorporate this information in the survey design. This paper introduces a framework for monitoring motile wildlife populations within which the design of future surveys can be adapted using data from past surveys whilst ensuring consistency in design-based estimates of status and trends through time. In each survey, part of the sample is selected from the previous survey sample using simple random sampling. The rest is selected with inclusion probability proportional to predicted abundance. Abundance is predicted using a model constructed from previous survey data and covariates for the whole survey region. Unbiased design-based estimators of status and trends and their variances are derived from two-phase sampling theory. Simulations over the short and long-term indicate that in general more precise estimates of status and trends are obtained using this mixed strategy than a strategy in which all of the sample is retained or all selected with probability proportional to predicted abundance. Furthermore the mixed strategy is robust to poor predictions of abundance. Estimates of status are more precise than those obtained from a rotating panel design.

Supporting local diversity of habitats and species on farmland: a comparison of three wildlife-friendly schemes

Restoration and maintenance of habitat diversity have been suggested as conservation priorities in farmed landscapes, but how this should be achieved and at what scale are unclear. This study makes a novel comparison of the effectiveness of three wildlife-friendly farming schemes for supporting local habitat diversity and species richness on 12 farms in England. The schemes were: (i) Conservation Grade (Conservation Grade: a prescriptive, non-organic, biodiversity-focused scheme), (ii) organic agriculture and (iii) a baseline of Entry Level Stewardship (Entry Level Stewardship: a flexible widespread government scheme). Conservation Grade farms supported a quarter higher habitat diversity at the 100-m radius scale compared to Entry Level Stewardship farms. Conservation Grade and organic farms both supported a fifth higher habitat diversity at the 250-m radius scale compared to Entry Level Stewardship farms. Habitat diversity at the 100-m and 250-m scales significantly predicted species richness of butterflies and plants. Habitat diversity at the 100-m scale also significantly predicted species richness of birds in winter and solitary bees. There were no significant relationships between habitat diversity and species richness for bumblebees or birds in summer. Butterfly species richness was significantly higher on organic farms (50% higher) and marginally higher on Conservation Grade farms (20% higher), compared with farms in Entry Level Stewardship. Organic farms supported significantly more plant species than Entry Level Stewardship farms (70% higher) but Conservation Grade farms did not (10% higher). There were no significant differences between the three schemes for species richness of bumblebees, solitary bees or birds. Policy implications. The wildlife-friendly farming schemes which included compulsory changes in management, Conservation Grade and organic, were more effective at increasing local habitat diversity and species richness compared with the less prescriptive Entry Level Stewardship scheme. We recommend that wildlife-friendly farming schemes should aim to enhance and maintain high local habitat diversity, through mechanisms such as option packages, where farmers are required to deliver a combination of several habitats.

”Are you watching closely?”

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur klippning har bidragit till att förstärka det vilseledande narrativet i filmen The Prestige (2006). Tre scener som anses vara betydelsefulla för filmens vilseledande narrativ har analyserats, för att fastställa vad som händer med berättandet i filmen när olika klipptekniker används och hur klippningen bygger upp den här typen av narrativ. Med hjälp av Kleckers forskning om vilseledande narrativ, Bordwell och Thompsons teori kring hur tid kan manipuleras genom klippning och Corrigan och Whites teori om olika klipptekniker, undersöker uppsatsen hur det vilseledande narrativet är strukturerat genom klippning. Resultatet visar på att det går att konstatera att klippningen i The Prestige har bidragit till att framhäva det vilseledande narrativet. Genom användningen av olika klipptekniker, har berättandet i filmen lyckats vilseleda publikens uppmärksamhet. Tack vare blandningen av de olika teknikerna undanhålls viktig information från betraktaren, vilket är avgörande för att ett vilseledande narrativ ska fungera.

Suitable Habitats for Wildlife and Conservation Areas in Maine

http://digitalcommons.colby.edu/atlasofmaine2008/1012/thumbnail.jpg

Wildlife Habitat of Maine

http://digitalcommons.colby.edu/atlasofmaine2005/1009/thumbnail.jpg

Classroom of students watching demonstration of closed-circuit TV

Students watch monitors that show a voltage meter being filmed in the Automotive Dept by department head William C. H. Meyer as part of a demonstration of a new technique in closed-circuit television. This is one of a series of photographs accompanying a press release about the development and demonstration of the new technique at the New York Trade School. Original caption reads, "In a classroom on another floor, students all have "front row" seats for the demonstration. Camera concentrates on close-up of a meter, where readings show the result of the voltage-regulator check. Instructor (standing at microphone) is Arthur Richards." Black and white photograph with accompanying caption.

Watching the World Cup, one data point at a time

Retirado do blog de Marc Pickren do dia 13 jun. 2014.

Watching the World Cup, one data point at a time

Sound the vuvuzelas, the World Cup is officially here. The biggest sporting event in the world is set to break all kinds of viewing records. Sporting in the digital world is just as much about stats as it is about the game itself. Enter Brandwatch. The social media analytics company has taken it upon itself to track social media statistics for the entire run of the World Cup with their new real-time data visualization tool.

Foot-and-mouth disease in tropical wildlife

This review of foot-and-mouth disease in cloven-hoofed, free-living animals, describes the disease, the wide range of the hosts, the carrier state, and the interrelationship between disease in domestic livestock and wildlife. This information becomes even more crucial to the development of control strategies when linked to the process of pathogenesis and the epidemiology of the disease.