Educação ambiental e valores em um programa de formação docente: sentidos construídos a partir das práticas pedagógicas

Diante do processo de degradação do meio ambiente e da crise social que permeia a relação sociedade-natureza fragmentada, hierarquizada, consideramos a Educação Ambiental (EA) como potente instrumento de contraposição e intervenção aos atuais paradigmas de nossa sociedade. Frente a este contexto acreditamos que o processo educativo deve trazer articulado para as práticas educativas as dimensões dos conhecimentos relacionados à sociedade e natureza, aos valores éticos, estéticos e participação política. Reconhecendo a ligação entre essas três dimensões, focalizaremos para esse estudo, entretanto, a dimensão valorativa, necessária ao se propor a construção e reconstrução de novos valores desejáveis no âmbito socioambiental. Dessa forma, percorremos em nossa investigação espaços compartilhados por dezesseis professores das séries finais do ensino fundamental da rede pública do estado de São Paulo, que se envolveram em um programa de formação docente junto ao projeto de extensão Educação Ambiental e o Trabalho com Valores realizado em 2010. Nesse caminho, procuramos investigar a partir dos diálogos empreendidos entre esses professores, o processo da construção da prática docente junto à dimensão valorativa da temática ambiental. Buscamos apontar as possibilidades e os possíveis desafios que se estabeleceram no momento da elaboração do plano de ensino que deveria ser posteriormente desenvolvido na rede básica do estado de São Paulo. Os possíveis espaços de contestação que implicaram na contraposição do modelo dominante e que puderam se fortalecer mediante essa experiência formativa durante o projeto de extensão, bem como as possibilidades e limites oferecidos pela escola para sua realização foram alvo de nossa pesquisa. Para tanto, a investigação se desenvolveu com base na abordagem de pesquisa qualitativa, sob uma perspectiva bakhtiniana

Análise comparativa entre os aquecedores solares industrial e os construídos com garrafas pet e canos de pvc, cobre e alumínio

Este trabalho apresenta o uso de energia solar, para o aquecimento de água, através da análise de aquecedores solares industrial e os construídos com garrafas PET com canos condutores de água de cobre, alumínio e PVC, instalados no Centro de Energias Renováveis - CER, do Campus de Engenharia Guaratinguetá. A análise foi realizada com a ajuda de sensores Termopar, software - Contemp View Simple, para obtenção de dados, software Teamviewer para acesso remoto. Sendo feitas as medições concluiu-se qual é o aquecedor mais eficiente a ser utilizado, sempre tendo como objetivo o aproveitamento da energia renovável usando a radiação solar

Vereda and Murundu wetlands and changes in Brazilian environmental laws: challenges to conservation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Sentidos de escola e de educação construídos por jovens em cumprimento de medida socioeducativa

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo investigar os sentidos de educação e de escola construídos por jovens/adolescentes que cumprem medida socioeducativa e/ou encontram-se em situação de vulnerabilidade social, evadidos ou não do sistema escolar. Nossa intenção com a pesquisa foi ouvir os jovens/adolescentes para saber quais são os sentidos construídos ao longo da vida escolar sobre educação, sobre a formação recebida na escola e suas relações cotidianas no interior da instituição escolar. Para alcançarmos tais resultados, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa, empírica, utilizandose como instrumento de coleta de dados a entrevista semi-estruturada. De forma geral, com esse trabalho pretendeu-se apresentar uma reflexão sobre os significados do processo de escolarização desses jovens/adolescentes, buscando, assim, contribuir com um conhecimento mais aprofundado, que possa subsidiar a prática com esses sujeitos, no que refere a pensar em um modelo de educação mais significativo, e adequado a esses jovens, que afirmam gostar da escola, pelo seu potencial socializador

Review of The Biology of Freshwater Wetlands: Biology of Habitats by Arnold G. van der Valko

Wetland ecology is a relatively new field that developed from an initial interest in a few direct benefits that wetlands provide to society. Consequently, much early scientific work was stimulated by economic returns from specific wetland services, such as production of peat and provision of habitat for economically valuable wildlife (e.g., waterfowl and furbearers). Over time, societal interest in wetlands broadened, and these unique habitats are now valued for many additional services, including some that bear non market value. Common examples include carbon sequestration, flood reduction, water purification, and aesthetics. The increased recognition of the importance of wetlands has generated a diversity of job opportunities in wetland ecology and management. Despite the increased knowledge base and enhanced job market, I am not aware of any institutions that offer specialty degrees in this new discipline. Indeed, relatively few institutions offer specific wetland ecology classes, with Arnold G. van der Valk and a few of his peers at other universities being notable exceptions.

Temporal and Spatial Patterns of Avifauna on Wetlands in the Vicinity of Bush Field Airport, Augusta, Georgia, USA

Responding to a U.S. Federal court order to improve discharged wastewater quality, Augusta, Georgia initiated development of artificial wetlands in 1997 to treat effluents. Because of the proximity to Augusta Regional Airport at Bush Field, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration expressed concern for potential increased hazard to aircraft posed by birds attracted to these wetlands. We commenced weekly low-level aerial surveys of habitats in the area beginning January, 1998. Over a one-year period, 49 surveys identified approximately 42,000 birds representing 52 species, including protected Wood Storks and Bald Eagles, using wetlands within 8 km of the airport. More birds were observed during the mid-winter and fall/spring migratory seasons (1,048 birds/survey; October - April) than during the breeding/post-breeding seasons (394 birds/survey; May - September). In winter, waterfowl dominated the avian assemblage (65% of all birds). During summer, wading birds were most abundant (56% of all birds). Habitat changes within the artificial wetlands produced fish kills and exposed mudflats, resulting in increased use by wading birds and shorebirds. No aquatic birds were implicated in 1998 bird strikes, and most birds involved could safely be placed within songbird categories. Airport incident reports further implicated songbirds. These findings suggested that efforts to decrease numbers of songbirds on the airport property must be included in the development of a wildlife hazard management plan. Seasonal differences in site use among species groups should also be considered in any such plan. Other wetlands within 8 km of the airport supported as many or more birds than the artificial wetlands. With proper management of the artificial wetlands, it should be possible to successfully displace waterfowl and wading birds to other wetlands further from the airport.

Restoration of forest wetlands: Case studies in Michigan and Finland

Forested wetlands throughout the world are valuable habitats; especially in relatively species-poor northern regions, they can be considered biological hotspots. Unfortunately, these areas have been degraded and destroyed. In recent years, however, the biological importance of wetlands has been increasingly recognized, resulting in the desire to restore disturbed habitats or create in place of destroyed ones. Restoration work is taking place across the globe in a diversity of wetland types, and research must be conducted to determine successful techniques. As a result, two studies of the effects of wetland restoration and creation were conducted in forested wetlands in northern Michigan and southern Finland. In North America, northern white-cedar wetlands have been declining in area, despite attempts to regenerate them. Improved methods for successfully establishing northern white-cedar are needed; as a result, the target of the first study was to determine if creating microtopography could be beneficial for white-cedar recruitment and growth. In northern Europe, spruce swamp forests have become a threatened ecosystem due to extensive drainage for forestry. As part of the restoration of these habitats, i.e. rewetting through ditch blocking, Sphagnum mosses are considered to be a critical element to re-establish, and an in-depth analysis of how Sphagnum is responding to restoration in spruce swamp forests has not been previously done. As a result, the aim of the second study was to investigate the ecophysiological functioning of Sphagnum and feather mosses across a gradient of pristine, drained, and restored boreal spruce swamp forests.

Modeling and classifying variable width riparian zones utilizing digital elevation models, flood height data, digital soil data and national wetlands inventory : a new approach for riparian zone delineation

Riparian zones are dynamic, transitional ecosystems between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems with well defined vegetation and soil characteristics. Development of an all-encompassing definition for riparian ecotones, because of their high variability, is challenging. However, there are two primary factors that all riparian ecotones are dependent on: the watercourse and its associated floodplain. Previous approaches to riparian boundary delineation have utilized fixed width buffers, but this methodology has proven to be inadequate as it only takes the watercourse into consideration and ignores critical geomorphology, associated vegetation and soil characteristics. Our approach offers advantages over other previously used methods by utilizing: the geospatial modeling capabilities of ArcMap GIS; a better sampling technique along the water course that can distinguish the 50-year flood plain, which is the optimal hydrologic descriptor of riparian ecotones; the Soil Survey Database (SSURGO) and National Wetland Inventory (NWI) databases to distinguish contiguous areas beyond the 50-year plain; and land use/cover characteristics associated with the delineated riparian zones. The model utilizes spatial data readily available from Federal and State agencies and geospatial clearinghouses. An accuracy assessment was performed to assess the impact of varying the 50-year flood height, changing the DEM spatial resolution (1, 3, 5 and 10m), and positional inaccuracies with the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) streams layer on the boundary placement of the delineated variable width riparian ecotones area. The result of this study is a robust and automated GIS based model attached to ESRI ArcMap software to delineate and classify variable-width riparian ecotones.

Determining the role of environmental factors and disturbance in the distribution of reed canary grass within wetlands

Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) is an invasive species originally from Europe that has now expanded to a large range within the United States. Reed canary grass possesses a number of traits that allow it to thrive in a wide range of environmental factors, including high rates of sedimentation, bouts of flooding, and high levels of nutrient inputs. Therefore, the goals of our study were to determine if 1) certain types of wetland were more susceptible to Reed canary grass invasion, and 2) disturbances facilitated Reed canary grass invasion. This study was conducted within the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community reservation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in Baraga County. We selected 28 wetlands for analysis. At each wetland, we identified and sampled distinct vegetative communities and their corresponding environmental attributes, which included water table depth, pH, conductivity, calcium and magnesium concentrations, and percent organic matter. Disturbances at each site were catalogued and their severity estimated with the aid of aerial photos. A GIS dataset containing information about the location of Reed canary grass within the study wetlands, the surrounding roads and the level of roadside Reed canary grass invasion was also developed. In all, 287 plant species were identified and classified into 16 communities, which were then further grouped into three broad groupings of wetlands: nonforested graminoid, Sphagnum peatlands, and forested wetlands. The two most common disturbances identified were roads and off-road recreation trails, both occurring at 23 of the 28 sites. Logging activity surrounding the wetlands was the next most common disturbance and was found at 18 of the sites. Occurrence of Reed canary grass was most common in the non-forested graminoid communities. Reed canary grass was very infrequent in forested wetlands, and almost never occurred in the Sphagnum peatlands. Disturbance intensity was the most significant environmental factor in explaining Reed canary grass occurrence within wetlands. Statistically significant relationships were identified at distances of 1000 m, 500 m, and 250 m from studied wetlands, between the level of road development and the severity of Reed canary grass invasion along roadsides. Further analysis revealed a significant relationship between roadside Reed canary grass populations and the level of road development (e.g. paved, graded, and ungraded).

DYPTOP: a cost-efficient TOPMODEL implementation to simulate sub-grid spatio-temporal dynamics of global wetlands and peatlands

Simulating the spatio-temporal dynamics of inundation is key to understanding the role of wetlands under past and future climate change. Earlier modelling studies have mostly relied on fixed prescribed peatland maps and inundation time series of limited temporal coverage. Here, we describe and assess the the Dynamical Peatland Model Based on TOPMODEL (DYPTOP), which predicts the extent of inundation based on a computationally efficient TOPMODEL implementation. This approach rests on an empirical, grid-cell-specific relationship between the mean soil water balance and the flooded area. DYPTOP combines the simulated inundation extent and its temporal persistency with criteria for the ecosystem water balance and the modelled peatland-specific soil carbon balance to predict the global distribution of peatlands. We apply DYPTOP in combination with the LPX-Bern DGVM and benchmark the global-scale distribution, extent, and seasonality of inundation against satellite data. DYPTOP successfully predicts the spatial distribution and extent of wetlands and major boreal and tropical peatland complexes and reveals the governing limitations to peatland occurrence across the globe. Peatlands covering large boreal lowlands are reproduced only when accounting for a positive feedback induced by the enhanced mean soil water holding capacity in peatland-dominated regions. DYPTOP is designed to minimize input data requirements, optimizes computational efficiency and allows for a modular adoption in Earth system models.