scholarly journals “Making” Waves: How Young Learners Connect to Their Natural World through Third Space

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 203
Author(s):  
Anne Burke ◽  
Abigail Crocker
Keyword(s):  
Driving Forces ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Third Space ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Relational Values ◽  
Relational Value ◽  
Ecological Problems ◽  
Rising Sea Levels ◽  
Ocean Conservation

In a world that grows increasingly aware of ecological problems such as global warming, rising sea levels, and pollution, we need to reconsider how we connect ourselves to the natural world around us. In this paper, we view makerspaces as ideal locations to shape children’s emotional, sociocultural, and educational consciousnesses about the environment and our multi-layered roles undertaken to live in, and conserve, it. We apply third space, makerspace, and relational value theories in the analysis of a research project conducted with children at an early childhood centre. This project invited children to discuss ocean conservation prompted by the picturebook Flotsam (2006) and create three-dimensional exhibits that express how they visualize ocean conservation. Our research shows that children develop strong emotional connections to tangible representations of conservation when they are given the time to invest in making them, and that these emotional connections are driving forces for relational values that create conservation-oriented mindsets. It also shows how important context is for shaping the ways children learn, and that providing opportunities to examine conservation through makerspaces as a third space encourages children to create empathetic and personal relationships with the natural world.

scholarly journals Living in the clouds: conceptual reconstructions of harbour structures

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-419
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Anne Shotton
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Heritage Management ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Terrestrial Lidar ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels ◽  
Scan Data

Purpose The harbours of Ireland, under threat from deterioration and rising sea levels, are being documented using terrestrial LiDAR augmented by archival research to develop comprehensive histories and timeline models for public dissemination. While methods to extract legible three-dimensional models from scan data have been developed and such operational formats for heritage management are imperative, the need for this format in interpretive visualisations should be reconsidered. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Interpretive visualisations are forms of history making, where factual evidence is drawn together with conjecture to illustrate a plausible account of events, and differentiation between fact and conjecture is the key to their intellectual transparency. A procedure for superimposing conjectural reconstructions, generated using Rhinoceros and CloudCompare, on original scan data in Cyclone and visualised on a web-based viewer is discussed. Findings Embellishing scan data with conjectural elements to visualise the evolution of harbours is advantageous for both research and public dissemination. The accuracy and density of the scans enables the interrogation of the harbour form and the irregular details, the latter in danger of generalisation if translated into parametric or mesh format. Equally, the ethereal quality of the point cloud conveys a sense of tentativeness, consistent with a provisional hypothesis. Finally, coding conjectural elements allows users to intuit the difference between fact and historical narrative. Originality/value While various web-based point clouds viewers are used to disseminate research, the novelty here is the potential to develop didactic representations using point clouds that successfully capture a provisional thesis regarding each harbour’s evolution in an intellectually transparent manner to enable further inquiry.

The Science and Politics of Climate Change in Steve Waters’ The Contingency Plan

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
William C. Boles
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Contingency Plan ◽  
San Andreas ◽  
Water Tables ◽  
Science And Politics ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

Abstract Recent movies have relished depicting nature striking back at a human population that has forsaken her. Films like The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, and San Andreas embrace the apocalyptic destruction of cities around the globe by way of sub-zero hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, and other natural disasters. Surprisingly, the British theatre is equally engaged (albeit less spectacularly) in exploring the same threat. Namely, what happens when the natural world strikes back and begins to encroach against our established homesteads and populated cities. One of the best-known plays on the topic of climate change is Steve Waters’ The Contingency Plan (2009). Waters delves into the growing crisis of rising water tables to low lying areas of England by exploring the effect it has personally on an aging climate scientist and his wife and politically on their son, also a scientist, who is charged by two newly installed government officials with preparing Britain for the looming watery disaster. Eschewing the bombastic Hollywood nature of disaster films, Waters’ play is intimately crafted, showing the dangerous and fatal disruptions of the changing natural world, and, more specifically, the negotiations that take place between science and politics when it comes to the unpredictability of rising sea levels. My article examines this work in relation to how it approaches the threat of climate change to the British Isles by exploring Waters’ exploration of how politics, science, and family tensions affect the climatic future of the country.

An Imperial Disaster

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Kingsbury
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Bay Of Bengal ◽  
Full Moon ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Natural Event ◽  
Cholera Epidemic ◽  
British Rule ◽  
Great Rivers ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

The storm came on the night of 31 October. It was a full moon, and the tides were at their peak; the great rivers of eastern Bengal were flowing high and fast to the sea. In the early hours the inhabitants of the coast and islands were overtaken by an immense wave from the Bay of Bengal — a wall of water that reached a height of 40 feet in some places. The wave swept away everything in its path, drowning around 215,000 people. At least another 100,000 died in the cholera epidemic and famine that followed. It was the worst calamity of its kind in recorded history. Such events are often described as "natural disasters." This book turns that interpretation on its head, showing that the cyclone of 1876 was not simply a "natural" event, but one shaped by all-too-human patterns of exploitation and inequality — by divisions within Bengali society, and the enormous disparities of political and economic power that characterized British rule on the subcontinent. With Bangladesh facing rising sea levels and stronger, more frequent storms, there is every reason now to revisit this terrible calamity.

Potential impacts of global warming on water resources in southern California

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 165-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Beuhler
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Southern California ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Scenario Planning ◽  
Potential Range ◽  
Water Supplies ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

Global warming will have a significant impact on water resources within the 20 to 30-year planning period of many water projects. Arid and semi-arid regions such as Southern California are especially vulnerable to anticipated negative impacts of global warming on water resources. Long-range water facility planning must consider global climate change in the recommended mix of new facilities needed to meet future water requirements. The generally accepted impacts of global warming include increased temperature, rising sea levels, more frequent and severe floods and droughts, and a shift from snowfall to rain. Precipitation changes are more difficult to predict. For Southern California, these impacts will be especially severe on surface water supplies. Additionally, rising sea levels will exacerbate salt-water intrusion into freshwater and impact the quality of surface water supplies. Integrated water resources planning is emerging as a tool to develop water supplies and demand management strategies that are less vulnerable to the impacts of global warming. These tools include water conservation, reclamation, conjunctive use of surface and groundwater and desalination of brackish water and possibly seawater. Additionally, planning for future water needs should include explicit consideration of the potential range of global warming impacts through techniques such as scenario planning.

scholarly journals Effects of climate change on spatiotemporal patterns of tropical cyclone tracks and their implications for coastal agriculture in Myanmar

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Hirano
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Considerable Increase ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Storm Surges ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Spatiotemporal Patterns ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

AbstractImportant aspects for understanding the effects of climate change on tropical cyclones (TCs) are the frequency of TCs and their tracking patterns. Coastal areas are increasingly threatened by rising sea levels and associated storm surges brought on by TCs. Rice production in Myanmar relies strongly on low-lying coastal areas. This study aims to provide insights into the effects of global warming on TCs and the implications for sustainable development in vulnerable coastal areas in Myanmar. Using TC records from the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship dataset during the 30-year period from 1983 to 2012, a hot spot analysis based on Getis-Ord (Gi*) statistics was conducted to identify the spatiotemporal patterns of TC tracks along the coast of Myanmar. The results revealed notable changes in some areas along the central to southern coasts during the study period. These included a considerable increase in TC tracks (p value < 0.01) near the Ayeyarwady Delta coast, otherwise known as “the rice bowl” of the nation. This finding aligns with trends in published studies and reinforced the observed trends with spatial statistics. With the intensification of TCs due to global warming, such a significant increase in TC experiences near the major rice-producing coastal region raises concerns about future agricultural sustainability.

scholarly journals Rising sea levels alter Earth's spin

Nature ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 528 (7582) ◽  
pp. 310-310
Keyword(s):  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

scholarly journals Prospects of Nanostructure-Based Solar Cells for Manufacturing Future Generations of Photovoltaic Modules

2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Gupta ◽  
G. F. Alapatt ◽  
R. Podila ◽  
R. Singh ◽  
K. F. Poole
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Heat Dissipation ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Solar Spectrum ◽  
Future Generation ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Pv Modules ◽  
Quantum Phenomena

We present a comprehensive review on prospects for one-, two-, or three-dimensional nanostructure-based solar cells for manufacturing the future generation of photovoltaic (PV) modules. Reducing heat dissipation and utilizing the unabsorbed part of the solar spectrum are the key driving forces for the development of nanostructure-based solar cells. Unrealistic assumptions involved in theoretical work and the tendency of stretching observed experimental results are the primary reasons why quantum phenomena-based nanostructures solar cells are unlikely to play a significant role in the manufacturing of future generations of PV modules. Similar to the invention of phase shift masks (to beat the conventional diffraction limit of optical lithography) clever design concepts need to be invented to take advantage of quantum-based nanostructures. Silicon-based PV manufacturing will continue to provide sustained growth of the PV industry.

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