Trinidad State Junior College

This study examines how different classroom strategies influence learners’ academic outcomes. Specifically, it investigates the extent to which teachers employ differentiated instruction, student engagement strategies, contextualized learning materials, and the integration of real-world scenarios. The study also assesses learners’ academic performance in English, Mathematics, and Science, exploring significant relationships between teaching strategies and student achievement. A descriptive-correlational design was used, involving 30 teachers and 162 learners as respondents. Data were collected through validated survey questionnaires and analyzed using weighted mean, Pearson correlation, and t-tests. Findings revealed that teachers strongly agreed they frequently used all four strategies, with differentiated instruction and real-world scenarios being the most consistently applied. Learners demonstrated high performance across all subjects, with outstanding results in English and very satisfactory ratings in Mathematics and Science. Significant relationships were identified between differentiated instruction and real-world scenarios and overall academic performance, while student engagement strategies were particularly linked to improved Mathematics and Science outcomes. Contextualized learning materials, though commonly used, did not show a strong direct correlation with higher grades in this study. The results highlight the importance of personalizing lessons and connecting content to real-life contexts to enhance learning. The study recommends further training, resource provision, and professional collaboration to sustain effective practices. An enhancement plan was developed to guide continuous improvement in instructional strategies, aiming to strengthen learner engagement and achievement.

Trinidad and Tobago has the third highest diabetes deaths, the highest rates of kidney failure in the world and is listed as one of the top countries where citizens have a fear of crime. There is a large body of research that has proven that there is an association between physical activity, fear of crime, health outcomes and built environment. However, most scientific research around urban design, physical activity, planning and transportation have been conducted in developed countries. There have been few studies in developing countries, particularly Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, which are facing both high crime and chronic disease. To evaluate the literature on physical activity, chronic disease and the built environment, we conducted a review of the literature through a systematic search and also analysed research gaps and implications. Future studies should develop a multidisciplinary research on physical activity, fear of crime, transportation and the interactive effects of the built environment that can help improve chronic disease health outcomes. Future studies should also better understand the social and environmental influences of barriers to physical activity in Trinidad and Tobago.

Abstract Increasing free tropospheric ozone (O3), combined with the high elevation and often deep boundary layers at western U.S. surface stations, poses challenges in attaining the more stringent 70 ppb O3 National Ambient Air Quality Standard. As such, use of observational data to identify sources and mechanisms that contribute to surface O3 is increasingly important. This work analyzes surface and vertical O3 observations over California and Nevada from 1995 to 2015. Over this period, the number of high O3 events (95th percentile) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) sites has decreased during summer, as a result of decreasing U.S. emissions. In contrast, an increase in springtime 5th percentile O3 indicates a general increase of baseline O3. During 2012 there was a peak in exceedances and in the average spring‐summer O3 mixing ratios at CASTNET sites. Goddard Earth Observing System‐Chem results show that the surface O3 attributable to transport from the upper troposphere and stratosphere was increased in 2013 compared to 2012, highlighting the importance of measurements aloft. Vertical O3 measurements from aircraft, ozonesondes, and lidar show distinct seasonal trends, with a high percentage of elevated O3 laminae (O3 > 70 ppb, 3–8 km) during spring and summer. Analysis of the timing of high O3 surface events and correlation between surface and vertical O3 data is used to discuss varying sources of western U.S. surface O3.

This article articulates two approaches to sociocultural theory, Vygotsky’s classic approach and a contemporary revisionist approach. We examine: (1) their principle tenets for understanding psychology in relation to culture; (2) how they characterize and explain language in particular; and (3) how they characterize and explain a sample linguistic specimen of two dialogues from a middle-class child and a lower-class child. I utilize a critical discourse analysis of the dialogues to empirically determine: (1) which of the two approaches better accounts for the discursive differences; (2) which is a more adequate linguistic theory; (3) which is a more adequate approach to SCT; and (4) which is a more viable and progressive social and political philosophy. We find Vygotsky’s classic formulation superior on all counts. This article concerns the politics of language, linguistics, and social theory.

The case presented in this chapter provides a prototype for using collaborative processes in large-scale conservation. The most important lesson of the chapter is that developing a program that addresses real-world social and environmental problems in ways that truly meet the common interest is both slow and time consuming. The Humboldt Bay Initiative (HBI) is composed of scientists, resource managers, and community members who came together to address the environmental problems of Humboldt Bay and its surrounding lands. The initial impetus for the group’s formation was frustration with the existing arena for addressing natural resource issues in the region. The arena featured polarized public discourse, fragmented jurisdictions, and decision making that was insufficiently contextual, both socially and biophysically. In its place, the group adopted an ecosystem-based management approach that is not only rooted in ecological science but also recognizes the importance of using governance mechanisms to solve environmental problems. Its successes to date have relied on strong leadership and robust collaboration among stakeholders. Its future depends on developing an institutional structure that enables it to interface with policy makers despite the fact that the current governance and constitutive structures are not designed to allow an independent group such as HBI to integrate easily into the decision-making processes.

Habitat fragmentation and invasion by exotic species are regarded as major threats to the biodiversity of many ecosystems. We surveyed the plant communities of two types of remnant sagebrush-steppe fragments from nearby areas on the Snake River Plain of southeastern Idaho, USA. One type resulted from land use (conversion to dryland agriculture; hereafter AG Islands) and the other from geomorphic processes (Holocene volcanism; hereafter kipukas). We assessed two predictions for the variation in native plant species richness of these fragments, using structural equation models (SEM). First, we predicted that the species richness of native plants would follow the MacArthur–Wilson (M–W) hypothesis of island biogeography, as often is expected for the communities of habitat fragments. Second, we predicted a negative relationship between native and exotic plants, as would be expected if exotic plants are decreasing the diversity of native plants. Finally, we assessed whether exotic species were more strongly associated with the fragments embedded in the agricultural landscape, as would be expected if agriculture had facilitated the introduction and naturalization of non-native species, and whether the communities of the two types of fragments were distinct. Species richness of native plants was not strongly correlated with M–W characteristics for either the AG Islands or the **kipukas. The AG Islands had more species and higher cover of exotics than the kipukas, and exotic plants were good predictors of native plant species richness. Our results support the hypothesis that proximity to agriculture can increase the diversity and abundance of exotic plants in native habitat. In combination with other information, the results also suggest that agriculture and exotic species have caused loss of native diversity and reorganization of the sagebrush-steppe plant community.

Summary Northstar is the first arctic offshore development that is not accessible by road for most of the year and does not have fixed-wing air support. The implications of limited access to a 400×400-ft island are enormous. Successful completion of the first drilling season at Northstar is a significant milestone marked by detailed design and execution as well as pure determination. Many of the challenges were anticipated and accounted for, while many others were not. These challenges included environmental hurdles, logistical constraints, and commissioning the rig and the grind and inject (G&I) facility on an accelerated schedule. The first arctic offshore development delivered its first barrels of oil as per schedule on 2 November 2001. Now comes the next challenge—drilling to improve the profitability of this unique Alaskan project.

Seismicity was determined for the area within a 300-km radius from the proposed nuclear waste disposal site in southeastern New Mexico. The primary data used to establish seismic risk were: reports of felt shocks prior to 1961; instrumental epicenters and magnitudes from 1961 through 1972; and lengths, displacements, and ages of fault scarps cutting Quaternary geomorphic surfaces. The principal results of this study were: (1) earthquakes exceeding local magnitude 3.5 have not occurred within 40 km of the site in the past 12 years; probably not in the past 50 years, (2) on the average of once every 50,000 years major earthquakes are possible within 115 km of the site, but these events will produce accelerations of only about 0.07 g at the site; and (3) some evidence indicates that earthquakes located on the Central Basin Platform, 80-100 km southeast of the site, could be related to water injection for secondary recovery of oil.