About Sounds

~essays on Western Australian education~

Please note that the views presented here are the authors and may not represent the views of About Sounds.

Easton, P. (2008). Green, Sustainable House Design

Easton, P. (2007), Assessment impact on student learning & Concepts of validity and reliability in Assessment

Woodcock, J. (2007) Musical Mathematics

Easton, P. (2006), Advocacy of the Arts. Intrinsic and Instrumental learning value of the arts.

Easton, P. (2006), The Power of Drama, Cross Curriculum Integration.

Woodcock, J. (2006), Terraforming the Red Planet

Essay by P. Easton © copyright 2008

Please note that the views presented here are the authors and may not represent the views of About Sounds.

Green, Sustainable House Design

Sustainable buildings are designed to have a long usable life. This is achieved by ensuring that the building is future focussed, meaning that it will be comfortable now and in the future. Future focussed buildings must take into consideration the climate, environmental considerations, population changes and trends in technology and fashions both now and later. 

Sustainable buildings can help to minimise the enormous burden that we place on the environment when housing our populations by being built to maximise the amount of renewable materials that form them, and by being designed to last longer than conventional buildings of today. A sustainable building will also take into consideration the energy used to keep the building habitable, warm in winter and cool in summer, and will factor in the need for good ventilation required for a healthy home, together with the need to keep the building well sealed to stop thermal transfer in the air. Considerations that will be used when designing the building will include the initial and ongoing energy and environmental cost of producing the building materials.

Substantial energy is required to produce the steel, concrete, bricks and insulation found in many buildings, from the diesel used in mining the raw materials, to the coal, gas and other fossil fuels burnt in power stations to refine and produce our building resources. 

Transport of building materials alone uses huge amounts of fossil fuel. By the time it is used in a building, a single iron nail has been transported several times, from being found as iron ore in the ground, to being refined in a foundry, then being cast in a factory, delivered to a shop, bought by the builder and carried to the building site. When you take into consideration the sheer volume of materials required to construct a home, tens of thousands of kilometres have been travelled before any of these materials reach the final destination.

There are alternative materials that are renewable and do not require as much transport or refinement to deliver a usable building material. Straw bale, rammed earth, solid wood, mud brick and stone buildings can all use materials sourced close to the construction site. Straw bale and solid wood buildings also use renewable materials, as both are materials that are commercially farmed in most places in the world including Australia.  

Tree farming has gained acceptance in many countries, and in Australia we have a sustainable supply of good quality building timber sourced from tree farms. Most of the building timber grown in Australia is now Radiata Pine or yellow pine, a species that originated in America. Solid wood buildings have been designed to use the bulk of a thick piece of timber to insulate the inside from the extreme temperatures of the outside environment. Several designs also use the resin or sap trapped in the wood as an extra heat storage device. As the resin heats up, it changes form from solid to liquid and stores energy. When the temperature cools, the resin sets back to solid and releases this stored energy to the inside of the building as heat.

Straw bale buildings typically consist of a free standing roof, much like a large gazebo, with walls of stacked straw bales. Straw bales are sustainable, renewable and also grown throughout most of Australia so can be sourced close to the construction site. Straw must be kept dry and well ventilated, as it will rot if allowed to stay damp. The building must also have a bigger area than a house with similar sized living areas, as the straw makes a much thicker wall than a regular brick or timber stud building. 

Rammed earth and stone buildings can both use locally sourced materials and can dramatically cut the energy required to produce the building materials. Both rammed earth and stone are good thermal insulators, but they rely solely on the mass of the material, and don’t have extra advantages such as the resin in pine timbers.  

Timber, rammed earth and stone buildings can all be used in buildings that employ passive solar design. Passive solar designs use the energy of the sun to heat the building during winter, and attempt to keep the heat out during summer by having wide eaves. To utilise the winter sunshine, north facing windows are incorporated into the building design. The sun will shine into the north rooms and warm the floor and the inside wall. This inside wall needs to have a high mass to store the heat, and is built of materials such as brick, stone, rammed earth or solid timber. During the day, this wall stores the suns heat energy, and releases it during the night to keep the building warmer.

winter passive solar concept

 Sustainable building is not just about the design process. When coupled with renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic panels, wind generators or small hydro electric generators, where water is used to turn a turbine generator, a sustainable building can become a neutral energy or “green” building. This means that the building creates enough energy that all power requirements are able to be met without burning fossil or other non renewable fuels. This has huge environmental advantages as fridges, air conditioners, lights and other appliances reliant on electricity can be run without using electricity provided by carbon dioxide emitting power plants. 

Buildings with their own electricity supply may still be connected to the existing power network so that during periods when the generation of electricity is greater than the amount required the excess is fed into the power grid, and when the amount of electricity required exceeds the amount generated, the grid can make up the difference. This could be in the instance of solar panels, where no power is generated during the night, so lights and other appliances can still be used.  

The other alternative is to have a building completely isolated and reliant on its own power generation. This type of building could have a bank of batteries so that when more power is generated than is required it can be stored for later use. These types of buildings usually have a back up diesel generator in case there are long periods of time when no power can be generated through renewable means. This could include a period of days with major cloud cover over solar panels. Buildings with self reliance on renewable energy sources generally have more than one type of generation, and are called hybrid systems. This could include a home with solar and wind generators, so that when there is no sun, there may be wind. 

When a sustainable building design and construction is coupled with renewable energy sources and technology such as energy efficient appliances, a home can be a comfortable place to live and still feel much like any traditional house without leaving a huge burden on the environment for years to come.

References:

http://www.synergy.net.au/Residential_Segment/SmartWays_To_Save/enviro-home.html

 http://articles.directorym.net/Lighting_Controls_Phoenix_AZ-r878555-Phoenix_AZ.html

 http://articles.directorym.net/Low_Energy_Plan_Phoenix_AZ-r878549-Phoenix_AZ.html 

http://articles.directorym.net/Save_Money_Going_Green_Phoenix_AZ-r874866-Phoenix_AZ.html 

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/environ/housedesign/index.shtml 

http://www.hydro.com.au/handson/students/eehd.htm 

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/a-home-that-heats-and-cools-itself/

 http://www.users.bigpond.com/fleurcom/low-energy.html

Essay by P. Easton © copyright 2007

Please note that the views presented here are the authors and may not represent the views of About Sounds.

Assessment impact on student learning &

Concepts of validity and reliability in Assessment

In what ways can assessment impact on student learning, and why? 

The way that teachers evaluate student learning can impact on both the students’ immediate and long term learning behaviour. This impact can be either positive or negative. It has been found that “some measurement and evaluation procedures used by teachers and schools are destructive of students’ confidence in learning and motivation to learn.” (McInerney & McInerney, 2006) Surface learning techniques can be attributed as one such impact on student learning, when a student is encouraged by the assessment to simply learn what is required to pass rather than “delve more deeply into the subject matter”. This can become a long term learning behaviour, students “picking out what is minimally required” to pass each assessment. 

Student learning patterns can differ widely depending on the reasons behind their motivation. “The kinds of motivation students have, their personal reasons for learning or for avoiding the appearance of failure, influence the way they engage in school.” “Grades and assessments take on different meanings, depending on what is motivating students to learn.” (Taylor & Nolen, 2005) The content of an assessment and the results a student gets from the assessment can either reinforce good learning behaviour or continue give students reason to surface learn.

 The way an assessment is perceived by students from the start can have dramatic effects on the learning strategies of students. “When it is perceived that grades in tests and exams can be maximized by accurately reproducing detail… both teachers and learner will focus on that content and use teaching and learning strategies to enhance retention.” (Biggs & Moore, 1993.)

 Biggs and Moore make reference to a study conducted by Ames and Archer (1988) regarding the emphasis of mastery goal orientation seen in criterion referenced testing as apposed to the performance goal orientations found in norm-referenced tests “Students in classrooms with a mastery goal orientation not only liked their schoolwork more, but preferred challenging tasks, believed success was dependant on the effort they put in rather than their ability, and were more likely to use effective learning strategies, than students in classrooms with performance goal orientations.” (Biggs & Moore, 1993.) 

The argument for criterion referenced testing is furthered by McInerney and McInerney, (2006) “criterion- referenced evaluation focuses attention where it belongs: on whether or not the learner has learned what they where intended to learn” and “gives greater opportunity for student involvement in their own assessment.” The ability to self assess can “have benefits both for the student” and the teacher “in reducing the need for constant supervision.”

The impact on a student’s motivation resulting from failure in an assessment can change depending on the cause of failure. “A failure resulting from poor effort has a different impact from one resulting from lack of ability.” (McInerney & McInerney, 2006) Students may interpret a low assessment score as a reason to avoid work altogether. (Taylor & Nolen, 2005) 

McInerney & McInerney (2006) list a number of potentially positive outcomes arising from the use of appropriate assessment techniques. Long term effects can include the opportunity to “influence students’ ability to retain and apply the material learned in a variety of contexts, to help develop student learning strategies and styles, and to encourage students’ continuing motivation, both in particular subjects and more generally.” Short and medium term effects can include the incorporation of “prerequisite skills or knowledge prior to introducing new material” to enable the topic to be covered effectively, a focus of attention on desired aspects of a topic, an engaging of active learning strategies, consolidation of learning, the adequate provision of both teacher and self orientated feedback, guidance of the direction to be taken in further learning activities and study patterns, and an influence of students’ future activities. 

Timely feedback after an assessment can have dramatic effects on student learning. “One of the most important uses of feedback is to guide students toward learning to produce high quality work.” (Taylor & Nolen, 2005) Feedback enables students to see areas that require further attention, whilst also being a powerful motivator when used with encouragement about a different area of assessment. Feedback needs to be clear and focused, and directed in a manner that will motivate students to persist in a task, rather than become disillusioned. Feedback must also be given quickly, to limit the amount of “faulty understanding” and lack of interest following a students attentions moving to the next task. “When a student … doesn’t receive feedback for days … or weeks… most of the opportunity for instructing through feedback is lost. (Taylor & Nolen) 

Assessment can have various impacts on the learning behaviour of students. When the appropriate choice of assessment type, content and feedback is used, this impact can positively shape the future learning activities a student undertakes. Each student will approach an assessment with individual reasons for doing well. The eternal struggle for teachers and assessors is to understand these different perspectives and conduct assessments that will maximise the benefits to all students. 

Concepts of validity and reliability showing why they are important in assessment. 

Validity and reliability play an important part in the assessment of students in education. Both are inherent in any process to confirm an assessment is fair. All “assessment information should enable judgments to be made about students’ progress towards the desired outcomes in a way that is fair and contributes to continued learning.” (Curriculum Council, 1998). To be valid, an assessment must be thought to be “measuring what we intend to measure”. As well, “validity refers to the appropriateness of a measure”, and the inferences formed by the results of the assessment. (McInerney & McInerney, 2006)  

According to McInerney & McInerney (2006) the validity of an assessment can be assessed with support from several factors, including face, content, criterion and construct evidence. Whether an assessment appears to measure “what it purports to measure” at least on face value, can be important in students’ perception on the value that should be placed on the assessment. If the assessment task is only loosely connected to the subject being assessed, the validity of the task would be called in to question. 

The validity of content in an assessment can be determined by the extent that the subject matter draws from the same material used in teaching the desired outcomes (McInerney & McInerney, 2006). Killen (2005) refers to content validity as “how relevant the content of a test or assessment task is, and how representative it is of the domain that is purported to be tested.” Content validity has no connection to the inferences formed by the results of the assessment, but must not be thought to absolve teachers of the responsibility to consider the importance of “the conditions under which the test is administered, the effect that learners’ characteristics will have on their responses, and the responsibility that teachers have to interpret the test results in defensible ways.” (Killen) 

Criterion related validity refers to the correlation between assessment results and external variables (Killen, 2005). McInerney & McInerney (2006) refer to this as creating a benchmark to test the accuracy of the assessment. When using criterion to judge validity, assessors look for other results that test the same behaviour or knowledge. The similarity or difference between the results can inform the assessor about the criterion related validity of the assessment, an important aspect of a fair test. This type of validity can ensure that influences such as Killen raises are addressed as a part of the assessment. 

Killen (2005) raises a fourth measure of validity, construct related evidence, which involves “seeking evidence that the assessment task is actually providing trustworthy measurement of the underlying construct.” Killen discusses the argument that all validity is basically construct validity, which would seem to integrate all other attempts to ascertain validity of an assessment.

 The reliability of an assessment is an indication that it is “stable and consistent over time” (McInerney & McInerney, 2006). Without determining reliability of a result, an assessment would have little value or meaning (Killen, 2005). It is therefore important in the assessment process to ensure reliability of the assessment process and results to determine consistent judgments of students’ performance. The four methods referred to by McInerney & McInerney to determine reliability are measures of stability, internal consistency and inter marker reliability. Any correlation between assessments is measured as equivalence. 

Stability assessment is also referred to as the test, retest method, and is the process of assessing the same set group of students twice, after a period of time has elapsed between the tests. If the correlation between the results is seen to be high then reliability can be thought to be consistent (McInerney & McInerney, 2006). The internal consistency method, (McInerney & McInerney) also referred to by Killen (2005) as the split halves assessment, combines the testing into one assessment, which is then compared separately to establish reliability. 

To determine the reliability on individual assessors, the results given by each are correlated. This can be especially important when students sitting the same assessment are being marked by multiple assessors, but also when comparing the results of individual classes to ensure students in each class are being marked fairly. 

“Assessment should provide valid information on the actual ideas, processes, products and values expected of students” as the classroom environ “tends to focus… on those things… assessed because those are… in which changes are noticed and… are seen to be valued.” (Curriculum Council, 1998) Thought needs to be given at the planning stage of any program to ensure that judgments on students’ achievements are valid and reliable and based on “assessment that fully encompasses the outcome and … situations that authentically represent the ways in which the outcome will… be used in the future.” (Curriculum Council) 

References 

Biggs, J. & Moore, P.J. (1993). The Processes of learning. New York: Prentice Hall, pp 391-394. 

Curriculum Council (1998). Curriculum Framework. Western Australia: Curriculum Council. pp 37-39 

Killen, R. (2005). Programming and Assessment for quality teaching and Learning. Victoria: Thomson/Social Science Press. pp 101-139 

McInerney D.M. & McInerney V. (2006) Educational Psychology: Constructing Learning (4^th ed.) French Forest: Pearson. 

Taylor, C.S & Nolen, S.B. (2005) Classroom Assessment: Supporting Teaching and Learning in Real Classrooms. New Jersey: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall. pp 50-69

Essay by J. Woodcock © copyright 2007

Please note that the views presented here are the authors and may not represent the views of About Sounds.

Musical Mathematics 

“A mathematician, like a painter or a poet, is a maker of patterns”   - G.H Hardy

‘Creativity’ is an aspect many tend not to associate with mathematics. However many others claim to be attracted to mathematics because of this very quality. 

Although not usually associated with mathematics the creative aspects of music are evident. Music is directly associated with the creative process of bearing ones soul through song and words, but what is not noticeably apparent is the mathematical applications that are behind music. These applications become more perceptible when the makeup of rhythm and pitch are studied in depth.  

Rhythm is a recurring pattern that is used to measure the time and flow of a piece or music. As in mathematics, these patterns tell us how we are to perform something, in this case, how notes are to be played in a certain amount of time. Mathematical equations (some very basic and other much more complicated) are expressed through the rhythm of music, with patterns made up from the beats, the value of these beats and the bars that these beats make up.  The notation of a score provides the musician with detailed instructions for playing a composition, through pitch and rhythm. When the make up of the pitch is studied it becomes apparent that there are frequencies, intonations, and tuning.  

From personal experience as a drum-kit player in a band I have found that all aspects of music promote creativity. Though you may be playing someone else’s compositions you as the player are required to interpret that music and play it in a way that expresses yourself, how that music makes you feel and what it means to you. These forms of creativity are linked to mathematical equations forming the basis of musicianship, so in truth, music is just an extension of mathematics, and therefore the creative aspects of music are also the creative aspects of Maths.  

When we listen to music, what we are in fact listening to is pitches on a scale. These pitches contain intervals, which can be expressed by ratios. The perfect fifth can be expressed by the ratio 3:2 whereas two notes with the same pitch (unison) can be expressed by the ratio 1:1.  These ratios represent a fraction of the whole scale of music (the octave) 

Music travels to our ears via frequencies and amplitude. The frequencies of these sound waves help to determine the pitch showing that the faster the vibrations in the air are, the higher the sound is, whereas the deeper pitches will provide slower vibrations as they are travelling.  In the 18^th centaury a mathematician named Jean Baptiste determined that all complex periodic waves (frequency) may be expressed as the sum of a series of sinusoidal (graph of sine function where  'y = a sin bx', with 'a' and 'b' being constants). He explained that these waves are all harmonics of the fundamental and that these harmonics have their own amplitude and phase. This sound wave then travels via vibrations at speeds and distances depending on the temperature, V = 331.4 + 0.6T_c being the equation.  

The Beatles have produced many popular songs since the 1960s which people still enjoy listening to today. One such song called She Loves You (1963) is an example of the creativity of song being produced through mathematics. When the score (musical notation) is studied we can see how mathematics is necessary in its creation.  

There are simple equations in this composition such as counting the beats in a bar (defined as being the vertical line used to divide the staff into measure by the Funk and Wagnalls desktop Dictionary (1984)), but underlying that is the rhythm made out of these beats. In this example there are four beats in each bar, but the composers wanted the music to emphasise the beat two, instead of fourth beat so it was written in cut common time. In the first bar There are 8 notations, each notation therefore represents 1/8 of the bar (the use of fractions). The music also requires that this rhythm is played as different melodic notes (pitches). These notes have to do with the frequencies of the vibrations travelling through the air as explained in earlier paragraphs. There are also patterns in this song in which the first three bars of the music are repeated throughout the song. She Loves You (1963) is creatively pleasing to me as Lennon and McCartney (the composers) have chosen a rhythm that entices me to want to listen to the song. The use of this particular rhythm provides an upbeat backing for the melody which I find appealing, as it is more enjoyable to listen to then a slower song. The public’s appeal of the creativity of The Beatles music is evident due to the fact that 40 years have passed and their songs are still well known.  

The Octave is the basis for all pitched music. It is the range of one note to it’s corresponding note 7 tones apart or double the frequency. The mathematical aspects behind an octave are numerous. In the 3^rd Century BC Pythagoras used a piece of string to show the pitch would change when the length was altered. This effected in 12 different notes being discovered, (now referred to as semi-tones), and the ratios behind those notes, (as expressed in Figure 2). Pythagoras determined that the intonation of a pitch had to do with the length of strings on stringed instruments, changing the string length would produce different pitches of the same note. 

Figure 2. The C harmonic scale.  

This mathematical application to music has crafted the entire system of tones and semi-tones, producing the songs that are heard today, just as it effected music thousands of years ago. As a musician this discovery made by Pythagoras is of great importance. Without the knowledge of the octave music would be completely different, and far less enjoyable. We would not have the different types of instruments that now exist nor would our understanding of melody be as complete if Pythagoras had not experimented with his theory. The creativity of the octave in all its forms is apparent to musicians as without this background the instrumentation and composition of music would not be as creative or as aesthetically pleasing to listen to.  

Cox (2000) quoted Gottfried Leibniz as saying, ‘Music is the pleasure the human soul experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting.’ This statement defines the relationship between music and mathematics. The creativity of music is supported by mathematical formulations behind the melody and rhythm. The numerical numbers are the underlying basis of both music and maths, used to express creativity in the forms of patterns, ratios and fractions. Music is indeed a creative demonstration of mathematical concepts.

References 

Cox, P., (2000), Math and Music: A Primer, Pythagoras, http://members.cox.net/mathmistakes/music.htm (accessed 23^rd March 2007) 

Landau, Sidney I. (ed), Funk & Wagnells Standard Desktop Dictionary (1984), Harper & Row Publishing Inc.: pp 50 

Hass, Jeffery, (2005), Chapter One: An Acoustics Primer, http://www.indiana.edu/~emusic/etext/acoustics/chapter1_speed.shtml (accessed: 25^th March 2007) 

Hass, Jeffery, (2005), What are wave shapes and spectral, http://www.indiana.edu/~emusic/etext/acoustics/chapter1_shape2.shtml (accessed: 25^th March 2007) 

Hightower, Thomas Váczy, (2002), The creation of musical scales from a Mathematical point of view,

http://home22.inet.tele.dk/hightower/scales.htm (accessed 23^rd March 2007)   

Kamien, Robert, (2002), Music: An appreciation, fourth brief edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, in Rhythm: pp32 and Music Notation: pp35 

Marshall, L. A., (1995), ‘Emblems of mind’, The Sciences, vol 35.n5, (Sept-Oct 1995):pp46 

Encarta, (1998-2005), World English dictionary, Microsoft Corporation  

(2006), ‘The music of spheres. (Music and maths), The Wilson Quarterly, vol. 30.4, autumn 2006:pp82 

Washington, J., 1977, The Beatles for Classical guitar, She Loves You, London, Wise Publications: 14-15 

Wade-Mathews, Max, (2001), The History of Musical Instruments and Music-Making, Joanna Lorenz, London.

Essay by P. Easton © copyright 2006

Please note that the views presented here are the authors and may not represent the views of About Sounds.

Advocacy of the Arts. Intrinsic and Instrumental learning value of the arts. 

The “Arts play a critical role in society; they entertain, stimulate, enthuse and develop our creative and intellectual capabilities.” The Arts can provide a sense of community place and pride, and offer valuable job and life experiences. (DCA WA, 2006) “Perhaps the basic reason that every child must have an education in (the arts is that the arts are) a part of the fabric of our society” (MENC, 2006). In light of these and other reasons, advocacy for the Arts must be maintained throughout our community and within our education system by developing and sustaining the importance of both intrinsic and instrumental values of the Arts in our schools. 

The main view of the instrumental place of the Arts in today’s society “is that the arts have public value because they promote broad social and economic goals, such as economic growth and better academic performance.” (Rand, 2006) The Arts have also been stated as being an instrument in achieving objectives of community after school programs, juvenile justice prevention programs, teacher quality enhancement and literacy improvement.(NMARTS, 2006) In a recent study undertaken by the Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse (TCDAA), it was noted that secondary students that participated in the Arts (specifically music) reported “the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances” being alcohol, tobacco or illicit drugs. It was concluded that the discipline and involvement of the Arts was instrumental in this outcome. The Arts has also been considered instrumental in the development of personal skills and attributes such as communication, creativity, cooperation and appreciation of life. (MENC, 2006) These personal derivatives can be associated with the intrinsic benefits of participation in the Arts.

 “The intrinsic benefits of the arts experience, such as aesthetic pleasure and captivation, are viewed as having strictly private, personal value.” This view has been questioned by a new report, Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate About the Benefits of the Arts, which was commissioned by the Wallace Foundation. The study recognised that both intrinsic and instrumental benefits to society are derived from the Arts and called for more policies to engage people in the Arts. This study also found that people who were exposed to arts in school were more likely to engage and seek out engagement in later life. This demonstrates the importance of engaging students in the Arts as part of a sustained and developed program. (MENC, 2006) “It is commonly recognised that arts education stimulates children’s creativity and reinforces their capacity for action as well as their interest in arts and nature … art activities and creative teaching methods play a role in reinforcing self-awareness, self-confidence and interest in others. Art teaching methods demand personal and physical involvement through play and creativity, which makes the aesthetic experience a positive one for learners” (UNESCO, 1997). Intrinsic value of the Arts is also important to human culture as they use the Arts to “carry forward its ideas and ideals.” (MENC, 2006) 

Art has been considered to be a universal language between generations and cultures. (Powell, 2002) In fact, culture can be used in the context “the tastes in art and manners that are favoured by a social group” (Wordnet, 2002). To ensure that we continue to develop our cultures, the Arts need to be engaged with. “At a time when cultural diversity is considered to be one of the spearheads of sustainable development, there is an urgent need to give as many people as possible real access to artistic self-expression and practices. By moreover giving its rightful place to the teaching of arts in places where knowledge is transmitted (schools, cultural institutions and centres, training centres), this teaching by its very nature becomes a tool to strengthen both ethic and aesthetic values.” (UNESCO, 1997)

The Arts plays an important part of society in other ways. “The importance of (the Arts) to our economy is without doubt.” (MENC, 2006) According to the 2001 census results, 23,515 people (2.8% of the employed population) in Western Australia alone reported that their main job was in a cultural industry, generating 3.8% of the total goods and services expenditure by Western Australian households in 1998-99 and 1.8% ($2,159 m) of the total Western Australian production. In 2001-02, the estimated value of cultural industry production was $28,113 million, topping that generated by motor vehicles and parts ($17,770 m), and defense ($11,211 m). (DCA WA, 2006) Without a sustained development of the Arts in education, this proportion of state economy may fall. 

The Arts in education offer substantial benefits to society and the community through intrinsic and instrumental value and help to define our culture. The Arts can help children to develop self awareness and social and personal skills. The Arts also contribute heavily to Australia’s economy, and offer employment for tens of thousands of people. Such wide ranging benefits deserve attention and dedicated development on our education system. 

List of References 

Powell, J. (2002) The importance of art in children’s education. Parkesburg Art Centre. www.wvfinearts.com/edu/edu_powellmsg.htm Last accessed 2nd April 06

Definition of “Culture” wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=culture Last accessed 2nd April 06

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (1997). World Conference on Arts Education. http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=9485&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Last accessed 2nd April 06

Facts about the Arts. Department of Culture and the Arts. www.dca.wa.gov.au/facts.asp Last accessed 2nd April 06 

Reframing the Debate About the Value of the Arts. (2006) Rand Corporation. www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9106/index1.html Last accessed 2nd April 06

Music Education Facts and Figures. www.menc.org/information/advocate/facts.html Last accessed 2nd April 06 

Arts Education Task Force www.nmarts.org/ed/ed_task_force.html Last accessed 2nd April 06

The Value and Quality of Arts Education, A Statement of Principles www.menc.org/information/prek12/principl.html Last accessed 2nd April 06

Essay by P. Easton © copyright 2006

Please note that the views presented here are the authors and may not represent the views of About Sounds.

The Power of Drama, Cross Curriculum Integration

We as educators have to be mindful of the fact that whilst adults incorporate different skills into an activity without much thought, we are inclined to revert to teaching learning areas in a uni-disciplinarian manner. We need to restrain from this behaviour and teach students how to incorporate different skills into tasks throughout the curriculum. Cornett says in her text Creating Meaning through literature and the arts that the present school day is “often organised around isolated skill teaching and fragmented into subjects” which is unlike many other aspects of life. “Students learn better in a context”. (2003) Vogt (1997) comments on the advantages of interconnecting themes: “With thematic instruction, it is not necessary to divide the day into separate learning periods.” Rather students can a longer period “exploring an interesting topic in a variety of ways”. “Students learn strategies and skills in meaningful situations.”

The results of ensuring that integration across the curriculum occurs and the ability to relate real world experiences with schooling would be numerous, but may include higher student satisfaction and higher intrinsic motivation, higher student participation and higher student skills retention levels.

Using cross curriculum teaching methods also allows for teachers to teach and assess skills in many different settings: “cross-curricular thematic instruction provides authentic, ongoing, multidimensional opportunities to assess students' progress, participation, and achievement” (Vogt, 1997). Vogt also suggests that students need the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they learn in a real world situation. This ensures that students are not merely learning skills, but are using them and are able to apply them to different circumstances and activities. This is perhaps one of the most important aspect, as we are not able to guide students ability to use the skills they have accumulated once they leave the school environment. We need to maximise the potential for them to continue to utilise different skills into circumstances that call for them.

Using cross curriculum integration teaching methods also enables teachers to perform with more efficiency and effectiveness. There is simply too much information and subject matter in the curriculum to be covered for integration not to occur. An estimation by researchers found that a student requires 15000 hours K-12 to learn all required objectives, whilst a students receives around 9000 hours when taking into consideration interruptions from administration, transitions, and extra curricular activities. (TLN, 2006) Why do a reading lesson and a separate drama lesson when both can be performed at the same time. A reading lesson on a text can be used as a basis for role play, and would also involve students much more.

The benefits of cross curricular integration in teaching methods are numerous, and so a teacher must be aware of some successful methods for incorporating this method of teaching into their classroom and school environment. The level of integration depends on the individual teaching staff and school community, and will therefore alter from school to school, class to class.

There are many texts offering suggestions and comments on how to introduce cross curricular strategies into teaching, a search on Google returns over 680 000 links alone. The main point I have found is that a theme spanning learning areas is the best place to start. Cornett (2003) suggests simply talking to colleagues is a good start for integration of the Arts.  Telling your art specialist or music specialist weeks in advance of a forthcoming topic would allow for thematic integration between art and other learning areas. It also would give students continuity throughout the learning areas.

Information technology has brought about an endless supply of methods to incorporate with other learning areas. With a simple movie production software, students could integrate drama, music, writing and technology and enterprise objectives into a series of interactive, engaging and intrinsically fulfilling lessons. Computer resources are becoming virtually unlimited. An astute educator can find almost any tool they could wish for via internet resources, many of which are free to the general community.

A teacher should be constantly vigilant for opportunities to integrate learning areas. It may seem to be easier to simply ignore the possibility of cross curricular activities, favouring independent lessons on particular subjects. However by simply opening our eyes to integration, it is actually easier than it would seem.

List of References

Cornett, E. (2003) Creating Meaning Through Literature and the Arts Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Vogt, M. (1997) http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/res/vogt.html Cross-Curricular Thematic Instruction. Houghton Mifflin Company 

Teacher Leaders Network (2006) http://www.teacherleaders.org/Conversations/3Dcurriculum.html Can we continue to teach the way we’ve always taught?

Essay by J. Woodcock © copyright 2006

Please note that the views presented here are the authors and may not represent the views of About Sounds.

Terraforming the Red Planet

‘It is hard to imagine a future for humanity in which we do not eventually explore and even colonise other planets and moons in the solar system.’ (Michael Hanlon) Describe the sequence of events needed to terraform Mars so it is suitable for human habitation.

The human race envisages a time when they will create a new home on another planet. Whether this is survival instinct, a natural urge to conquer new land or just a trait of humankind, it is because of this insatiable curiosity (or a dire need) found in the species that Mars is now being looked at as our future habitat. For earth life forms to become Martians, the red planet must able to maintain life through the same self sustaining eco-system that earth possesses. To accomplish this end Mars must be re-created into Earth’s image, or rather the planet must be terraformed to make it habitable for terrestrial life. This is a long, time-consuming effort in which scientists, engineers and robots must change Mars from a cold, dry airless planet to a form of utopia where life is able to be supported and regenerated through natural means seen on Earth.

To colonise Mars in the future with life forms from Earth, the planet must first go through the terraforming process. The steps involved in accomplishing this task will begin with the warming of the planet to a temperature in which the surface will start to thaw out. After Mars has been warmed a source of water will need to be found, a stable (breathable) atmosphere produced and protection from radiation caused by solar bursts must be created. Once these steps have been completed, forms of life can be established to support future colonies on Mars, and to help produce a self-sustaining eco-system.

To begin the process of terraforming Mars the planet’s surface must first be heated in order to melt the polar caps (which contain large amounts of carbon dioxide) and the frozen water beneath the surface, helping to create a thicker atmosphere and liquid water. One possible solution suggested by Fogg (2005) is a mirror system theory by Zubrin and McKay (1993). This theory proposes stationing aluminium mirrors that have a diameter of 125km, approximately 214,000 km in orbit above the Martian Polar caps. With these mirrors orbiting Mars the suns radiation will be directed towards the planet, effectively increasing the amount of energy that reaches the surface. With this additional energy reaching the planet the temperature should increase by 5 degrees. This small temperature rise should be adequate to begin the process of melting the surface ice. Once this ice begins to melt it will release a combination of gases which will include carbon dioxide and trace amounts of oxygen. These gases will then add to the atmosphere surrounding Mars, increasing its effectiveness to retain the heat that the sun produces. Increasing the planet’s temperature will be the only way in which Mars will be able to support life.

While there is an atmosphere on Mars, it is estimated by NASA (1995) that it is roughly 0.7% of the atmosphere that surrounds Earth. This atmosphere also has a decreased atmospheric pressure of approximately 6hPa which is one 150^th the pressure on Earth. Due to this thinner atmosphere the warmth that needs to be generated to make future habitation possible will not be able to be maintained, nor will terrestrial life be able to cope under the decreased pressure over long stays on the surface. To increase the Martian atmosphere and pressure we first need to release the carbon dioxide in the polar caps. This carbon dioxide will only increase the atmosphere and pressure slightly over a century, so the introduction of a powerful green house gas called perfluorocarbons (PFCs) will need to be introduced to Mars (NASA (2001) and Schubert (2003)) . On Earth these gases are viewed as being a pollutant as the introduction of PFC’s has lead to the surface heating up by an alarming rate. This same quality will be a boon on Mars helping to create a runaway green house effect as the PFC’s allow incoming solar radiation to penetrate the atmosphere and reach the surface. When this energy is reflected from the surface, the PFCs trap it and then convert that energy to heat, warming the planet. Adding green house gasses to the atmosphere is predicted to cut down the time it will take to make Mars habitable from millennia or more to between a century and half a century.

Once the atmosphere on Mars has been thickened the planet will begin to heat up and maintain a stable temperature, continuing to release water trapped in the poles of Mars. This atmosphere is a major requirement for life on any planet, but while Earth’s atmosphere is made up of 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen and 1% of mixed gases (Carbon Dioxide, Argon and minuet traces of other gases) the atmosphere on Mars will have a composition that consists almost entirely of Carbon Dioxide (95%) with trace amounts of Nitrogen (2.7%), Argon (1.6%) and Oxygen (0.13%)(NASA (2005)).This mix of gases will not support animal or human life so the combination of oxygen and carbon dioxide must be altered. For this alteration to occur small plant matter will need to be introduced to the surface. The most appropriate forms of plant life to establish first on the planet’s surface are forms of algae, fungus and bacteria which will be able to survive in Mar’s highly acidic soils and thrive in the carbon dioxide rich environment. This small plant matter will convert the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into oxygen via the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis involves a chemical reaction in which the suns energy is used to produce oxygen from the carbon dioxide that the plant consumes (Hill (1999)). The plant matter introduced to Mars will slowly introduce oxygen into the atmosphere while going through their life cycles.

The introduction of small plant matter is an important step towards repairing the geologically dead soil of Mars. As Mars contains a large amount of iron oxide in it’s make up, the soil is highly acidic and unable to support the larger vegetation seen on Earth (trees and large shrubs). This is unfortunate as the only way to replenish the oxygen in the atmosphere effectively over time, is to establish these larger organisms into the environment to produce a greater output of oxygen as they go through photosynthesis. The soil of Mars is also missing the nutrients that are needed to support these larger forms of plants such as nitrate. Street (2003) theorises that by introducing smaller plants into the environment and waiting for them to die and break down will be the easiest way to create these nutrients in the soil. As the plants die they are broken down by already present bacteria adding organic material to the soil.

Having established plant life on Mars the temperature of the planet will continue to rise rapidly. At present Mars is a barren planet, frequently covered by colossal sandstorms called dust devils (Lewis, Newman and Read 2005) that can last months, or in the case of a dust storm in 1997, a year. During these storms strong winds blow up the dust that covers the surface, making the dust airborne for long periods of time. During the 2001 dust storm the particles that were left behind in the atmosphere caused the average temperature of the surface of Mars to change by1k to 3k during the day (Canter (2007)). This was a result of the brightening of the atmosphere of the planet which effectively redirected radiation produced by the sun back out to space. Should Dust devils continue to be a regular occurrence on the Martian surface the effectiveness of human attempts to raise the temperature would decrease, slowing down the terraforming process. It is therefore suggested by Street (2003) that the first vegetation planted should be located where the greatest amount sandstorms occur. Once these areas are cultivated with plant life there will be much less dust particles in the air, and the length of time that these storms take to die down will decrease. Another advantage of warming the planet up and having plants established on Mars is the increase in rainfall which will wash the dust particles in the atmosphere away whilst helping the remaining dust on the surface cohere together.

Once a breathable atmosphere has been established, humans are able to live on mars, but it is inadvisable for them to do so yet. Whilst Earth has a magnetosphere that protects the life it supports and the ionosphere from the harmful solar winds, Mars has only a partial one crossing the southern hemisphere. NASA (2007) quotes scientist Dave Mitchell as suggesting that this lends evidence towards the theory that there was once a Magnetosphere protecting the entire planet until 4 billion years ago when the central dynamo ceased activity. This dynamo (a metallic liquid core that is circulating in a constant direction (NASA (2007)) creates the magnetic field that covers a planet, and therefore creates the Magnetosphere which protects the ionised gas particles in the atmosphere from being deteriorated by the 400 to 800 kilometers per second solar winds.  Without these ionised particles (or ionosphere) present the solar winds degrade the atmosphere slowly, creating the lifeless Mars that exists today. This Magnetosphere also prevents harmful levels of radiation from reaching the surface, radiation that would damage terrestrial life forms living on the Red Planet. While a plausible solution is still being discussed, many theories have surfaced. One such theory by Schubert (2003) suggests that to establish an artificial Magnetosphere over Mars would entail building a grid of large Electromagnets on the surface. While these electromagnets will produce an adequate Magnetosphere, one disadvantage of this method is the possibility of disruption of communications on the surface. To prevent this they will need to be placed in a secluded area, away from the direct line of communication.

As the gravity is lower on Mars than Earth due to the smaller size of the planet humans would need to have an exercise regime to stop muscle atrophy and the breakdown of the skeletal system. At present there is no known way to increase the gravity of an entire planet so sufficient precautions should be looked at should the new Martians intend on ever returning to earth. Another area under investigation at the moment is the body structure and strength of future generations born into lower gravity planets. Although there are not yet any conclusive data on future generations in space, these children are likely to have weaker cardiovascular systems and thinner bone densities, making it impossible for them to ever come to earth. One possible solution for future generations is for them to have artificial gravity stations in their houses where they spend an amount of time in everyday. 

Having established life support on Mars the planet is ready for the introduction of animals into the new eco system. The oceans, once warm enough, should be stocked with algae, bacteria, fish and larger plants such as seaweed. These life forms can be genetically altered to withstand the lower gravity on the planet. The introduction of different forms of birds will need to take place relatively early as they spread the seeds of plant life to different parts on the planet to help to create a self sustaining eco-system. Larger game such as cattle and sheep will need to be breed on Mars also, in preparation of human colonisation.  While introducing wildlife to Mars, the decision must be made on whether to introduce carnivores into the eco-system as well as herbivores. The advantages of such an introduction would be to create a natural balance amongst the animals, keep breeding down, and help the cycle of life.

Terraforming Mars is a time consuming project that could take decades, centuries, or even hundreds of centuries to complete depending on the process used to re-make the planet into Earth’s image. Extensive research is needed to make sure that Mars will establish a self-sustaining eco system which will continue to support all forms of life that are introduced there. For this to happen the surface of Mars must have a warmer temperature, have a breathable atmosphere and liquid water must be present, as they are the building blocks of all known life.  A Magnetosphere needs to be created to protect life from the harmful radiation caused by solar winds, and the soil on the surface needs to have nutrients in it to sustain large vegetation. These changes are necessary to make Mars a planet where terrestrial life will survive as it does on Earth, and once the terraforming activity is complete this can occur without the need for human-made life support systems. Although the process of terraforming Mars seems long and in the far distant future, it is an important step in insuring the continued existence for all life that dwells on Earth.

References

Acuna, M.H., Connerney, J.E.P., Keleteschka, G., Lin R.P., Mitchell, D.L., Ness, N.F. , and Reme, H.,  2005, Tectonic Implications of Mars crustal magnetism (Geophysics), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, 102.42 (Oct 18 2005): 14970(6)

Arnett, B., 2006, Mars, www.nineplanets.org/mars.html, (accessed on 22^nd March 2007)

Cantor, B., MOC Observations of the 2001 Mars planet-encircling dust storms. (Mars Orbiter Camera), In Icarus, 186.1 (Jan 2007): 60-64

Fogg, Martin J., 2005, Terraforming Mars: A Review of research, http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/paper1.htm (accessed 18th March 2007)

Goodman, Joel, 2000, Mars Facts, http://www.goodteeth.com/facts_mars.htm (accessed 17th March 2007)

Hecht, J., Oasis on the Red Planet: Water has been hiding under the surface all this time, In New Scientist, 173.2333, (March 9, 2002):9

Hill, D. O., Rao, K. K., 1999, Further discoveries and formulations. In Photosynthesis (studies in Biology), sixth edition, : 28, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Lewis, S., Newman, C., Read, P., The atmospheric circulation and dust activity in different orbital epochs on Mars, In Icarus, 174.1 (March 2005): 135(26). 

Muirhead, B., Reeves-Stevens, J. and G., 2004, Photo journal, in Going to Mars, 1^st edition, :15, New York: Pocket books 

NASA Astrobiology Institute, 2001, Global warming on Mars, http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast09feb_1.htm (accessed18th March 2007)

NASA, 1995, Atmospheric Composition, http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/exhibits/mars/voyage/atmos.html (accessed 18th March 2007)

NASA, Solar Winds at Mars, 2001, http://science.nasa.gov.headlines/y2001/ast31jan_1.htm (accessed 22^nd March 2007)

Schubert, C., 2003, Chris Schubert’s terraforming method, http://www.redcolony.com/art.php?id=0301280 (accessed 18^th March 2007)

Street, J., 2003, Jonathon Streets method, http://www.redcolony.com/art.php?id=0308100, (accessed 18^th March 2007)  

The Big Thaw (brief article), In New Scientist, 168.2261 (Oct 21 2000):22