Syftet med detta arbete är att ta reda hur eleverna upplever skolans undervisning inom ämnesområdet naturvetenskap. Vad har de för upplevelse av sin naturkunskapsundervisning och ligger den i fas med hur den borde se ut med tanke på de mål som finns uppsatta i dessa ämnen? Då jag varit ute på praktik, fältstudier, vikarierat eller mött elever på annat sätt, har jag fått uppfattningen av att många elever inte har den kunskap de borde ha i NO för den aktuella årskursen, och det är då tankarna till detta arbete har väckts. Genom en enkät- studie har jag fått ta del av ca 100 elevers syn på sin NO- undervisning. Dessa resultat har jag kopplat till min litteraturstudie där jag lyft fram de didaktiska frågorna vad, hur och varför. Jag kopplar även resultatet till de kursplaner som finns i berörda ämnen. Då vi är inne på både ett nytt årtusende och nytt århundrade är det även dags att se på hur de pedagogiska tankarna kan komma att se ut i framtiden och jag presenterar några tankar som är aktuella. Detta arbete väcker många tankar till liv vad gäller undervisning inom NO- ämnena och genom dessa tankar har jag utvecklat mig själv i min yrkesroll.

Fisheries agencies around the Baltic Sea use hydroacoustics to assess stock sizes of herring and sprat. These assessments rely on the assumption that the acoustic properties of Baltic clupeids are the same as North Sea herring. This may lead to biased results, as system-specific differences in salinity and fish fat content may influence acoustic target strength. The acoustic properties of the Baltic clupeids were explored and a new relationship between target strength and fish length was developed (paper I). The intercept of this new relationship is 3.4 dB higher than normally used by the agencies. Applying this new relationship would reduce the acoustic stock biomass estimates by approximately 50%. Diel variation in the vertical distribution of fish may influence acoustic abundance estimates. Fish body posture may influence target strength and if fish concentrate near the surface or bottom this may affect detectability by an echo sounder. A seabed-mounted, upward pinging echo sounder was used to study diel variation in vertical distribution, acoustic size distribution and abundance of fish (Paper II). Differences between day and night were substantial and it was concluded that night time acoustics are to be preferred, at least in our study area. The seabed-mounted echo sounder was also used to study fish swimming activity and vertical distribution in relation to light intensity and water temperature (paper III). Four phases of fish distribution were distinguished over the diel cycle (day, night, dawn and dusk). Acoustic tracking was used to estimate the swimming speed of individual fish. The speed varied among the diel periods and the greatest difference was observed between day and night with twice as high swimming speed during the day. Regression models were developed to investigate the effects of fish size and environmental factors (water temperature, light intensity at the sea surface and in situ, measured at the depth of the fish) on swimming speed. Fish size, light intensities and temperature were all significant variables in the models, with fish size being generally most important. These results have clear implications for fish bioenergetics models. Such models should account for seasonal, light-driven cycles in the activity-induced respiration estimates, in particular when modelling populations at high latitudes. Vertical and horizontal fish distributions were studied from spring through autumn during two consecutive years (paper IV). The seasonal dynamics in vertical distribution patterns were consistent between years. Prior to thermocline formation, fish of all sizes concentrated near surface where water temperatures were higher than in the underlying water mass. During the summer period of pronounced thermal stratification, larger fish were found deeper than small individuals (including young-of-the-year fish), which remained close to the surface. In the autumn, when the thermal stratification diminished, the small fish moved somewhat deeper while larger individuals dispersed throughout the water column. Fish showed clear horizontal patchiness, but horizontal distributions were not significantly related to wind directions.

Det er syntetisert fire potensielle virkestoffer mot sopp. To av disse er fluorerte forbindelser.

The amount of various phosphorus (P) fractions in the sediment and the relationship between the amount of P and sediment particle size were investigated in a constructed wetland southwest of Linköping. Furthermore, the possible correlation between clay content in the sediment and distance from the inlet was investigated. Sediment samples were collected along three transects from the inlet to the outlet, with six samples in each transect. In order to measure the soluble P, an NH4Cl extraction was done. This was also analysed for total soluble P after oxidation with peroxodisulphate. The sediment was also analysed for total-P and organic P by drying, dispersion in a mortar and sieving followed by boiling in HCl. Analysis of phosphate-P in all extracts was done with an acid molybdate solution and ascorbic acid, forming a blue complex that was measured spectrophotometrically. There was no significant relationship between soluble P or soluble total-P and the proportion of clay in the sediment samples. This was also the case for total-P and organic-P. Generally, the levels of phosphorus in the sediment were low, which may result from too deep sediment samples, causing the settled P-rich sediment to be diluted by the terrestrial soil underneath the wetland. There was a low proportion of clay in the sediment (4 – 18 %), which made it difficult to detect any correlation with soluble-P content. When omitting the samples at the inlet (which were more influenced by vegetation than the others), a significant positive correlation between percentage of clay and distance from the inlet was detected, suggesting that clay particles were settling in the wetland.

Biological diversity is one out of four dimensions, characterizing the subject of Biology ac-cording to the school curriculum. As a concept, biological diversity had its break through at the UN environmental conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where the convention about bio-logical diversity, named CBD, was signed. According to the convention, almost all the na-tions of the world have engaged themselves to preserve the national diversity of species, in-cluding the diversity of genetics and ecological systems. This thesis focuses the biological diversity from the perspective of school books. The aim is to find out how the biological diversity is presented in biology books for students aged 12-15 years. In 1994, the current Swedish secondary and high school curriculum called LPO-94 was pre-sented. The biology books used in this study were published between 1994 and 2007, all of them exist in many editions and are published by three different publishers. The conclusion of the study is that all the biology books that were examined have reached different levels of the development in the field of biological diversity.

The research in the field of biotechnology is rapidly developing all over the world. Modern biotechnology offers unique opportunities, simultaneously as it gives rise to a number of ethical issues. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), PGD/HLA (Human Leucocyte Antigen) and germline gene therapy (GLGT) are controversial techniques. PGD gives a possibility to identify a genetic disease prior to the embryo’s implantation in the uterus. PGD/HLA involves selecting an embryo with genes coding for a specific tissue type, so that the child to be born can act as a donor to an existing sibling who requires a stem cell transplant. GLGT seeks to eliminate or change “bad” genes. The purpose of this study is to investigate student’s ethical attitude concerning PGD, PGD/HLA and GLGT. The empirical study was based on focus group discussions. Four group interviews were made, with 15 participants in all. The students are taking courses in biology or religion. The result from the interviews shows that the ethical issues are difficult to have a definite opinion in, because there are possibilities and risks involved in all these techniques, according to the students. A central part of the discussion was devoted to human dignity and the moral status of the embryo. They also see risks such as bioterrorism, designing the perfect humans, economic interests, medical risks, among many other risks. / Forskningen på det bioteknologiska området utvecklas snabbt över hela världen. Den moderna bioteknologin erbjuder unika möjligheter, samtidigt som den ger upphov till en rad frågor av etiskt slag. Preimplantatorisk genetisk diagnostik (PGD), PGD/HLA (Human Leucocyte Antigen) och zygotisk genterapi är kontroversiella tekniker. PGD ger en möjlighet att identifiera genetiska sjukdomar före embryots implantering i livmodern. Med hjälp av PGD/HLA väljs ett embryo ut vars gener kodar för en specifik vävnadstyp, vilket gör att barnet som föds kan fungera som donator till ett existerande syskon som är i behov av en stamcells transplantation. Med zygotisk genterapi kan man ta bort eller byta ut ”dåliga” gener. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka studenters etiska värderingar rörande PGD, PGD/HLA och zygotisk genterapi. Den empiriska studien baserades på fokusgrupp diskussioner. Fyra gruppintervjuer gjordes, med sammanlagt 15 deltagare. Studenterna studerar på programutbildningar i biologi eller religion. Resultatet från intervjuerna visar att de etiska frågeställningarna är svåra att ha en klar uppfattning om, eftersom det finns möjligheter och risker med alla dessa tekniker, enligt studenterna. En central del av diskussionen ägnades åt människovärdet och embryots moraliska status. De ser också risker som bioterrorism, designa perfekta människor, ekonomiska intressen, medicinska risker, bland många andra risker.

Through observations of the childrens play, I have made notes of all activities at the pre-school playground. The intention of the observations was to see if the playground environment invites and stimulate the childs motorie development. The study will be a part of a future planning work of the preschool environment. The results show that the pre-school playground environment invites to physical activities that stimulate the childs motory development. The variation of activities is dependent on the design of the landscapes. The pedagogues taking part of the childrens activities are one of the factors which contributed to the childs choice of activity. The preschool plays an important part in the childrens development so it is important that all personnel have basic knowledge on the importance of outdoor activities. Keywords: Fundamental movement, motorie development, preschool playground, outdoor enviroment

The lake Spexhultasjön is a moderate humic mesotrophic lake that is not acidified. The fish fauna was investigated by using a standard method for sampling freshwater fish with multi mesh gill nets. The fish fauna was diverse with perch, pike, tench, common whitefish, and roach. Perch and roach dominated. There were few pikes. The tench were few but big. The common whitefish was caught in deep water. The lake has condition class 2 according to the national environment protection board. The perch has a reproduction disorder. The roach has probably forced the perch into the benthoseating stage to early. A proposal intended to the county administrative board is to increase the production of a predator like pike or pike-pirch. The county administrative board ought to investigate why the share of pike is low and the roaches reproduction disorder.

Environmental enrichment (EE) is used to improve the life of captive animals by giving them more opportunities to express species-specific behaviours. Zoo elephants are one of the species that is in great need of EE because their environment is often barren. Before making EE permanent, however, it is wise to test first if it works as intended, to save time and money. Maximum price paid is one measure that can be used to assess if an animal has any interest in a resource at all. Food is often used as a comparator against EEs in these kinds of studies. The aim was to investigate if the maximum price paid concept could be used to measure the value of EEs for the two female Asian elephants at Kolmården and to find an operant test suitable for them for the experimental trials. Three series of food trials were done with each elephant, where they had to lift weights by pulling a rope with their mouth to get access to 5kg hay. The elephants paid a maximum price of 372 and 227kg, respectively. However, the maximum price the elephants paid for access to the hay was not stable across the three series of trials. Hence it is recommended that the comparator trials are repeated close in time to the EEs to be tested. The readiness by which these elephants performed the task makes it worthwhile to further pursue this approach as one of the means to improve the well-being of zoo elephants.

This thesis describes the characterization of the Arabidopsis thaliana mutant terminal flower2 (tfl2), the cloning of the corresponding gene, and the analysis of TFL2 function in plant development. The tfl2 mutant is pleiotropic, exhibiting early floral induction in both long and short day conditions, a terminating inflorescence and dwarfing. TFL2 was isolated using a positional cloning strategy, and was found to encode a homolog to HETEROCHROMATIN PROTEIN1 (HP1), previously identified in yeast and animals where it is involved in gene regulation at the level of chromatin, as well as in the structural formation of constitutive heterochromatin. Investigating the light response during seedling photomorphogenesis I found that the tfl2 hypocotyl is hypersensitive to red and far-red light and that tfl2 is impaired in phytochrome mediated light responses such as the shade avoidance response. In the tightly regulated transition to flowering, we have shown that tfl2 might contribute to the interpretation of both external signals such as light and temperature as well as endogenous cues, via FCA, in the autonomous pathway. The Arabidopsis inflorescence meristem is indeterminate, and TFL2 possibly acts to maintain this indeterminate fate by repression of the floral meristem genes APETALA1 and AGAMOUS. In yeast two hybrid experiments TFL2 was shown to interact with IAA5, a protein with suggested functions in auxin regulation. Further, in tfl2 mutants the levels of the auxin indole-3-acetic acid decrease with age in aerial tissues, suggesting a function of TFL2 in regulation of auxin homeostasis and response. In summary, TFL2 contributes to regulation of several aspects of plant development, in accordance with the mutant phenotype and the identity of the TFL2 protein.