The objectives of the study were to provide a documented record of the vegetation of the grassland vegetation of the Red River Valley. The native prairies of this Valley are dominated by various combinations of Andropogon gerardi, Andropogon scoparius, Agropyron smithii, Bouteloua curtipendula, Calamagrostis inexpansa, Calamovilfa longifolia, Koeleria cristata, Muhlenbergia richardsonis, Sorghastrum nutans, Spartina pectinata, Sporobolus heterolepis, Stipa comata, Stipa spartea and Stipa viridula. At present only relicts of these grasslands remain. One hundred and fifty-one stands including 299 species, encompassing a wide range of floristic and habitat variability, were selected for study. The species composition frequency) of each stand was sampled by the use of thirty 0.5 X 0.5 m quadrats. A presence list was prepared for each stand and the dominant graminoid species determined by an estimate of cover contribution to the upper strata. The standing crop of green herbage of .34 stands was sampled by clipping five 0.5 X 0.5 m quadrats, and the material oven dried for weight determination. Environmental measurements were taken to determine physiographic position and soil profile characteristics. Soil samples were collected from the "A" horizon of each stand for textural analysis, field capacity, salinity and pH determinations. An analysis based on indicator species determined by physiographic association, indicated that the various species responded in a continuous manner to a moisture gradient. This was suggested by a gradation of importance from one physiographic habitat to another, with its position of peak performance in association with a specific drainage position. Vegetational types were also associated with physiographic position, but the dominant species and to a lesser degree secondary species showed modification of behavior by soil texture. The total number of species and their levels of importance (frequency) within the various vegetational types was used as a measure of diversity. The mid prairie dominance types with high numbers of species, many with high importance, were the most diverse of all types examined. It was further indicated that mid prairie stands in the northern portion of the area studied had higher diversity than all others. Geographic differences in diversity were related to historical development of the grasslands. The yield of green herbage varied according to prairie division, leading dominant, soil texture and geographic location. A high positive correlation between green herbage yield and length of growing season suggested that geographic location was the most effective determinant in production, with southern stands producing about 100% more green herbage than comparable stands in the north. The species comprising the grasslands of the Red River Valley suggest an amalgamation of species of eastern and western origin. The dominant graminoids, however, are most closely associated with the grasslands to the east and suggest the placement of the Red River Valley grasslands within the True Prairie.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1967. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1962. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 231-232).

This is a case study analyzing the program officers of the Biological Instrumentation Program at the National Science Foundation. It was conducted in order to fill a lacuna in the literature concerning the program officers of science funding agencies. The current literature places the program officer in a black box, implying an autonomous professional. In contrast this study portrays the Program Officer as embedded in a web of relationships extending within and without the Foundation. Constructivist and relativist approaches to science studies argue for the significance of the influence of these 'non-scientific' relationships on all contemporary scientific activity. The study describes the web of resource relationships surrounding the program officer and how the program officer wields power that may affect the content and submission of proposals for scientific research grants. / Master of Science

Dynamic Ionosphere Cubesat Experiment (DICE) is a satellite project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the ionosphere, more particularly Storm Enhanced Densities (SED) with a payload consisting of plasma diagnostic instrumentation. Three instruments onboard DICE include an Electric Field Probe (EFP), Ion Langmuir Probe (ILP), and Three Axis Magnetometer (TAM). The EFP measures electric elds from 8V and consists of three channels a DC to 40Hz channel, a Floating Potential Probe (FPP), and an spectrographic channel with four bands from 16Hz to 512Hz. The ILP measures plasma densities from 1x104 cm�3 to 2x107 cm�3. The TAM measures magnetic field strength with a range 0.5 Gauss with a sensitivity of 2nT. To achieve desired mission requirements careful selection of instrument requirements and planning of the instrumentation design to achieve mission success. The analog design of each instrument is described in addition to the digital framework required to sample the science data at a 70Hz rate and prepare the data for the Command and Data Handing (C&DH) system. Calibration results are also presented and show fulllment of the mission and instrumentation requirements.

The first participatory or inter-active science centre in Australia was Questacon, which operated in Canberra for the eight years, 1980-1988. Its very success lead to its demise: it became the inspiration for the National Science and Technology Centre which opened in late 1988. Questacon, in common with many of the World's new breed of science centres and museums, was modelled on San Francisco's famous Exploratorium. These new institutions have copied ideas and even actual exhibits from the Exploratorium, but most of them have failed to copy the Exploratorium's use of Explainers, a feature which Exploratorium staff think is integral to the whole concept. Questacon is one of the institutions in which an explainer system was established, although it differed in some significant respects from that at the Exploratorium. Participatory science centres have been seen as part of the answer to the problem of increasing public awareness and understanding of science. There is a growing body of literature which is concerned with the learning of science in informal educational settings, such as in these centres, but there has been very little work done on the role of museum docents or their equivalents in this learning. One study of the Exploratorium's Explainers concentrated on the value of their work as explainers for the people involved in the system, in terms of their own personal development. The aim of the present study was to compare the two explainer systems and to investigate the work of Questacon Explainers both in terms of their own personal development and in their interaction with visitors to the centre.

The purpose of this study is to review the use of educational resources at National Science and Technology Museum (NSTM) by Kaohsiung junior high school science & technology teachers. Using judgemental sampling, 260 questionnaires were sent out to science & technology teachers who taught at junior high schools in Kaohsiung. A total of 172 completed questionnaires were returned. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA and Pearson¡¦s correlation. Six insights were gained from this study. First, results show that in reality, the usage rates of the resources available at the NSTM among teachers are quite low. Second, The teachers possess a low level of knowledge and understanding with regard to the resources available at the NSTM. Third, The teachers have a very favorable view of the usage of the resources offered by the NSTM. Fourth, the use of the educational resources at NSTM, the knowledge associated and the attitude towards it vary depending on the teachers' gender, educational background and teaching experience. Fifth, the frequency of usage of the resources, the knowledge and attitude are all positively correlated. Sixth, NSTM¡¦s active involvement in providing more services, expanding its facilities and supporting the logistics of the field trip may increase the teachers¡¦ willingness to use its resources.

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed March 2, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-274).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2005. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on June 10, 2006). Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Larry Baker. Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-224).