This book examines various aspects of parenting and influences on parents, including such key contexts affecting child development as school, neighborhood, and culture. After a forward by Urie Bronfenbrenner and a preface by Tom Luster and Lynn Okagaki, which together help to introduce the topics to be discussed, the book is divided into nine…

This lecture recounts personal experiences and discusses environmental issues that invoked a desire to teach about the things threatening the earth. Human population growth is cited as the first and foremost environmental challenge in the 20th century. A J-shaped curve is used to illustrate an increase in human population. The relationship between…

Designed for elementary school students, the workbook focuses on the unhealthy and unpleasant effects of air pollution. Space is provided for students to draw pictures of: (1) how breathing polluted air can make people feel, (2) what polluted air can do to people's health--especially if they smoke cigarettes, (3) what air pollution can do to the…

A collection of articles about the controversial use of paraquat (a toxic herbicide) in marijuana eradication programs is presented. Using a question-and-answer format, article 1 presents interviews with experts on all sides of the controversy, focusing on the legal, social, physiological, and ecological implications of the paraquat debate.…

The first paper in this volume, "Geomorphic Effects of Flood-Control Channel Works" (H. Rasid), examines the basic mechanisms of morphologic instabilities in man-made or modified channels in terms of their altered hydraulic characteristics and geomorphic responses to such induced changes. Two tables, two figures, and a 33-item…

Theory and research related to early adolescent sex role development needs to be addressed from both a life-span and an ecological perspective. A study was conducted to examine the development of female early adolescent sex role attitudes and behaviors in an ecological context as defined by Urie Bronfenbrenner. Data were the results of a…

Exclusion from mainstream American culture and perceptions of marginality drive some youth to create their own subgroups. As cultural elements of the subgroups reach further from what most Americans deem "acceptable," the alienation of these youth is intensified. Community agencies can use an ecological perspective to work for changes…

Two studies were conducted to determine the effects of specific learning centers on preschoolers' functional uses of language. It was hypothesized (1) that different centers would elicit different functions of language and (2) that contexts which promote fantasy play would elicit more multifunctional utterances than would other contexts. In the…

Sixteen questions dealing with racial equality, abortion, and civil liberties were extracted from the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Surveys of 1972 (N=986) and 1980 (N=1,128) to seek a possible cultural component of rurality and note any changing contours to such a phenomenon over time and across social strata. Rural…

This manual is the fourth volume in a series of publications that provide information for the planning of environmentally sound small-scale projects. Programs that aim to protect the renewable natural resources that supply most of the energy used in developing nations are suggested. Considerations are made for physical environmental factors as…

Trade-offs between environmental and economical considerations are discussed. Questions such as: How much am I willing to give up?, are asked. Monies, costs, and long-term implications are considered from both viewpoints. Increased productivity through increased efforts by everyone is suggested to provide for continued environmental improvement.…

This paper suggests that community psychology may be going through an identity crisis because of its lack of empirical demonstrations of community intervention effectiveness, and an ecologically valid intervention research base. Although the majority of research in community psychology has used an individualistic paradigm that conceptualizes…

Because conventional test instruments designed to predict academic performance of the young tend to be inaccurate measures of competence in the elderly, new assessment instruments are being constructed which are more appropriate for current cohorts of the elderly. A comparison of performance on conventional measures to performance on newly…

This interdisciplinary unit is intended for use in second grade classes; however, it can be used K-8 with modifications. The unit seeks to demonstrate that aquatic organisms interact in complex ecosystems and that these organisms react to their environment in different ways. Specific directions are given for setting up an aquarium and populating…

This paper argues that a re-examination of current goals and methodologies and modifications to management practices are necessary if urban water crises are to be minimized. Three problem areas are focused on: (1) the projection of demand and the estimation of supply; (2) the alternatives for balancing demand and supply; and (3) the management of…