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1. Microbiota Composition Associates With Mosquito Productivity Outcomes in Belowground Larval Habitats

   https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17614  

   Zhao, Serena_Y; Sommer, Andrew_J; Bartlett, Dan; Harbison, Justin_E; Irwin, Patrick; Coon, Kerri_L (December 2024, Molecular Ecology)

   ABSTRACT Vector mosquitoes are well‐adapted to habitats in urban areas, including belowground infrastructure such as stormwater systems. As a major source of larval habitat in population centers, control of larval populations in stormwater catch basins is an important tool for control of vector‐borne disease. Larval development and adult phenotypes driving vectorial capacity in mosquitoes are modulated by the larval gut microbiota, which is recruited from the aquatic environment in which larvae develop. Laboratory studies have quantified microbe‐mediated impacts on individual mosquito phenotypes, but more work is needed to characterise how microbiota variation shapes population‐level outcomes. Here, we evaluated the relationship between habitat microbiota variation and mosquito population dynamics by simultaneously characterising microbiota diversity, water quality, and mosquito productivity in a network of stormwater catch basins in the Chicago metropolitan area. High throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons from water samples collected from 60 basins over an entire mosquito breeding season detected highly diverse bacterial communities that varied with measures of water quality and over time. In situ measurements of mosquito abundance in the same basins further varied by microbiota composition and the relative abundance of specific bacterial taxa. Altogether, these results illustrate the importance of habitat microbiota in shaping ecological processes that affect mosquito populations. They also lay the foundation for future studies to characterise the mechanisms by which specific bacterial taxa impact individual and population‐level phenotypes related to mosquito vectorial capacity. 

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2. Rainfall, River Height, and Local Relevance

   Brase, Lauren E; Mossa, Lindsay C; Robeck, Edward C (June 2023, Science and children)

   The inclusion of a specific natural disaster, hands-on models, and other multimedia experiences engaged students to learn about rivers and flooding. It was clear through verbal and written comments that students understood concepts related to flooding (water movement, land cover, etc.) and were able to reason with data--both their data from the stream tables and professionally collected data about river height and rainfall. These lessons provide many possibilities focused on community-relevant anchoring phenomena related to natural hazards, how human activity affects the incidence of these hazards, and how people can work toward reducing the occurrence, severity, and impact of natural hazards. 

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3. Cryo-Electron Microscopy Reveals That Sperm Modification Coincides with Female Fertility in the Mosquito Aedes aegypti

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-54920-6  

   Noble, Jade M.; Degner, Ethan C.; Harrington, Laura C.; Kourkoutis, Lena F. (December 2019, Scientific Reports)

   Abstract Manipulating mosquito reproduction is a promising approach to reducing mosquito populations and the burden of diseases they carry. A thorough understanding of reproductive processes is necessary to develop such strategies, but little is known about how sperm are processed and prepared for fertilization within female mosquitoes. By employing cryo-electron microscopy for the first time to study sperm of the mosquitoAedes aegypti, we reveal that sperm shed their entire outer coat, the glycocalyx, within 24 hours of being stored in the female. Motility assays demonstrate that as their glycocalyx is shed in the female’s sperm storage organs, sperm transition from a period of dormancy to rapid motility—a critical prerequisite for sperm to reach the egg. We also show that females gradually become fertile as sperm become motile, and that oviposition behavior increases sharply after females reach peak fertility. Together, these experiments demonstrate a striking coincidence of the timelines of several reproductive events inAe. aegypti, suggesting a direct relationship between sperm modification and female reproductive capacity. 

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4. Reading, receiving, revising: A case study on the relationship between peer review and revision in writing-to-learn

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2024.100808  

   Finkenstaedt-Quinn, Solaire A; Watts, Field M; Shultz, Ginger V (January 2024, Assessing Writing)

   East, Martin; Slomp, David (Ed.)

   Studies examining peer review demonstrate that students can learn from giving feedback to and receiving feedback from their peers, especially when they utilize information gained from the review process to revise. However, much of the research on peer review is situated within the literature regarding how students learn to write. With an increasing use of writing-to-learn in STEM classrooms, it is important to study how students engage in peer review for these types of writing assignments. This study sought to better understand how peer review and revision can support student learning for writing-to-learn specifically, using the lenses of cognitive perspectives of writing and engagement with written corrective feedback. Using a case study approach, we provide a detailed analysis of six students’ written artifacts in response to a writing-to-learn assignment that incorporated peer review and revision implemented in an organic chemistry course. Students demonstrated a range in the types of revisions they made and the extent to which the peer review process informed their revisions. Additionally, students exhibited surface, midlevel, and active engagement with the peer review and revision process. Considering the different engagement levels can inform how we frame peer review to students when using it as an instructional practice. 

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5. Using computational thinking and modeling to build water and watershed literacy

   Caplan, B.; Covitt, B.; Love, G.; Berkowitz, A.R.; Gunckel, K.L.; McClure, C.; Moore, J.C. (January 2021, Connected science learning)

   null (Ed.)

   Engaging students in science learning that integrates disciplinary knowledge and practices such as computational thinking (CT) is a challenge that may represent unfamiliar territory for many teachers. CompHydro Baltimore is a collaborative partnership aimed at enacting Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)–aligned instruction to support students in developing knowledge and practice reflective of the goals laid out in A Framework for K–12 Science Education (National Research Council 2012) “... that by the end of 12th grade, all students possess sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussion on related issues … and are careful consumers of scientific and technological information related to their everyday lives.” This article presents the results of a partnership that generated a new high school level curriculum and teacher professional development program that tackled the challenge of integrating hydrologic learning with computational thinking as applied to a real-world issue of flooding. CompHydro Baltimore produced Baltimore Floods, a six-lesson high school unit that builds students’ water literacy by engaging them in computational thinking (CT) and modeling practices as they learn about water system processes involved in urban flooding (See Computational Thinking and Associated Science Practices). CompHydro demonstrates that broad partnerships can address these challenges, bringing together the diverse expertise necessary to develop innovative CT-infused science curriculum materials and the teacher supports needed for successful implementation. 

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