The early care and education field continues its decades-long expansion, experiencing a new phase of educationally oriented growth. Most states now fund preschool programs and enrollment continues to rise. Yet the field remains fragmented and insufficiently resourced. It lacks the institutional frameworks necessary to address basic challenges to…

Airplane travelers are dismayed by the long lines and seemingly chaotic activities that precede boarding a full airplane. Surely, the one who can solve this problem is going to make many travelers happy. This article describes the Jet Travel Challenge, an activity that challenges students to create some alternatives to this now frustrating…

A rating scale is developed for preschool classrooms to assess the physical environment's role in children's development of cognitive and social competency. The scale is tested in 98 classrooms, and children are assessed on two measures of competency in a subsample of these classrooms. Findings indicate that the physical environment is related to…

Conference proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference on the Teaching of Psychology: Ideas and Innovations, sponsored by the Psychology Department of the State University of New York at Farmingdale. The conference theme for 2010 was Fostering, Assessing, and Sustaining Student Engagement. The conference featured two keynote addresses from prominent…

Ecology is the relationship between persons and their environment. A caring ecological relationship is dynamic, able to be affected by the internal environment of the person and by the people/animal/plant/object external environmental surround in which a person lives. This paper attempts to examine the nature of ecology and how to facilitate the…

It is necessary to identify nonstructural hazards at the school site to reduce the possibly of injury in the event of an earthquake. Nonstructural hazards can occur in every part of a building and all of its contents with the exception of structure. In other words, nonstructural elements are everything but the columns, beams, floors, load-bearing…

This paper represents an attempt to trace the development of the change in American attitudes toward resources and the environment and to analyze past, present, and future trends in resource development and environmental protection. (Author)

Increasing concern with pollution and the energy crisis surfaced the need for environmental impact assessment. Certain requirements for such statements have been identified by different Canadian groups. Among them are the need for total citizen involvement and the utilization of these statements, once completed. (MA)

The editors of Design and Environment invited readers to submit entries to a new Awards for Excellence in Environmental Design Program. This capsule report reviews the winning projects. (BT)

This article traces the history and development of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. This foundation has been notably successful in preserving neighborhoods for their original inhabitants and now has the first urban renewal program to be based on historic preservation for poor people. (BT)

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the contiguous United States. The Bay and its tidal tributaries make up the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. This document, which focuses of various aspects of this ecosystem, is divided into four major parts. The first part traces the geologic history of the Bay, describes the overall physical structure of…

The paper reviews research on effects of metal pollutants on behavioral disorders in children. Methodological programs of studies conducted in the 1970's are described. Research since 1980 is then addressed in terms of general population studies and studies of behaviorally disordered populations. Findings of research on the latter subject group…

Thirty-one critical questions about asbestos, its use in school buildings, and the risks it poses to health are answered in this booklet. Issued by the Safe Buildings Alliance, an incorporated association of manufacturers that once supplied asbestos-containing materials for building construction, the booklet's purpose is to provide information…

This eight-chapter publication considers the man-made and natural causes of natural disasters. Following an introduction, Chapter 1 outlines the increase in natural disasters in the past decade and discusses the ratio of disasters from one continent to another. Chapter 2 discusses man-made factors such as deforestation and overused soil in causing…

Author considered that children and teachers in a school setting have differing individual spatial needs. (Editor/RK)