The purpose of this study was to examine and compare what six preschool teachers thought about their opportunities to take advantage of children's interest in natural sciences and technology, across four kindergartens. The following questions were explored in order to achieve the aim of the study: How do the preschool teachers interviewed describe their work with science and technology in the preschool and what these preschool teachers think about the meaning of motivation in the children?s learning of natural sciences and technology in preschool.  The study used a qualitative approach in the form of semi-structured interviews and interviewed a total of six trained pre-school teachers from four kindergartens with different profiles. The first kindergarten focuses on mathematics, science and technology.

Today?s housing system for laying hens has limitations for the hens natural behavior. Despite the current law of prevention of cruelty to animals, this might implicate health problems for the hens. This degree project is aiming to improve the situation for laying hens in cage-systems. The aim with our project is to bring forward a draft of a cage that improves the welfare of laying hens.

This study aims to unravel if it should be accepted to use natural resources in the Sami reindeer grazing area for the green transition. Mines, wind parks, and other infrastructure in the reindeer grazing area create problems for the reindeers which makes it difficult for the Sami to proceed with this traditional practice. While the Sami people have right to practice these customs the minerals and land which in it lies could be crucial to successfully go through the green transition in Sweden and the European Union as well. To answer the question: Should it be acceptable to use natural resources in the Sami reindeer grazing area to accomplish the green transition? a reflective equilibrium will be applied to the principles of egalitarianism and collective rights.

I am in this essay to find out how to successfully combine new development with preservation of natural values, mainly large scale vegetation and ground formations.This is done by studies of three developments. The first development, Engeltofta backe, lies 7 km northeast of Gävle. The expectations of natural preservation were not fullfilled when this area, after the explotation, did not have any vegetation of value left. The second example, Östra Kvarnskogen in the community of Sollentuna, shows, as far as one can tell at the moment, a sucsessful combination of new development and preserved nature. The third example is a development in the community of Kullön. In this area the ambition of combining preservation and development was fullfilled. After studying vital documentation in each planning process, I made interviews with different actors in each of the three processes. I thereafter compared the different documents and answers from the interviewed persons to find out if there were any significant similarities or differences which could be of importence when natural values is to be preserved in new developments. My conclusion of this study is that it is of great importence to define key expressions often used in the process, such as natural values and preservation.

We have made a suggestion for a map based search tool used with a database containinginformation on natural disasters. The database is being developed by NCO (SwedishCentre for Lessons Learned from Incidents & Accidents).We examined both Swedish and international examples of databases on naturaldisasters. The examples that we found were often hard to get the hang of, due to poorcompilation. The problem, that is typical of the international examples, is that the processof data collection is not standardized, as it is performed by different organizations andcompanies with diverse demands on and needs for the database. Therefore, to keep itsymmetrical, there ought to be only one department with the overall responsibility for anational database on natural disasters in Sweden.The natural disaster we based our study on was the flooding in Arvika in the year 2000.We inspected the availability of data about the flooding, and found it to be satisfying.Through contact with the municipality of Arvika, by mail and telephone, and a visit at theArvika municipality office, we acquired reports on the flooding and the joint rescueoperation that followed, and also GIS layers showing the extension of the flooding..

This research analyzed differences in measurements of magnetic field strength and frequency response in five audio induction loops installed in rooms of wooden construction materials and five audio inductive loops installed in rooms of steel reinforced concrete constructions. The inductive loops were installed at floor level and the measurements were made at the listening height of 1.2m. Measurements of background noise, field strength and frequency response were made at fifteen different measurement points across the room. The research measurements showed that there are differences in field strength and frequency response between these two conditions, whether the audio induction loop is installed in a wooden construction or the audio induction loop is installed in a reinforced concrete construction. The results had a significance level of p=0,05..

The aim of this study is to find out in which way the education about climate in school is taught and how the students experience the world situation today. There are various theories about the greenhouse effect and its origin and these theories should be addressed to ensure that students get a broader understanding of how climate change occurs. This includes the natural phenomena and also the human impact on climate change. Students in school are a source of concern that only human are the cause of global warming, and know little or almost nothing about the natural phenomena of global warming.  I will mention what has emphasized in the national steering documents in the case of environmental education at school.I have used a qualitative method, where interviews and document analysis were used as techniques. The interviews took place with five students in ninth grade and with three science teachers in the same school..

The purpose of this study is to compare an inquiry-based teaching method for natural sciences in municipal schools and special education and to find out if this way of teaching may be helpful when working with students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).The Swedish national curriculum of 2011 states that teaching methods should be fitted to every student?s needs and preconditions. The implication of this is very important for all students, especially for children with special needs. The theoretical framework that has been applied as a foundation for this study is Vygotskijs "Zone of Proximal Development" and Deweys "Learning by Doing". The method applied for the study is a semi structured interview and five teachers where interviewed.The result of the study shows that teachers with a higher education in natural sciences are more confident with regards to teaching natural sciences and the application of the inquiry-based way of teaching.

Bark-stripping by red deer (Cervus elaphus) cause extensive damage to economically valuable spruce trees (Picea abies) in Swedish forests. The underlying causes for bark-stripping are not fully understood, and the frequency and severity of damage unpredictably differ between regions. In this study, I investigated if landscape structure (e.g. agricultural dominated landscape opposed to forest dominated landscape), forage availability, population density and disturbance (e.g. roads and settlements) affect bark-stripping frequency.

The purpose of the essay Multi criteria analysis of potential conflicts concerning land use planning - natural stone mining in Lysekil municipal is to study possibilities and limitations in GIS based multi criteria analysis as a tool for land use planning. How GIS based multi criteria analysis can be implemented to localize potential conflict areas between natural stone mining and other land use activities and what advantages and disadvantages the method holds are the main issues of this study. The essay studies these questions through a case study, concerning the geographical area of Lysekil municipal in western Sweden and problematizes the interest of natural stone mining in relation to other land use interests. A literature study was carried through, concerning multi criteria analysis and planning. After collecting and processing of data the multi criteria analysis could be implemented in the ArcGIS tool Weighted Sum.

As a consequence of increasing wind power installations in the Nordic grid the last years, the need for regulating power has become larger. In the Nordic grid, regulating power is mainly provided by hydro power. One part of the regulating power is called frequency control, which ensures that the grid frequency is stable and close to 50 Hz.However, setting the turbine into frequency controlled operation may cause stress and wear of the components in the mechanical control system. Frequency controlling implies large and frequent servo forces and longer travelling distance of the sliding bearings in the Kaplan turbine.Based on one selected Kaplan turbine, Selsfors G1, measurements and MATLAB calculations have been performed in order to determine forces and movements of the linkage system. With these forces and movements as input, stresses and fatigue have been determined as well as sliding distances, bearing pressures and wear of bearings during a typical lifetime of 40 years.The results indicate that no severe wear exists on the bearings during 40 years of service.

There are three main purposes for this thesis; the first is to distinguish the possible violations that can occur in time of natural disasters. The second is to analyze if there is a correlation between political systems and how the effected country handles the aftermath of a natural disaster. The third purpose is to determine the role of the global community and what responsibility lies with them. The issue is often that the aid becomes the main object for discussion and analysis, but the focus rarely shifts to the effected State. Therefore the focus in this essay is the political system and how they cope with the human rights violations that can occur in a time of natural disaster.

The aim of this work was to study if the edge of the forest is more resistant to heavy winds than the trees located further in from the edge, and how this edge effect changes between different types of tree species and site types. The data was collected from an electric power line going from the north to the south of Sweden. The mean value of the clearcutted area around the power line was 120 meters. The main direction of the storm in January 2005 was west-southwest and thus the power line was a perfect place for gathering a large data set. The main parameter studied was the damage frequency at the edge of the forest compared to the trees located further in from the edge (up to 100 m from the power line). Tree species mixture, soil moisture class, soil type, topography, stand height, stand height of the stand on the other side of the power line and wind exposition was estimated. The results showed a distinct edge effect. The edge of the forest had clearly lower damage frequency for all tree species. A marked difference was observed between tree species and damage frequency.

Killingen is an area situated on an island called Resarö in the municipality of Vaxholm. The areais covered with forests with a varied topography and a mosaic of environments. The municipalitywants to keep the area unexploited, for recreational purposes but what are the natural values inthe forests? The survey concluded that a mosaic of nature types had high values and could behosts for vulnerable species.As part of the study, measures that will improve the quality of the paths and bathing areas for thelocal population was proposed as well as means to heighten or preserve the natural values in thearea..

The aim of this study was to, using previously collected data from self-declared antisocial behaviour questionnaires, examine if the crime frequency has been different between adolescents that have either been referred to two different forms of open care in social service, child and youth psychiatric inpatient care or have been sent to Homes for Specialised Supervision. The criminality frequency and the most common crimes committed were compared between the study groups and further between genders in each particular study group. Statistical significance testing was used and the results of the survey revealed that juvenile delinquents that had committed severe criminal acts were represented in all four groups. The study group with adolescents in national care was the most different from other groups. These youths seemed to have had a lower crime frequency than the other groups with the exception assault and robbery.