Laura Soares

Growth and Carcass Traits of Three Portuguese Autochthonous Chicken Breeds: Amarela, Preta Lusitânica and Pedrês Portuguesa

The purpose of this study was to estimate the growth curve parameters and carcass traits yields of three Portuguese autochthonous chicken breeds, Amarela (AM), Preta Lusitânica (PL) and Pedrês Portuguesa (PP). Birds (198) were individually weighed at pre-established time intervals (6682 records) and the study period lasted 30 months. The growth data were fitted to a mixed nonlinear model based on the Gompertz growth function. Fixed effects were breed, sex, lot, temperature and photoperiod. The adult weight estimated for males (females) were 2851.3 (1951.6) g for AM, 3047.5 (2147.7) g for PL, and 3243.7 (2344.0) g for PP, respectively. The males (females) estimated maximum daily growth were 22.7 (18.1) g at 77 (69) days for AM, 20.7 (17.5) g at 79 (72) days for PL, and 18.1 (16.3) g at 82 (74) days for PP, respectively. Within breed the males were heavier than females at 365 days but with lower maturity rates. Yields of carcass and noble meat pieces were evaluated on data collected from 10 males of each breed, sacrificed at 240 days. Traditionally, these breeds are commercialised whole and again the PP had the heaviest carcass with the highest yield. Growth of these autochthonous breeds after 240 days was minimal and may justify the decrease of the traditional slaughter age of approximately one year, in order to increase profitability. Establishing special market niches will also be a valuable complement for the rural economy of Portugal and an important contribution to the conservation of this genetic heritage.

Elisabete Jacinto : uma professora 'todo-terreno'

Geografa (licenciada pela Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa, 1987), pos-graduada em Geografia Via Ensino, professora (ate ao ano letivo 2002-2003), co-autora de manuais escolares (1995-1998) e de dois albuns de Banda Desenhada (2003, 2007), assim como de um livro infanto-juvenil (2010) e um de fotografias legendadas em portugues e ingles onde a imagem nos revela 10 anos de vivencias profissionais (2012), Elisabete Jacinto (Montijo, 8 de junho de 1964) e sobretudo conhecida pela sua atividade de piloto de todo-terreno (fig.1), tendo realizado diversas provas nacionais e internacionais (desde 1993), designadamente o famoso Rali Paris-Dakar, onde participou pela primeira vez em 1998. A sua personalidade, assente, na vontade de “perceber que podemos ir ate onde queremos, que o limite esta em nos”, faz com que, mesmo os seus passatempos e experiencias traduzam o seu espirito de aventura, conduzindo-a a percursos submarinos (atraves do mergulho recreativo), a desafios aereos (o para-quedismo) ou a escaladas (Monte Branco, 2008), como que respondendo a necessidade de interiorizar as varias ‘geografias’ que nos rodeiam, na procura de “uma visao mais correcta do mundo”. Porque, como se pode ler na entrevista que apresenta no seu website, “Afinal de contas sou professora de Geografia

Baião landscape units: “dashes of nature and culture”

Definido pelas carateristicas da natureza moldadas pelo Homem,o municipio de Baiao insere-se num espaco de transicao, constituindo,portanto, uma area privilegiada para a analise integrada dapaisagem, nomeadamente atraves da conciliacao entre a distribuicaoespacio-temporal do seu vasto patrimonio cultural com a diversidademorfo-estrutural, climatica, distribuicao de recursos naturais e dinâmicasterritoriais distintas. E este jogo de elementos, responsaveispela modelacao dos territorios, que serve de input a definicao dasunidades de paisagem de Baiao, objetivo principal deste estudo.Do cruzamento de aspetos relacionados com a morfologia, geologia,uso do solo, distribuicao da populacao/edificado, acessibilidades e vestigios arqueologicos e historicos, resultou a identificacao de quatrounidades de paisagem, cujas caracteristicas sao o reflexo da formacomo o Homem, ao longo do tempo, (con)viveu neste espaco cujaocupacao remonta a Pre-Historia

Redes sociais como recurso didático - ensaios no ensino da Geografia da UP

A banalizacao do acesso as tecnologias de informacao e comunicacao exige mudancas nas estrategias de ensino-aprendizagem, sob pena de inviabilizar os designios da educacao. Enquadrada na perspetiva do conetivismo de Siemens (2005), este exercicio centra-se no espaco de formacao do 1o ciclo em Geografia da Universidade do Porto e a metodologia passa pela analise comparativa da resposta dos estudantes a disponibilizacao de recursos e estrategias didaticas em sessoes presenciais (face to face) e no Facebook. Concluiu-se que a utilizacao desta rede constituiu um reforco no sucesso dos estudantes.

Didactic applications of social networks : essays in the 1st cycle in Geography at the University of Porto (UP)

The trivialization of the access to and use of new information and communication technology requires changes in the teaching-learning strategies in all education cycles, although running the risk of hindering the purposes of education. This is the starting idea of the didactic essay presented herein, which is in line with the learning theory of Connectivism, aiming to illustrate how social networks can be used as a means of communication, development of teaching resources and evaluation, providing enhanced motivation and learning The lab of this work focuses on the space of university education, and, in particular, the Curricular Unit of “Land, Transport and Mobility”, within the 1 st cycle in Geography of the Faculty of Arts, University of Porto. The methodological design is based, in a first step, on the literature review and the collection of data on the students’ habits regarding the use of social networks. After recognizing the most popular social hub – Facebook – this platform was used, through the creation of a secret group, as a privileged means of communication between students and teacher, sharing ideas, didactic resources and providing the assessment of this strategy. Upon comparison with the “face-to-face” teaching methodologies, it was concluded that the use of this network was an important site to get closer to the daily lives of students, namely through the reinforcement of the significant elements of contents, motivation, participation, and school achievement.