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A new method for the description of leaf shape is presented, based on an interactive computer program for describing rosette leaves of Chondrilla juncea. In addition to the usual measures of length, breadth and area an alternative description is provided based on a coding of the boundaries of the leaves. The efficiency of the machine-assisted description is assessed and a comparison of the alternative descriptions provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the perfection of the metric system as a scientifically devised basis for weights and measures. The units of length, mass and time are considered as fundamental in any system of measurement. Other units are derived from them. The meter which is the unit of length was originally intended to be one ten millionth part of the earth's quadrature. The mass of one liter of water at 4 degree centigrade determines the unit of mass. For any system of measurement, volume is length cubed, velocity is length divided by time and acceleration is length divided by time squared. Complicated units thus can be reduced to the three fundamentals of which two bear a unit relationship. The varied possibilities of the unit system of measurement triggers interest among students. The metric system has been described as a unit system where mass and time may be derived from length.

The article presents a study which assesses the spectral composition and effects of light intensity on woodland plants in Heidelberg, Germany. It suggests that wavelength must be measured first in order to determine which woodland is lighter or darker. It reveals that the composition falls on a horizontal surface about 25 centimeters from the ground where the sky is clear and discrete. The study also claims that the regression of plant growth on light and form of apparent relation influence the color of the light measured.

A simple method for the determination of the lengths and distribution of conduits in plant stems and petioles is described using graphical and algebraic methods. The method proposed by Skene and Balodis (1968) is shown to give improper probability distributions. The data presented by these workers for Eucalyptus 'vessels' is reinterpreted, giving different results, so far as the accuracy of the data will show. The need for great accuracy in determination of conduit lengths from injection profiles is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children 3-6 years of age, when given an identification task where number was redundant to length or density, Solved the task on the basis of number. Surreptitious subtraction or addition elicited strong surprise as well as search behavior whereas displacements did not. Children who noticed the change in number or length and density gave unambiguous explanations of the nature of the intervening operations and were able to indicate how to reverse the effect. These findings are taken to show young children can treat small numbers as invariant. The results are discussed in terms of why children of the same age fail to conserve numbers in the standard conservation task and how complex number concepts might develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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