Science

People in our neighborhood were invited to take part in a bird study. Sparrows had been studied not far away in the local outdoor lab/field station and the researchers wanted to compare it to yards not too far away.

Open traps were set with a bit of food inside in hopes of getting the birds used to going in and out. I think the squirrels might have eaten the food first.

Our yard was chosen as home base for a couple early mornings when the traps were set. Not one bird was caught in any of the yards. The students were reminded that there lessons to be learned from negative results, but I think it was disappointing.

Now we have a camera set up for a week, just in case there is something to be learned from birds visiting the yard.

Fall Break, part one

You can see a lot of pictures of people experiencing the annular (ring-shaped) eclipse on October 14, but here is our version. 

The viewing at home would have been fine and there was an event on campus event thought it was fall break, but we decided to leave early 

and drive to Surfers Point in Ventura. It turned out to be a great choice.

I packed our glasses from 2017

and D. brought a pair he had received in the mail.

It was a challenge to photograph the eclipse. Here are some attempts.

somehow it shows up in the tree

and the crescents in the dappled sunshine

and the most basic way to view the eclipse.

Another highlight was doing some science outreach, helping other people have the chance to see the eclipse. The most common response was a big wow.

Bonus picture my friend in New Mexico shared and said I could post. This was made by using a colander as a pinhole camera.

The Eagle Has Taken Off

I am guessing everyone else went to the Griffith Observatory on July 20 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the first man on the moon. We went the next day when there were still special events but (I am guessing) smaller crowds.

We used the free parking at the Greek Theater and walked uphill to the observatory. Even though we felt like we had great views, we were really seeing only a small part of the park.

Before the observatory opened we were able to look around, including checking out the week-long demonstration of Apollo 11's path (see above). I was amazed how many tourists were there! It was a great place to take pictures and a fantastic free museum.

Once inside we made our way to the special exhibit and heard the museum staff highlighted some of the science behind the space mission.  We could also listen to the live feed from fifty years ago on July 21, when the astronauts were on their way home. We also enjoyed hearing the director (Edwin C. Crupp, Pomona College '66) as he described some of the exhibits.

Other exhibits described space, how it has been explored, and
how to teach about it, including this analog star projector.

Being on the roof reminded me of being on the roof of
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona. 

If only it were closer and if only there weren't a small observatory just a mile from our house I might go more often.

Filling time

We didn't know the brass carolers would be here so early so we missed the Fiddler on the Roof singalong, which was sold out by the time we considered it. Playing with fire is always a good way to fill time.

What happens if you put a piece of paper over a candle?
The flame goes out.

What happens if you put a piece of foil with a hole over the candle?
The flame goes out.

What happens if you put a piece of paper over a flame and it already is a little burned from the previous experiment? The flame goes out but the paper continues to burn and the parents get a little nervous.

Stay tuned for more family entertainment.

Community

A local non-profit runs an afterschool program that provides tutoring.  They have a started a small summer program that partners with a local retirement community.  The kids go to the retirement community on Tuesdays and Thursdays and take field trips on Wednesdays.  Last week the trip was to Pomona College to take a tour of the new physics, astronomy, and math building.  They also saw a planetarium show and got to watch the laser cutter preparing their project.

I wanted to use this photo and learned how to use an online photo editor. 

 After creating the pieces the kids and adults went upstairs.  Can you guess what they are making?

Bowling pins!  Some are made from cardboard and some from foam core.

The adults got to get in on the fun and did some hallway bowling.

I heard great things from the adults and they are hoping D. is back in town early enough next summer to run another event.

Weather

When we were in Denmark and using Celsius instead of Fahrenheit like we do in the U.S., R. taught me this ditty.

Quick digression - what is the difference between Centigrade and Celsius?  Below is what I learned from about.com.

Depending on how old you are, you might read 38°C as 38 degrees Celsius or 38 degrees centigrade. Why are there two names for °C and what's the difference? Here's the answer:

Celsius and centigrade are two names for essentially the same temperature scale (with slight differences). The centigrade scale is divided into degrees based on dividing the temperature between which water freezes and boils into 100 equal gradients or degrees. The word centigrade comes from "centi-" for 100 and "grade" for gradients. The centigrade scale was introduced in 1744 and remained the primary scale of temperature until 1948. In 1948 the CGPM (Conference General des Poids et Measures) decided to standardize several units of measurement, including the temperature scale. Since the "grade" was in use as a unit (including the "centigrade"), a new name was chosen for the temperature scale: Celsius.

The Celsius scale remains a centigrade scale in which there are 100 degrees from the freezing point (0°C) and boiling point (100°C) of water, though the size of the degree has been more precisely defined. A degree Celsius (or a Kelvin) is what you get when divide the thermodynamic range between absolute zero and the triple point of a specific type of water into 273.16 equal parts. There is a 0.01°C difference between the triple point of water and the freezing point of water at standard pressure.

This all started because I checked the weather last night and saw this forecast.

I thanked R. for teaching me the poem, which R. learned from Q is for Quark: A Science Alphabet Book.  It was under the section S for Système international, also known as the metric system.  There are people who support the adoption of this system in the U.S. (to improve patient safety and education), but those people do not seem to have much influence.

OSS

In this area kids in their last year of elementary school go to Outdoor Science School (OSS) for three-to-five days.  Our local elementary school kids go for five days and this year are sharing the space with two other schools' sixth graders.

When R.'s class of 12-year-olds went on a trip they were told a date and time to show up.  No meetings for parents to ask questions of the camp director.  No meeting for the kids to ask questions of the camp director.  No packing list.  No list of forbidden items.  No permission slip (time four).  Life is here is a little different.

the grand send-off from the whole school

and they are off!

Some parents were nervous about the bus driver taking the kids to the camp up a mountain road in the snow (I was in this category - how much experience driving in the snow do these people have?), but we received a note from the principal saying all was well.

After a long ride up the hill, our sixth graders have arrived at Arrowhead Ranch!  They’re enjoying a good deal of snow on the ground and it's still falling.  This sounds like the start to a very exciting week.
Take care,
A

One teacher stays with the kids all week and other teachers go up for a day or so.  They have posted some pictures so we know all is well (I wasn't worried about this part).

photo taken upon arrival

From what I have heard A. is having a fabulous time, enjoying the hikes, meeting new people, and eating good food.

from the Arrowhead Ranch video

from the school website

 It has been a strange week without any soccer/music/art/other places to drive.  I am glad he is having a good time, but I can't wait to give him a hug and hear all about it.

Study

Initially I was disappointed that R. was not selected for a special class that met at UCLA once a week, but having driven there and back on a weekday last month I no longer had regrets.  It is almost beyond my imagination that anyone could do that daily.

For the second part of the study we were able to schedule testing on a Saturday.  The traffic was fine so it was only an hour+ on the freeway!  Because they were paid in cash both kids thought it was worth it.

One part involved an electroencephalography (EEG), which the kids said did not make them feel like a cyborg.

The other part was magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).  Even though they could watch a video (when they weren't listening to alien voices and staring at a plus sign), it was not a pleasant experience.

I hung out and filled out questionnaires describing the children's behavior (when they were four or five years old did they point to things to get my attention?  do they keep their closets clean? etc., etc.,  ad infinitum).  It will be a while before enough subjects have completed the study for any results to be published, but I'll let you know when I do.

UCLA humor - A. told his friend we were going for the afternoon.  "Which team will you see?"  His friend could not imagine going and not seeing a sporting event.

Sundial

While waiting for friends I had a chance to examine the sundial at Larkin Park, including the plaque in memory of Dr. Ralph B. Larkin.  Unfortunately it reads the correct time less than half the year because it is set for standard time, but of course you can add an hour during daylights savings time.

Some of these symbols are no surprise (Taurus, Sagittarius, Aquarius), but I had no idea how the other symbols came to be (Virgo's is a sheaf of barley??  Pisces is two fish tied together?).  I guess I have never been good at seeing constellations, either.

You can tell this picture was taken in a different season than the photo above 

because of the location of the (almost) noon shadow).

After the walk I tried to learn more about Dr. Larkin, but was distracted by information about this sundial and lots of information about sundials in general.  I love learning new words like gnomon the thing that casts the shadow) and analemma (the figure-eight shape of the shadow over the course of the year).  Maybe I'll become a gnomonist (amateur sundial enthusiast).

Science Fair

In my second year as coordinator of the non-science part of the science fair (David and another parent organize the evaluators who talk to the students about science) I found plenty of popular themes among the projects.

One student determined that he did not mental telepathy with his twin.  Another student evaluated fly traps.

My own kid played with fire.

Everyone gets a certificate - no forcing evaluators to choose the best or assign grades.  The kids just explain what they learned and how they learned it.