We just returned from an excellent week of learning and enjoying new experiences. Arriving in Southern California on Sunday allowed us to get out and do a little bit of site-seeing. I was fortunate to be able to visit with my family in LA.
Monday, Aug. 2, 2010: We listened to a presentation conducted by Dr. Burton Jones. He is a Professor of Marine Environmental Biology at the University of Southern California. His research interests include bio-optical
oceanography, physical-biological interactions, coastal processes, and coastal ocean observing systems. Dr. Jones has been involved in implementing a coastal observing system that includes both fixed sites and autonomous vehicles. Ocean observing systems was a common theme throughout the week. Most of you are probably aware that we know very little about our oceans. Ocean scientists are in the process of deploying instruments that will measure several ocean properties, i.e., tempurature, chemistry, density, salinity, currents, etc… Although, there is data gathering taking place right now and the data is available to us, it will be several years before scientists will be able to make some serious conclusions about our oceans. I will be passing this information on to my students and encourage them to be a part of ‘writing the story’ and sharing this information with the public.
On the fun side. My colleagues for the week were excellent people. Along with the excellent people from the west coast, who gave us many outstanding options to enjoy LA, they took me out to celebrate the big ‘5’ ‘0’.
Wednesday is another good day of learning. Andrew and I had more fun than the other groups during the ‘Surface Circulation Model’ activity. We used modeling clay and maps of the coast and ocean floor to create a replica of the east coast of the U.S. Conducting fluid, which is cool by itself, was used to represent the ocean. We blew air through straws to create currents while the fluid allows the observer to see the effects of land surfaces on the flow. As much fun as we had tells me that our students will have a great time with this activity. Similarities with air movement should be discussed with our students as well, especially since we live inland in a fairly windy mountainous enrivonment.
Went to Giffith Park to see ALL of LA. Ok, it’s too big to see all of it unless you are in an airplane. However, it was a clear night and an awesome view.
Thursday: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). What an incredible place!! Excellent presentations with fun and meaningful examples of how to teach students about space, the oceans, satellites, etc… while having a great time. The speakers were some of the top scientists in their fields. We were afforded the priviledge of sitting in one of NASA’s control rooms. We also were able to see the ‘still in construction’ next generation Mars rover, Curiosity. It will be about 2 or 3 times the size of the current Mars landing rovers. It will also be deployed on Mars with a propulsion system instead of with the air bags that were used on the previous rover mission. The new rover will be to massive and would ‘pop’ the air bags. The video enactment looks like a sci-fi movie.
We also learned about research taking place on Antarctica. Again, another lesson on how data is being collected with satellite technology. The speaker, Dr. Will Hobbes, a
postdoctoral researcher studying Ocean Circulation, has never been to Antarctica but is still able to gather data and share his valuable finding with the rest of us.
The next two presenters were the scientist, Kevin Hussey, and engineer, Eric (and I don’t have his last name and hope that one of my colleagues will supply that for us) that our students probably wish they could be. They showed us how to use 3-D and animation in the classroom. Much fun with excellent information.
Oh yeah, let’s not forget the Dodgers game. We were counting on the Dodgers to help the Rockies but our friends in CA did not deliver. However, they did deliver a fun experience. OK, Rockies fans, you have a great venue to watch your games in LoDo.
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We just returned from an excellent week of learning and enjoying new experiences. Arriving in Southern California on Sunday allowed us to get out and do a little bit of site-seeing. I was fortunate to be able to visit with my family in LA.
Monday, Aug. 2, 2010: We listened to a presentation conducted by Dr. Burton Jones. He is a Professor of Marine Environmental Biology at the University of Southern California. His research interests include bio-optical
oceanography, physical-biological interactions, coastal processes, and coastal ocean observing systems. Dr. Jones has been involved in implementing a coastal observing system that includes both fixed sites and autonomous vehicles. Ocean observing systems was a common theme throughout the week. Most of you are probably aware that we know very little about our oceans. Ocean scientists are in the process of deploying instruments that will measure several ocean properties, i.e., tempurature, chemistry, density, salinity, currents, etc… Although, there is data gathering taking place right now and the data is available to us, it will be several years before scientists will be able to make some serious conclusions about our oceans. I will be passing this information on to my students and encourage them to be a part of ‘writing the story’ and sharing this information with the public.
On the fun side. My colleagues for the week were excellent people. Along with the excellent people from the west coast, who gave us many outstanding options to enjoy LA, they took me out to celebrate the big ‘5’ ‘0’.
Wednesday is another good day of learning. Andrew and I had more fun than the other groups during the ‘Surface Circulation Model’ activity. We used modeling clay and maps of the coast and ocean floor to create a replica of the east coast of the U.S. Conducting fluid, which is cool by itself, was used to represent the ocean. We blew air through straws to create currents while the fluid allows the observer to see the effects of land surfaces on the flow. As much fun as we had tells me that our students will have a great time with this activity. Similarities with air movement should be discussed with our students as well, especially since we live inland in a fairly windy mountainous enrivonment.
Went to Giffith Park to see ALL of LA. Ok, it’s too big to see all of it unless you are in an airplane. However, it was a clear night and an awesome view.
Thursday: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). What an incredible place!! Excellent presentations with fun and meaningful examples of how to teach students about space, the oceans, satellites, etc… while having a great time. The speakers were some of the top scientists in their fields. We were afforded the priviledge of sitting in one of NASA’s control rooms. We also were able to see the ‘still in construction’ next generation Mars rover, Curiosity. It will be about 2 or 3 times the size of the current Mars landing rovers. It will also be deployed on Mars with a propulsion system instead of with the air bags that were used on the previous rover mission. The new rover will be to massive and would ‘pop’ the air bags. The video enactment looks like a sci-fi movie.
We also learned about research taking place on Antarctica. Again, another lesson on how data is being collected with satellite technology. The speaker, Dr. Will Hobbes, a
postdoctoral researcher studying Ocean Circulation, has never been to Antarctica but is still able to gather data and share his valuable finding with the rest of us.
The next two presenters were the scientist, Kevin Hussey, and engineer, Eric (and I don’t have his last name and hope that one of my colleagues will supply that for us) that our students probably wish they could be. They showed us how to use 3-D and animation in the classroom. Much fun with excellent information.
Oh yeah, let’s not forget the Dodgers game. We were counting on the Dodgers to help the Rockies but our friends in CA did not deliver. However, they did deliver a fun experience. OK, Rockies fans, you have a great venue to watch your games in LoDo.