Life as a Green

New blog locations

2010-08-13T17:36:00.000-07:00

I've enjoyed using blogger but I'm moving to my own domain and own wordpress blog.

My business, advertising, and web services blog can be found at: http://DigitalMountainConsulting.com/blog

My personal blog, which this was, can be found at:
http://www.raeleo.com/leo

Thank you blogger.com!

Escaping Planet "Next Customer Please"

2010-05-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

Where is this planet? Don't ask NASA nor the IAU (International Astronomical Union). Ask yourself: "Where do I go to spend money and I'm confident this place will be happier when I just hand over my money and walk out the door?" You know that planet, don't you :)?

Too bad there is more than one. In fact, this planet seems like a black hole!

Given a tanked economy it causes all of us to go inward and ask ourselves what we really want. I know it has made me ask that question. I don't want to be a number. I don't think anyone ever wanted to be no better than their position in queue.

I think we all, read that: we all in corporate America, got a little distracted with efficiency over the last fifty years. Centralize, simplify, streamline, eliminate defects, and most of all -- remove the soul. Especially that last one. I see it right here in my employee handbook on page 39 after the dress code:

"Soul shall be expressed on off hours and must not turn up in the drug test."

I know people, yes even workers, like simple, streamlined, defect free work places. I don't know about centralized. That's another topic.

I think where we went wrong in the last 50 years was we focused on the INSIDE of our companies and systems. We should have focused on the OUTSIDE. What the customer sees. You know, the ones who decide if our product or service is worth spending money on?

Duh. Maybe a Napoleon Dynamite "G-hod" is more appropriate? If we simplified from the outside we would eliminate paperwork, delays in answering calls, delays in solving problems, decrease defects, eliminate systems internally that slows down helping the customer. HOWEVER, we never would have taken the humanity out of the work our employees are doing because we'd see that would NOT help the customer. What we've built looks HIDEOUS from the outside.

No matter how hard I've tried in my life to make a living, I've not found a way to do it without customers; have you?

Summit!

2010-04-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

I'm in Harrisburg, PA at a Cable Conference http://www.pcta.com/news/events-view.php?id=31&page=1 (As in Cable TV). I needed some time to think so I stopped by the gym, very nice Sheraton Harrisburg, and found an inviting elliptical machine. I enjoyed an episode of "the moth" podcast and went about 2.8 miles. You and I both know 2.8 miles on an elliptical is really reaching basecamp from Kathmandu on Everest. Anyway, after a good workout and some clear thinking I started to walk back to my room, 214.

On my way back I saw this:

Yikes! It's almost as cold as the summit now!

Don't librarians work hard enough? OR Our jobs/careers/work should be loveable

2010-04-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

Where do you draw the line? How hard should a librarian or any other employee work to please their "customers"? Thanks to Seth Godin who wrote Linchpin I'm coming to a clearer conclusion on this topic.

They don't need to work harder. "What?", you say, "in your last post you said they don't try hard enough to justify their value!" Close. I'm saying they should do the work it takes to make their craft indispensable to their communities. If you're a librarian ask yourself "If I don't work harder but I need to be more valuable to patrons and the community what do I do?" Work smarter, not harder. Everything in business and government is getting squeezed tighter. We all have to work to ensure we become invaluable.

When you come up with answers to that question above you'll hopefully find answers that help you:

Eliminate things from your work day that DON'T make you indespensable
Use the new found time in your work day to pay attention to patrons to find ways to amaze them (see my previous post)
Help spread the insights up the ladder to your supervisors -- they'll help make your job easier to enjoy
When you like your work more you can do it like you want to -- with your whole heart

Can I have my library card back now?

Libraries as linchpins

2010-04-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Backdrop: I've been reading Linchpin, by Seth Godin recently and it has been a moving experience. Just in time too. My small company, an ISP in Central Pennsylvania, was bought by a much bigger cable company. That's a story for another post.

Situation: I'm sitting in the LaVale, MD public library getting some work done. I hear a librarian talking on the phone "Sorry, we weeded our magazines out about three months ago... No, we do it at random times.... It is just hit and miss... Yeah, all the branches do it at different times. You can call around."

So, our local library system recently had its funding and therefore hours cut. If the librarians, all of them, were linchpins thereby making the public library a linchpin would its funding ever be cut? Maybe. If its funding was cut would more citizens go to bat for it? YES. Are the librarians bad? No. In fact, some are linchpins for sure. I've heard them pour their heart into their jobs. I'm mentioning it because as Seth says in "Linchpin" I do believe now is the time to make yourself and organization a linchpin.

So, what should that conversation have sounded like? Here's what I think: "Sorry, we weeded our magazines out about three months ago... No, we do it at random times.... You could really use old magazines, huh?... It has always just been hit and miss but I think we can do better. I'll see if we can schedule our old book and magazine clean outs and publish the dates on our website. May I have your email and I'll email you when I come up with an answer? Oh, make sure to call around to the other branches in case they are about to clean out their collections."

Would that make this caller a believer in the Allegany County library system, or what?

A call to librarians: Do well by making libraries a linchpin and keep our lending and information resources leading our community into the 21st century. Linchpins need information, tools, and to love their art (work).

MDTrails was spammed! RIP Anonymous talk.

2010-04-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

I've been making some updates to MDtrails recently -- It's spring you know! Today I was getting ready to upload some new tracks I recorded at Mt. Aetna and I noticed the following new trail talk:

We've been spammed! I feel privledged. Not really but it does indicate a turning point where the site is VISIBLE. Visibility is GREAT for a site that keeps us local to Maryland for our outdoor advernture and connects us to nature.

So, if you need Viagra you'll have to do a web search -- MDtrails now requires you to be signed in to add trail talk.

To iPad or to Netbook? That is the question.

2010-02-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

I read @kevinbruce's blog post on the iPad today. It inspired me to share my thoughts. Thanks for the inspiration Kevin!

Before I tell you what I think about the iPad, here's what I expect of my computer/mobile device:

Independent -- doesn't require a desktop/laptop computer just to fully utilize my new device
Simplicity -- don't give me a knob or slider when you can just make the decision for me.
Flexibility -- don't make me use a $%*#@ tactile-less touch screen keyboard when I want a physical keyboard (Contradicts 2 sort of. But really, is connecting a bluetooth keyboard to an iPhone/iPad NOT simple?)
Automatic Security -- make sure the apps can't "infect" my device with spyware, viruses, or trojan horses
Open for Developers -- DON'T tell me I can't download an app because "you said I don't need it"

I've read Apple's announcement and spec pages at http://www.apple.com/ipad/, read Kevin's thoughts at http://neutralgood.net/blog/2010/02/02/the-many-uses-of-the-ipad/, and listened to the Twist Image podcast/Media Hacks Episode 24 (BTW thanks media hacks for an episode that made laugh so hard I almost cried!) at http://www.twistimage.com/podcast/archives/spos-188---media-hacks-24/

Here's my rating (remember: I haven't touched the device.) of each of the above 5 points:

1. Independence -- Poor

It is as independent as an iPhone/iPod. You can do many things without a computer but you need a computer to effectively manage your music library, to manage your podcasts, view arbitrary web pages (no flash support in Safari).
You can't connect other devices like a digital camera OR A KEYBOARD to it

2. Simplicity -- Excellent

Think iPhone. I'd be more excited if I didn't already have an iPhone.

3. Flexibility -- Poor

Come on. I bought an apple bluetooth keyboard. No, I've bought two. What do I have to do to just pair that with my iPhone/iPad/iPod and type larger blog posts, email messages, etc? I think someone should start a paypal charity to bribe Steve J. to add the feature. Sorry, I'm not the guy to get that started. Any takers?

4. Automatic Security -- Excellent

Think iPhone. I'd be more excited but.... You get the drill.

5. Open for Developers -- Fair

I'm pleased that the App store allows many fringe, non-mainstream apps into the store. They even allow some that fill in some feature gaps that Apple left (RSS Player Yay!). But you just can't geek out on the iPhone/iPad.
Where are the programming languages? So I'm sitting on the couch checking my email and I feel like whipping up a quick python script to check a web page for updates and pop up an alert on my phone -- WHY CAN'T I DO THAT APPLE!!!??? I'm a big boy. Hell, I bought the F'n thing; don't I own it?!
Where are the cool hacker tools? I want nmap, mrtg, program Arduinos, whatever the heck I want it to do.

Now, having gotten that off my chest I was taken off guard by the Media Hacks podcast I listened to today. They, minus Julian of course ;), pointed out that the iPad might not be for "us" the geeks/content producers of the world. Maybe, just maybe, Apple is trying to solve the age old problem of complicated computers with so many ways to fail, non intuitive user interfaces, computers that take 3 minutes or more to turn on, wires everywhere, hard disks to crash. Windows and even Mac OS(X) are not really user friendly.

So what do I need Apple to fix (get your notebook Steve J.)? Make it stand alone. Don't tell me I need a computer to run my iPad. Let me manage podcasts and music ON the iPad. Give me some elegant way to script the iPad ON THE iPad. I NEED to control my machines. Finally, you've got to find a way to let me download even apps that you and AT&T don't like.

So what does this have to do with netbooks? I was on the fence. What should I buy? Wait for the iPad or buy an AT&T HP110. I went with the HP110 -- YES, windows 7 and all. I'll tell you about that later...

Google has a site with bad SEO!

2010-01-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

I've been fascinated with Google Android for a few years now. Recently I've been feeling the pinch of the apple iPhone appstore (no neat geeky gadgets, programming languages, emulators, etc.). So, I've been considering an Android based phone as my next phoneputer. Wasn't I surprised when I was trying to find apps on the Google Android Market site and I found a google search for:

site:android.com/market

Returned (screen shot):

Hey, Google, let me help you get your Android Market site in order so the big search engines like Google, Yahoo, Ask, and Bing can index your content and bring in lots of visitors who are interested in the content on your site ;)

If you don't know what's wrong take a look at the page titles. They're all the same. Also look at the page descriptions. They're mostly the same. In Search Engine Optimization, SEO, terms this is BAD. When a search engine crawls your site and pages have identical titles, identical meta descriptions, etc they think you have duplicate content and they DON'T index the apparent duplicates. If the duplicates get indexed they won't rank as high in search results for the content they are autorative for.

Just let me know if you want some help guys.

Simple hanging solar panel mount

2009-12-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: Electrical wiring can cause death, house fires, and worse! Don't try this unless you know exactly what you're doing. Consider consulting with a licensed electrician who specializes in low voltage wiring.

I've had a solar panel to install on my house for months. I'm lying to you. I've had a solar panel for years. I've been waiting to install it in the right place on my house. It shouldn't have taken this long but it did.

Last weekend I was walking by my back deck and bam! it hit me. I could easily make a hanging mount for the panels with a couple pieces of box section aluminum and some 90 degree angle aluminum I have laying around. I'd have to get a couple of 1 1/2 x 1/4 x 20tpi bolts with washers and nuts to fasten two box section aluminum rails to the panel and make a pivot point.

I decided to share this design because I was awed at how simple, inexpensive, and noninvasive this installation was. I always thought about mounting them on my roof and always put it off becuase that had too much risk. My backup idea was away from the house with a simple structure to support the panels and run underground wiring to the house. Those all seemed like a nightmare to a busy DIYer. This is just easy. I took this design from idea to installed in about two hours, maybe three. I already had most of the materials but if you have to go out and buy them you'll spend about $10 US. Of course the cost of the panel dwarfs the mount. Here is a similar panel on Amazon:

Below I'll give you some pictures of my hanging panel installation. These will give you the basic design. The exact sizes of the aluminum pieces don't matter as long as you can fit it all together. If you'd like measurements ask and I'll make another post with some more details.

From Solar panels

This is the pivot point.

From Solar panels

Here's the pivot point again with a little more context.

From Solar panels

This shows the pivot points, the panel, the box section aluminum support rails, and the short pieces of 2x4 I'm using to maintain the panel at the best angle for the sun.

From Solar panels

Here's a closeup of where the bottom of the panel is supported by the 2x4 support.

From Solar panels

A look across the two pivot hanging points.

From Solar panels

Here's how I bring the 12v DC into the house from the outside.

From Solar panels

This is what it looks like from the inside.

From Solar panels

This is where I now have a cheap inverter connected to the 12v DC from the battery/panel.

From Solar panels

The battery in its case with the charge controller enclosed.

From Solar panels

A look inside the case. The charge controller's "Full" light is lit green. You can't see it from the lighting. Darn sun. ;)

From Solar panels

Here is the panel right after I finished installing it.

Finally, a week after I installed it and it snowed. I didn't notice a difference yet but you can see how a portion of the panel is covered with snow. For the system to perform as expected I needed to wipe the snow off.

From Solar panels

Panel after the first real snow Dec. 5th.

Going once, going twice, going solar?

2009-12-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

I've done it. I've installed a 75 watt solar panel on my back deck.

First of all, my house is all electric. I'm not going to run it on a 75 watt solar panel. That would be magic. What I hope to do with a single solar panel is introduce my family to renewable energy. Heck, I'm even introducing myself to it. I've postulated for years what it means to use renewable energy. I've thought about the solar constant of 1kw/m^2 (that is how much energy, 1,000 watts, the sun deposits in the form of infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light on one square meter of earth when the sun is directly overhead). I've believed I'm willing to make any sacrifice to live sustainably on this earth since I was 16. But, why then am I not living a sustainable lifestyle yet?

(...)

(Long awkward pause)

(...)

You get it; right? People don't make sense. We mean the best and fail miserably. This probably has something to do with my (a humans'?) desire to reach an ideal while misunderstanding how important the steps between the ideal and real are. Don't do what I did. Don't wait until you're 37 to begin experimenting with renewable energy sources in your house.

Here's my plan: Get one solar panel charging one battery. Run the 12v to the living room (you'll see how in my pictures in my next post). Connect an inverter to the 12v battery wires in the living room. Run all the computers in the house off the renewable source. Lesson to learn? How much power do our laptops eat through? We'll FEEL it at the end of this experiment. We'll see how long the suns rays take to give us an evening of computer use. This is the beginning of understanding our impact on our planet.

Tune in to my next post to see my simple but sturdy solar panel mount. It cost about $15 US.

Dunkard Creek Golden Algae in ACS Environmental News

2009-11-13T21:08:00.000-08:00

On November 11th the American Chemical Society released http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es903354w?cookieSet=1 as an environmental news article. It finds:

Prymnesium parvum or “golden algae” caused the multispecies kill along Dunkard Creek (30+ miles)
The North Branch of the Potomac River and 20 other streams in West Virginia are vulnerable
TDS spiked right before the algal bloom

This article is an easy read at about three pages and sheds light on the factors at work in a golden algae multispecies kill. Read the whole thing at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es903354w?cookieSet=1

Dunkard Creek Multispecies Kill -- Dr. Duane Nichols speaks on what he knows

2009-11-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

Thursday November 4th, 2009 in room 406 at Allen Hall at the Evansdale campus of West Virginia University Dr. Duane Nichols gave a talk on the status of Dunkard Creek. Here is a synopsis of the relevant environmental information offered by Dr. Nichols:

A golden algae bloom seems to be the cause of the fish, mussel, and salamander kill
These algae have been found in Texas in their brackish streams since the 90s
This is one of the first golden algae blooms north of Texas
Golden algae flourish in water with very high dissolved solids.
After measuring the conductivity of the stream water in μSiemens/cm TDS is calculated with the equation: TDS = 0.64*C Where TDS is Total Dissolved Solids in ppm or, equivalently, mg/l and C is the conductivity of the water in μSiemens/cm)
Dunkard Creek had Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) measurements peaked out at more than 9,000 mg/l during a measurement taken 9/23/2009 (see http://www.monwq.net/graphconcentrations.cfm) (This is saltier than sea water, see bottom of entry)
The algae blooms tend to occur when the native green algae are dormant during cooler times of the year in studies done in Texas. How golden algae behave this far north, in the mid atlantic, with much colder winters is hard to tell.
The North Branch of the Potomac River was number one on a long list of streams at risk of golden algae blooms with 105 miles at risk. Many other were on the list. (I'll look for a list online later.)

Dr. Nichols offered links to the following websites with more information:
http://www.uppermon.org
http://www.monwq.net

I'll add a link to some further TDS information from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids

From wikipedia note: fresh water < 1500 mg/L TDS < brackish water < 5000 mg/L TDS < saline water

Catoctin trail overhauled -- More Trails Coming to the Frederick City Watershed

2009-11-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

Last summer I made a trip to Frederick County Maryland to hike in Gambrill state park. It was my first visit to the park. Looking at the map the first thing I noticed was the string of parks that run through Frederick county. Wow, that place is loaded with parks! From Harpers Ferry and South Mountain state park in the south to Catoctin Mountain Park in the north. Don't forget the Appalachian Trail passing through as well!

When I visited, I hiked the Blue trail (the beginning of the Catoctin trail) from the trailhead in Gambrill state park up to the end of the park and the beginning of the Frederick City Watershed. You can see my trip at http://www.mdtrails.com/trail/15003 (I embedded the trail map below). As I made my way deeper into the park, closer to the watershed area I was more in love with the park every step. By the time I got to the end of Gambrill I wished I could have kept going the 21 miles to Cunningham falls just to see the rest of the forest. I had to turn back though since I wasn't prepared for an overnighter.

MDtrails.com All trail info

At that time the only marked and maintained trail in the Watershed area between the parks was the Catoctin trail. The Mid Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts, or MORE, and the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, or PATC, has been organizing volunteers and donors to fix that trail and expand the marked and maintained trails in the Watershed area. Here are some highlights from their announcement:

650 volunteer hours were invested by MORE and PATC members open a sustainably reconstructed mile of the Catoctin trail
Blazing and mapping of a circuit loop of existing trails in the Watershed Area has begun.
They will produce a free, online map to enable trail users to explore the trails online.

For their press release and a picture of the ribbon cutting for the newly rebuilt section of the Catoctin trail visit http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/showthread.php?t=16954

Discovery at New Germany... City Springs!

2009-11-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

On a crisp fall afternoon a couple of weeks ago I was running through the woods south of the lake at New Germany State Park in Garrett County Maryland...

I'm at the far southern end of the park, about a mile and a quarter from the trailhead. I've mapped several trails and the air is getting crisper and the shadows long. The primitive mammal in me is inspecting its environment more carefully. Fine details in the environment are more apparent to my mammalian frame of mind. I am not overwhelmed with this response. My state of mind is more meditative and receptive.

In all directions there is a lot of green. In this valley poplar lick is nearby, assuring me I am not lost. Abundant mosses along the banks and on the seldom scoured rocks reminds me of the power of the water. It is the primary landmark but its action diminishes competitive landmarks. It causes a multitude of fungi and ferns to sprout in the ever present forest litter. In the midst of this bounty of visual input I see the mark of man in the forest. The unmistakeable ninety degree angles he makes in nature. His inability to mimic the curves of his host, nature. Leaving the trail, with my eyes fixed on the anomaly, I approach this artifact.

Knowing I'm passing over many footsteps which came before me, I walk up the hillside. I notice a depression where water has run for years. Reaching the moss covered rocks at right angles I am gratified that this small, one foot wide by one foot high by one foot deep, structure is still in service accumulating water and keeping debris out of the accumulation.

After reading William J. Martin's "History of New Germany" I now know that I found the spring that gave the first New Germany campground the name "City Springs". I'm glad to have such a thorough, written history to work from.

Get your skis! Snowiest winter since 2002-2003?

2009-10-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

This looks good for winter sports fans!

John Bastardi (gulp) from AccuWeather.com says:
..."this winter could be one of the snowiest since 2002-2003, when up to 80 inches fell in many places. Snowfall totals this year could reach between 50 and 100 inches in the Appalachians."...

Last winter started out great. Nearly a foot of snow in mid November at New Germany. Imagine, cross country skiing more than a month before Christmas in Western Maryland. The rest of the winter I kept visiting the park to ski and coming up short on snow.

That was a bummer. Rocks and mud were exposed along many trails. The green trail, down in the valley along poplar lick, was water logged. The purple trail, up higher and partially in Savage River State Forest, had several bare spots where melting snow dribbled across the trail and exposed rocks and mud. Not to mention that the snow everywhere was thin the rest of the winter. Let's just say that the 2008-2009 winter did not live up to my expectations.

2009-2010 is gearing up to be a good skiing and winter sports season!

Give your emotional fitness a workout

2009-10-24T09:38:00.000-07:00

I was reading The Flight of My Life by Morgan Smith and found her post on this Tony Robbins video:

It is a moving presentation. If you are looking around you wondering how to not just succeed materially but how to feel whole, happy, and alive watch the video. Tony's presentation will help move you closer to that goal.

Mapping New Germany State Park Trails

2009-10-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

I've been carefully mapping the trails at New Germany State Park in Garrett County Maryland. I've hiked, skied, run, and biked every trail at the park many times before. What's different about my last couple of trips is I've systematically saved GPS tracks for each trail individually. Where a trail begins I clear the tracklog. When the trail ends I save the tracklog. The devil is in the details though. Many trails are marked with an arrow of a particular color but they are really just a connector trail between two other contiguous trails. The Yellow trail is a prime example of this.

So far I've completed:
Yellow trail (all three parts and the connectors)
Green trail
Blue trail
Red trail
Purple trail
White trail (Did you know there is a white trail there?)

I have left to map:
Pink trail
Orange trail
Two Green - Blue trail connectors

I think that accounts for all of them. I'll know soon.

Hiking with a dog

2009-10-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

I often hike in remote areas on private land and would love to have my dog as a companion without a leash. I've never done it; my dog tends to run away when he's not on a leash. Good reason? That doesn't stop me from dreaming of that closer-to-wild experience with my dog. Of course, do not hike with your dog off leash in any area where you may encounter other trail users -- that is a really scary thing to have a dog approach you in the woods.

Recently I was chatting online with Laurie Luck, KPA CTP from Mount Airy, MD on Twitter about this topic and her responses warranted more than their blink of an eye exposure on Twitter so I thought I'd share what she offered in a blog post.

First I said:
@smartdogu I was looking around on http://smartdog.typepad.comfor tips on training a dog to hike off-leash. Have a link to tips?

Here's what Laurie (@smartdogu) said, minus the Twitter speak:
Tips for off leash:

Practice recalls in a safe area (fenced or with dog on leash) and gradually increase distractions
Be sure dog can come even if a deer darts out! Also, don't let dog off leash if he can't come when he sees other dogs
Generally, a long line is best for trails - much safer for dog and trail hikers. You can get 50' cotton leash at big box pet places
Many people are afraid of dogs, even if yours is friendly. Also, some of us have dogs that don't do well with other dogs
So even if you're dog is friendly, people + dogs don't want to get close. It takes lots of practice for a stellar recall

That helps me focus my work with my dog on successfully calling him back in the yard with a minimum of distractions first. Quite honestly, I don't know if I would have considered this. I was working at improving my rapport with him on leash in the woods.

Follow Laurie on twitter at http://twitter.com/smartdogu and her blog at http://smartdog.typepad.com

Thanks for the helpful tips!

A trail and park guide for my favorite park

2009-10-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

Since I was little my favorite Maryland State Park has been New Germany. This made my choice of parks for my first Trail and Park Guide book easy. New Germany it is.

After writing several Trail Stories at http://www.mdtrails.com/tags/trail%20story and mapping many other trails at http://www.mdtrails.com/trekker/verdi545 I've decided to focus on a single region, a State Park initially, and write a comprehensive guide.

I've read plenty of guides that cover the trails, their terrain, skill level required, and physical properties like distance, altitude gain etc. I've read books on areas that covered flora and fauna. I've read others that are historical accounts of an area. In writing my trail stories I find myself drawn to drill down into the area on all of these fronts.

I find myself thinking "Wouldn't it be perfect if you could plan a vacation and carry along a book that would cover trails and their technical details, flora, fauna, AND history?" A book like that would enable a park visit to span the spectrum from museum visit, outdoor adventure, and a free range zoo visit.

That's what I'm going to make.

It's not easy being green

2009-10-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

There, Kermit the frog said it and I stand by it.

Janell Cannon began illustrating my life in "Verdi". The only way she missed the mark is that I'm not a snake.

So what does this all mean? Read my next post to find out :)

Elementary school astronomy presentations

2003-02-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, when my oldest son was in fourth and fifth grade, I created three Astronomy Nights for his classmates. I've been interested in astronomy since college and I like to learn by teaching so I figured I'd have a go at entertaining fourth and fifth graders with the sky, some binoculars, a telescope, and a simple handout. I felt that using a simple handout with references to more info to look into when they get home could assist some kids in finding a new interest in science or a deeper one.

I made enough copies of the handouts for every kid I expected to come (and then some). I used the handouts to keep on track in the presentation AND to give the kids a copy of the main ideas I presented. I hoped this would give the astronomy concepts on the paper more meaning when they got home.

Everywhere I could, I included objects in the sky for discussion and to add interest. I took my time in getting all of the kids looking at the same part of the sky. Rushing will loose kids quickly. I made sure to allow quiet time after questions as some of the best questions came when I gave the kids a couple of minutes to look up and think about what they saw.

On my old site these documents got lots of views and when I moved to my new site they disappeared, until now. Here they are in .pdf version:

Mars:Fourth grade Mars party schedule for presenter, not handed out

Andromeda galaxy:Fifth grade galaxy party (no presenter schedule)

Comet Neat:Fifth grade comet party schedule for presenter, not handed out