Home
Introduction
This
Week
Classrooms
Field
Reports
Student
Projects
Field
Trips
Chat
Room
Media
Library
Trail
Guides
Schools
Search
Camp Internet Expedition 5 – Science Briefing 3
This week we will be studying both prehistoric and contemporary studies of the sun, planets, stars, and galaxies as seen from the Channel region. We are fortunate to have a group of scientists and educators working with us – your trail guides will be : Thomas Fuller from UC Santa Barbara who works with Dr. Phil Lubin on the RAAP Remote Access Astronomy project in the Physics Department, and Dr. John Anderson, who is contributing resources on Chumash astronomy and astrology. We will be looking back through Chumash history to understand how the celestial bodies influenced their lives and society, examining how these same forces influence our own lives today, and then looking out into deep space with the RAAP telescope to see how scientists today are using the Internet to better understand the heavens above.
Live Chats
This week we have two chats scheduled.
Tuesday, January 26
9am - 11am
We will be online with the Remote Access Astronomy Project learning how we can use the Internet to manipulate a remote telescope that will take a photograph for each classroom, capturing a star or constellation of your choice, and then sending it back to the Camp for everyone to view online. On Thursday, January 28th, we have another live chat with Dr. Anderson who will share with us his knowledge about how the stars and planets influenced Chumash life.
Special Camp Challenge
Each classroom has a special assignment this week. We want you to select a constellation or star out in deep space – beyond our own solar system – to ask the RAAP scientists to photograph for us and send us via the Internet. Please tell the scientists during the Tuesday chat, or by email to camp@rain.org, what your choice is. They will post the coordinates for your requested photograph on the Internet, and the telescope will follow those coordinates at night and capture a picture for you. The Camp will then build a gallery of images of the constellations each classroom has adopted so we can all share in the findings. We ask each class to then do a little research about the constellation or star you have chosen – how far is it from earth ? what is known about it ? Send us a short essay about it so we can attach the text from your class to the picture from the telescope.
California Department of Education
Please let your students know that Camp Internet made a presentation about their work to a statewide conference of teachers also involved in the Technology Literacy Project. These other classrooms have been invited to visit the Camp to see how the students are doing, and to participate in two special events coming up this spring – our reportage and interactive activities with the 5th Annual California Islands Conference, and with the National Geographic Society’s Sustainable Seas Expedition.
Whale Watch
Last week also saw the Camp Outpost at Maple School braving stormy seas on a Whale Watch off Dana Point. They sighted several gray whales spouting, and dolphins, and also learned how rough the sea can be in stormy weather. To those brave students, parents, and teacher Joan Ward – our commendations for launching the first Camp science expedition. We had the Camp’s videographer on board and will be posting photographs, video and audio as soon as possible. The Maple students will also be posting their field reports for all of the other Camp classrooms to enjoy reading.
Sea to the Classroom
We are now working on scheduling the touch tank visits to the classroom which will take place in March along with our studies on the tidepools and intertidal zones. If you would like to have a touch tank visit your classroom, please let us know this week. We may have to schedule a central location for the hands on demonstrations in some areas, while others may be able to arrange to have the tanks brought right into their classrooms. Please let us know what other classroom is closest to your school.
Return to Briefings Web
Return to Expedition Classroom
Return to Channel Home Web