Seasons, Phases and Eclipses

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When:

Monday, December 8, 2014 - 1:25pm - 3:40pm

Where:

Who: ExploraDome program is limited to children ages 8 to 18 years. The solar viewers are designed for the skills of a typical 6th-8th grade student, but younger siblings may participate with parental assistance. Parents must remain in the museum during the ExploraDome program but are free to explore the exhibits during that time. Due to space limitations only 2 adult chaperones are permitted in the ExploraDome program.
Parents may arrange for another attending adult to assume responsibility for their children during this program. Please note any such arrangements in the comments.

How much:
Cost for ExploraDome, Solar Viewer & Museum Admission for Child/Student: $12.00
Cost for Museum Admission for Adult/Educator: $5.00
Cost for Solar Viewer & Museum Admission for Siblings: $5.50
Cost for Museum Admission Only for Siblings: $4.50

Please register by: Friday, November 7, 2014 - 5:00pm

Description

Bring your personal Book of Spells to the ExploraDome at the Bell Museum of Natural History and unlock the mysteries of the sun and the moon and their relationship with our home planet, Earth.

Viewing the Earth-Moon-Sun system from Earth and from space, dragoneers will gain an understanding of how the positions and motions of these objects relate to each other, and explain how we perceive the length of days, years, phases, eclipses and seasons.

This is a four-part gathering:

1. 45 minute ExploraDome experience
2. 15 minutes Q&A with our ExploraDome guide
3. 45 minutes to create solar viewers
4. 30 minutes to explore the new astrophysics exhibit, Eyes on the Universe at the Bell Museum (and other museum exhibits, you may stay as long as you like — or at least until the museum closes at 5pm)

ExploraDome program overview:

• Seasons:
• Gain awareness and understanding of the changing appearance of the daytime sky throughout the seasons, caused by Earth’s tilt and revolution around the Sun.
• Following the path of the Sun on the current day and on each of the solstices and equinoxes, students will observe:
• The Sun rising and setting in different positions along our eastern and western horizons
• The height to which the Sun climbs in the southern sky at midday changing from low in the winter to high in the summer
• The number of daylight hours in each day changes.
• Viewing the Earth-Sun system from space, students will see how Earth’s tilt and revolution around the Sun cause seasons.
• Moon Phases:
• During a demonstration of how the Moon revolves around Earth, the students determine where in its cycle it must be to explain the current phase of the Moon as seen from Earth.
• The students will learn how the phases of the Moon are dependent on the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, and Earth.
• Eclipses:
• Learn how the Sun, Moon, and Earth line up to produce solar and lunar eclipses, during which Moon phase each occurs, and why an eclipse is not visible every month.
• The new Moon casts its shadow onto Earth during a solar eclipse.
• The full Moon moves into Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse.
• See recent or upcoming solar eclipses from space and the next total solar eclipse visible in the United States.
• Tour of the Solar System and Milky Way Galaxy:
• Take a tour of the solar system and galaxy, with students selecting the targets as time allows.
• The Journey Home:
• The group flies back to Earth, where students will zoom down to a local view using satellite data.

Solar viewer:

After our ExploraDome program, we will build a shoebox solar viewer. Nic will bring all the supplies, including an assortment of shoeboxes. The longer your box, the larger your image of the sun in your solar viewer, so feel free to supply your own longer box should you have one. We will be using the technique shown at Safely See the Sun – Build a Shoebox Pinhole Camera (video).

Since longer is better, a 4-inch diameter by 4-foot long mailing tube makes the best solar viewer. However, I do not have a free stock of those collecting in my basement, and I did not want to add an additional $10/tube to the cost of this gathering. If you wish to buy and bring along your own 4"x48" mailing tube, you will also need to bring along some opaque cardstock to create your end-caps. An example of a mailing tube solar viewer can be found at Pinhole Eclipse Viewer: Study the Sun Safely (PDF).

The solar viewer can be used to observe sunspots, transits and eclipses. Unfortunately, the next solar eclipse visible from Minneapolis will occur before our program and is a partial solar eclipse on Thu, Oc 23, 2014. It will begin at 4:24 PM, reach its maximum at 5:36pm, and move below the horizon at 6:13pm. After Oct 23, there will not be another solar eclipse visible from Minneapolis until Aug 21, 2017.

Eyes on the Universe exhibit overview:

Eyes on the Universe showcases the latest astrophysics research being done right here in Minnesota and invites you to join those research efforts:

• sort through hundreds of images of the Andromeda galaxy looking for distant star clusters
• search the surface of the moon for water
• play with the electromagnetic spectrum — including ultra-violet light and radio waves

Turn your eyes back to Earth through satellite imagery with a kid friendly hands-on exploration in the adjoining exhibit, A View from Space.

The Bell Museum developed Eyes on the Universe in conjunction with the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Astrophysics, the Department of Geology and the citizen science web portal, Zooniverse, with support from the College of Science and Engineering. Look back upon the Earth via satellites in the adjoining exhibit A View from Space, created by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

Learn more:
Please note that items in this list have not been vetted and may not be appropriate for your child.

• Seasons Interactive: Online interactive simulation where students investigate and manipulate the tilt of the Earth to determine its effects on the flow of the seasons, the angle of the Sun’s rays for a given location on Earth, how temperature varies at that location and how the Sun’s path varies in the sky by season.
• Lunar Phases: Interactive online simulation and guiding questions about the phases of the moon.
• The Four Seasons: A hands-on activity to demonstrate how the combination of the Earth’s tilted axis and revolution around the Sun causes the progression of seasons.
• The Sun’s Energy Analyze and interpret real data from NASA’s Live Access Server to determine the seasons based on how much energy the Earth receives from the Sun at different locations..
• Eclipse: The Celestial Phenomenon That Changed the Course of History, by Duncan Steel
• How the Shaman stole the moon: in search of ancient prophet-scientists from Stonehenge to the Grand Canyon, by William H. Calvin
• Glorious eclipses: their past, present, and future, by Serge Brunier and Jean-Pierre Luminet
• Eclipse: Nature's Blackouts, by Billy Aronson

DIY Skill: Astronomer
 DIY Challenge: Make a Solar Viewer

Event information Cancellation information Additional information Registration form 

Payment information

Payment must be received by: Mon, Nov 10, 2014 - 5:00pm

1. Please plan to send your payment the same day that you register.
    
   The organizer will expect to receive your payment within 3 days of your date of registration — or by the payment deadline above, whichever comes first.
    
2. Immediately after you register, you will be emailed payment instructions from admin(at)homeschoolrecess(dot)com.
    
   Make sure your email filters recognize this address as a legitimate sender. If you don't receive this email, please check your spam, junk or bulk mail folder. Contact the organizer if you are unable to find it; if you receive no response to your email, please call the organizer.
    
   You are not officially registered until the organizer receives your payment.
    
3. When the organizer records your payment, you will be emailed a payment receipt from admin(at)homeschoolrecess(dot)com.
    
   If you've sent your payment and haven't received a payment confirmation, please contact the organizer by email or phone.
    
4. If the organizer doesn't receive payment within 3 days of your date of registration or by the payment deadline, whichever comes first, the organizer may remove your family from the registration list.
    
   You will be notified with an email from admin(at)homeschoolrecess(dot)com should this unfortunate event occur.
    
   If you are unable to send payment immediately, please contact the organizer to make other arrangements. This protects the organizer from non-payment due to payment instructions blocked by overly aggressive spam protection.
    
5. If you need to cancel your registration, please do so via an email request to the organizer.
    
   Non-payment is not an acceptable way to cancel your registration. If you wish to cancel, please be respectful of the volunteer organizer's time and send an email request.
    
   If you fail to send a cancellation request by the cancellation deadline, you will remain responsible for reimbursing the organizer for the cost of your family's participation.
    
6. To help the organizer identify you in the registration database, please include your username and field trip number along with any requests. This information can be found in your payment instructions email message and on the registration form on this page.

Event information Payment information Additional information Registration form 

Cancellation information

Cancellation deadline: Fri, Nov 7, 2014 - 5:00pm

TO CANCEL BEFORE THE DEADLINE: 
(1) Please let the organizer know as soon as possible via email. 

TO CANCEL AFTER THE DEADLINE: 
(1) Let the organizer know as soon as possible via email. 
(2) No refunds can be made as the organizer has already paid for your tickets. 
(3) To avoid empty seats, please attempt to transfer your tickets to another family by posting the availability to the HSAdventures Yahoo Group (and elsewhere as appropriate). 
(3a) Any reimbursements should be handled privately between you and your substitute. 
(3b) Please let the organizer know about the substitution. 
 
TO CANCEL ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT: 
(1) It is not cool to just not show up. Please let the organizer know if you are unable to attend — via email, text message or voice mail. 
(2) To avoid empty seats, please attempt to find a last-minute substitute for your family by posting to the HSAdventures Yahoo Group (as well as through any other other methods at your disposal). 

Event information Payment information Cancellation information Registration form 

Additional information

Please arrive by:

Please plan to arrive about 15 minutes early in order to have plenty of time to find parking, check in with the organizer, visit the bathrooms and otherwise be prepared for our program to start on time. Please plan to be early to avoid being late due to inadequate maps, confusing road signs, road construction, heavy traffic, parking difficulties, inclement weather or uncooperative children. 

Where to meet:

Please gather in the lobby of the Bell Museum, unless directed elsewhere by the staff. Please check in with the organizer when you arrive. 

Food policy:

No food or beverages inside the ExploraDome. 

Parking information:

Parking is available just one block or less from the museum at the 4th Street Ramp or Church Street Garage

Directions:

The Bell Museum is located on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota at the southwest corner of 17th Ave/Church St and University Ave SE with easy access from either I-35W or I-94.

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