Utah State Geographic Bee winner will compete in Finals today at NGS

Anthony Cheng survived the preliminaries of the National Finals Geographic Bee Competition in WashingtonDC. He competes today as one of the top ten finalists in the Finals competion today. Good Luck Anthony!!!!

NPR: Along the Grank Trunk Road series....

I've been away from my blog for awhile. My Mother had a massive stroke and my Father fell (crushed a vertebrae in his back & contacted MERSA in the hospital). My life has become a blurr of paperwork, hospitals and long term care facilities for both ......





But for now.... NPR radio has sponsored a series all week on their Morning Edition show: Alog The Grand Trunk Road. NPR reporters have been travelling and reporting their experiences from the old Asian "Grand Trunk Road". If you missed this series, it is all available on their website including audio files, slide shows, and maps of the grand journey....FABULOUS

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126395475

Why Geography Matters by Google Earth

Earth Day links

A terrific website for kids with lots of online geography (Earth Day) activities:


http://funschool.kaboose.com/globe-rider/earth-day/

National Park Week..free admission

All national parks free for a week - The Denver Post: "All national parks free for a week
By The Denver Post
Posted: 04/16/2010 05:18:18 PM MDT
Updated: 04/16/2010 05:21:15 PM MDT


Admission to all 392 national parks — including four in Colorado — is free April 17-25 during National Park Week.
Colorado's parks are the Great Sand Dunes National Park in the San Luis Valley, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in western Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park along the Continental Divide, and southwest Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park.
The normal cost is $20 per vehicle in Rocky Mountain National Park, $15 per vehicle in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison park and $10 per vehicle in Mesa Verde. The regular cost in Great Sand Dunes is $3 per person.
Saturday, April 24, is National Junior Ranger Day, when kids can take part in special activities and earn an official Junior Ranger patch.
Most parks also are planning special volunteer events, giveaways and discounts during the week to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22.
Mesa Verde, for example, is offering 40 percent off T-shirts made from recycled material, as well as a free pack of Colorado wild flower seeds to each visitor all week.
For more information visit www.nationalparkweek.org or www.nps.gov."

Earth Day links

From the Utah Geographic Alliance website:

40th Anniversary of Earth Day (April 22) Below are a few websites with resources that may be useful as you engage your students in the celebration of Earth Day.

http://earthday.net/greenschools http://earthday.wilderness.org/teachers/ http://earth911.com/for-students/ http://www.planetpals.com/earthday.html http://www.edhelper.com/EarthDay.htm http://www.epa.gov/kids/ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/environment.html http://www.earthday.org/climaterally http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/18/g35/earthday.html http://www.ngslis.org/earth_current/20080229.html

Sun Size and Altitude - Earth Science Picture of the Day

Great article and example of why we build telescopes on high mt. tops.
From a Great Website:Earth Science Picture of the Day!



Sun Size and Altitude - Earth Science Picture of the Day: "Sun Size and Altitude
April 21, 2010


Photographer: Rob Ratkowski
Summary Author: Rob Ratkowski

Astronomers are frequently asked why we have our observatories on high mountain tops. A big part of looking into deep space has to do with atmospheric transparency and freedom of particulates along with heat that causes blurring. A simple but effective understanding of this 'seeing' is to put a finger at arm’s length in front of the Sun and observe the aureole that’s produced. Held at arm’s length, a finger tip subtends about one half of a degree of sky – nearly the same amount of space that both the Sun and Moon take up. At sea level, observing is often compromised by the build up of heat, dust, moisture, haze, pollution, and aerosols that include ash and even salt. Higher up, there’s less of this to deal with since there’s less atmosphere to peer through. These three photos were taken on the Hawaiian island of Maui at (left to right) Baldwin Beach, Kula and Haleakala Observatory, respectively. The disk of the Sun is completely hidden by my index fingertip at 10,000 ft (about 3,050 m). Note, I can positively verify that my finger didn’t increase in size as a result of the thinner air.
Coordinates:
Baldwin Beach: 20.913502,-156.394544
Kula: 20.79222, -156.32694
Haleakala Observatory: 20.70825, -156.256678

Geography of U.S.National Parks

CHECK THIS SITE OUT!
RACE TO THE MOMENT is a reality series were two families use their physical and geography skills to negotiate their way through Joshua Tree National Park. Watch the race, or design and map your own race in other U.S. National Parks!

1=25070#/show">http://racetothemoment.msn.com/?section=challenge&dataId=201&source=msn>1=25070#/show

Icelandic volcano eruption lesson plan

See One of my favorite blogs and teacher geography resource blogs:

http://www.geogalot.com/

This blog's author, Richard Allaway, produced a webpage of resource to help teach about the Eyjafjallajoekull Eruption and Ash Cloud - you can read all about the resources here:
http://www.geogalot.com/experiences/2010/4/19/eyjafjallajoekull-eruption-ash-cloud-lesson-resources.html

Check out his blog and sign up for his newsletter...I've found tons of fabulous lesson plans and teacher resources from his blog!!!

NASA Observes Ash Plume of Icelandic Volcano

NASA Observes Ash Plume of Icelandic Volcano

SkyWatch Friday

See other interesting sky views:

http://skyley.blogspot.com/


PAIRS OF PLUMP PIGEONS (MORNING DOVES) PERCHED IN ORNAMENTAL PEAR TREES...

GLOBE AT NIGHT PROGRAM

How many stars can you count in Orion from where you live? Help shed light on light pollution! Take a few minutes to monitor your local night sky brightness and submit your measurement online. With half the world’s population now living in cities, light pollution is a huge problem; yet you can easily be part of a local solution. The "GLOBE at Night" campaign runs from March 3 to March 16, 2010.

http://www.globeatnight.org/

This great little website has family and teacher activity packets available for download related to this event, as well as podcasts, posters, postcards and all kinds of graphs charts and maps dealing with light pollution.

Count the stars of Orion tonight and register your star count with this program....FUN

SkyWatch Friday: Moon caught in a tree

See more intriguing sky sights at:
http://skyley.blogspot.com/


Lucky me.. again I saw the moon "caught" in a tree!!

It can't get out without a doubt.

But it's okay for a post today....
a special picture for (SW) Friday!!


Cheers! & Happy SWFriday!!!

SkyWatch Friday: Tree that held up the Moon

To see other groovey sky views:
http://skyley.blogspot.com/


This not a real great photo, but I saw this big full, orange morning moon, and ran to get my camera.

I took several photos and this one was the 'best".
I was looking so much at the moon that I didn't realize how much of the tree was in the way....its funny the tree looks like its "holding" the moon up in its branches--a lunar ornament of sorts.

Cheers!!!

EARTH HOUR 2010

TURN OUT YOUR LIGHTS FOR EARTH HOUR 2010: 8:30 PM

NASA - Google Earth Application Maps Carbon's Course

Check out this new Google Earth application layer from NASA...INCREDIBLE!!


NASA - Google Earth Application Maps Carbon's Course: "Google Earth Application Maps Carbon's Course"

National Clearinghouse for United States-Japan Studies

Need educational materials about Japan? See the SPICE program link to National Clearinghouse for U.S. - Japan Studies
http://spice.stanford.edu/docs/clearinghouse/

INTERNET TEACHER GUIDES:
http://spice.stanford.edu/docs/147

How the Chiliean Earthquake Moved the Earth

A podcast from NPR radio, Morning Edition, 3/3/10
with more details about how the earth changed from the gigantic Chiliean earthquake:

Chili Quake effected the whole earth

(turn down sound or pause music widget in dashboard before viewing video)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

SHAKE MAP OF CHILI EARTHQUAKE

FROM USGS.GOV SITE:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/