Geodesic Dome - Period 5

Suncoast student is national semi-finalist in interplanetary essay contest

Freshman Hunter Jarrell was a semi-finalist for a national essay contest hosted by NASA designed to give students a taste of life as a scientist. Picking a target for a spacecraft to observe is usually a task for a select group of mission scientists. The Cassini Scientist for a Day contest challenged students in grades five through 12 to join the NASA science team studying Saturn. Students study three possible targets that the Cassini spacecraft can image during a given time set aside for education. They choose the one image they think will yield the best science results and explain their reasons in an 500 word essay. More than 2,300 students from 37 states entered the contest, and Hunter's article rose to the semi-finals.

Hunter and other Physics students in science teacher Erich Landstrom’s classes watched videos about the Cassini mission, which has been in orbit around Saturn since 2004; Saturn's moon, Iapetus; Saturn's moon, Dione; and Saturn itself. moon Iapetus). Landstrom modeled how the essay proposal would be written like a scientific investigation for students to explain what questions do they hope will be answered by taking this picture?

Hunter Jarrell's Essay: C2 - ID# 201

Any of the options for the Cassini pass by will provide great scientific insight, but I think that Dione would provide the most useful information. I think Dione will be the best target for the fly by because it will give us a better understanding of the surface and exosphere, it might give us clues on to why it turned, and its the last chance we have until 2015.

First off, I think that the Cassini should fly by Dione because it will allow us the opportunity to get a better view and understanding of the surface of Dione. These pictures will let us study the ice cliffs and what they could be composed of other than water. We could also figure out what is under the solid surface and in the liquid interior. With these images we could figure out the effect of long term bombardment of fine powder from Saturns E ring. We could also gain some more information on the composition of the exosphere and the effect of it on the geology of the moon.

In addition to finding out about the planets characteristics the fly by could help us to achieve understanding of why the satellite has rotated. Using past pictures for earlier Cassini flybys of craters on the surface of Dione NASA determined that Dione had rotated around its axis. This is still a mystery to us and I want it to be resolved. We could get better pictures with this fly by of the patterns and maybe use that to discern the answer. With more up to date pictures we can compare them to the older pictures and see if Dione has rotated anymore.

Finally, this flyby will be the only chance we have to image Dione until 2015. There are endless possibilities that we could get with this view. Things that we haven't even thought of could be put into light. This is what science is about, observing and finding conclusions. If we squander this opportunity then we will have to wait another two years before we have the chance again.

In my opinion I believe that Dione would be the best target for the upcoming Cassini mission. I believe this because it could give us better or new information about the surface, possibly solve the mystery of why it rotated, and its the last chance for 2 years. I hope that you will consider my take on which target should be picked.

The Science Planning Team designed three possible observation opportunities. Each of the three has scientific merit (and, in fact, Cassini imaged all three -- there was a winner for each target in each grade group ). Target number one is an image of Saturn's mysterious moon, Iapetus. Target number two aimed the camera at Saturn's moon, Dione, and Target three produced a full-color mosaic of Saturn and its rings. Student participants examine the three possible observations taken by Cassini and are tasked to choose the one they think will yield the best scientific results. This choice must then be supported in a 500-word essay.
The contest meets U.S. National English and Science Education Standards By participating in the essay contest, students will be able to:

• Work with a real, current NASA mission
• Apply their critical thinking skills
• Applying their writing skills
• Learn how to conduct research
• Gain confidence in their ability to "do science"
• Learn something new, and form questions about a place they may never have heard of
• See themselves in the roles of scientists
• Watch videos by young Cassini scientists and engineers, and see that scientists and engineers come from diverse backgrounds
• See that scientists have different opinions and priorities when choosing where their spacecraft will target images

NASA sent certificates of participation to all students who entered, with winning essays posted on a NASA website http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education/scientistforaday12thedition/winners2013/

Seminole Ridge student is national semi-finalist in interplanetary essay contest

Freshman Courtney Muscarella was a semi-finalist for a national essay contest hosted by NASA to answer the question: where should NASA’s next big mission to the outer solar system go: Saturn’s moon, Titan, or Jupiter’s moon, Europa?

Courtney and other students in science teacher Erich Landstrom’s Earth-Space Science classes watched videos about astrobiology and the engineering challenges of exploring Titan and Europa, then wrote an essay (500 words or fewer) explaining which moon to send a spacecraft to explore, if you could, and why. Students included information about the instruments they would put on the orbiter and balloon or lander. The Titan mission would include a Titan orbiter and a Titan balloon. The Europa mission would include a Europa orbiter and a Europa lander. Teachers submitted the contest entries on their students’ behalf. The deadline for submission was Feb. 28, 2013.

NASA sent certificates of participation to all students who entered, with winning essays posted on a NASA website http://icyworlds.jpl.nasa.gov/contest/

Courtney Muscarella’s Essay: ID# 212

Considering our economy at the moment space exploration is very expensive. Taking this into consideration, how this money is spent or where we chose to explore, should be selected carefully. Previous missions like the Cassini investigation that orbited Saturn, delivered NASA researchers with interesting information and images of the planet’s moons. Astrobiologists (scientists who study and search for life beyond Earth) are now pondering if life could be sustainable on the planet’s largest moon: Titan. I believe NASA should explore Titan with an orbiter and a touch-and- go balloon. Below I will discuss these two pieces of technology and what they can provide for astrobiologists.

To begin, we should use a touch-and-go balloon to explore Titan. Doing so is more beneficial than a lander because a lander is only able to explore one area and with a vast complex region such as Titan a lander just won’t cut it. It will leave various areas undiscovered. A balloon can travel near the moon by flowing in the wind’s direction. It can touch and go from place to place as it collects data. We can investigate Titan’s dunes and how they formed, the lakes that do not necessarily contain water, and the equatorial region. Processes occur in the moon’s atmosphere to form complicated molecules that create a layer of haze. This haze layer acts almost like a shield blocking light from reaching the surface. The complicated molecules combine in several ways that scientists have yet to understand. They believe these molecules make up the dunes on Titan. Investigating Titan with a balloon could most likely answer the mystery case of Titan’s dunes. Likewise, I believe the balloon should collect lots of data such as soil samples, temperature, and so on. Knowing more about Titan through the touch and go balloon can help us to learn more about whether life was once present there or could ever be.

Furthermore, once the balloon has collected all of this data it needs a way of getting back to us here on Earth. Traveling there to receive it is out of the question as it would take 9 years to send a spacecraft to this moon. An alternative option is using an orbiter. This piece of machinery is able to photograph Titan while orbiting around it. Also it is receiving the information from the balloon and sending it back here to Earth. In addition, using a balloon and an orbiter will help astrobiologists to learn about this moon and they can compare the new information to tell us more about Earth. We may find answers to questions such as how our solar system formed and where else in the solar system life could be sustainable.

To conclude, I believe if NASA chooses to send a mission to Saturn’s moon Titan they are making the best and most educational choice. I also think astriobiologists may be able to form and answer several interesting questions about whether Titan can hold life.

Say What?

Funny student answers.

PERIOD 5
Types of Severe Weather:
1. Tornado
2. Hurricane
3. Tsunami
4. _____


PERIOD 7
Types of Severe Weather:
1. Tornado
2. Hurricane
3. Lava
4. _____

Fuel for Thought

An article (Warming to Global Warming—Sunspots and Sea-Surface Temperature) I previously published in the NSTA journal The Science Teacher has been chosen for inclusion in a NSTA Press compendium titled Fuel for Thought. This volume is intended to help high school and upper middle school teachers demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of energy in their classrooms. Woo hoo! Remind me to write more articles! :)

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Fuel for Thought Prepares High School Students for Our Global Energy Economy

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The concept of energy is central to all the science disciplines, seamlessly connecting science, technology, and mathematics. For high school and upper middle school teachers, NSTA’s Fuel for Thought comprises inquiry-based activities, lesson plans, and case studies designed to help teach increased awareness of energy, environmental concepts, and the related issues.

Drawn from NSTA’s award-winning, peer-reviewed journals, Fuel for Thought is divided into three overarching segments for learning and teaching: Student Activities and Investigations includes several activities that tackle such topics as “Energy, Heat, and Temperature,” “Vehicles and Fuels,” and “Living Connections.” Student Projects and Case Studies includes examples of extensive, question-driven student projects, and the last section, Issues in Depth, provides background content knowledge for deeper understanding of the critical energy issues facing the world today.

These interesting and meaningful investigations demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of energy, preparing students for the complex reality of our global energy economy.

You can browse sample pages of Fuel for Thought free at http://goo.gl/lZszT or at the NSTA Science Store website.

For additional information or to purchase Fuel for Thought and other books from NSTA Press, visit the NSTA Science Store at www.nsta.org/store. To order by phone, call 800-277-5300 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET weekdays. The 408-page book is priced at $25.95 and discount-priced for NSTA members at $20.76

Teacher stresses value of science to everyday lives

Teacher stresses value of science to everyday lives
Palm Beach Post
Erich Landstrom, a Seminole Ridge High teacher, was just named a mentor to other teachers in a science-engineering education program.

By Carlos Frias

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Erich Landstrom, 42,

Erich Landstrom, a Seminole Ridge High teacher, was just named a mentor to other teachers in a science-engineering education program. He taught a seminar at Santaluces High, as part of a day-long science and engineering seminar, on Feb. 19, called “Solar Max: Plotting sunspot cycles and global warming using TI graphing calculators.” (Jennifer Podis/The Palm Beach Post)

It’s OK with Erich Landstrom if you call him a science nerd.

After all, the sole reason he attended Wagner College in New York City to study physics was because the school had the country’s largest solar energy installment, plus a planetarium.

But his joy was not in theoretical science and math. What he loved most was figuring out how to apply science to engineering for the betterment of mankind. Nothing thrilled him more than when the local high schools sent fresh young minds to the planetarium to learn about science and Landstrom could teach them how they could use that science in the real world.

“That’s what I live for,” he said.

It’s a lesson he learned from his father, a U.S. Navy electrical engineer who worked on solar energy installations in Florida. It was then that he realized all science had to teach about improving the way humans live. Then, he fueled that interest as the head of the planetarium at the Miami Science Museum, where he luxuriated in teaching children about the role science played in their lives.

Finally, he brought the worlds together as a teacher at Seminole Ridge, where he was the 2010 national teacher of the year for the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering. There, he brought the national program of teaching kids how to engineer solutions to today’s problems into the classrooms.

Last month, he was chosen as one of the country’s 13 new SECME mentors to help teach other teachers how to bring applied sciences to children.

Sometimes, students built devices to keep eggs from cracking when dropped off the roof of a building. Other times, he supervised students as they devised water-powered rockets. And the education was for children of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds.

“The only thing that matters is the grey between your ears not the color of your skin,” Landstrom said.

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Who was an inspiration to you?

My dad was an electrical engineer, and my mother was a computer programmer, so there’s really no surprise there that I’d be into sciences.

That automated voice when you call Seminole Ridge High sounds awfully familiar.

Yup, that’s me. (Deepens voice) ‘Welcome to Seminole Ridge Community High School, home of the Hawks.’

Why is it so meaningful to you to not only be an applied sciences teacher, but a mentor to other teachers who teach this?

We know that if we train one teacher, we can reach 100 students. If you train 100 teachers, you can reach many thousands of students. That’s exciting.

What other hobbies to you have?

“I take taekwondo lessons together with my daughter (Lily, 8). I had a dream that we would both be black belts at the same time.”

Fizzix Funday 2012

20121119 Fizzix Funday

What would you ask an astronaut?

What would you ask an astronaut?

On Tuesday, the South Florida Science Museum in West Palm Beach will become “mission control” as 11 students and two teachers, including Mr. Landstrom, will make contact with the International Space Station. It’s a collaboration between NASA’s Teaching From Space arm and museums and educators worldwide to encourage kids to pursue careers in science.

“It’s incredible for a small museum to be one of a handful of sites chosen worldwide,” said Lew Crampton, president and chief financial officer of the museum.Students in the Palm Beach County School District as well as area private school students and homeschooled students in grades 3-12 were asked to write a 250-word essay answering the question, “Why is space exploration important and what does it mean to me?”


The winners will have an opportunity to ask at least one question each to astronaut Akihiko Hoshide using the museum’s Amateur Radio Station, or Ham radio, with the assistance of the West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Group. The window of opportunity to ask questions will only remain open for about 10 minutes, so the kids and teachers practiced their questions, which range from waste disposal on the ISS to monitoring the health of coral reefs from space, at a dry-run at the museum a couple of weeks ago.

Below is the link to the live show on The Education Network (T.E.N). Anyone can click on this link at 11:30am Tuesday October 30th and watch the entire event. https://vodcast.palmbeachschools.org/player/ten1

What would you ask an astronaut? Here is what the kids said:

Chloe-Amelie Aikman, 9, Boca Raton (Calusa Elementary)

Question: When you look back on your life, what event or activity happened that had the largest impact on your desire to become an astronaut?

Emma Lilly Menzer, 8, Boynton Beach (Sunset Palms Elementary)

Question: When you exercise on the space station, what happens to your sweat?

Jerry Allison Stegenga III, 8, Boynton Beach (Pine Tree Lane Academy)

Question: Can Americans vote in space?

Finley Keefe Murray, 8, Palm Beach (Palm Beach Day Academy)

Question: If you can see coral reefs from space, can you measure them and if so, how?

Crista Johnson, 8, Palm Beach Gardens (Watson B. Duncan Middle)

Question: How has your perception of space’s size and expansion changed since leaving Earth?

Khiarra Carter, 10, Belle Glade (Gove Elementary)

Question: How is waste disposal currently handled on the space station and what is your opinion on how waste is disposed of?

Mary Dixon, 17, Wellington (Wellington High)

Question: Tell me about the integrated cardiovascular experiment you are performing on this mission, which will determine the effects of spending long periods in space on the heart.

Peter Rawlik, Palm Beach Maritime Academy

Question: In space, the human body is put through so much stress, physically and mentally. How did you train for this?

Connor Cane, Poinciana Elementary

Question: What future space discovery are you most excited about?

Gabriela Sanchez, Woodlands Middle

Question: What is the most beautiful or inspiring thing you’ve seen from space?

Catherine Zeng, Dreyfoos School of the Arts

Question: What are the benefits of doing experimentation in micro-gravity?

And what will the two teachers ask?

Linda Petuch, Pine Jog Elementary

Question: Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Do you find this to be true as a space explorer?

Erich Landstrom, Seminole Ridge Community High

Question: Other than looking at Earth, what brings you piece of mind?

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What: The South Florida Science Museum’s Ground Control Mission with NASA

When: 11:30 a.m. Tuesday

Where: The South Florida Science Museum, 4801 Dreher Trail N., West Palm Beach

Info: 561-832-1988

20121017 Raingutter Regatta

(Click on the first picture to flip through a photostream of 2012 Raingutter Regatta)


Gotta Regatta Raingutter Race: Seminole Ridge HS physics students were challenged to make the fastest ferry for a Ping-Pong passenger. Using limited supplies teams had to design and build a boat that travels across a container of water.

Complete challenge is available here:
https://a629d397-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/seminolesecme/curriculum-of-the-consortium/2012LowesLBSTrulesRaingutterRegatta.pdf


The Raingutter Regatta Racde is adapted the Design Squad "Watercraft" and "Paddle Power" activities.
http://pbskids.org/designsquad/parentseducators/resources/watercraft.html
http://pbskids.org/designsquad/parentseducators/resources/paddle_power.html

Seminole Ridge Science Teacher Selected to Speak with ISS

SEMINOLE RIDGE SCIENCE TEACHER SELECTED TO SPEAK WITH INTL SPACE STATION; SOUTH FLORIDA SCIENCE MUSEUM TO SERVE AS GROUND CONTROL WITH NASA

(WEST PALM BEACH, FL) Roger that? The South Florida Science Museum will offer a seat in “mission control” to Mr. Erich Landstrom to make contact with an astronaut currently aboard the International Space Station. The event, scheduled to take place the week of October 22 culminates an essay contest where area students and educators competed for a chance to participate in the exciting astronaut Q&A via amateur radio.

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture among NASA and other international space agencies that coordinate scheduled radio contacts between astronauts aboard the ISS and school-based organizations. The South Florida Science Museum was one of few organizations in the country invited to make space station contact this year.

“Through our very own Amateur Radio Station (WS4FSM), we’ll partner with the West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Group and a selection of local student essay contest winners to serve as Mission Control when we connect with astronauts during their October flyover,” said Museum CEO, Lew Crampton. “This collaborative effort with the Palm Beach county School District, local ham radio operators and the Museum is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for area students and their families. This space contact is our chance to tune into a ‘real world’ application of science, technology, engineering and math through radio uplink. We are incredibly proud to have been invited by NASA as one of only a handful of US partners for this important event.”

Fifteen students and two teachers were selected from participants in an essay contest. Palm Beach County School District students, area private school students and homeschooled students in grades 3-12, and their teachers, were invited to write a 250 words or less essay on the topic: “Why is space exploration important and what does it mean to me?” Each school selected their most outstanding student and teacher essay to send to the South Florida Science Museum by Monday, September 24, 2012. From there, the winning essay was judged at the South Florida Science Museum by a panel including former astronauts, scientists, educators and area media.

Winners and their families are invited to attend a private party at the Science Museum Friday night, October 12th, from 6pm-8pm. Students and their schools will also be featured in the Palm Beach Post and local television broadcasts and newspaper articles the day of the event. Winners and schools are listed below:

Jerry A. Stegenga III, 3rd grade, Pine Tree Lane Academy Homeschool

Mary Dixon, 12th grade, Wellington Community High School

Peter Rawlik, 8th grade, Palm Beach Maritime Academy

Crista Johnson, 8th grade, Watson B. Duncan middle School

Connor Cane, 3rd grade, Poinciana Elementary School

Khiarra Carter, 5th grade, Gove Elementary School

Emma Lilly Menzer, 3rd grade, Sunset Palms Elementary School

Gabriela Sanchez, 7th grade, Woodlands Middle School

Chloe Amelie-Aikman, 5th grade, Calusa Elementary School

Harrison Fisher, 3rd grade, Palm Beach Day Academy

Catherine Zeng, 9th grade, A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts

Erich Landstrom, TEACHER, Seminole Ridge Community High School

Linda Petuch, TEACHER, Pine Jog Elementary

Mr. Landstrom was one of twenty teachers who submitted essays. He teaches physics and earth-space science, and volunteers for NASA’s "Solar System Educator Program" offering teacher training and classroom activities highlighting NASA missions of discovery and exploration. Landstrom is the winner of the 2010 SECME (Science, Engineering, Communication, and Mathematics Education) National Teacher of the Year Award, and the 2004 RadioShack National Teacher Award, recognizing outstanding high school math, science and technology educators.

“The NASA ARISS program will provide a unique and exciting opportunity for students in Palm Beach County,” said Wendy Spielman King, K-12 Science Manager, School District of Palm Beach County. “This program will certainly engage students in science by allowing them to talk directly with the crews living and working aboard the International Space Station. It is sure to be an experience that our students will never forget.”

The ARISS radio contact is one in a series with educational activities in the U.S. and abroad to improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is an integral component of Teaching From Space, a NASA Education office. The office promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of human spaceflight.

In addition to its amateur radio exhibit, the South Florida Science Museum provides curious minds of all ages with an entertaining and educational journey through science and technology. The museum features more than 50 hands-on exhibits, a digital planetarium, freshwater and saltwater aquariums, as well as natural history exhibitions. Each year the museum welcomes more than 125,000 visitors and reaches more than 45,000 students through workshops at the museum and outreach programs to local schools.

For more information regarding the Space Station essay contest, visit SFSM.org or reach the South Florida Science Museum at 561.832.1988.

“Why is space exploration important and what does it mean to me?”
By Erich Landstrom

1961: President John Kennedy proposed that our nation commit itself to landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. In that same special message to Congress on urgent national needs he then asked for more to be spent on accelerating the use of space satellites for world-wide communications and weather observation. He concluded, “…no one can predict with certainty what the ultimate meaning will be of mastery of space. I believe we should go to the moon.”

Improve our lives here. Extend Life to there. But space isn’t somewhere else. It’s here, there, and everywhere. There’s no “outer” to space. It begins at our feet, and our footprints are on the Moon. Space exploration is reorienting, an unsubtle shift from looking “up” to looking “around.” As long as you think of space as somewhere else, you lack cosmic awareness. Awareness opens your mind. In the deepest sense, exploration of space is an exploration of yourself. Probes span the solar system and from their new homes, so wonderfully different, look back to Earth. Even as we’re searching other worlds, we search for ourselves.

During a lunar eclipse I saw the long shadow we cast, there on the surface of the Moon. You sort of see all of us, the entire Earth full of inventors, investigators, users and improvers; the world’s whole population from pole to pole. How awesome then to be able to talk into the space between the two, and have the explorers answer back?

Transit of Venus 2012

(With my apologies to the late Charles Shultz -- the original Peanuts strip was for the July 20, 1963 solar eclipse. I hope that others had better weather conditions and enjoyed the view).

Gimme Shelter 2012 - Hurricane Proof Houses

Project Based Lab: Building a Hurricane Proof House



(Click on the first picture to flip through the Seminole Ridge students building Hurricane Proof Houses on April 10-11, 2012)

Hurricane-Resistant House Demonstration, where student teams construct houses using specified paper and plastic materials to determine the strength of the structures against hurricane-force winds using an electrical or gas-powered leaf blower.

Mr. Landstrom's students were asked to design and build the most wind resistant building you can construct, using the materials provided: "drywall" from two (2) sheets of paper (21.5 by 28.0 cm), lumber from six (6) popsicle sticks (11.5 cm), aluminum siding from one (1) sheet of foil (35.5 cm by 26.0 cm), and adhesives from six (6) pieces of masking tape (random sizes). Their home need to cover an area of at least 500 square centimeters, and students showed their blueprints and calculations before construction.

Lab Notes: Hurricane in a Classroom
Music: Stereogum and tape9 - Lockdown Shelter

The Iceberg's Accomplice

Florida's Gulf Stream current responsible for the wreck of the Titanic? Why wasn't the iceberg deflect or dissolved before the collision? An NSTA article by Erich Landstrom http://t.co/QkHY5FK9

Density Flow Model available at http://www.leaveonlybubbles.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=41_36&products_id=326

Seismic Safe Spaghetti Structure

PBL Assignment: Seismic Safe Spaghetti Structure

Problem Statement: Each year, over 800 earthquakes with a Richter Scale magnitude between 5 and 6 are detected world-wide. A magnitude 5.5 quake can have an intensity of up to VII on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. Depending on the structure, this can cause light to moderate damage in well-built buildings; considerable damage in poorly built buildings.

Request: In this lab, you and your engineering team will design and build a model bridge planned for an earthquake-prone area. You will test to see how well it withstands simulated stress, strain and shearing from seismic waves. Your bridge must: • weighs less than 250g
• spans a gap of 400mm (16 inches) and is 510mm (20 inches) long
• is less than 100mm (4 inches) wide

(Click on the first picture to flip through the Earth Science students building seismic safe spaghetti structures that can withstand stress, strain and sheering)

20120125 Seismic Spaghetti

Explore: Draw a plan of your bridge on paper first. Use your imagination; the bridge can be any shape you like as long as it is the right weight, width and length. (Hint: triangles are a strong shape!)

Engage: Build your bridge out of spaghetti and glue. The glue can only be used on overlaps, intersections and joints. Check it weighs less than 250g and record the actual weight. Measure your bridge to make sure it is the correct length and width.

Evaluate: Testing time! Place the bridge between two tables or boxes 510 mm apart. Place the rod halfway along the bridge so it runs across the center. Hang a bucket off the rod. Slowly add more and more sand to the bucket until the bridge breaks. Weigh the sand, rod and bucket your bridge held. This is the load. Divide the load by the weight of the bridge. This is your load/weight ratio. The higher the load/weight ratio, the stronger your bridge. EX: Taryn and Jasmine made a bridge weighing 75g that held 675g. This means the load/weight ratio was 9.

Explain: Two important forces you have to consider are compression and tension. Compression is a force that will try to squeeze or shorten the thing it is acting on. Tension is a force that will try to lengthen or expand the thing it is acting on. A bridge needs to be able to handle these forces without buckling or snapping. A bridge will buckle when the force of compression is greater than the bridge's ability to handle compression. A bridge will snap when the force of tension overcomes an object's ability to handle tension. A good bridge design will spread the force over a greater area, or move the force from an area of weakness to an area of strength. For example: using triangles in your bridge can create both a very rigid structure and one that transfers the load from just one point to a much wider area. Bridges are designed and constructed by civil engineers. Civil engineers work on things built in or on the ground. As well as bridges, this can include railways, harbors, roads, dams, power projects, and more.

Vesta Fiesta

On July 15, NASA's ion-propelled Dawn spacecraft will become the first mission to enter orbit around a main-belt asteroid.
FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/15jul_dawn2/

Eyes to Skies Friday, August 12th at 7:00 pm.
Celebrate the beginning of Dawn's year-long exploration of new worlds. After close to four years cruising at stunning speeds, the robotic spacecraft is catching up to the object of its first destination in the main asteroid belt: Vesta. Don't Dawn and Vesta deserve a fiesta?
- Come hear talks from local Solar System Educator
- Enjoy kids’ activities like the Dawn Relay Race, Is the Asteroid like a Grape or a Raisin? and Vegetable Light Curves.

The Children's Science Explorium at Sugar Sand Park in Boca Raton, FL, 300 South Military Trail, Boca Raton, FL 33486 (Recommended for Ages 8+)

- All children under age 18 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.
- No registration required - just show up! The telescope will be out for at least one hour after the scheduled start time.
http://www.scienceexplorium.org/family-programs
phone: (561) 347-3912
email: Explorium@myboca.us