Boonshoft Museum’s Educator Open House Helps Make Your Classroom Too Cool for School!

By BLAIRE M. H. BARTISH

The days are getting shorter, the weather is starting to cool down, and the 2017-2018 school year is beginning! Another nine-month season of all things academic is upon us, and some of the hardest workers on the planet are gearing up to get back to the grind.

We at the Boonshoft know how hard teachers work. We are constantly in contact with educators of all kinds- from Preschool to High School and even College! Their never-ending sacrifice is evident in their love of learning and their dedication to their students. In order to show gratitude and support to our favorite public servants, the Education Department at BMD is hosting its second annual Educator Open House (EOH).

This year’s EOH will take place at the Museum on Thursday, August 31, from 6-8 pm. Since teachers tend to spend a lot of their own money on things for the classroom, complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served from the ever-popular Brock Masterson, and fantastic raffle prizes from United Arts and Education, Mary Kay, Shawnie Haskell Licensed Massage Therapist, Highlights Magazine, and the Education Department at the Boonshoft will be available.

The night will feature a variety of program samplings from BMD, sister sites SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park, Fort Ancient Earthworks and Nature Preserve, and the Montgomery County Solid Waste District. Interested in learning how your students can become experienced water-quality specialists? Stop in and watch Robin, our Senior Coordinator of School and Teacher Services perform a demonstration from our Pond Study program. Want to know how your students can spend a day living like ancient civilizations? Talk to Jack at the Fort Ancient table about the Explorers Workshop. Need help figuring out which grants your classroom is eligible for? See Karen at the Education Desk for help getting things like Exhibits-to-Go in your school at no cost.

The EOH is great for middle school and high school teachers as well. Many people tend to write BMD off as a “children’s museum,” however, we have a variety of interactive programs for older students, such as looking at parent-child traits of fruit flies in our Genetics and Heredity Workshop. Your pupils may be too big to go down the slide, but they are never too old to be captivated by science!

As always, the Educator Open House is free to attend, but registration is limited and required. Reserve your spot now at https://dsnh.regfox.com/educator-open-house.

We hope to see you there!

 

Blaire M. H. Bartish is the Manager of School and Public Programs at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.

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So You Want to See the Total Solar Eclipse This August

By JOE CHILDERS

Chances are you’ve heard that a rare astronomical event is happening on August 21; a total eclipse of the Sun.  Not only is it rare (there hasn’t been one visible from the Miami Valley since 831 CE), it is also spectacular!  Indeed, eclipse expert Fred Espenak,  who has been under the moon’s shadow more than twenty times, says “In rating natural wonders, on a scale of 1 to 10 a total solar eclipse is a million.”

 

Total Solar Eclipse In France 1999   (Luc Viatour/wwwLucnix.be)

 

From Dayton this August we’ll see a deep partial eclipse—close, but no cigar.  We will get to see a total (or totality) solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, but if you’re impatient or don’t want to risk bad weather, you’ll want to travel down to Kentucky or Tennessee to see this year’s eclipse.

Here are three things you need to know:

1. Do not expect to find a hotel, campground, or any other kind of accommodations whatsoever within driving distance of the eclipse path.

When it’s been forty years since the last American total solar eclipse, people who have been looking forward their entire lives to this got their reservations in early—up to three years ago!  So plan to sleep in your car, if at all.

2. Do expect that traffic will be horrible that morning.

Everyone else who realized at this late date that there are no accommodations available will be driving in the morning of.  The eclipse happens around 2:30 p.m. or so in the afternoon, varying a little by location. You want to get into the path of totality many hours before that, lest you risk being stuck in traffic outside of totality.

3. Do know that the eclipse is definitely worth taking a day off work, pulling the kids out of school, and putting up with nasty logistics to go see in person!

One cannot overemphasize how impressive a total solar eclipse is.  Photographs like this one do not do it justice.  Everyone has a limited number of opportunities to see a total solar eclipse in their lifetime, and everyone who sees one remembers it for the rest of their life!

                        Solar Eclipse Map Across Kentucky                       (GreatEclipse.Com © Michael Zeiler 2014)

So my suggestion is this: plan to drive down in the pre-dawn hours of August 21, map out state highways that are less likely than interstates to be congested, and plan to see the eclipse from a box-store parking lot or a similar easily-accessed location.  But if you decide to stay in the Miami Valley, come on down to the Boonshoft Museum that day for all sorts of fun, eclipse activities for our partial eclipse!

Visit https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com for more on this topic.

The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery Salutes International Migratory Bird Day

Arctic Tern

By STEPHANIE HYLINSKI

On Saturday, May 13, the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery will be celebrating International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD). IMBD was established in 2000 to raise awareness about migratory birds and to encourage people to help protect their habitats. International Migratory Bird Day is celebrated across the Western Hemisphere since many birds move between North and South America.Migration is the seasonal movement of animals from one area to another, and birds migrate to find better resources. Migration occurs on a large scale; all or most of the birds living in the area move as a flock. Of the more than 650 species of birds that breed in North America, more than half are migratory.

Birds migrate to find better food and nesting sites. Birds that live and breed in the Northern Hemisphere move south for the winter. Winters in the Northern Hemisphere are cold and there are not many sources of food available; like seeds, fruits, and insects.

Bird-watching at the Boonshoft

Birds migrate south to escape the cold and find better food resources, and then return to the north to breed. Birds that nest in the Northern Hemisphere tend to migrate northward in the spring to take advantage of growing insect populations, budding plants, and an abundance of nesting locations. Also, because of the earth’s tilt, days are longer in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere during the summer. Longer daylight hours mean that the birds can spend more time searching for food and feeding their chicks.

Not all birds migrate. For example, you probably see cardinals in your backyard in the summer and during the winter. Some birds migrate short distances, like moving across states. Around 350 bird species that live in North America migrate from the United States and Canada to wintering grounds in Central and South America.

Migratory Birds In Winter

The Arctic tern is famous for its migration; it flies from its Arctic breeding grounds to the Antarctic and back again each year, which means they fly about 40,000 miles every year. The long journey ensures that this bird sees two summers per year and more daylight than any other creature on the planet. The average Arctic tern lives about thirty years, and will travel 1.5 million miles during its lifetime, the equivalent of a round trip from Earth to the moon over three times!

For more information on International Migratory Bird Day, check out http://www.birdday.org/.

Falcon Cam Update – April 21, 2017

By LIZ TOTH

The falcon eggs hatched!

On Saturday, April 15, egg shells could be seen on the ledge, but the female spent almost all her time on the nest preventing a view of what was beneath her. By Wednesday, we were able to get a good view of the chicks and all four eggs have successfully hatched!

Falcon Shells to the Side

The chicks seem to be doing well, and both parents have been very attentive, feeding and keeping the chicks warm.  When they are not able to be seen they are safely tucked under the female.  She broods the chicks, keeping them warm with her body until they are about a week old and they can maintain the correct body temperature on their own. 

She has special featherless brooding patches that allow the warm skin of her body to press right up against the chicks and keep them warm.  This behavior is easy to see from above.  It looks like she is wiggling quickly back and forth, but she is snuggling her brooding patches down on the chicks.

Falcon Cam Update – March 30, 2017

By LIZ TOTH

Surprise! The female falcon laid her eggs out of view on a ledge located on the southeast side of the building.  The falcons had been visiting the nest box during the first two weeks of March and even built a scrape, a loosely constructed nest, but ultimately chose a different location to lay their eggs.  Four eggs were noticed on this ledge on March 24.

The earliest date eggs have been laid in the past was March 17 so all eyes were on the nest box starting on this date.  During this time the falcons were mysteriously absent in the box but still present around the Liberty Savings Tower.

Upon further inspection of the building, the eggs were found on a ledge on the side of the building that can only be reached by rappelling down from the roof.  The eggs seem to be in good condition and the falcons are tending to the eggs.  The falcons have laid eggs on this type of ledge before but unfortunately, a lack of protection from the weather caused the eggs to fail on the ledge in 2011.

A drain is present on the ledge to remove rainwater but there is no protection from the weather from the top like there is in the nest box.  We are in the process of attempting to point a camera down on the nest so the eggs can be monitored with little disturbance to the nest.  Check back for updates on the falcons and their eggs.

The Age of Mammals and Ice Comes to Life at the Boonshoft Museum

By MACKENZIE ENGLISH

The Boonshoft’s newest exhibit, The Age of Mammals and Ice, takes families back into the past to visit the animals of the last Ice Age.  Here we can see how some of the largest land-dwelling animals would have looked and moved about if they were still around today.  We also can see how the places they lived looked different than they do today.  It is not every day that you can come to a museum to see extinct animals come to life!

My favorite of these Ice Age mammals is the Doedicurus from South America.  Imagine a car-sized armadillo walking through your back yard eating all of the vegetables in your garden.This mammal did not have to worry about too many things trying to eat it because of the thick armor it wore all over its body.  It also had a large bony mass at the end of its tail that could be used as a club.

Museum Guests Enjoy The Age of Mammals and Ice Exhibition

The wooly mammoth and smilodon  (saber-toothed tiger) both lived here in Ohio.  The wooly mammoth is a cousin of the elephant that lived in the grassy tundra of the Ice Age.  They would have used their large tusks to scrape away snow and ice to look for grass to eat.  The saber-toothed tigers would look for any animals they thought would make a good meal, which included the wooly mammoth.

Ice Age Wooly Mammoth

One of the largest land mammals to ever live was the Baluchitherium.  This large mammal was closely related to the rhinoceros but lacked the horn found on the head.  Found in Eastern Europe and throughout most of Asia, they would have eaten any vegetation they could find.

Also found in the exhibit is the wooly rhinoceros.  These rhinos were slightly larger than modern-day rhinos and were covered in a wooly fur, much like the wooly mammoth.  This fur would have helped them to stay warm as they lived in the cold tundra of northern Asia and Europe.  Their closest living relative today also happens to be the smallest rhino, the Sumatran rhino.

Not only do we have on display some of the largest mammals that once roamed the planet, but we also have one of the largest birds.  The Gastornis, or Terror Crane, was a large flightless bird found in Europe.  It took a long time for scientists to determine if it ate meat or its vegetables but now it is believed to be a vegetarian.  This comes from the lack of hooked claws and a lack of a hook on the beak, which would suggest consumption of meat.  So think of it as a very large chicken.  It probably would taste like one too.

Science @ Home: Candy Sparks

Fourth of July and fireworks go hand-in-hand, but you don’t have to attend a fireworks display to see a spark! That’s right, with some simple science, you can create spark (in your mouth!) with some refreshing candy.

What You’ll Need:

• A bag of Wint-O-Green Lifesavers (not sugarless)
• A pair of pliers (use if you are not allowed to crunch on hard candy)
• A mirror or a group of friends

Experiment:

1. Head into your bathroom and stand in front of a mirror. If you are at home with friends, you can head outside when it’s dark. Keep in mind you will need complete darkness to best see the spark, so if you are outdoors head to an area of your yard with the least light pollution.
2. Give your eyes 3-5 minutes to adjust to the dark, you will be able to see the spark better this way.
3. Place the Wint-O-Green lifesaver between your teeth, make sure you are standing across from your friends or directly across from the mirror. Bite down on the Wint-O-Green with your mouth or crush it with a pair of pliers.

Click to play

Observations:

What did you see? Was it a greenish-blue light? If you didn’t see the spark, repeat the experiment a few more times until you see the spark.

What is Happening?

You’ve created a little storm in your mouth, that’s right! This actually is more similar to lightning than it is to a sparkler. Lightning is an electric stream that excites nitrogen molecules in the air, proving them with extra energy which is released as visual light.

When sugar is crushed with teeth or pliers, the pieces become negatively and positively charged, making electricity jump through the air between the pieces of sugar. This is what creates light.

But can’t I just crush a piece of sugar and see the reaction? The answer is no, but that’s just because the release of energy when regular sugar is crushed is ultraviolet light, which can’t be seen by the naked eye. However, the wintergreen in the Wint-O-Green Lifesavers is a special substance that absorbs ultraviolet energy and transforms it into visual light – aka triboluminescence.