Enjoy the “Instant Snow” activity delivered to all elementary level students last week. Teachers can send each student home with the materials to perform the experiment or complete the activity as a class at school! Feel free to include Mr. Musselman in your classroom to share this demonstration via YouTube as well!

The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year for the northern hemisphere (top half) and marks the start of what we consider winter. For residents of Burlington, the sun will shine for only 9 hours and 5 minutes. Amazingly the day is even shorter the further north you travel, with anyone unfortunate enough to be above the Arctic Circle receiving no sunlight whatsoever!

The length of our day is affected not by our distance from the sun but the tilt of Earth’s axis. The axis is an imaginary line running from Earth’s north pole to its south pole that spins or rotates around. Unlike a top that spins standing straight up, Earth rotates slightly sideways at a 23.5 degree angle. This is roughly the angle one might make to form a peace sign with their index and middle finger.

During the Winter Solstice the earth’s north pole is pointed away from the sun, causing the northern hemisphere to receive fewer sunlight hours and less solar energy from the sun. Meanwhile, the south pole and southern hemisphere of the Earth is pointed directly toward the sun and receives their longest day of the year! For southern hemisphere residents, December 22nd is the summer solstice!

Because Earth points in one direction over the course of an entire orbit (revolution), we in Burlington point away from the sun in the winter months, but point toward the sun during the summer months.

Besides sharing some of the information above with your students or children, consider taking time during the final day or two of the 2011 school calendar to do one or more of these fun solstice activities.

Make a Sundial Class Activity - Produced by the Science Center and specifically designed for Burlington residents, this is a science activity where each student creates and uses their own sundial to tell time using the sun. Students will recognize how their shadows change in length and location over the course of a day. The link connects to a student worksheet and sundial template. Appropriate for grades 3-5. Some cutting is required. Grades K-2 may adapt for younger grades by having kids trace their shadows at different times of the day and answer similar questions posted on the student worksheet.

Computer Simulations and Animations:

Earth in Motion: Seasons – Follow Max around the world and learn about how the tilt of Earth and one’s location on Earth influences the seasons (and how Max should best plan his trip!) via Teacher’s Domain.

Seasons Interactive Animation – Best used as a class demonstration on an interactive whiteboard. Allows students to mark and predict where Earth will be in its orbit around the sun during each month.  Courtesy of Freezeray.

There Goes the Sun – For more information on the historical perspective of the Winter Solstice and how ancient civilizations commemorated the day, check out this New York Times OpEd piece written by Richard Cohen. Note: most of the material here is not suited for elementary students but is a curious peek into human past traditions!

Update 12/20: Third grade, Francis Wyman teacher, Letitia Zani also recommends that teachers read “Dear Rebecca, Winter is Here” by Jean Craighead George. It is a favorite that Mrs. Zani reads every year with her students!

Orion Golden, Aurora the American Alligator and Ms. Lane's second grade Pine Glen class

Orion decided to name the American Alligator “Aurora,” after his older sister.  Coincidentally, in 2009 Aurora Golden had also won the Science Center’s  ”Name the Alligator Contest”  by choosing her brother’s name, Orion.

Thank you to all the second graders who participated in the contest.

To learn more about American Alligators, check out the link here.

At every school students experienced an impressive showing of the forces of flight from Ms. Pavlicek and Mr. Musselman. A newly polished Rocket Car was on display to demonstarte Newton’s third law of motion. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction!

The assistance of Amanda Gustafson, Chip Grueter, Kristina Deer, and Kim Matthews was indispensable to the experience of our students as they assisted us with the safe firing of over three hundred rockets over the course of four Rocket Days. In addition, the RC plane demonstrations performed by Amanda and Chip were an incredible thrill, leaving all the Memorial students “ooh-ing and ahh-ing” at the impressive display of acrobatics performed by their aircrafts.

A number of our fourth grade teachers and parents took some great photos of the event. Check out their blog pages listed at the bottom for great photos. Also special thanks to Mrs. Weinberg for the wonderful animoto slideshow she made embedded below!

Thanks again to the Air Force Communication and Electronics Association for their generous support.

Related Links:
Miss Hayes’ Classroom Blog
Mrs. Visocchi’s “Peanuts Gang” Blog

He will be responsible for the Science Center’s Physical and Earth Science programs and materials.

Sean possesses a Geology degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Masters of Science Education degree from Cambridge College.

As a former Earth and Space Science teacher in Reading MA, Mr. Musselman led three cohorts of students to Costa Rica as a part of his after school “EcoClub” program.

He is also a technology enthusiast, frequently integrating classroom activities with new digital tools.

We will all look forward to seeing  Mr. Musselman in a Science Magic Auditorium Program in the Fall! Welcome!

Mr. Papadonis and his hand-made Telsa Coil

Mr. Papadonis started teaching Science in Burlington (at Marshall Simonds Middle School) almost 40 years ago and started the Burlington Science Center in 1984.  He has spent four long decades sharing his passion and love for Science with everyone.  We will always remember the fascinating experiments, crazy explosions and theatrical teaching style…all which we love about Mr Papadonis.  He has made Science fun, exciting and memorable for so many people throughout the years.

Mr. Papadonis became interested in Science at a young age, with inspiration from his teachers and mentors at places such as the Museum of Science, the New England Aquarium, and most of all the Needham Science Center.  He never stopped talking about the mentors he had in life  and how much they influenced and meant to him over the years.  We are very proud of Mr. Papadonis’ life’s accomplishments as an educator throughout his career.  He has been that same mentor to me and many of the amazing teachers that work here in Burlington and other areas as well. Mr. Papadonis, we appreciate everything you have done and we will never forget it!

Mr. Papadonis has been so many things to so many people:  a son, a father, a husband, a brother, an uncle, a nephew, a cousin, a band mate, a teacher, a mentor, a leader, even a finalist for MA teacher of the year…but most all to me and many others, he has been a DEAR FRIEND.

For the Burlington teachers, students and entire community, it will never be the same without him.  But Mr. Papadonis, please rest assured that even though you won’t be here physically, you will be here in the hearts and minds of everyone.  Your legacy and Science will live on through the Burlington Science Center for many years to come.  We love you, you are the best and enjoy your retirement!  Rock on!

Mother fox

Mother and cubs

Fox cub

To learn more about foxes, check out the link below:

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/wildlife/living/living_with_foxes.htm

Heron nests

To learn more about Great Blue Herons, check out the link below:

http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/wildlife/index.php?subject=Birds:%20Species&id=49

Amazing photos!  Thank you for sharing them with us Harold….

In January, Ms. Pavlicek responded to a local call about a hawk sitting low in a tree, soaking wet, with what appeared to be an injured wing.  She rescued the immature male Red-tail Hawk and brought it to the Science Center for a further examination.  The hawk was given initial care and then transferred it to Tufts Wildlife Clinic in Grafton, MA.  The bird remained at Tufts where it was fully rehabilitated from damaged wing tissue.

Soaked injured hawk before rehab

Nearly 3 months later, the hawk was returned back to Ms. Pavlicek for release to its original location.  When released, it had a strong take off and flew to the nearest and highest tree around.  It rested for a minute and then began to circle high above in the sky (called “thermal riding”).  What am amazing site to see such a beautiful animal returned back to the wild!

Check out some pictures below from the release.

Out of the carrier..

Are we ready..here we go...

First few seconds of freedom!

beautiful!

Found a nice high tree...

A quick look around...

Off to live the life of a hawk....good luck!