Dr. Denny Casey's Science Education Blogspace

2011-11-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

November 7, 2011, 2:25 pm EST.
Enlarge to notice the sunspots on the disk of the sun. Visable are sunspots 1338-1343. Didn't know sunspots have numbers? Check out the SOHO project at: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov

2010 Virginia Science Standards Institute

2010-08-01T07:04:00.000-07:00

Visit the Virginia Science Standards Institute blog to see what VSSI is all about. This summer four VSSIs were conducted in and around three Virginia State Parks.

Dinosaurs Arose at Least 10 Million Years Earlier Than Thought

2010-03-03T17:43:00.001-08:00

Dinosaurs Arose at Least 10 Million Years Earlier Than Thought

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Nuclear energy making a comeback? | GoDanRiver

2010-02-28T11:05:00.000-08:00

Nuclear energy making a comeback? | GoDanRiver

2009-06-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

Sunset Solstices

This panorama consists of three separate images from the VMNH Weatherbug webcam stitched together using Microsoft Digital Image Suite. The leftmost image was taken at sunset on the 2008 winter solstice, December 21, 2008 at 5:07 pm. The image on the right was taken just before sunset on 2009 summer solstice, June 21, 2009 at 8:34 pm. What this shows is the distance from the southernmost sunset to the northernmost sunset for our latitude (36.68 degrees north). Over the next 179 days, the sunset will make its way southward again until it reaches the same spot it was last year and will "stop" (solstice is Latin for "sun stand still") and begin its journey northward. This apparent motion of the sun is caused by a combination of the tilt of the earth's axis (about 23.5 degrees) and the earth's revolution around the sun. Click on the image to enlarge.

March 8 Sunset

2009-03-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

Near sunset (7:18 pm) from the VMNH Weatherbug webcam.

PHOTOS: 7 Major "Missing Links" Since Darwin

2009-03-08T07:31:00.001-07:00

For the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth (February 12, 2009), National Geographic News asked leading scientists for their picks of the most important fossils that show evolution in action—seven of which are presented here, starting with this "fishapod."

read more | digg story

2009-03-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Cub Scouts from Midlothian came to the museum for a sleepover and to earn their geology badge. After searching for minerals and fossils, we went outside and erupted a soda powered volcano. The scouts ended the evening in the Great Hall watching the movie "Night at the Museum."

A Virginia Jewel: The Smith River

2009-02-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

"Fisheries biologists conduct a fish sampling survey on the scenic Smith River using electrofishing equipment that momentarily stuns the fish. The fish are quickly weighed, measured and released back to the water. The Philpott Dam, constructed in the 1950s, changed many characteristics of the river. The large trophy brown trout that once thrived in the cool tail waters below the dam are fewer today, and biologists like Scott Smith are working to best manage this river both for its native species and as a recreational trout fishing destination. This sampling effort is part of a multi-year study monitoring the numbers, sizes, and growth rates of fish in the river as they relate to environmental conditions and operation of the dam."
Clip length: 02:35

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/video/?video=15

Uranium Mining In Virginia

2009-01-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

Here are links to various sources of information aimed at illuminating the issues and players around uranium mining in Virginia. I have purposefully tried to include links regardless of political affiliation. The goal of this entry is to raise awareness and to promote informed discussion. Please add reactions, comments, or suggestions for other links.

Uranium Mining in Virginia, Southern Environmental Law Center
New Uranium Mining Projects in US: Virginia, WISE Uranium Project
Virginia Uranium, Ltd.
Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy, Virginia Energy Plan, Commonwealth of Virginia
Institute for Southern Studies, Uranium Mining in Virginia?

Blogs

Venus and the Moon

2008-12-30T16:06:00.001-08:00

This is an image of Venus and a waxing crescent Moon in the SW sky captured by the VMNH WeatherBug cam just before 7 pm. Check it out tomorrow as we say goodbye to 2008, these two will be lined up in conjunction. For more go to StarDate.

Sunset on Winter Solstice 2008

2008-12-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

Here's an image captured by the VMNH Weatherbug web cam at sunset (5:07 p.m.) December 21, 2008. The view is toward the southwest with the steeple of First Baptist Church on the left and the sun setting on the horizon.

How did turtles get their shells?: Scientific American Blog

2008-11-28T17:37:00.001-08:00

How did turtles get their shells?: Scientific American Blog

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Is it going to rain?

2008-11-23T17:32:00.000-08:00

Is it going to rain today?

2008-11-09T15:38:00.001-08:00

| Get your Presentation Pack

NASA - The Sun Shows Signs of Life

2008-11-08T19:26:00.001-08:00

After two-plus years of few sunspots, even fewer solar flares, and a generally eerie calm, the sun is finally showing signs of life. "I think solar minimum is behind us," says sunspot forecaster David Hathaway of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. His statement is prompted by an October flurry of sunspots.

read more | digg story

2008-11-06T19:29:00.000-08:00

Check out our new project: Wilson Park Tree Survey at http://wilsonparktreesurvey.blogspot.com/

VSSI II: Hull Springs Farm

2008-08-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

VSSI I: Twin Lakes State Park

2008-08-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Click here to go to the VSSI blog.

VMNH Interpreters Visit Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine

2008-07-17T05:51:00.000-07:00

VMNH interpreters and educators visited Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine yesterday and went on an underground tour of the once-active coal mine. The coal mine employs former and active coal miners to lead the tours who add greatly to the experience.

Pictured here (from left to right) is: (front) Gael Chaney, Larry and Carolyn Turner, Christy Deatherage, Evelyn Trent; (back row) Jim Harris, Dennis Reeves, and Joe Ingram.

After the tour of the mine, we were guided through the historic structures on site including a period one-room schoolhouse, a mine superintendent's home, a miner's home, and a reconstructed log-cabin homestead (below).

Trout in the Classroom Course

2008-07-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Staunton this afternoon in preparation for the Mary Baldwin College course. The octagonal barn at the Frontier Culture Museum will be home base for the week.

To find out more, go to
http://troutintheclassroom.blogspot.com.

Link to Stromatolite News on VMNH Vertebrate Paleontology Blog

2008-07-02T13:58:00.000-07:00

Link to VMNH Vertebrate Paleontology Blog

Boxley Stromatolite Arrives at VMNH

2008-07-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

VMNH Educator Robin Jensen Leads Geocaching Day at the Gravely Nature Preserve

2008-06-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Geocaching Fun, The Rivers & Trails Jounal

Stromatolite Stuff

2008-06-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

Martinsville Bulletin June 27, 2008

Stromatolite, Wikipedia

Fossil Record of the Cyanobacteria, University of California Museum of Paleontology

HESIT Teachers and VMNH Staff Explore Boxley Quarry in Fieldale

2008-06-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

The trip to Boxley was fun. VMNH Curator of Earth Sciences Dr. Jim Beard talked to the group about the geology of the Piedmont and the rocks and minerals found in the quarry.

Participants "mined" the rocks in the quarry looking for good classroom specimens.

Some of the minerals collected included: muscovite mica, biotite mica, garnet, feldspar, quartz, pyrite, and chlorite.

After leaving the pit, we ate lunch, sitting on some big quarry boulders along the access road, under some much appreciated shade trees.

On the way back to the museum, we stopped by a nearby rock formation along the banks of the Smith River. Here Dr. Beard, using a geologic map of the area, talked to the group about the volcanic rock diabase, "...that originated from the mid-ocean ridge zone from the breakup of the Paleozoic era supercontinent Pangea, about 180 million years ago."

When we returned to the museum, Dr. Lauck Ward, curator of invertebrate paleontology, gave a presentation to the group along with the museum's volunteer interpreters on the topic of the mollusks of Virginia's tidewater.

After the presentaion, the group toured the scientific labs, education center, and the new exhibit, "Amazing Feats of Aging."

Hollins Elementary Science Institute for Teachers at VMNH

2008-06-24T16:12:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow, 23 educators from HESIT will be coming to VMNH to take a behind-the-scenes tour the museum and a geologic fieldtrip to Boxley Materials Quarry in nearby Fieldale. One rock from this Henry County location is a garnetiferous biotite gneiss, a light- to medium-gray, mediumgrained, highly metamorphosed sedimentary rock. This rock is part of the Fork Mountain Formation, the rocks date to the Cambrian – Late Proterozoic (505 – 900 million years ago). See Virginia Minerals (v19 n4, Nov. 1973) (image courtesy of Virginia Department of Mines Mineral and Energy).

The tour of the museum will go into areas not typically seen by the general public including the scientific labs and the Suzanne M. Lacey Education Center.

Summer Solstice

2008-06-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

For those that live in the northern hemisphere, the summer solstice occurred just before midnight Universal Time (5:59 pm Eastern Standard Time) on Friday, June 20th. It was the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere.

Because the Earth orbits the Sun and Earth's axis of rotation is tilted, the length of daylight changes through the year. Summer solstice has the longest period of daylight and the shortest period of night because the northen hemisphere is at its maximum tilt toward the Sun. The length of the daylight varies by latitude, but in Martinsville, Virginia it was 14 hours and 41 minutes (US Naval Observatory).

From now until the fall equinox, the length of daylight will decrease by a few minutes less each day until the length of the day and the length of the night will be exactly equal--known as equinox.

For a good explanantion of summer solstice, visit: http://www.earthsky.org/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-solstice-on-june-21

VMNH WeatherBug

2008-06-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

This is an image taken at about 7 pm, June 21, 2008 by the museum's WeatherBug web cam located on the roof. The direction is northwest and off in the distance is a storm cloud. This past week, we established an automated link between our WeatherBug weather station and the GLOBE atmospheric database for the museum. From now on, each day's atmospheric data will be automatically uploaded to the GLOBE database.

Southwestern Piedmont Master Naturalists to Begin New Course of Study

2008-06-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

The next course of study for the Southwestern Piedmont Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalist Program is about to begin. There will be an information session at the Virginia Museum of Natural History on July 15 at 6:30. Anyone interested should attend or contact me (634-4184). Applications are due July 18 and the first class is scheduled for July 29.

Yorktown and Gloucester, June 15-16, 2008

2008-06-17T18:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday (June 15, 2008) I drove to Gloucester to attend a Learn and Serve Virginia workshop for grant recipients. All of the recipients are doing service learning projects related to water quality. I presented a program entitled "GLOBE Hydrology and Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences."

I arrived in Gloucester at about 3 pm and finding that my room was not ready, I drove to Yorktown for the afternoon.

These images were taken in Historic Yorktown on the York River.