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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Ancient Celtic Holidays
We have been in session now at Walden School of Liberal Arts for about six weeks and classes are running fairly smoothly. I’ve neglected both of my blogs in the rush to get school started. During the first five weeks … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged ancient holidays, beltaine, cailleach, celtic, celts, cross-quarter days, druid, equinox, gaelic, groundhog day, lammas, litha, lughnasadh, mabon, midsummer, ostara, samhain, solstice, yule
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The End of the World: Fact or Fiction?
A look at Mayan Calendar Cycles and Prophecies Many websites and even a few popular movies have sprouted up recently to predict the end of the world (or at least a major catastrophe) on December 21, 2012. They base their … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 13 baktun, 2012 disaster, asteroid collision, calendar, comet collision, doomsday, earth science, end of the world, eschatology, galactic alignment, lesson plan, maya, mayan, mayan predictions, neutrino, popol vuh, pseudoscience, scientific fact, skepticism, solar maximum
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Riding Curiosity Down to Mars
The following are my notes from the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars as it happened. You know by now how it all ended. But I hope I’ve captured my feelings and impressions as Curiosity came down; I hope you’ll … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged curiosity, curiosity rover, edl, entry descent and landing, gale crater, jet propulsion laboratory, jpl, mars, mars exploration, mars rover, rover
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At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
I am in Pasadena, California at JPL, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, attending an educator conference in conjunction with the landing of the Mars Science Laboratory rover. When I got word that this conference was happening, I immediately filled out the … Continue reading
Mojave Field Research: Lessons Learned
As of the last post, I had just arrived at the CSU Desert Studies Center at Zzyzx Road in the Mojave Desert, ready to begin our week-long study of biological soil crusts as an analog for possible Mars or other … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged astrobiology, baker california, china ranch, chris mckay, csu desert studies center, curiosity rover, field research, hole in the wall, kelso depot, life on mars, macrobiotic soil, mars rover, mojave desert, mojave national preserve, soil crust, stromatolite, zzyzx road
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To the End of the Earth: March 18, 2012
I’m somewhere I always wanted to explore: The End of the Earth. Zzyzx Road, California. As a senior in high school I won first place in the physical science category at the Southern Utah Regional Science Fair. I built a … Continue reading
The SOFIA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors Program
It’s official! I’ve been chosen, along with Carolyn Bushman from Wendover Jr/Sr High School and 24 other teachers and informal educators, to be a SOFIA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador. SOFIA is the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy, a converted Boeing 747SP … Continue reading
Welcome to the Spaced-Out Classroom!
The universe is a fascinating place. Somewhere out there, beyond the edge of our onion skin thin atmosphere, lie wonders and monsters: tiny, voracious holes in the fabric of space that are infinitely black and infinitely dense, capable of ripping … Continue reading
The Spaced-Out Classroom 