Baker School Photo

Students at Baker School in Brockton were thrilled to have EarthView as part of Make-a-Difference Day, and the EarthView Team was thrilled to take part.

Oct. 30: Berkley Middle School

See the Math?
41° 50' 56" N
71° 05' 03" W
Look up other coordinates in an atlas or at Steve Morse

We look forward to visiting Berkley Middle School on Friday October 30 -- Halloween Eve!
The following is a list of significant geographic and historical events that coincide with the date of our visit:


EVENTS:
1995 Quebec Referendum votes to remain part of Canada
1991 Mid East peace conference begins in Madrid Spain
1982 Portugalrevises constitution 

1980 Honduras and El Salvador settle their boundary dispute 

1963 Morocco and Algeria signs cease fire
1944 Anne Frank (of Diary fame) is deported from Auschwitz to Belsen
1918 Slovakia asks for creation of Czechoslovakian state
1493 Christopher Columbus discovers island of Dominica

BIRTHDATES:
1735 John Adams in Braintree, Massachusetts; 2nd president of the United States from 1797 - 1801
Source: Brainy History - October 30th

Oct. 23: Baker School, Brockton

See the Math? Baker School is at
42° 5' 49 N
70° 59' 24 W
Find the latitude and longitude of other places on your globe, in your atlas, or at Steve Morse. Then do some math!


On October 23, we visited the Baker School Elementary in Brockton, Massachusetts. Teachers and students are invited to use the "comment" link below to post questions for the EarthView Team. We are especially glad to be visiting this GREEN building, which is similar to the new GREEN science building where EarthView will be kept at Bridgewater State College.

We are also delighted that geography professors from Brazil joined us for part of our visit at Baker School.

Dr. Hayes-Bohanan told some classes about the "wedding of the waters" in Manaus, Brazil. Explore the area on Google Maps to see where Manaus is, relative to the rest of the continent. This is a false-color image, typical of many satellite images. Tan is shown as blue and urban areas as pink. Geographers learn how to use satellite data to get information about places that is more detailed than what we see in photographs; false-color images are one example.

See the Rio Negro entering from the WNW and the Rio Solimões entering from the West and WSW. As they continue past Manaus, the tea-like water of the Rio Negro remains along the left bank (north side) of the Amazon -- which is officially formed at this confluence -- for many miles. Use the scale on Google Maps to figure out how far. Visit Dr. Hayes-boh's Rondonia Web for stories about his time in the Amazon.


View Larger Map




Our visit on this day also coincides with a great number of geographically significant anniversaries and birthdays, including:

1989 Hungary proclaims itself a republic and declares communist rule ended
1978 China and Japan formally end 4 decades of dissension
1977 Panamanians vote 2:1 to approve new Canal treaties
1975 Battle between Cuba and South Africa troops in Angol
1954 Britain, England, France and U.S.S.R. agree to end occupation of Germany
1954 West Germany joins NATO
1953 France grants sovereignty to Laos
1956 Revolt against Stalinist policies begins in Hungary
787 Byzantine empress Irene recovers Iconclastic cult at Nicaea

BIRTHDATES:
1922 Stuart Sloan, war hero/test pilot
1905 Felix Bloch, Swiss/U.S. nuclear physicist, Nobel 1952
1868 Rama V, [Chulalongkorn], leader of Thailand, -1910

GEOGRAPHIC BEE

The National Geographic Bee is a school competition for students in any grades four through eight. Excite your students about the world around them and reward those who excel in their knowledge of geography by giving them a chance to compete in a school geographic bee.


The final deadline for registration has been extended to December 11, 2009. After October 15, the registration fee increases to $90. School level Bees can be held up to January 15, 2010. Go to www.nationalgeographic.com/geographicbee to get complete information and other dates and deadlines.

First Aerial Photo -- 1860

Aerial photographs are an important tool for cartographers and other geographers. In fact, most geography departments offer entire courses in the interpretation of photographs taken from above. Most of these are taken from specially-equipped airplanes with cameras mounted on the bottom, but early aerial photography relied on hot-air balloons. The very first was taken in Boston on this date in 1860!

Read the Mass Moments article for details.

October 2: Plouffe Academy, Brockton

42° 04' 48" N
71° 00' 40" W
Source: Steve Morse

We look forward to visiting Plouffe Academy in Brockton on October 2. EarthView Team member Dr. Hayes-Bohanan fondly remembers meeting Plouffe students (who are now adults) the first time he participated in BSC's Turning Leaves program.

Plouffe teachers and students are invited to use the "comment" link below to post questions for the EarthView Team.
Our October 2 visit is on the anniversary of several historic events and birthdays with geography connections.

EVENTS
1608 Prototype of modern reflecting telescope completed by Jan Lippershey
1836 Darwin returns to England aboard HMS Beagle (after 5 years)
1870 Italy annexes Rome and Papal States; Rome made Italian capital
1889 1st Pan American conference (Washington D.C.)
1895 1st cartoon comic strip is printed in a newspaper
1932 Washington Redskins (as Boston Braves) play 1st NFL game, lose 14-0
1949 U.S.S.R. recognizes People's Republic of China
1950 1st strip of Charlie Brown, "Li'l Folks," later "Peanuts" in 9 papers
1956 1st atomic power clock exhibited-NYC
1957 New volcano appears at western end of Faial Island, Azores
(See photo & story or find the volcano on this satellite image.)
1958 Guinea (French Guinea) gains independence from France
1967 Thurgood Marshall sworn in as 1st black Supreme Court Justice
1968 Republic Guinea forms
1971 Homing pigeon averages 133 KPH (record) in 1100-km Australian race
BIRTHDATES:
1869 Mahatma Karamchand Ghandi, Porbandar Kathiawad India, pacifist
1800 Nat Turner, Virginia, leader of major slave rebellion, 1831

Citizens for Citizens Follow-up

As mentioned in the July blog entries, Dr. Hayes-Bohanan co-led an EarthView program with his student Nathan Couto at Citizens for Citizens in Fall River, where Mr. Couto works throughout the year. The organization's blog entry includes photographs of the two geographers and the children who participated, along with a good description of an EarthView program and the program's long-term learning goals.

Driscoll School - September 25

42° 20' 29" N

71° 08' 12" W

Source: Steve Morse

The EarthView team will be traveling to Brookline, where team member Dr. Domingo led a Geography Summer Institute earlier in 2009. Dr. Hayes-Bohanan enjoyed leading one small part of that institute, as he described the geography of Latin America. They both thoroughly enjoyed working with Brookline teachers in the beautiful building that houses the Driscoll School. Dr. Domingo will be at a geography conference during this visit, but Dr. Hayes-Bohanan and the rest of the team are looking forward to the visit.

Our September 25 visit coincides with a great number of geographically signficant anniversaries, including:

1992 Opening Main-Donau canal (North Sea-Black Sea)
1992 U.S. Mars Observer launched from Space shuttle
1987 2nd coup on Fiji led by Major General Sitiveni Rabuka
1984 Egypt and Jordan regain diplomatic relations

1973 Three-man crew of Skylab 3 make safe splashdown in Pacific after 59 days
1965 Beatle cartoon show begins in U.S.
1957 Three hundred US Army troops escort nine African-American children to Central School in Little Rock, Arkansas
1957, 1974, 1980, 1982, and 1983: UK, US and/or USSR nuclear tests, sometimes on the same day
1956 First transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation (Scot-Canada)
1939 Versailles Peace Treaty forgot to include Andorra, so Andorra and Germany finally sign an official treaty ending WW I
1926 Henry Ford announces 8 hour, 5-day work week
1867 Congress creates 1st all-African American university, Howard University in Washington D.C.
1639 First printing press in America
Source: http://www.brainyhistory.com/

Southbrook Academy

41° 59' 25" N
70° 56' 48" W
Source: Steve Morse

Southbrook Academy is a small school with a special significance for EarthView team member Dr. Hayes-Bohanan: his daughter enjoyed six years of nurturing and challenge there, until just over a year ago. So he is delighted to be hosting Southbrook students when they come to an EarthView program at the college. It is a chance to give back a little to a school that has given much to his family!

Whittemore Elementary in the Daily News Tribune

Reporter Joyce Kelly and photographer Bear Cieri enjoyed the EarthView visit to Whittemore Elementary almost as much as the EarthView team did! The photographs capture EarthView at its best -- with students learning.

The report also captures both the richness and the excitement of the experience for the EarthView team, local educators, and students.

Peace Vigil

41° 59' 18" N
70° 58' 26" W
Source: Steve Morse

On Saturday, September 19, EarthView is part of the 24-hour community peace vigil that takes place every year in Bridgewater as part of World Peace Day. EarthView will be set up in the sanctuary at First Parish Church at 50 School Street through much of Saturday afternoon and evenings. Because it is on a platform above the views, it will be seen only from the outside.

Look for photographs after the event!

Henry Whittemore School - Waltham

42° 21' 58" N
71° 13' 48" W
Source: Steve Morse

The EarthView team visited the Whittemore School in Waltham on September 18, 2009. It is the birthday of Lance Armstrong, who was born in 1971.

Some geographically significant anniversaries today are:

1997 Ted Turner gave $1 billion to the United Nations

1990 500-pound Hershey Kiss was displayed in Times Square
1987 U.S. and Russia signed an agreement to remove mid-range missiles
1962 Rwanda, Burundi, Jamaica and Trinidad were admitted (105th-108th) to United Nations
1851 New York Times started publishing at 2 cents a copy
1793 President Washington laid the cornerstone of Capitol building