Spofford Pond School, Boxford -- September 24

Spofford Pond School

42°41'46"N 

71°01'02"W
(Learn more about Lat/Long for ideas that combine math and geography learning. For example, this is the farthest north we have taken EarthView; an article in the archives for November 2009 indicates the one time we came closest to this latitude -- what college was the site of that visit?)

Most EarthView programs are in Southeastern Massachusetts, relatively close to EarthView's home base at Bridgewater State University.

As geographers, we love to travel to new places, and most of the team has spent little if any time in Boxford prior to this visit. Also, our goal is to improve geographic education throughout Massachusetts, so we are delighted to have our first North Shore school visit.

In exploring the geography of Boxford, we learned that it is facing an environmental problem that some might find surprising: the margin between forest and growing suburbs includes ideal conditions for beavers. Adorable as beavers may be, they create an unusual set of problems for suburban homeowners. The town web site includes a report on beaver encroachment and what to do about it.

The EarthView team learned some interesting news about geographic research from Spofford Pond teacher Ms. Sorensen. As reported by Discovery, computer models have provided a plausible explanation for the biblical story of the parting of the Red Sea.

East Middle School in Braintree - Sept 17

42°13'15"N 

70°59'23"W
(How far is this from South Middle School? Learn more about Lat/Long)

The EarthView team is delighted to continue the new school year with a return to Braintree. We encountered a lot of great geography students last week at South Middle School. We have provided the latitude and longitude of each school (as we do for all EarthView programs).

Here is a challenge: How far apart are the schools? They would be in the same little red dot of our laser pointer on EarthView, but there is some distance between them. It be measured in feet, miles, meters, inches, or kilometers along the road or along a straight line. It can also be measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds on the globe!

South Middle School in Braintree -- September 10

42°11'02"N 

70°59'53"W
(Learn more about Lat/Long) 

After quite an exciting summer of special appearances (see recent blog posts below) the EarthView Team is delighted to be reunited for the start of our third school year. Close to 20,000 students and community members have seen EarthView in the past two years, and we look forward to bringing our program to thousands more this year -- each in small groups that have the special experience of seeing the earth from the inside out!

We started the year with two programs in Braintree, the first of which was at South Middle School, where Mrs. Drayer teaches geography through the Olympics! We also learned that Mrs. Drayer and EarthView team member are both proud UMBC Retrievers!

Bridgewater State University

41°59'15"N 

70°58'12"W

(Kelly Gymnasium)

After 170 years as a Normal School, Teachers' College, State College -- with a few other titles over the years as well -- the home of EarthView is now the Geography Department at Bridgewater State University, the largest institution in the new Massachusetts State University system.

Opening Day this year included a visit from Gov. Deval Patrick, a fly-over courtesy of the BSU aviation program, and of course an EarthView exhibition! We were honored that our visiting librarian-scholar from Cambodia took the time to visit EarthView; having seen the Mapparium in Boston earlier in her visit, she will return to Cambodia with two very memorable geography experiences!

BSU Library Assistant Joan Luiz, Pannasastra University Librarian Vanna Sok, and EarthView Team member James Hayes-Bohanan pose directly "south" of Cambodia on BSU Opening Day.

BSU relies on energetic, cheerful, and well-informed Orientation Leaders to welcome each class to campus. This year, the OLs were enthusiastic participants in their own special orientation to the planet! One of the OLs is actually a BSU geography major. (She is shown above, in the red shirt.)