QUEST Community Science Blog

These 5 folks are full of bright ideas.
Image Source: PiccoloNamekACI trains home performance professionals through national and regional conferences and through the Web. Last week I participated in my eighth ACI national conference. The annual conference is where I go to network; learn about all aspects of home performance; recruit authors for Home Energy Magazine; and best of all, be inspired.

Here are a few of the people that I ran into last week who inspire me:

Don Fugler does research through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. He developed the Garbage Bag Air Flow Test. He rides his bike to work year round in Ottawa, and wears suspenders. He has a dry sense of humor and has toppled any lingering stereotype I had about Canadians. He told a crowded room at the ACI meetings in Pittsburgh that the way we live in our houses, the way we use our cars, and the way we travel in the air contribute about equally to our carbon footprints. The way we eat contributes a lot also. A pound of beef is responsible for a heck of a lot of greenhouse gases released. I don’t know if Don is a vegetarian, but I think he probably is.

Jim LaRue is a sort-of-retired home performance contractor from Cleveland, Ohio. He designed a really efficient and healthy house for a group of nuns in Ohio and wrote about it for Home Energy. He has also written for the Cleveland Green Building Coalition and for the magazine a Greening Your Home series of articles. I don’t know anyone who has worked harder to create healthy, efficient, and affordable housing in Cleveland. He’s retired but so far no one has noticed.

Linda Wigington has been with ACI since its beginning and is now the manager of program design and development. At the ACI Summit on global climate change held at the Pacific Energy Center in San Francisco last summer, which she was instrumental in bringing about, she talked about how she lived one whole winter in her home outside of Pittsburgh while never raising her thermostat above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. She is passionate about finding ways (mostly not involving such personal discomfort) to drastically reduce the energy use in existing homes to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Kate and Paul Raymer, founders of Hayoka Solutions, a green building and green building advocacy organization, announced the Starting from Home Challenge at the ACI meetings, an annual contest for post secondary school students around the country to create 70%–90% energy savings in existing homes with real people living in them. Hayoka is a Lakota Indian word describing someone who causes others to see things in a completely new way. Paul is an expert in healthy home ventilation. Don’t get him started on attached garages. “Why would anyone park their car in their house?” Paul often wonders.

I could go on, and on, and on. These are just a few of the people who inspire me. I hope they inspire you as well.

Jim Gunshinan is Managing Editor of Home Energy Magazine. He holds an M.S. in Bioengineering from Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, and a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree from University of Notre Dame.

The camera has long been an invaluable tool of field researchers. For example, the initial identification of a new mammal species was initiated by a camera trap set up by Francesco Rovero of the Trento Museum of Natural Sciences in the Ndundulu Forest in Tanzania’s Udzungwa Mountains. Both Francesco Rovero and Galen Rathbun of the California Academy of Sciences followed this photographic proof toward the discovery of a new species of Giant Elephant Shrew - the grey-faced Sengi. Photographs allow researchers to view their surroundings in a more intimate way and extrapolate meaningful data. It can even lead to incredible discoveries.

The California Academy of Sciences is asking youth to get behind the camera to find discoveries in their backyard. On April 15, 2008, the Academy launched a photo contest for youth between the ages of 8 & 12 - “Through the Lens: California in your backyard”. Future photographers, researchers and scientists are right in our own backyard and the Academy is curious about what they are seeing in their surroundings. This contest will give youth a chance to have a researcher’s eye - to “get up close” and document what they observe.

The photographers with the “best eye” will have their work hung in a museum. The work of winning photographers will be exhibited as part of the Children’s Gallery at the Grand Re-opening of the California Academy of Sciences on September 27, 2008 and throughout the inaugural year. Winning photographers will also be awarded cash prizes.

It is up to the photographer how to convey the theme of this contest - “California in your backyard” and the Academy’s mission - to explore, explain and protect the natural world. All photographers entering the contest are encouraged to have lots of fun and be as creative as possible.

The deadline to submit photographs is May 26, 2008. Contest rules and submission instructions can be found at www.calacademy.org/contest. Aspiring and curious youth photographers are encouraged to submit work. It might be the catalyst to another great discovery!

Cat Aboudara is the Special Projects Manager at California Academy of Sciences and works in the public programs division. The Academy is a wonderful fit for her because of her curiosity about the natural world and her experience in working with native California wildlife.

Magnetic activity on March 27th; white indicates N
magnetic poles, black S. Credit: ESA/SOHO/NASA.

A few blogs back I wrote about the 11-year cycle of ups and downs in solar activity–the Solar Cycle –and how over the last year or so the baton was supposedly passed from Cycle 23 to Cycle 24. But there has been an occurrence on the Sun that suggests we may be in somewhat of a gray zone….

For the past two or three years, the Sun has been downright boring. We set up our Sunspotter telescopes for visitors and try very hard to make what we see seem interesting–”See that perfectly blank circle of light? That’s the Sun! Really it is!”

About a week ago, the tedium was suddenly broken by a train of sunspots that rotated into view on Sun’s disk. Five–count’em– five sunspots! Finally, something to actually look at! And in the eyepiece of our Coronado Hydrogen-Alpha filter telescope there were filaments and plage! What are filaments and plage? Exactly! People wanted to know….

Then came the weird part: these were not Cycle 24 sunspots (I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts…); they were refugees from the supposedly defunct Cycle 23. While the distinction may be a fine point that doesn’t worry most of our visitors, it can still be a good talking point.

So, why were these five sunspots fingered as old solar trekkers rather than members of the next generation? It all comes back to what a solar cycle is–and sunspots, flares, prominences, and plage are merely details: manifestations of the Sun’s magnetic convulsions. The Sun, like the Earth, generates an enveloping magnetic field–a big donut with a north and a south magnetic pole. On smaller scales there are plenty of twists and swirls and knots in the field caused by local “hot spots” of magnetic activity–which are what produce features like sunspots in the first place.

At solar maximum–the peak of activity of a solar cycle–the Sun’s magnetic poles flip over, or reverse. In fact, it’s this reversal that really lets us know when a solar maximum has arrived. (Earth’s magnetic field also reverses polarity periodically–although this only happens every 200,000 years, on average.)

At the beginning of a solar cycle, new sunspot activity can be found at high solar latitudes, and as the cycle progresses, activity migrates toward the equator. On a finer nuance, the magnetic polarity of sunspots–which can be N or S, and are usually paired up, like the two ends of a bar magnet –are typically oriented east-to-west on the Sun’s surface, one leading to the other as the Sun rotates. Which type of pole (N or S) leads and which trails depends on the overall magnetic “flip” state of the Sun’s magnetic field.

To round out this report, the five surprise sunspots of yesterweek were lined up close to the Sun’s equator, and the orientation of their magnetic poles bespoke their affiliation with the outgoing magnetic administration (Cycle 23). So far, only a single, high-latitude, reverse-polarity sunspot observed last January has signaled Cycle 24 .

Who knows? Maybe the magnetic candidates of Cycle 24 are still holding primaries, caucuses, and debates and have yet to begin some serious campaigning…

Benjamin Burress is a staff astronomer at The Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, CA.

Raise your hand if you live in a watershed! Are all of your hands up? We all live in a watershed, an area of land that all water (from rain, snow and springs) flows across, under and through on its way into a common body of water, such as a creek, river, bay or ocean. The water may travel through city streets and into storm drains, over the surface of the ground and across farm fields, or suburban lawns, or it may seep into the soil and travel as groundwater. Along the way, water picks up and carries materials.

Everything we do impacts our watershed. Use of land and water from any part of the watershed, such as polluted run-off from farms, forests, ranches, and cities, eventually affects the health of the whole watershed – as well as the plants, animals and people within it.

A healthy watershed is important to everyone! Animals find food, water and shelter near creeks and waterways. Humans enjoy clean water and places to relax, swim and appreciate nature. One of the best ways to help your local watershed is to connect with it.

So, may I suggest a visit to that creek in your neighborhood for an old-fashioned, low-tech exploration? Bring binoculars, a nature journal, a creek creature identification sheet, and empty baby food jars. Bring some kids and all your senses.

At the creek, sit quietly and listen for the sound that is the nearest or the sound that is farthest away. Can you hear the creek running or the birds calling?

Notice the variety of habitats in the creek. Look for a place in the creek where there is a riffle: a shallow area where water breaks over rocks, promoting high oxygen levels. Invertebrates and the small fish that feed on them live here, in a pool: a deeper area with slower moving water. Pools provide a spawning, feeding and resting site for fish, or a run: a straight, fast moving, section of a creek between riffles that has a diverse mixture of aquatic life. Look for tracks and scat along the creek banks. Use the baby food jars to carefully capture aquatic life. Observe, sketch and release.

Smell the variety of plants and flowers now blooming in the riparian zone. Notice that the bushes, trees and roots are all home to various wildlife. Draw a guide to the plants and trees in one small area of the creek.

Blindfold a friend or sibling and carefully lead them to a tree near the creek. Allow them to touch it, then give them a spin and lead them away. Remove the blindfold and challenge them to find their tree using their eyes.

Find edibles along the creek, like wild onion, miner’s lettuce or blackberry and taste wild food right off the vine.

Once connected, it is easy to care, and help keep our watersheds clean, in simple ways such as monitoring what you allow down the storm drains, refraining from flushing cat feces, or participating in a creek clean up. Please add your own ideas!

The Oakland Zoo has restored a section of the Arroyo Viejo Creek on the zoo grounds with support from City of Oakland, the California Coastal Conservancy, the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, and the City of Oakland Measure DD Bond. With six outdoor classrooms featuring educational signage and seating on logs, the creek will offer an exploration experience for all. Help us celebrate with a ribbon cutting ceremony at noon on Saturday, April 12, as part of the Oakland Zoo’s Earth Day celebration.

See you down at the creek!

Amy Gotliffe is Conservation Manager at The Oakland Zoo.

Guest blogger Lisa Croel of The Tech Museum in San Jose, CA sits in for Dr. Barry Starr this week.

I remember loving science class as a kid. The paper-maché messes, the bubbling baking soda, all of the wonderful experiments… I loved it all. Now, many grammar school kids are lucky to get 15 minutes of science education a week. Hardly enough time to get them imagining future careers as scientists, engineers and inventors.

Between the lack of time given to science education, and the structure imposed by curriculum standards, museums need to be part of the education equation. My boss has a saying: “Give random a chance.” I love this quote because it speaks to the role informal educational resources like science museums need to be playing. By exposing young people to the experiences and programs in a museum, who knows what might really resonate and inspire?

For over 20 years, The Tech’s Tech Challenge program has presented kids with an open-ended problem for which there is no one right answer. It forces participants to use their knowledge and ingenuity to solve the problem. For example, this year the Challenge (called Water Works) is all about moving water from a stream up to a village without electricity. There is no one right answer, and there are lots of ways to solve this problem.

Participants are 5^th to 12^th graders who will work in teams of 2-6 to explore solutions to solving this real world problem. Along the way, they will hit some roadblocks and come up with some duds. And that’s OK because it is here that kids will learn that failure is an important part of problem solving. We have a great quote etched into a wall on the outside of The Tech from Intel co-founder and philanthropist Gordon Moore that says, “If everything you try works, you are not trying hard enough.” Through failure, many of the Tech Challenge teams will come up with a far superior solution.

This year we’re going international for the first time by partnering with the City of San Jose’s Sister City program. On the final event day, where all of the teams come together to present and demonstrate their solutions, we’ll be webcasting in teams from far-away locations, and look forward to seeing and hearing how kids from other countries have tackled the challenge. Hopefully the involvement of other cultures will drive home how important it is to be inclusive to come up with better ways to solve problems.

I just looked at the U.S. Census Bureau web site for the latest world population number, and today there are 6,650,846,379 people on Planet Earth. One in five people on Earth don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water, which means that 1.3 billion people are suffering from lack of water. As this year’s Tech Challenge participants work on solutions to a global water problem, I hope they get excited (or more excited) about science and remain engaged, even they don’t get to study it much in the classroom.

Lisa Croel is the Marketing Director at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif.

Cal Academy scientist Kelly Herbinson
collects ants with a Bay Area science teacherAs the winter drags on, I often think fondly of a chilly Saturday in December where I found myself in a small alleyway in San Francisco trying to suck elusive ants into a rubber tube called a pooter. What was the point of this seemingly silly endeavor? I was leading a QUEST educator training with the California Academy of Sciences (one of the more fun parts of my job).

I was first introduced to the pooter, an insect catching device, last July at the California Academy of Sciences Nature Journaling workshop in the Trinity Alps and little did I know where it would lead.

The Nature Journaling workshop blended sketching and watercolor techniques with information about the natural area in which we camped. In addition to discovering I could actually be artistic (not one of my strong suits in the past) and falling in love with vegan cashew chili (I’m a big fan of meat), the highlight for me was learning how to catch small insects by sucking them into a vial at the end of a long rubber tube.

This contraption, which includes a small piece of gauze between the vial and the rubber tubing, so you don’t suck the insect all the way into your lungs, is the aforementioned pooter. By the end of the workshop, we had planned a joint educator workshop using QUEST media about invasive species with the hands-on ant collecting activities from the Bay Area Ant Survey and the California Academy of Sciences.

QUEST’s Jessica Neely
collects ants with a pooterFast forward 4 months. In early December, 29 Bay Area science educators gathered at the California Academy of Sciences to learn about Bay Area invasive species. We started the day off with QUEST’s television story San Francisco Bay Invaders, moved to some discussion about how to help our students become “media savvy” in the 21st century, and then it was time for the pooters.

Educators paired up and we took a field trip to the alley behind the Cal Academy – not the most ideal location to find ants, but it was the best we could do with limited time. It was so cold that day that Kelly Herbinson, our ant expert, had to set out bait for the ants in the morning. We poked, prodded, searched high and low, and a few of us were able to capture the cagey little critters with our pooters. Kelly led us through the identification process (yes, I’m sorry but some ants were harmed) and introduced everyone to the Bay Area Ant Survey, an amazing citizen science project where just about anyone can contribute to scientists’ understanding of the distribution of ants in the Bay Area by capturing, labeling, and sending in their ants.

Teachers study ant samples to
help identify the ants they collectedA few post-workshop take-aways:

• Despite what you hear on the news, science teachers are doing wonderful work with students

• Students are getting their information from an increasing number of sources and teaching them how to be media-savvy is tricky (not something that is currently tested on standardized tests…)

• Most importantly, ants are AMAZING! Did you know that the trap-jaw ant can snap its mandibles shut so hard and fast on an object that it can propel itself backwards 2 feet to escape predators?

Want to participate in an upcoming QUEST Educator Training? Visit our list of upcoming workshops and register.

And please add a comment if you know of a great educational resource for teaching about Bay Area invasive species. And please share your story if you use QUEST with your students!

Jessica Neely is a Project Supervisor of Science Education.

latitude: 37.781891, longitude: -122.403327