Final Day of Nature Unleashed Camp

It was our final day of Nature Unleashed Weather and the Environment Camp. Today we started out with a demonstration of the University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology's portable phased array radar called "Bobdar". The kids were able to get "radiated" (don't worry it's less than a cell phone's radiation) and test it on themselves moving around the room. After our usual snack, their parents arrived to check out camp. Dr. Kloesel Dean of Public Education and Outreach (the genius behind the camp's activities) taught the parents that meteorology/climatology is just as hard as if they were forecasting invisible children. Then, the kids were able to teach their parents everything we did this past week and show them their turbines and hurricane houses.
Among hugs and maybe a few tears, the kids went home to parents who have to put up with lectures from their kids about wind turbines, storms, and hurricanes :)

I had an amazing time this week. I learned more at this camp than the kids did. This was definitely the highlight of my summer. I really feel like I was able to make a difference in their lives by maybe changing their career paths. I feel that I made a positive impact on the community for getting these kids interested in being a scientist.

Lastly, I want to thank the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum for being a gracious host. It is really an honor to be an invited scientist. I would also like to thank Dr. Kevin Kloesel and the University of Oklahoma College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences School of Meteorology and the National Weather Center for offering me this enormous opportunity.

Nature Unleashed Camp Day 4

Today was a very hands-on engineering day for the kids. We did two activities today that were so amazing! After the activities I starting hearing, "I think I want to be a meteorologist when I grow up" or "Wind energy engineering sounds really cool!". It was a major triumph for our camp! I believe we are planting the seeds of our future in the young minds of our campers.
We started off with a homemade wind turbine. The kids had to make a spinning turbine that could convert 5 mph of wind into the movement of blades with only a Styrofoam ball, Popsicle sticks, tongue compressors, and spoons! We had a camper get his turbine to spin over 32 mph!! Apparently we have many budding engineers in our group. Then, I got to have a discussion with them about how wind is CLEAN and RENEWABLE! It will always be there for us to harvest, all we need is better technology to move it to big cities and better turbine designs. You never know the next big turbine engineer could be from our camp :) I also got to mention that Kansas is one of the best states for wind farms because of our rural abundance of land and how Kansas is the third windiest state in the US.
Hurricane Houses was our other activity for the day. The campers (including me) got to design a house that could withstand 102 mph winds (which came from a handy leaf blower). They were allowed 4 Popsicle sticks, 2 sheets of paper, 2 feet of tape, glue, and a straw. It turns out that all you need is a good design. Roofs have to be firmly attached and so do the foundations. We learned that if houses along the coast were being built to withstand hurricanes there would be less fatalities and loss of property.
Overall it was an amazing day! I hope you like my action-packed photos from today.

Nature Unleashed Camp Day 3

Day 3 was a complete success! Today we taught about hurricane Katrina and toured the museum's exhibits. Among the exhibits we got to go in a hurricane simulator, but we measured wind speeds (as all good meteorologists do) and it turns out it was more like a "tropical storm" simulator topping out at 54 mph. We also saw a garage door from the wreckage of Katrina. I got to teach the kids about the circulation of a hurricane (counter clockwise and inward) and what to put in a disaster kit.
We also checked out the earthquake exhibit and learned about the primary and secondary waves created by quakes.
Our hands-on experiment was "cloud in a bottle". By using a two liter pop bottle, hot water, smoke, and decompression we created a cloud in a bottle.

Nature Unleashed Camp Day 2

Today was an amazing day! We focused on what makes wind and how it mixes. By using whole milk on a plate (air), food coloring (to make it visible), and dish detergent (sun) we created an experiment that replicated our atmosphere (in a sense). The detergent/sun creates a chemical reaction with the milk/air that causes the milk/air to swirl and mix. The kids found out that the food coloring/pollution/volcanic ash will mix all over the worlds air and turn it murky brown. So, no matter what spot you have pollution it will eventually mix into the whole atmosphere. They also thought it would be fun to watch me demonstrate centrifugal force with the brown murky left-overs of our experiment, but of course I start laughing and splashed my foot :(
We also taught them about earthquakes with icing, fruit roll ups, and grahmcrackers. They were very well versed in earthquakes, because they live close to the New Madrid fault line and they learned about it in school.

I also had the chance to tour the museum yesterday and took pictures today. The museum has a replica of the oval office and EVERY document that belonged to the Clinton's during Bill's Presidency. It is SO cool and the architecture is AMAZING!

Chase, The Tornado Chasing Wonderdog, came and visited us at camp. He is the official mascot of VORTEX@ (Verification of the Origins of Tornadoes EXperiment). He has been on many storm chases and has met many important people. I was honored to be able to snap a picture with Chase and former President Bill Clinton :)

Nature Unleashed at the Clinton Presidential Museum

I have been a busy bee getting ready for the Miss US Earth pageant. My duties as Miss Kansas Earth 2010 include spreading the word on my platform ("Be Aware, it's in the Air"). I was extremely lucky to be presented with an awesome opportunity from the University of Oklahoma's College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences to outreach to children about weather in Little Rock, Arkansas at the Clinton Presidential Center and Museum. A summer camp program well named "Nature Unleashed" is for middle-school-ish aged kids to learn about natural disasters and how humans react to them.

Today is Day 1 of camp and we learned tons! We used a rubber mat to see if the kids could lift it off the table from a hook in the center. They learned when they couldn't lift it up that air has mass, and on a 10x10 inch mat it amounts to about 1600 pounds! Next, we simulated the updraft in a thunderstorm with a hair dryer (updraft) and a ping pong ball (hail). Then, we used windbags to teach Bernoulli's principle. An air cannon (trash bin, shower curtain, and bungee cords) was a favorite of the boys, who were fighting over shooting a cup off my head with air. And of course, we couldn't leave out the forecasting lesson, which teaches them that air is invisible and it is really hard to forecast when you can't see it. Last but not least, we made cool waterspouts in pop bottles which taught the kids the importance of pressure.

Well that is all for now, and I will write back tomorrow for Day 2 of camp :)