Regular readers might have already noticed, but I’ve added some new resources to Sky Lights. Much of it was on my business website, which I’m shutting down in the near future. Now that I’m fully retired I want to focus more on my educational mission, and that is done through Sky Lights.
Working our way down the menu the first thing you’ll see is a link to Heimhenge. That’s the name of the place we built and live in (pictured above). The reason for the name is explained in a series of pages. You’ll learn about many energy efficiency features we designed into Heimhenge to lower our carbon footprint and energy bills. If you’re thinking of building, and want to design for a hotter future, it’s definitely worth a read.
The next new resource is Free for Educators. Here you’ll find a collection of educational materials available for download. The content is slanted toward physical sciences, but you’ll also find many great “rainy day” activities that’s work in other disciplines. All have been vetted in the classroom as stimulating activities that challenge and exercise students’ cognitive skills. There’s also plenty of great physical science animations that can be used on their own, or with the included Teachers Notes. All content is rated by grade levels.
The final added resource is more of a “merge” from my other website. What used to be called Links in the menu is now called Online Resources. It’s still mostly astronomy and meteorology, but you’ll find a greater diversity of links including an entire section devoted to educators, and a section with some interesting diversions to spend time with when you’re tired of the news or just plain bored.
So take some time to look at those new resources, and if you know a teacher or homeschooler send them the link. Educators can always use free resources. Thanks!
Before I let you go, just to squeeze in some actual science content, here’s a surprising “factoid” I recently stumbled across in one of my regular science resources, Popular Science: The Colorado River’s Lower Basin (everything downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam) loses 13% of its water by evaporation. That’s some 1.9 million acre-feet (620 billion gallons) over the course of one year. Most of that evaporation takes place in the large reservoirs along the system, and the shallower those reservoirs get the warmer they get. That causes even faster evaporation — yet another example of a reinforcing feedback loop related to climate change.
Next Week in Sky Lights ⇒ Bicycle Wheel Illusion