Urban League Summer Camp: Day 5

TGIF! Today was a lot of fun. First, we went up on the roof so that Roger could demonstrate a real telescope!

Looking out at the airport control tower

Looking at sun spots!

More sunspots!

(Note, do NOT try to look at sun spots at home! Roger's telescope had a special filter on it that made it safe to look at the sun. Do not attempt such a thing unless you are armed with the right equipment!)

It was sizzlin hot up there, so we went back to the Fishbowl to chill out for a little bit before starting our experiments with the thermal camera. And what better way to cool off than with some FlavorIce!

Brainfreeze!

Relaxing with a nice cold one.

After we had a chance to cool off, we headed out with the camera. First stop was some trees - A, so we could see what they looked like, and B so we could see whether we could play hide and go seek in them.

BUSTED!

Today wasn't the best day to try to see people outside, because it was so hot out that people blended in pretty well to a lot of backgrounds! So we moved on to the ice rink for another chance to cool off.

After just getting into the ice rink - the camera didn't recalibrate the temp range yet, so I was able to snag this awesome picture of the whole group. Can you guess who is wearing shorts and who is wearing pants?

The zamboni happened to be going around when we were there! Also check out the other people/

This picture is my fav. You can see which parts of the ice have been refinished and which ones haven't yet!

The zamboni as it is half way past the glass - Now you see it, now you don't.

One of the students is wearing snowpants - what an effective insulator they are!

The floor was so cold that if someone walked on it in bare feet, we could retrace their steps.

Outside with the snowpants still on - still working pretty well! Except for the pockets where his hands are (they are actually INSIDE the pockets in this picture). Also, look at how cold his ears got.

We then ventured back out into the summer heat to try to check a few more items off our experiment list. The SAU cafeteria was closed, so we went on to Javas. (The first time I have been able to get the group to speed up their pace was when I said the College & Careers tour group we were stuck behind were going to try to go to the library and Javas. Nobody wanted to have to wait in line, so all of a sudden, the kids got speedy....) I came prepared with a pocket full of Javas wooden tokens so that I could treat the kids to drinks - which we could also image and do some experiments with.

A side-by-side view of our drinks. You can tell the difference between the iced coffees, smoothies, and (of course) the hot coffee pretty easily!

Hot + Iced coffees. You can even see the Javas logo on the styrofoam cup!

Pouring some hot coffee into the cold coffee!

Mmmmmm, smoothie through a straw.

There are a lot of other great pictures from today too, like some really excellent ones of cars in the parking lot. Check them out along with all the other pictures taken so far here.

We regrouped back in the Fishbowl before calling it a day. I told the kids that we were invited back to the vision lab to see another eye tracking system on Monday, and they were really excited! Also, a few of the kids said how much they enjoyed the telescope and looking at sun spots. All of a sudden I'm wondering whether we actually will be able to fit everything in that we want to do after all. Time is starting to fly by.

On their way out the door, the kids told me they had a lot of fun today!