Events Calendar Add these events to your google calendar at: http://charterscience.weebly.com/ April 1 See Mercury and Mars after sunset this month April 6 Moon meets up with Star Regulus April 7 Jupiter in opposition April 10 Full Pink/Egg/Easter Moon near Jupiter and Spica April 14 Moon near Saturn in the predawn sky April 19 Charter Family Nature Exploration at Lake Los Carneros April 21 Lyrid Meteor Showers best viewing before dawn April 22 Moon Near Venus in the morning sky April 22+23 Earth Day Festival and Green Car Display April 26 New Moon/Supermoon April 29 Venus its brightest in morning sky April 30 BranchOut SBMNH preregistration required Science at Charter SCIENCE NIGHT Science Night was exciting and well attended. Thank you to all students and their families for their support. If you have any leftover materials from your projects that you do not want to keep please consider donating it to the school. We will be making kits for students to use during our after school science fair preparation workshops next year. Please bring leftover science materials to your child's teacher. Charter Family Nature Exploration at Lake Los Carneros Wednesday April 19 at 3:30 PM Lead by Sharon Tollefson and Leise Thomason At the last tide pool exploration many parents requested a nature walk. I have noticed how much my son enjoys the magical nature walks that Sharon Tollefson leads for Jil's class so I asked for her help. She has graciously agreed to help lead a nature play and exploration afternoon at Lake Los Carneros. We will observe birds and nature. We will have some magnifying glasses and field guides to share. We will explore the tule and look for tracks. We will play nature games such as coyote and fawn. Please wear clothes you don't mind getting wet and dirty. A water bottle, hats, long sleeves and/or sunscreen, and insect repellent will be helpful. Directions: We will meet at the main entrance on La Patera (where the paved path begins). It is between Shamrock Ave. and Monmouth Ave. You can email me [email protected] or text me at 619-993-4339 to let me know you are coming or if you have questions. Around Town Earth Day and Green Car Expo April 22 and April 23 Alameda Park, Santa Barbara Spring Wildflowers - with all the rain we have had now is a great time to view spring wildflowers. If you enjoy observing nature with your kids you can download this app to participate in Citizen Science with iNaturalist. iNaturalist Uses your smart phone as a field tool for science! From hikers to birders to beachcombers, the world is filled with naturalists. By taking photos and uploading them to iNaturalist, citizen scientists of all ages and abilities can record a wealth of information about nature. The SB Botanical Gardens participates in and occasionally has trainings for iNaturalist. Santa Barbara's new interactive science museum MOXI is now open. Maker Mondays and STEAM Sundays (Curiosity Lab) at Central Library. ![]() BranchOut: Nature Escape Room Event at SBMNH Sunday, April 30, 2017. Pre-register NOW to attend for FREE at www.sbnature.org/tickets. BranchOut designs activities that give kids an experience in nature they will never forget. Modeled off the popular "escape room" movement, games are brought to life where kids are the heroes on a quest to solve an environmental mission before time runs out. Participants must work together to solve puzzles and challenges, exploring nature and the great outdoors for clues. Guardians are encouraged to participate with their child in this family event; all participating guardians/adults must also reserve a spot when signing up. The Night Sky this Month As we move closer to summer the days get longer so staying up to observe the sky with children becomes more difficult. (see Sunrise/Sunset table for times). So be sure to watch this month if you can. Earthsky.org/tonight describes what you can see in the sky each night in more detail than provided here. This month provides good viewing of the Lyrid meteor showers, the stars Regulus and Spica, and the planets Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. Mercury Spotting Challenge: As the planet closest to the sun Mercury is often lost in the sun's glare. The first week of April after sunset it will be visible very low on the eastern horizon after sunset for about 90 minutes and Mars will be above it. Mars is easy to spot because of its orangish glow but Mercury will require an unobstructed view of the western skyline. Are you up for the challenge of finding this elusive planet? Jupiter Jupiter will be the brightest object in the night sky as the Earth will be passing between Jupiter and the sun on April 7th. Since Jupiter will be directly opposite the sun it will rise at sunset and set at sunrise. It will also be at its closest approach to the Earth on April 8, coming to within 414 million miles (666 million kilometers) of Earth. You will have a beautiful view of the moon, Jupiter, and Spica on April 11. The full moon falls the night before on April 10 and is the first full moon of spring known as the pink, egg, or easter moon. New Moon Supermoon Later in the month the new moon on April 26 is also a supermoon. So it is closer to earth than usual and would appear slightly larger if we could see it (the new moon is the time of the month we can't see the moon because it is between the earth and the sun). The tides will be higher and lower than usual around then as well. Unfortunately the low tides will be during the dark hours of the early morning so won't be good viewing. Saturn and Venus With daylight savings time sunrise is still relatively late (starting the month at 6:45 am and ending the month at 6:09 am) and there are many exciting observations to make this month in the predawn sky this month. View Saturn near the moon in the predawn sky on April 14 and Venus near the moon in the predawn sky of April 22. During this time of year when Venus is seen in the morning (instead of at night as it has been) it is often called the morning star (even though it is a planet). Because of the angle between the Earth, Venus, and the sun we never see Venus fully illuminated. Venus has phases like the phases of the moon but we never see the "Full" Venus. On April 29th Venus is as fully illuminated as we ever see it and so will be at its brightest and because Venus is the second planet from the sun it is quite bright. You will even be able to see it a bit after dawn. Lyrid Meteor Shower It will be especially worth getting the kids up early on the morning of April 21st to see the Lyrid Meteor shower which produce 10 to 20 meteors per hour and sometimes even produces fireballs. It is called the Lyrid Meteor shower because it is visible in the constellation Lyra. You can use the free SkyView app to help you find Lyra. Try this at home Many cultures around the world incorporate eggs in their spring festivals. If you have leftover eggshells you can use them as fun planters. http://www.mainlyhomemade.com/crafts/eggshell-planter-grow-egghead-hair/ Fill with damp potting soil or laundry lint and sprinkle chia or wheat seeds on top. Keep them moist with a spray bottle. When the plants are large enough gently crush the eggs and plants in the ground. You can also dye eggs using natural dye. http://www.marthastewart.com/267850/dyeing-eggs-naturally If you have dyed eggs using commercial dye you can put celery sticks in the leftover dye to see how plants absorb water. http://www.kiwicrate.com/projects/Celery-and-Food-Coloring-Experiment/571 In the News New Solar System Found to Have 7 Earth Size Planets by Science News for Students https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/new-solar-system-found-have-7-earth-size-planets The picture below is speculation. You can't actually see the planets through a telescope. Astronomers discovered their presence and size by the change in brightness of the star as the planets pass in front of it. ![]()
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