[500-word blurb] ED-7. Fairfax County (Alexandria), VA Featured EarthDial: Live from Northern Virginia The FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial (ED-7) is located in Fairfax County, Virginia (Alexandria, VA) at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Planetarium. [Paragraph Word Count (PWC): 24] -- [The FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial (ED-7) <-- beyond this point, use "ED-7" abbreviation. Revise following text accordingly.] The FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial is the result of a highly successful long-standing collaboration between the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Planetarium Program and the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC). [PWC=30] ABOUT ED-7WG ------------ The EarthDial Project - FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial Working Group is comprised of four members: John Avellone, Board of Trustees, Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC); Lee Ann Hennig, Planetarium Teacher, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST); Gary Purinton, Planetarium Teacher, Falls Church High School; and Walter Sanford, Planetarium Teacher, Carl Sandburg Middle School. Credits: Mr. Avellone, Design & Construction Manager; Ms. Hennig, Site Manager; Mr. Purinton, Webcam32 Software Manager; and Mr. Sanford, Project Coordinator & Webmaster/Curator. Web camera provided by Sandburg Middle School; Webcam32 software provided by Falls Church High School; Web hosting provided by "Sanford Instructional Technology." [PWC: 100] The FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial Webcam website was designed and created with a clear focus on education -- visitors to the ED-7 Web pages are provided with all of the information and guidance necessary to understand how to read the sundial, as well as make connections between solar time-keeping and fundamental concepts in astronomy, geography, and mathematics. The project is perfectly aligned with local, state, and national standards for science education. Near-real-time EarthDial Webcam imagery will be utilized by all nine FCPS Planetarium Teachers during programming for elementary students in the 12th largest school district in the U.S. FCPS elementary teachers (at nearly 140 elementary schools) may utilize the ED-7 Web site for extension or enrichment activities. [PWC: 118] -- ABOUT ED-7 ---------- The FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial is a horizontal sundial with a vertical gnomon, designed to resemble the MarsDials located on-board NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. [Typically, horizontal sundials have a triangle-shaped gnomon.] [PWC: 36] The sundial was set by using the time of Sun transit (12 noon Local Apparent Time) to align the sundial's meridian line (noon hour line) with a true geographic north-south line. To ensure proper alignment of the sundial, time checks were performed periodically on two different days. [PWC: 48] The FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial Webcam is a generic composite video camera that is connected to a Hewlett-Packard Vectra PC equipped with an ATI All in Wonder video card. Webcam32 webcam software is used to capture live still-video images (every 10 minutes on the 10s) that are webcast on our ED-7 Webcam page. [PWC: 54] The final installation and set-up was completed on Thursday, 29 January 2004. The first images of the FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial were successfully webcast beginning approximately 1:00 p.m. EST.-- [...same sense of accomplishment as the Mars rover team...] --at that moment, the ED-7 Team felt a gratifying sense of accomplishment, not unlike what the Mars Rover team must have felt as a result of the successful landings of Spirit & Opportunity! [PWC: 62] [Document Word Count (DWC): 429] [Three (3) photos plus captions] 1. DSCN1015-m.jpg [Photo Index II] <-- increase brightness Gary Purinton (shown left) and John Avellone (right). 2. DSCN1019-m.jpg* [Photo Index II] Shortly after 12 noon Local Apparent Time (LAT). 3. DSCN1021-m.jpg [Photo Index II] FCPS Planetarium Teachers Walter Sanford, Lee Ann Hennig, and Gary Purinton (shown left-to-right). *DSCN1019-m.jpg hyperlinked to close-ups, GPSr display: DSCN1044 & DSCN1045 http://www.wsanford.com/webcam/earthdial/gps/index.html == FCPS: 12th largest school district http://www.fcps.edu/about/stats.htm NOVAC membership: 788 (as of NOV 2003) == [Guidance from "EarthDial Central"] Having now seen six different Webcams on EarthDials, we have the following requests for the text that is superimposed on the image: - very important: clock time and date of image; ideally the time is on the 24-hour system and the time zone is indicated (e.g., PST for Pacific Standard Time) and the date has the month abbreviated by, say, "Jan", not month "1". The time/date stamp is important for the general viewer as well as for us (and you) when troubleshooting. We realize that your Webcam software might not allow all these options, but please do as much as you can. Be sure your computer clock is accurate, too! - your town and country - your longitude and latitude (nearest degrees) - for example 117 W 33 N - your EarthDial serial number - for example, ED-3 Here are additional items repeated from last time: (1) As soon as you have an existing EarthDial, please send us a digital image. (2) Your Webcam images should be posted to a page on your Website, where we will download them. When you're ready, simply tell us the URL where the updated images are posted. Updating your image every 10 minutes is sufficient. (3) A nice feature (which the Maryland dial has) is to have a page showing the last ~2 hours of images (the last 10-12 images) - in this way the viewer can see the progression of the shadow across the dial, as well as the transition from night to dawn, day to sunset, clouds coming and going, etc. We encourage you to do this. (4) Notice the faint light on the Seattle and Honduras EarthDials, which allows one to faintly see it even at night; if you can arrange a little illumination like this during the night, please do this. (Near the times of full moon, we can also try turning off any lights and observing the *moon*'s shadow - a MoonDial! More on that later.) (5) Alignment of your EarthDial to exactly true north-south is very important and must be carefully done. Please read the three methods described in the instructions and ideally use one of the more accurate methods (a magnetic compass is the worst accuracy). We will be comparing the times that your dials actually do indicate versus what they should read (since we know your longitude and the Greenwich Mean Time of each image), and will contact you about any detected misalignment. Of course we encourage you to do this yourself, but the necessary checking is a bit tricky to those without much astronomy background. (6) We also ask you to supply us with the URL of a web page describing your individual project, the host institution, the persons involved, and your local town. This page will be read by all those who want to know more about your EarthDial than simply its location. This page should be no more than 500 words and have no more than 3 images. If you want to write more, then please link to other pages. If your native language is not English, then feel free to put a small portion of the text in that language. The first paragraph of your text should be like a newspaper story - summarize the entire text and give all the important information. The remainder is of course up to you, but think about what readers around the world would like to know. This would include the nature of your institution, brief descriptions of the main person(s) involved, how you made your EarthDial and challenges involved, where exactly it is located, your feelings about participating in the EarthDial Project, thoughts about the connection with the MarsDial and "Two Worlds One Sun", thoughts about the nature of time and the whole Earth, etc., etc. Suggestions for your three images: the people involved; the Webcam/EarthDial setup seen in its environment, a typical scene in your neighborhood, etc. - please also supply captions. We're getting excited at EarthDial Central as the time gets closer. As always, contact us whenever you have concerns or ideas, and keep us informed of your likely "on-line date". Cheers, Woody Sullivan ****************************************************************** Prof. Woodruff T. Sullivan, III Center for Astrobiology & Early Evolution Dept. of Astronomy Box 351580 Univ. of Washington tel. 206-543-7773 Seattle, WA 98195 USA fax 206-685-0403 == [Input from LAH & JA] OK gang, here's my 98 words. Modify as needed. Regards, John Avellone In a message dated 1/31/04 9:03:58 AM Eastern Standard Time, lahennig@earthlink.net writes: talking points for a starting position for our draft: 1. Intro paragraph- a. cooperative venture among, NOVAC, TJHSST, FCPS b. salient points summarizing parts of text which follow 2. Info on FCPS and rich history of science education incorporating a sequential/hands on approach to teaching inquiry based science 3. The role of the FCPS planetariums in reaching thousands of students countywide as well as its role in community/club activities- outreach 4. Info on cooperation with NOVAC (history of working with planetariums/schools/community) ****INPUT****************************************************************** ***************** The motto of the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC) is: "To Observe and Help Others Observe". Accordingly, members of NOVAC support outreach in Astronomy in the local schools, colleges, universities, parks, and museums. Activities include giving lectures and sky tours, instructing in the building of telescopes, donating telescopes, advising on school curricula, and advocating for the support of the local school planetarium program at budget hearings. For more info on NOVAC, please use the link provided. *************************************************************************** ********************** 5. Site info on TJHSST 6. Walter's Role, Gary's Role, John's Role, Lee Ann's Role *****INPUT***************************************************************** **************** John's role: John Avellone, an active amateur telescope maker ("ASTROCAN", "SWEET SIXTEEN", etc) from NOVAC, designed, built, and tested this version of the "EARTHDIAL". *************************************************************************** ********************* 7. Thoughts on: a. feelings about participating in the Earth Dial Project b. connection with the MarsDial and "Two Worlds One Sun" c. the nature of time and the whole Earth..................