Project-Based

ELECTRIFYING: Another busy day around MPA. There were classes in the morning, where the kids worked on posters to help raise ecological awareness.

We worked on a couple of rebuild/refurbish projects in the early afternoon. By late afternoon, we moved on to electronics. Specifically, we cracked open a ScienceWiz "Energy" kit.

The kids read up on different types of energy, including kinetic and potential energy. They also read about chemical, electrical and nuclear energy. Then it was time to combine some different forms of energy to create a moving propeller! 

After they got it running, we asked them what would happen to the propeller if they switched the wires to different ends of the battery. ... They found out it reversed direction.

ON ALERT: Seeing the Northern Lights is a bucket list item for me and a good number of people I know.

I missed a SPECTACULAR Aurora Borealis show visible here in Seattle during the early morning hours of Mother's Day (despite the fact I was up and awake, grrr!). Maybe this weekend will be a different story ohpleaseohpleaseohplease!

Right now, forecasters give between a 67- and 75-percent chance of a geomagnetic storm occurring, according to SpaceWeather.com. The storm watch begins on Friday, June 3 at dark, and continues through Saturday night. 

Scott Sistek of KOMO news has a great article about the potential event online here: http://komonews.com/weather/scotts-weather-blog/northern-lights-might-be-visible-around-western-washington-again-this-weekend. And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has an update about it, as well:  http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/update-g2-moderate-watch-effect-4-and-5-june-utc-day

Speaking of the sun, here's a cool video from the Science Channel (courtesy of NASA research, of course), regarding the sound (yes, sound!) the sun makes. Data in the video is from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The video speeds up 40 days of recording into a few seconds. 

http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/how-the-universe-works/videos/this-is-what-the-sun-sounds-like/

The Run Around

SCORE!: We took advantage of a rare Tuesday afternoon game to enjoy some Mariners baseball at Safeco Field.

Boy, are we glad we went! It was a slugfest by the Ms. I have never seen the ball carry as well as it did on Tuesday. SO many moon shots were launched by Seattle bats.

Meanwhile, Mariners' pitchers Hisashi Iwakuma was dealing a gem. In fact, he was perfect (no runs, no walks) into the fifth inning. 

Since Kuma was pitching, we brought our stuffed Mariners bear. (Iwakuma means 'bear' in Japanese, and so he's nicked Kuma/the Bear.)  Kuma wears jersey #18, so I had to get a photo of our bear on the seat next to us.

Before the game, I took a photo of our bear and shared it on Twitter with the hashtags I know the scoreboard operators are looking for, and sure 'nuff, Kuma bear showed up on the big screen!

But back to the game. Bases loaded, as pictured below, was a common sight on Tuesday. 

In the end, the Mariners scored 16 runs (!) in 8 innings (they didn't need their bottom of the ninth). That run total tied a Safeco Field record. 

Things got so crazy, that at the end of the game, the Padres were bringing in position players to pitch. We saw a second baseman and the shortstop take the mound. It was pretty entertaining. Christian Bethancourt, pictured below, broke out a 53 MPH knuckleball at one point. The guys in both dugouts were laughing and getting a boot out of the show.

Here's a quick report from Annabelle about it all ...

Today at the Mariners game, we scored 16 runs! That ties the record for most runs per game at Safeco Field! After about the 4^th inning, there was no doubt that we’d win! It was really fun to go.
 The game started a bit slow. The Mariners hit their first home run in the first inning, and it only got better after that! In the end, the score was 16 to 4! I’m super glad we got to go and see this moment in Mariners history unfold right before our eyes!

One diversion we had during the game was some rustling behind CJ's seat. Upon investigation, the source was a butterfly that couldn't seem to figure out how to get out of the tight space.

 We used some paper to help scoop it up and out.

We're happy to report it was last seen winging its way over left field. :)

We capped off the fun day by roasting some marshmallows in the yard. We didn't have any chocolate bars to make s'mores, so we improvised with chocolate chips. It worked!

Tanks for the Memories

TANKS A LOT: Memorial Day, we headed north to Everett, to the Flying Heritage Collection's annual Tankfest event. 

There, we got to see an assortment of vintage vehicles in action. There was this old Plymouth found in a barn not too long ago ... 

There were personnel transporters of various vintages.

I liked this non-motorized one!

Here's another two-wheeled model, this one with a motor.

We heard the BOOM! of big artillery ... 

 and enjoyed the beats of Blue Thunder.

Here's CJ's review of our Tankfest experience ...

Tankfest Northwest 2016 was an event at Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection displaying, as its name implies, several tanks, primarily used in World War I and World War II. According to the schedule, the "opening ceremony" was supposed to be at 11:00 A.M., but was delayed by an hour, apparently to let people who were in line into the show. Tankfest Northwest's opening involved firing a tank-sized gun known as the Flak 37, which was very loud when fired. Apparently, the machine was used by the German military during World War II, originally using it as an anti-air weapon. Eventually, they discovered that it was effective against really most opposing weapons, so they used the Flak 37 as an "anti-everything" weapon, as the host put it.

Although the premise of an event where you could stay and learn about several different military vehicles sounded neat, there were less-than-impressive parts of the event. As I mentioned earlier, the event was delayed by an hour. Instead of having a large field for the tanks and vehicles to roll around in, there was a very small, fenced area for the tanks to rush through. Because the tanks were going by quickly, and the announcer was talking rather slowly, it could be difficult to actually learn about the tanks, or even keep track of them. Lastly, most of the audience had to stand on hard, hot pavement, packed against one another, which got uncomfortable very quickly. Being in the cluster could also make it difficult to see. 

Overall, although the premise sounded like a nice idea, I was not impressed with Tankfest Northwest 2016.

I'd like to say CJ was wrong, but his review is pretty spot on. The venue arrangement was pretty horrible./inadequate. 

My favorite part of the show was a spry little tank tearing around at up to speeds of 40 MPH.

And then there was the 'sideshow' part of the show, a guy from Tacoma pulling a lot of weight. Specifically, a Russian tank atop a flatbed truck.

The total weight pulled was 57 tons, per event organizers. Mark Kirsch, of Tacoma was the guy doing the pulling. 

 He kind of made it look easy!

All in all, it was an interesting day, and we saw things we'll never see elsewhere. But unless they change the layout of the festivities dramatically, I can't imagine ever going back.