Don’t fear the werewolves and vampires this weekend. An annular eclipse will make it’s way across the western United States.
This Sunday, May 20th in the late afternoon, an annular eclipse of the sun will be visible to the United States and a narrow path across the northern Hemisphere. A partial eclipse will be visible in East Asia, the North Pacific, North America and Greenland.
Solar eclipses happen all over the globe all the time, but this will be the first in the continental U.S. in more than 18 years.
An annular eclipse is a “ring of fire” solar eclipse. A total eclipse is when the moon’s shadow completely covers the sun and makes it dark during the day. This eclipse will cover about 85% of the sun leaving a visible ring.
If you want to see it, set a reminder, because it won’t last long. The eclipse will be visible first along Oregon and northern California at 1:23 p.m. local time. It will last 4 1/2 minutes as it tracks across the U.S. to Redding, CA, to Central Nevada, southern Utah
We can now add Cover Model to the list of accomplishments that Steve Spangler has achieved. He is on the cover of Speaker Magazine this month as The New Mr. Wizard.
Steve has been a member of the National Speaker Association for years and has been a keynote speaker at its conferences.
The article chronicles Steve’s rise to success from performing at church and birthday party events on the weekends with his parents, to doing over 4,500 school assemblies, to toy designer and teacher trainer.
Magic and speaking have always been an important part of Steve’s life and career. Pick up a copy of Speaker Magazine and find out how he turned a few videos on a fledgling website called YouTube into a paid gig on their new network.
Another interesting fact about Steve – he knows how to surround himself with talent. Our own Shawn Campbell took the photo for the cover.
This is an encore posting of an article we ran in spring of 2010 about balancing an egg on the equinox.
The first day of spring and the vernal equinox is this week. The vernal equinox marks the start of spring, an autumnal equinox marks the start of fall. During the spring and fall equinox, the sun is directly over the Earth’s equator and day and night lengths are equal for most of the planet – 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness.
The earth rotates around the sun on a tilted axis, which doesn’t change. When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, it experiences warmer, longer days. When the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away, experiencing colder and shorter days.
As the earth continues on its path around the sun, there are two points at which the sun hits the Earth perpendicular to the axis. When the earth is in this position, the sun is directly over the equator and there is an equinox. The earth then continues to tilt the opposite side of the sun and the seasons change to winter
Yesterday, President Barack Obama gave 10 states a waiver from the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) 2001 Act. It was a bipartisan federal law signed by President George W. Bush on Jan. 8, 2002 that was a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
The ESEA was enacted in 1965 and reauthorized in 1994. It was the federal government’s flagship aid program for disadvantaged students. The No Child Left Behind Act came at a time when the public was highly concerned about education. It was designed to drive improvements in student achievement and to hold states more accountable for student progress.
NCLB worked to help disadvantaged students and touched every public school in America while expanding the federal government’s role in education. The goal was to get students up to reading and math standards by 2014 by building accountability into the education system through standardized testing. If schools did not show progress, they would face sanctions.
Since its inception, NCLB has been under fire in the education community. Some high-performing schools began failing to meet set
Last October, YouTube announced the next big thing to come to entertainment and television… a YouTube Network of original channels. Beginning in 2012, they began adding 100 new channels to their lineup. They are bringing a wide range of talented producers, creators and personalities to the web and offering a new viewing experience for those who want to make the most of the YouTube platform. Programming on a wide range of topics like parenting, fitness, news channels, music, sports, comedy, pop culture and education are available.
We are very honored to be a part of this YouTube venture as a partner. Beginning Wednesday, February 1st Steve Spangler Science will offer an educational channel and show, The Spangler Effect.
About the Show
He’s the science teacher you always wanted to have in school. Things just happen to fizz, pop, smoke and explode, and before you know it, you’re a part of his learning experience. His passion is to find the most creative ways to make learning fun. His methods might be unconventional, but the goal is to turn ordinary science experiments into unforgettable learning experiences. And when it happens, it’s called TheSpangler Effect.
By Blog Editor, Susan Wells
