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Learning Social Media Secrets and Science at The Mix in July!
The Cal Academy TechTeens will be leading fun social media trainings and science discussions every Wednesday in July at The Mix youth media center at the San Francisco Public Library. All teens are welcome from 3-4pm to this free workshop. No prior experience or technology necessary, just enthusiasm and curiosity.
Here’s the official description of the workshop:
Learn the secrets of using social media tools like Instagram, Twitter and Vine from the California Academy of Sciences' TechTeens . Use your new social media skills to discuss and debate exciting sciences issues! No experience necessary - great for meeting other teens and learning real job and team skills! Drop ins welcome or register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/social-media-secrets-tickets-16721087222
Sneak Preview of “The Mix” Youth Center at the SF Library!
Tomorrow is the grant opening of “The Mix,” a new teen-designed youth center focusing on technology and STEM at the San Francisco Public Library main branch. For the last four years, the California Academy of Sciences has been a central partner in the development of “The Mix,” alongside our friends at BAVC, KQED, the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, and the library itself. So it’s super exciting seeing “The Mix” go from just a crazy idea to a real youth space opening to the public on Thursday!
“The Mix” is more than just another youth center at the library, although it certainly is that. It’s a fully teched out facility that will enable Bay Area young people to explore a wide variety of technology tools, projects, challenges, and programs, as well as learn about science, the arts, and their city.
Here’s some of the coolness that some of the educators and teens at the Cal Academy got to check out earlier this week.
The entrance to The Mix is conveniently located on the main floor of the library, right off of the Larkin Street entrance.
Just to the left of the entrance is a small makerspace, where a MakerBot2 was busy constructing some cool thing.
Past the entrance and to the right is probably the most expected part of “The MIx,” a set of book shelves stocked with young adult-focused books. The two shelves stacked with manga were really enticing to me and a lot of the teens who were there. We compared our favorite titles and wondered about the “Attack on Titan” movie coming out.
Right nearby were several computer stations that have some cool audio production equipment.
Next to that is a kiosk where young people can check out iPads and PC laptops!
Around the corner is a large open space with carpeted, tiered seating. This spot looks ideal for youth showcases, performances, and presentations of their work for each other. (Hopefully the sneak preview and opening festivities will be the last times that this area is occupied by a bunch of older people.)
In the middle of “The Mix” are two of the coolest rooms: a video production booth with a retractable green screen, and an audio production room. During the sneak preview, teens were already creating dope beats and mixes. I predict that will be a very popular space!
Of course the most important part of “The Mix” arrives on Thursday: the youth! I can’t wait to see how they choose to use the space, collaborate, create cool media, and celebrate their work together. Our Cal Academy teens will be piloting programs there all summer, and then will continue to support “The Mix” into the school year.
The opening celebration of “The Mix” is tomorrow, Thursday June 18, at the downtown public library at 100 Larkin Street. The festivities start at 11am and go all day. Come on by and say hi the Cal Academy teens, who will be showcasing some of their work in the atrium.
Through a Scientific Lens: The Morrison Planetarium
Step inside a dark room and see a wide panel screen displaying otherworldly landscapes. The narrator’s voice resonates inside you, and for a moment you forget where you are. You may feel as if you are falling out of your seat, immersed in the imagery. You are experiencing a planetarium show.
The nearly three-dimensional images accompanied with rich sounds reverberate within the largest all-digital planetarium dome in the world. The beauty of the Morrison Planetarium in the California Academy of Sciences inspired the TechTeens’ News Team to investigate how the most recent show, Habitat Earth, was created. With our newly found fascination with the planetarium, we set up an interview with the team behind the production of the latest planetarium exhibit.
Its producers introduced us to the general format, which we have outlined here in simple steps.
Step 1: Brainstorm an idea
Step 2: Create a storyboard
After choosing an idea, the visualization studio begins to create a general outline of the planetarium show.
Step 3: Consult with scientists or experts in a particular field
Step 4: Collect real data
Step 5: Edit and finalize the storyboard
Step 6: Make videos and take photographs
Step 7: Animate using computer graphic programs
Step 8: Consult with scientists or experts again
Step 9: Make any changes if necessary
Step 10: It’s finally done, after a whole year of hard work!
Although this is only a general outline on how the video studio creates their planetarium shows, it is apparent that scientific accuracy is very important. Many people may find this excessive, but to a science museum, it is a necessity. In order to verify accuracy, the Academy’s Visualization Studio consulted with scientists to confirm the authenticity of the animated flight of a bird. Although only 25 minutes, the making of such an in-depth show requires around a year of work. In fact, the animators become so attached to their work after such a long time, some of the animals in the show have been given names, like Emmett the otter, who was created by Ken Ackerman. In addition to the intensive research behind the show, the scientists in the Viz Studio have other projects to work on, such as the California Academy’s Science Today videos.
Ken Ackerman showing us Emmett the Otter’s animation rig
The Morrison Planetarium uses six projectors to present a digitally generated show based on a science topic. The panel screen covers the entire front wall of the dome, from ceiling to floor. Dim lights guide the way up the stairs for the audience to find a seat, creating a theater-like feel. The narration for Habitat Earth was outsourced, meaning the team sought out an outside member to be responsible for the voice-over.
Among the most interesting things we learned during our tour of the Viz Studio were the way Matt Blackwell programmed the kelp into software that randomized each individual kelp strand, the aerial shot of Earth, in which the team used real data to show salmon habitat, and the fact that all representations in the show were based on actual data.
Matt Blackwell showing us the computer view of a planetarium dome show
Habitat Earth, the current show airing at the Academy, is based on the Academy’s focus on biodiversity and marine life. The show was created solely by the Viz Studio in their cozy office below the Planetarium, hidden by a secret spiral staircase. With their group of 8 producers, animators, and writers, the Viz Studio created a brand new, original planetarium show that is currently airing at the Academy. And it is not their last: next year, an entirely new film will be shown, bringing viewers into space and beyond.
Check out audio clips of our Viz Studio tour: here!
And, if you think planetarium show production is as cool as we do, check out the following animation resources to learn more:
Chat with Filipino Sea Cucumber Expert Don Olavides
I had the opportunity to connect with Don Olavides, a Filipino researcher studying sea cucumbers. He was kind enough to show us how the scientists process specimens that are brought in from their dives, so that they can be further studied back in the lab.
NOTE: Apologies for my terrible videography skills!
It was really great getting to meet Filipino scientists who were working alongside their American counterparts during the VIP expedition. This international, collaborative partnership is part of what makes our work their so special and valuable, both locally and back at the Academy.
Here’s another video of Don collecting sea cucumbers in the Verde island Passage.
Thanks for the impromptu chat and demo for us, Don!
Tour of the Academy’s Field Lab in Puerto Galera, Philippines
Check out this short tour of the Cal Academy’s field laboratory in Puerto Galera, Philippines, guided by the Academy’s curator of invertebrate zoology Dr. Rich Mooi.
This was shot fairly late in the evening to avoid the crush of scientists crowding the lab earlier in the afternoon. So there were not as many beautiful specimens on display unfortunately. But I think it still gets across the idea of how the lab is laid out and what our scientists are working on.
Thanks to Dr. Mooi for being a good sport and guiding us on a tour of the lab! Here’s Rich with a particularly cool sea urchin he’s studying.
One of the awesomest parts about being on the 2015 Verde Island Passage expedition is getting to connect with and educate the local communities around the area. For our presentations, we try very hard to emphasize the enormous wealth in marine biodiversity that the Philippines possesses.
For these island communities, being able to see the ocean around them in a new way is so powerful and maybe life-changing. For our outreach events, you can literally seeing hundreds of minds get blown away when they realize how magnificent the coral reefs are, just a few meters down from the ocean surface. Imagine seeing something your whole life and not realizing that it is ALIVE and so precious to all the life around you?
Here’s ichtyologist Dr. Kent Carpenter from Old Dominion University explaining (in Filipino!) why he calls the Verde Island Passage the “center of the center of marine biodiversity” in the world.
One big challenge is just getting Filipinos into the water. Despite living so close to the ocean, many people in the communities we spoke to admitted that they did not know how to swim. Several shared that they were actually quite afraid of the water. Parents told me that they didn’t know of any programs where their children could go to even learn to swim.
And beyond just getting in the water is being able to explore the reefs. One young man during our Lobo outreach asked the group how could a normal person in the community like himself ever hope to go diving, when it is so expensive?
We discussed various options, from local resorts offering special programs for local youth to get to learn to dive to getting a set of community-managed masks and snorkels so that anyone could borrow them for the day. But the reality is that scuba diving is a very expensive activity that is far beyond the budgets of most people in the coastal communities in the Philippines.
There were no easy answers. But people were so appreciative of having their eyes opened to the wonders in their own front yards.
Connecting Filipino Teachers to Marine Biodiversity and Sustainability
We’ve completed two outreach events we’ve organized as part of the 2015 Philippines Verde island Passage expedition. It has been a really remarkable experience getting to connect with local Filipinos to educate them about marine biodiversity and environmental sustainability.
Our first outreach event was for a group of about 60 high school teachers at the Puerto Galera National High School. Although they all lived and taught not very far from the ocean, they learned a lot about the marine life in their local area, from tunicates to barnacles to nudibranch.
Our “habitat in a bucket” activity had them occupied for a long time, as they inquired into the relationships among the sand, rock, coral, seaweed, algae, and marine animals.
Getting to meet and talk with both American and Filipino scientists was also a high point of the outreach. Dr. Bob von Syoc impressed them with his knowledge of barnacles. Dr. Sarah Cohen shared her love of the tiny marine animals called tunicates. And Filipino scientists Jenire Miravite and Joseph Comendador shared their personal scientific interests (marine biology and sea sponges) and brought important local perspectives.
At the end of the teacher outreach, the educators shared what their major takeaways were from the training. Several talked about different lessons that they planned on doing in their classrooms, from bringing in local specimens to doing scientific sketching to encouraging more sustainable practices in their schools. One teacher moved us all with his impassioned question, “Why is it that foreigners come to the Philippines and get so inspired that they create a Philippine aquarium exhibit, but we Filipinos have not done the same for ourselves?”
It was really amazing seeing these teachers so inspired by the biodiversity in their own backyard. We left them with USB drives with our lessons, paper handouts, and internet links. But most of all I hope that we left them with the mental tools and emotional motivation to improve their practice as educators, and impact their students’ lives dramatically.
Today is the first of four outreach events that Meg Burke, Lindzy Bivings and I will be leading all around the Batangas area. I’m nervous and excited about sharing about science, biodiversity, and sustainability for people on local communities in the Philippines!
Our first stop today is a training for about 60 teachers at the Puerto Galera National High School, not far from our dive resort. We’ve got a full day of action planned for the educators, including a coral sketching activity, examining a “habitat in a bucket”, doing a rapid trash assessment of the local area, meeting some of our scientists participating in the expedition, and showing off a few live specimens for them.
Last night, we collected several items from the beach to use during our outreaches, including a pailful of dead coral, some rocks with algae and small animals living on them, and a beautiful assortment of sea stars. It was a lot of fun just wading around in the water at night with flashlights looking for marine life. So many neat fish, eel, sea urchins, and more are active at night!
Over the next days we’ll be doing outreaches in the communities of Verde Island, San Pascual (200 participants!), and Lobo. I hear that we’ll have a mixture of teachers, students, local officials, and the general public. Should be really interesting!
Working at the Cal Academy, I have spent a good amount of time in our aquarium, particularly our main setpiece, the giant Philippines coral tank. I must admit I have wondered if the sheer diversity and density of life in our tank actually represents what you would encounter here in the Philippines.
Having done several dives now in the Verde Island Passage area, I can now testify that the actual coral reefs here in the Philippines ARE as colorful, diverse, and magnificent as our tank back at the Academy. The GoPro can not capture the brilliant colors, textures, and movement of all the marine life in even a small area of the reef here. But these videos give you a flavor of what you would see.
I can’t even imagine the work that it took to recreate this awesome spectacle back in California at the Steinhart Aquarium. But I am even more grateful that I work at the Academy, where we can bring these truly breathtaking places and make them available for everyone to encounter up close. I have newfound respect for Bart Shepherd and the rest of the talented aquarium team at the Academy.
Here’s Meg Burke and Rich Mooi, two of the main organizers of the 2015 Verde Island Passage expedition, hard at work. As you can see, Rich is always ready for action!
As I mentioned in a previous post, we’ve got a really neat makeshift lab that we’ve set up in the dining area of the Atlantis Beach Resort. I did a little walk through and spotted these cool specimens that were recently collected.
Kelly Markello was working on this beautiful echinoderm. It appears to be leeching dye into the alcohol it’s preserved in.
This tunicate was collected by peeling it away from the coral it was attached to.
This valonia ventricosa, also known as a “sailor’s eyeball,” was quite striking. The entire “eye” is a single cell, one of the largest single cells known to science!
This lovely wrasse was collected by the fish team. The photo doesn’t quite capture his beautiful colors and patterns.
Every day, nearly every hour, there are fascinating new specimens that our scientists are bringing in.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to go on a snorkeling dive with Rich Mooi, curator of invertebrate zoology at the Cal Academy. Dr. Mooi is one of the principal investigators of the expedition and an expert on marine invertebrates, particularly sea urchin. He’s also an amazing illustrator and science educator. So really a triple threat!
I set out in the morning with Rich, Meg Burke, and Lindzy Bivens from the Academy, and two local Filipino researchers.
After suiting up, we rode a small boat for about 30 minutes to our snorkel site called “Boulders” not far from our expedition headquarters in Sabang. Rich gives us the run down of what we are likely to encounter and what our plan of attack is.
The dive site was incredibly pictureque and charming. In this one small area, we had a colorful colony of coral, a sandy section full of marine life, a dense section of eel grass to swim through, and a copse of mangrove trees growing right up to the water. There was a lot to explore just one small cove!
There were of course a lot of sea urchin and sea urchin tests (shells) to check out. This little guy covers himself in debris around the immediate vicinity, apparently for some camoflage and to protect himself from the sun.
This huge sea cucumber was really cool. One of the Filipino researchers specializes in sea cucumbers, so he collected several neat specimens to take back.
Chocolate chip sea stars are my favorite sea stars I’ve encountered so far! There’s lots of neat variations in their coloring.
And here’s a brittle star that I got to hold gently before putting her back.
I honestly don’t remember what species Rich told us this guy was. But he certainly did not look too pleased that we were bothering him.
One of the coolest moments was toward the end of our two-hour dive. Rich beckons us over to where he is standing.
“This is a look-but-don’t-touch,” Rich cautions us.
Then he has us stick our faces in to look at what appears to be... a rock. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be looking at or noticing. Then Rich starts to gingerly remove bits of coral, shell, and debris to reveal a startlingly beautiful flower urchin. It was like a magic trick.
I got a newfound appreciation for the depth and breadth of Rich’s knowledge of marine life, and his ability to reveal it’s wonder to others.
While not the most exciting outing in terms of new discoveries, it was important that we did a thorough investigation of the area as part of our overall expedition goals to document the biodiversity of this very special ecosystem of the Verde Island Passage. I’m so glad that I get to play a very small part in that.
After about 20 hours of flights from San Francisco to Honolulu to Guam to Manila, an overnight stay in Manila, a three hour ride in a van, and a one hour boat ride, we finally arrived at the Atlantis Dive Resort in Puerto Galera yesterday afternoon (Tuesday, April 7).
I have not spent much time here, but everyone on the expedition seems really excited to be at this location. The Atlantis Resort seems to have gone all out to accommodate the unique needs of our scientific research teams.
We have a large section of the dining area reserved for examining and processing marine specimens that we bring in — a very curious sight for tourists staying at the resort having their breakfast!
The dive shop seems world-class and more than able to handle the amount of diving gear we’ve brought with us, including elaborate re-breather apparatus for deeper dives. The boats that take us out on dives are just a few steps from the resort, which if you have ever waddled around wearing scuba gear is a huge benefit. And the kitchen staff have been very accommodating of our unique meal and drink needs, so we can stay fed and healthy for our long stay here.
We’re actually in the nearby town of Sabang, which has a huge sign at the port that indicates that we’ve chosen the right place to make our temporary home.
Yesterday afternoon, after settling into the room, I had my first real snorkel outing with Lindzy Bivens, also from Teacher Youth Education. Lindzy is an accomplished distance swimmer and experienced snorkeler. So appreciated her help in getting used to being in the water. An obvious example of my newb-ness was that I had my wetsuit on backwards!
Anyway, after a few minutes of testing our gear, we spent a happy 45 minutes just checking out what could be seen just a few meters from shore. We were blown away by the lush coral and aquatic flora despite being directly in the path of very active boat traffic lanes. We saw beautiful sea stars, tiny crabs hustling along in their protective shells, iridescent fish darting around, and a lot more.
This morning is our first real snorkel outing with some of the researchers, including Rich Mooi. Can’t wait to find out what we’ll discover!
Meanwhile, our researchers are every day discovering new species with each dive. I look forward to sharing more about their most exciting finds. Stay tuned!
I plan on blogging here as often as possible about the 2015 Verde Island Passage expedition. But if you want to stay up-to-the-minute on how the expedition is going, I encourage you to follow the calacademy twitter feed and in particular the #casfieldnotes hashtag! There’s already a ton of interesting tweets tagged with #casfieldnotes.
Annika, a youth participant in the Academy’s Teen Advocates for Science Communications shares her experience at the “Girls Underwater Robot Camp” in January organized by Open Explorer.
In January 2015, over MLK weekend, I spent three days building a robot that will go underwater along with five other girls my age. The first day, we went to there headquarters in Berkeley and learned each other’s names as well as about the place we were at. We were where OpenROV, a company that designs, builds, and ships out kits to create remotely operated vehicles that fly underwater builds all its robots. The amazing Erika Bergman ran the experience and taught and instructed us all through the building process. She used to be a submarine pilot, and now plans expeditions for OpenROV. She created the all-girls building experience, which she hosts on some weekends, in an effort to bring more girls to engineering.
The ROV zooming around the tank
The first day, we learned each others names, toured the facility, and flew a robot in a giant tank to learn all about the program. We split up into three groups of two in order to build different parts of the robot. My group was in charge of the “brain”, or electronics, of the robot.
The controls for the ROV/what it is seeing with its camera
The second day, we continued working. We finished early, so we decided to bedazzle our robot with green and blue gems! Our robot was from kit number 1600, so we decided to name it “Puck”, as Shakespeare had lived in that time.
OpenROV’s picture of a version 2.7 ROV (source)
The third day, we went to a different spot: Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER), in Alameda, founded by Silvia Earle. There, we got to see huge ROVs and submarines being created in a giant factory that can go super deep underwater. We learned about expedition planning and where you can go with a robot that goes underwater, using resources like Open Explorer. After eating lunch, we went outside the factory and put Puck into the water and went on an expedition! It got caught in some weeds, but we managed to pull it out and overall, have a lot of fun.
Open ROV explores shipwreck in Lake Tahoe
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