A Time for Science

Mark Kelly Pictures

Shawn Wyatt — Sun, 13 May 2012 16:58:55 +0000

We wanted to share the following pictures of the Captain Mark Kelly talk. The pictures were taken by Dan Sokolovic. If you click through to the Picasa link you can get a full version for your personal use. Click the album cover below to get started.


Mark Kelly TalkMay 8, 2012Photos: 163

A Time for Science Video

Shawn Wyatt — Sun, 13 May 2012 16:49:29 +0000

Before the Captain Mark Kelly talk we had the following video playing. We want to share this with you and anyone else that wants to know more about A Time for Science.

News Notes for April 2012

Shawn Wyatt — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:39:01 +0000

Please join us in reviewing the April 2012 News Notes. We wish to thank our many, many wonderful volunteers for all of their help and assistance.

Finally, we hope that you will all join us in promoting and participating in the visit and presentation by Mark Kelly on May 8 and look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.

Regards,

John and Nancy

Grifton Shad Festival 2012

Shawn Wyatt — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:32:21 +0000

John took his volunteers for a day at the Children’s’ Section of the Grifton Shad Festival to present the popular activity “The Science of Old-Timey Toys.” A number of interested families frequented the booth and signed on for ATFS information.

Earth Day 2012

Shawn Wyatt — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:26:50 +0000

Saturday’s Earth Day 2012 festivities started bright and early. Joining in the morning with a variety of other exhibitors, Nancy and Leah and their ATFS volunteers “wowed ‘em” (we hope) with the “LOOKITING” activities on ECU’s campus providing hand-on activities at the North Carolina Center for Biodiversity’s EARTH DAY EXPO at the Howell Building.

For ATFS’s second participation in this year’s North Carolina Science Festival, the afternoon saw a host of Earth Day activities at the Nature Center and the Conservancy. Pitt Community College conducted a day-long lab for one of their Earth Science class. Financed with a grant from the Disney Friends for Change, obtained through Casey Sokolovic’s Love a Sea Turtle Foundation, fruit trees and hazelnut bushes were purchased from the Arbor Day Foundation to provide “Edible Landscaping” around ATFS’s new classroom/office building. Volunteer groups (Boys& Girls Club, ECU Students and others) assembled by L.A.S.T. under the banner of the Global Youth Service Day provided manpower for the plantings.

In addition to the plantings volunteers provided a clean-up of Little Contentnea Creek spearheaded by Kohl’s Cares volunteers, and while supervising parking the DH Conley Jr. ROTC volunteers provided a clean-up of Contentnea Lane that leads to the ATFS Center. As a continuation of the morning’s EARTH DAY EXPO, ECU’s NC Center for Biodiversity conducted various nature walks and provided activities in and around the ponds on the Conservancy. Finally, this event served to introduce the first of the ATFS composting toilets that ATFS plans to incorporate into its facilities maintenance plans.

A visit from the Director of the NC Science Festival, Jonathan Fredrick, made Nancy’s Day. A grand cook-out was provided for the student volunteers as well.

Second Annual Space and Astronomy Day

Shawn Wyatt — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:03:09 +0000

The weather on April 14th was gorgeous and those attending the Second Annual Billy Richard All Space – Astronomy Day had lots to keep them occupied. First of all they had an opportunity to see the newly opened Classroom Office building. Along with the popular Stroll of the Solar System and solar observing, the traditional straw rockets, sun dial making and the solar cookie table and all the other stand-by exhibits, several new displays were introduced. These included an activity showing the complexities of working in the weightlessness of space while encased in the protective gear necessary for such work, an exhibit which facilitates an understanding of what causes the phases of the Moon, calculations of a person’s weight on other planets, how to make a compass clock, and a redesigned Launcher for “Spudnick” the potato gun. These activities and more were available for families to peruse at their leisure in the wide-open picnic surroundings of the nature areas that make up the Nature and Science Learning Center.

Congratulations Pitt Pirates

Shawn Wyatt — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:52:25 +0000

Over March 22-24 the FIRST Pitt Pirates Robotics team (a group that routinely volunteers their services at ATFS) competed in the Palmetto Regional competitions in Charleston, SC. They came in at 2nd Place. Then, over April 5-7 they competed with 55 other teams in the FIRST North Carolina Regional event and captured the 1st Place award as well as the Team Safety award and the Team Spirit Award. The Pitt Pirates are now headed to St. Louis to compete with 499 other teams for the International Championships. Besides any moral support you can offer this up-and-coming group of engineers and entrepreneurs. Anything you might wish to donate to their travel and competition expenses would be more than welcomed by Bill and Ann McClung, their directors at mcclung.ann@gmail.com.