Geology folks of all stripes should check out this very interesting article on the potential for geothermal energy production in West Virginia. It seems that some good has come of all those gas wells that have been drilled :). They now know that West Virgina has more baseline electrical generation capacity via geothermal energy than it does in its coal reserves! And, since geothermal doesn't run out...well, all the better!
Geology folks -- We started chapter 9 today and took the chapter 18/19 quiz. Thursday, we will be in the computer lab using Google Earth to explore the different shapes of rivers as well as various aspects of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Let's hope that the computers are in a good mood!
BRCC geology folks -- What a trip on Monday, eh? I hadn't been to the Virginia DMME office before, but I came back inspired. I hope that you did also, at least a little bit. I've already spoken with Mr. Good about the possibility of putting together a BHS rock garden! The geologists there were great and extremely helpful. We didn't come back with as many water well records for Bergton as we had hoped, but we did come back with some direction on that as well as information on how to download relevant natural gas well logs of various types, geophysical and otherwise. So, we have some information to work with. Additionally, we found out that their office is in the process of beginning work on a surificial geologic map of the Broadway Quad. Serendipitous? I think so! We may be able to contribute. One idea is to map one (or more?) or your family farms. What a great opportunity.
Our test over chapters 6, 7, 13, and 1 is tomorrow. Be ready. After the test, we'll talk about some of these ideas that are crystallizing. I'm open to adjusting our curriculum as needed to accomodate interesting projects rather than spending our time lecturing and so forth.
Astronomy -- One sad piece of news, the final flight for the Shuttle Discovery is now set for November 1st. I grew up with the space shuttles. I was a little guy in elementary school when the news came of the Challenger disaster in 1986. Despite some tragic setbacks, it's been an amazing program. I hate to see it go. In particular, the thought of having to rely on Russion capsules to ferry our astronauts for the time being kind of stinks. I just hope that our politicians can get their act together to allow NASA the time and continuity of program that is necessary to develop and fly its replacement!
On a lighter note, since our next topic is our solar system (in about a week), it's timely to note the discovery of two Jupiter sized planets that were found, in all places, in a binary star system! It's been thought that the gravitational effects of a binary system preclude, or at least make quite difficult, the formation of planets. Neat, huh?
Homecoming and computers messed us up! We will get back on track, though. Tomorrow, 6th period will share their research on ancient observatories. After break, we'll have the quiz on chapter 4 and then begin diving into the solar system. Don't forget your observation for the month of October is due November 3rd!
See you in class...
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