GMAO’s “Notion of Ocean Motion” Demonstration Part of NASA’s Earth Day 2018
05.09.2018
Members of the GMAO team took part in NASA’s Earth Day activities held in the Main Hall of Washington DC’s Union Station on April 19 and 20, 2018.
The Main Hall, made up of marble, gold leaf, and white granite, with centurion statues guarding from above, echoed with the voices of visiting children and adults alike. The visitors participated in the many different demonstrations that were part of the event and listened to the various informative and entertaining Hyperwall presentations throughout both days.
At the GMAO table, the demonstration was entitled “The Notion of Ocean Motion.” In this hands-on activity, attendees explored how water moves throughout the ocean, scaled down to a much smaller size. GMAO staffers showed, in a special tube, how fluids move depending on their densities by pouring salt water over top fresh water. Added food coloring was a useful visual aid that showed the flow of the heavier water as it displaced the fresh water beneath it.
On the first day of the event, students and teachers from many different schools moved about the Union Station Main Hall, visiting each demo, listening to Hyperwall presentations, and visiting with Paul Richards, astronaut on Space Shuttle Discovery (March 2001) who spent the day signing photos and speaking with visitors. The second day was more public-oriented and many people, young and old, spent time at the GMAO table, watching the demo and discussing its results, as well as learning more about GMAO and Earth Science. Some visitors with luggage took the time to interact, even though it was obvious they were on their way to or from the train!
There were many Hyperwall presentations covering both days and speakers met the challenge of showing their work in the crowded noisy environment. Lesley Ott’s presentation was “Watching the Earth Breathe Through Satellites and Models” and Steven Pawson’s was “NASA’s Observations, from Fire to Rain, and How We Use Them in Models of the Earth System.”
GMAO’s involvement in the NASA Earth Day event was organized by Sterling Spangler, and Anna Borovikov, Emily Saunders, Brent Smith, Virginie Buchard, Mahendra Karki, Emma Knowland, Robin Kovach, Gary Partyka, and Ben Merchant were on hand to perform the demos and interact with the attendees.
