by Michael E. Bakich
This photo shows the participants (and yours truly) in a week-long teacher's workshop in Alexandria, Virginia. I conducted three afternoon sessions on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, August 2, 3, and 4, 2010. But where last year's session focused on astronomy, this year the subject was oceanography. Well, Earth's a planet, too! My three sessions were "Meet the Oceans," "Climate Change and the Oceans," and "Oceans Here and Elsewhere." Of course, I couldn't conduct a workshop for teachers without giving away some Astronomy literature. Everyone loved the monthly magazines, the one-shot specials, and the 100-page "Extreme Weather" issue we produced a few years back. Special thanks to organizer Melissa Hamilton (centered in the back row just in front of me). I met Melissa on a trip to Russia to see the 2008 total solar eclipse. I also want to send my thanks to co-workshop conductor Kathryn Schulz (second from left), who led the morning sessions and applied all the facts, figures, and content I provided to classroom activities.