Wailele 2016

The War in Darfur (called by some, including the American Government, the Darfur Genocide) is a military conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan. The current lines of conflict are seen to be ethnic and tribal, rather than religious.  The conflict began in February of 2003.

The deadly carnage in Darfur, Sudan, for example, which is almost always discussed in political and military terms, has roots in an ecological crisis directly arising from climate shocks.
Jeffrey Sachs, economist

Darfur provides a case study of how existing marginal situations can be exacerbated beyond the tipping point by climate-related factors. It also shows how lack of essential resources threatens not only individuals and their communities but also the region and the international community at large.
Think-Tank, CNA Corporation

Amid the diverse social and political causes, the Darfur conflict began as an ecological crisis, arising at least in part from climate change.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

What can we learn from the crisis in Darfur, Sudan occuring now?

What can we personally do about this situation?

Topic: Clouds
In The Complete Sailor: Learning the Art of Sailing, David Seidman writes, “Clouds are the harbingers of weather. Their shape, height, color, and sequence foretell coming events.”

Question
How can the shape, height, and color of clouds help an ocean navigator to predict oncoming weather?

Hi Explorers All,

Just a reminder that the end of the star tracking activity is this Saturday, November 16. Any evening between now and then, and between the hour of 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm, you are invited to track the star Enif and compare your results with others participants in this challenge. This activity can prepare you for navigating your canoe to Rapa Nui.

To this point, we have not received nearly enough responses to do a real comparison (especially in the Northern U.S.) and wouldn’t it be fun to get results from around the globe as well? The weather doesn’t always cooperate,
so don’t wait to the last minute!

All the directions you need are at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/challenges/lcross2/Star_Tracking_Enif.pdf
Parents and teachers are aloud to help. Please submit your information to me by Tuesday, November 18.

Happy Star Gazing,
Linda

On Tuesday, Mr. Chung showed a 2 minute video on the Chinese space program. In the video, a Chinese government official proudly mentioned that China sent a man into space, fully conscious and without shackles. The news clip goes on to discuss how China was using political prisoners for their space program. One reporter said, “China’s first manned mission occurred when political prisoner Yang Li-Wei was knocked unconscious in his cell and awoke to find himself in orbit.”

After a heated class discussion on the pros and cons of this space policy and whether the United States should themselves adopt this strategy, Mr. Chung dropped a bombshell. He mentioned that the news report was a parody and it was not true.

What were you thinking when Mr. Chung was showing the video and giving the lesson? Did you think it was a good thing that the Chinese government was doing with their prisoners?

How did you feel when you found out the news story was fake?

Why do you think Mr. Chung gave this fake lesson? What did you learn from this?

Welcome to the NASA Quest Navigation Challenge! the purpose of this Challenge is to connect students in the USA to NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission while teaching them about different methods of Earth-based and space-based navigation. Please click on links on right under NASA to learn about this project.

Why is it important to learn about your ancestor’s voyages around the Pacific Ocean?

Why is NASA so interested in Polynesian wayfinding?

Why do humans explore?

Teach the class two things you learned from your research about NASA and Polynesian wayfinding.