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“Watch the insect dance!” said the boy as he placed the solar-powered insect under an incandescent light. “He’s taking a nap now!” he said after placing the same bug under a fluorescent light. He may not be old enough to understand the language, but he just learned a lesson about infrared energy.
“Did you hear that? What did I say?” said the Walton family. They took turns trying a special “big ear” experiment. The family learned that some animals, such as dogs with funnel-shaped ears, can hear distant sounds. Their ears point in one direction and collect sound like a lens collects light. On Saturday, the Walton family started sounding just like those animals, and it was as if they had acquired a new superpower.
These lessons were taught by Merle “Misty” Brave and Jesse Pina, professors at Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. They brought the Little Shop of Physics to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument last Saturday, March 16th, in celebration of Science Education Day.
This was the second year the duo offered science fun at the monument. Little Shop of Physics uses resources originally developed by Colorado State University, Fort Collins. Brian Jones, CSU director and program founder, launched his unique program in collaboration with his OLC professors more than a decade ago and has partnered with them ever since. “The big message is that science is accessible,” Jones says. “What we do is exciting, fun and engaging.”
“The relationship between the Agate Fossil Beds and the Oglala Lakota people goes back long before the monument was established,” explained Terra Lynn Gray, lead interpreter and ranger. “In 1875, James H. Cook, a young owner of the Agate Springs Ranch, met Oglala Chief Red Cloud at Fort Robinson. The chief interrogated American paleontologist OC Marsh about his activities in the Black Hills. Mr. Cook knew Lakota and some Plains Indian sign language, so he was able to translate.”
The National Park Service is now collecting the gifts exchanged between the Red Cloud and Cook families over the ensuing decades, as well as the fossils Cook found on his ranch in the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 54 miles north of Mitchell, Nebraska. are stored and interpreted.
“This event is just one way Agate seeks to maintain and grow the friendship that began so long ago between Cook and Red Cloud,” Gray said.
Agate Fossil Beds has some other great free events planned this summer. These and more information can be found on the park’s website: https://www.nps.gov/agfo/planyourvisit/calendar.htm.
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is located on Highway 29, 54 miles north of Mitchell, Nebraska, or 35 miles south of Harrison, Nebraska, and 5 miles east of River Road. Visitor Center winter hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the trail is open from dawn to dusk. Visit us at www.nps.gov/agfo and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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