First Science Quiz Bowl - Follow-Up

As some of you will no doubt know, we tried something new last Monday. With help from River's Bend Restaurant and Bar (in the old Parkville Power Plant), that night was the innaugural Science Quiz Bowl.

Some forty people turned out (not bad for Parkville on a Monday night) to answer questions in twelve different categories of science knowledge. Teams were composed of families, students, interested adults, and even the Parkville Chamber of Commerce (which managed a respectable third place)! The winning team, from Park Hill South high school, scored their game-winning finish by knowing (surely not guessing) that one of the elements responsible for the green of an emerald is chromium (the other, according to Mindat, is vanadium, which some of you will know is responsible for the blue-green color of the mineral cavansite). We apologize to everyone who guessed "copper" - actually, it was more of a trick question than originally anticipated.

We'd like to thank everyone who came out, and we hope that everyone had a great time, and possibly even learned something. Watch our Facebook and Twitter feeds for more information for the next time!

Updates All Over...

There are many, many things going on at the Beagle right now, and I thought that I'd take a minute here to lay out a few of them for you, faithful reader:

New look website: the H.M.S. Beagle website has been updated to make it easier to navigate and use. If you have questions, comments, or problems, let me know via email - I've got a second generation of improvements planned, but this framework had to go in place first.

Social Networking: we've expanded our presence on Facebook and Twitter. The Twitter updates also fold neatly back into both the main website and this blog (they're over there on the right). Follow us on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, and keep up with all of the latest happenings at the Beagle. And make certain that you let us know if you became a fan, read the blog, or saw the main website after clicking through our advertisement on Facebook - it'll help us to keep track of how effective those adverts are!

Workshops, Workshops, Workshops: under the Events / Activities tab on the website, you'll find all of the things that we're doing, including the Events Calendar, with all sorts of useful information; updates on our Astronomy-related activities, including Star Parties, Telescope Basics Workshops, and Star-Hopping Workshops; additionally, we have Workshops in Chemistry, Electronics, Robotics, Rocks & Minerals, and Rocketry planned for the summer, take a look at those listings as well!

Fossil Digs: we're very, very excited about our upcoming Fossil Digs, including our First Trilobite Jam in Delta, Utah this July, and our usual Science Club fossil digs in June. Make sure that you plan to attend, and let us know via email if you have questions!

Special Events: right now, we're delighted to be planning a party on a Sunday, 11 April 2010 for Yuri's Night, and international celebration of manned spaceflight (sadly, I'll be out of town for this, but I'm hoping we'll get to swing by the one in San Francisco). The Beagle's Yuri's Night fun will include a showing of "October Skies", free rocket launches (bring your rocket!) in association with the Kansas City Rocketry Association (KCAR), and an evening of star-gazing with Leif! All of this fun is free for the whole family (weather permitting, of course); check out our Special Events Page for more information.

So that's what we've been doing, instead of writing blog entries... There's a great deal going on at the Beagle, and we hope that you'll stop in, sign up, and support us in continuing to provide great science-based activities in the Kansas City area!