The first day of Science in the Parks is celebratory. I think for many of us it signifies a start to our summer season, and of course it’s a public launch of the program. It’s almost always sunny and even as we feel a little less organized than we will next week (we forgot tape today and had to rush to the store to pick up a few extra rolls), it all feels like we’re on the right track.

The other reason that it’s celebratory for me is that I sleep a little better after the first day. It’s good to know that the wheels on the trailer don’t fall off, the tents all pop up, and we have enough tables. And, especially, it’s a huge relief to see that we have enough volunteers and staff. It’s families who attend that make the program possible, but it’s the volunteers and staff who set everything into motion. Here’s Katie, who spontaneously jumped up to help a young scientist view the roundness of the sun through one of our filters. (Incidentally, Katie could be your biology teacher starting next year, if you’re so lucky.) 

Besides looking at things far away, we got a chance to look at things very close:

And, there was the chance just to play around with light itself. Filters up on the tent fabric combined to make new colors for us — the blue and yellow make a nice green, and the blue and red make a dark purple:

And our rainbow glasses and other films could split white light into a bright spectrum of colors, as demonstrated here in the shadow of my stylish new hat:

It’s only just begun. More at Lorin Farr throughout the week, and then the rest of Ogden for the next six weeks! More to come. Thanks for joining us!