Gallery
Summer Solstice Gathering
Sometimes the weather is less favorable at the Summer Solstice than at
the Winter Solstice. Here a mini-workshop is being offered just before
sunset. It includes some aspect of the reasons for the seasons, a time
to share about the meaning of the seasons, an update on the Chavez Memorial,
and a time to get all your questioned answered about the workings of sun,
moon and earth. And of course, a time to witness a beautiful sun set.
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Workshop for Children
Alan Gould, Planetarium Director, Lawrence Hall of Science, teaching Berkeley
school children from Cragmont Elementary School about the angle of the
sun at noon at Cesar Chavez Park.
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Classroom
A fifth grade class explores how they can utilize one of Cesar’s
values and virtues (tolerance and non-violence) to resolve conflicts.
One child is acting as if she is about to strike another. The teacher
then asks them to freeze. With them frozen, the other children in the
class discuss being more tolerant of differences and peaceful means of
settling difficulties.
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A Prototype “Exhibit” (Self directed learning)
Here the shadow of the gnomon casts a straight line across the west/east
alignment over the course of 3-4 hours on the Equinoxes (March and Sept.).
The center gnomon of the Interim Solar Calendar site serves the research
purposes of the project. It allows us to experiment with the shadow effects
of a 41” gnomon. The gnomon combines with signage that supports
self-directed activities related to the shadow cast by the gnomon. Movement
west to east reflects the daily rotation of the earth on its axis. Movement
north & south reflects the yearly revolution of the earth around the
sun.
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An Anasazi means of determining geographical direction
A pole, which is called a gnomon, may have been placed vertically in the
ground and used to determine geographic north. The gnomon, defined as
a vertical shadow-throwing pole, was used by many cultures—Anasazi,
Borneo tribesmen, Babylonians, Greeks, and Chinese—to establish
the length of the year and the time of the solstice by measuring the length
of the shadow, and the alignment of buildings.
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