Today's Location:
Final Connections, and Warm Goodbyes.
Day 5: We left for Cochiti Pueblo bright and early this morning. I was excited to see for myself how the AmericaQuest team would put the videoconference together for Iowa students. How much equipment did they need, and what did it look like? I was also looking forward to experiencing a bit of what life is like in a pueblo. The set up for the videoconference was well underway when we arrived at 7:15 am. Jerome was moving between video monitors, computers, and things that looked like phones while talking on a cell phone with Chuck back at Iowa Public Television. They were testing the satellite signals and equipment so students in Iowa could see and hear the team and so and the team could hear the student’s questions. It seemed as if everything went according to plan. Iowa students had great questions and the team seemed to thoroughly enjoy sharing their experiences with the students. When the Iowa videoconference was over, and the AmericaQuest team prepared to do it all again for students in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With the day still young, the we decided to explore some of the history of the region for ourselves. Our quest took us to Los Alamos, a town located on mesa tops at the foot of the Jemez Mountains. In 1945, scientists from all over the world retreated to Los Alamos to work in secret on the Manhattan Project. Their goal was to build a device to end World War II using the recently discovered nuclear energy. At the Bradbury Science Museum, we saw a number of artifacts and demonstrations, including a letter from Albert Einstein to President Roosevelt. We also saw replicas of the two nuclear bombs, “Little Boy” and “Fat Man,” dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan to end World War II. I was struck by how small they were, and frightened by their potential to destroy. I was relieved to learn that there are many peaceful applications of nuclear research such as, nuclear energy and nuclear medicine. We ate a picnic lunch at a place called White Rock. The view was amazing! We were on top of a high cliff looking down on the Rio Grande. Behind us were the Jemez Mountains, formed millions of years ago by volcanoes. They were once as tall, if not taller than Mount Everest, until a series of volcanic explosions threw molten rock and huge volumes of ash as far as Kansas and Oklahoma. Interested in seeing how the Anasazi lived hundreds of years ago, we set off for the Puye Cliff Dwellings. For more than 300 years, over 1500 Pueblo Indians lived on the face of this cliff. It reminded me of a modern apartment building, only the view was spectacular. The walkways and rooms were carved right into the rock. The stepping places to get from one level to another were cut into the rock. A ladder took us to the top of the mesa where we found a kiva, an underground ceremonial chamber. What a day of mixed experiences! Theresa
Today's Questions & Answers
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