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Show AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Thursday, August 3, 2006 U f TV . AND IDEAS FROM CLASSROOMS AND EDUCATORS Getting Out Page 4 notes J i . 4tt" ';: MOON WALKING Take your children for a late night stroll Linda Butler Ni'xt Wednesday a special event will occur in the evening skv - the full nuxm w ill rise )( urnng approximately once a month, a lull moon night is an excellent opportunity opportu-nity to make a memorable excursion ex-cursion with your children. A "moon w alk" can be done any pi, ice. We've enjoyed walking on neighborhood streets, in loci! lo-ci! parks and along the canal. IXie to the way the sunlight it fleets on the moon as it on les the earth, the moon looks slightly dill erent every night. Sometimes the moon is even visible during the day. This constant yet changing entity has intrigued (M'ople thioughout history, and nearly all children are tascinated by the moon Taking i liildien on a moon walk by the light of the full moon i an inti'odut e kids to a woi Id that they don't often j;el to epc) lent e. Part of the lun lor ouiig t hildren is the cham e lo stav up past their liol mal ledlime. Although the mot m is "full" on Wednesday, the round bright orb apears "full" a day or two tit her side of the of final fi-nal bill moon. The nnxn rises alxmt ")0 minutes Liter each night, so you can start a bit earlier it ou take your walk a d.iv oi two before the moon is truly lull Alt hough summer days are hot. nights can In- cool, take sweaters or light jac kets to keep kids comfortable. Our kids enioved w earing their pajamas pa-jamas on our mi Kin w alks. Bin oculars will make the mtxm's features easier to see. A flashlight flash-light is largely unnecessary, the moon will provide plenty of light. If you need a flashlight, flash-light, cover the lens with red cellophane, this will protect your eyes from the brightness of the beam. It can take eyes up to a half hour to readjust to darkness after seeing a burst of bright light. Watch the mxn rise over the mountains. It's easy to see individual trees silhouetted by the lunar brilliance, especially with binoculars. Because of the earth's atmosphere, the mtxm seems larger as it crests the mountain peaks. A closer ltxik at the mtxm itself may reveal the "man in the mtxm." This isn't really a portrait or a person, but is just the irregularities of the mtxm's surface mountains, craters, river-like rills and the large smtxUh spots of dry lunar seas or "maria." Turning our sights back to earth, there are many interesting interest-ing night animals to see by the light of the mtxm. Swallows fly alxmt in the early night's darkness, especially near water. Moths are attracted to streetlights, fluttering around their glow. Perhaps an owl's hi xt can be heard. Occasionally hats can be seen flying overhead. A bat's flight is more erratic than a bird's. Bats' sonar (echoloca-tion) (echoloca-tion) allows them to fly even more accurately than a bird, which is why they occasionally occasion-ally may swtxip very close to people. Don't be scared, a dose-flying bat may actually lie prot eding you as it snatch- If You Go The full moon occurs on: Aug. 9 Sept. 7 Oct. 6 Nov. 5 Dec. 4 es a mosquito. Bats use echolo-cation echolo-cation by making a very high pitched sound; as it bounces off an object, the bat can hear exactly where the object is. Bats are very beneficial animals, ani-mals, they eat their weight in mosquitoes and other insects every night. Seeing by the light of the moon is fun. Although the moon gives enough light to read large print, our eyes really re-ally don't see much in color by mixmlight. Most animals don't ever see in color; this black and white moonlight world is how cats and dogs see things every day. Watching the moon's reflection reflec-tion in water a lake, pond, the canal or slow moving stream, is beautiful. Watch the path of moonshine, does it stay still or does it seem to follow you as you move? The moon's "movement" is just an optical illusion caused by reflecting light and your point of view. Look closely at how the moonlight casts shadows. As the moon rises, these shadows become crisp and clear. A few months from now, when the trees have shed their leaves, is a great time to look at the graceful curves of barren branches in the moonlight. While walking by moonlight, moon-light, let your senses of hearing hear-ing and smell come alive. Crickets chorus during the summer night. You can tell the temperature by how fast a cricket is chirping. A simple way is to count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and add 40 to get the approximate temperature tem-perature in Fahrenheit. As you walk, become a human hu-man thermometer and let your arms and face feel the temperature. temper-ature. Air currents often form pockets of warmer and cooler air, which can be sensed by the skin. Water, groundcover, trees and buildings can affect af-fect the ambient temperature, which can change by several degrees within just a few hundred hun-dred feet. Listen as the wind rustles grasses and leaves. Freeze still for a few minutes and simply listen. Then quietly name all the things you hear there will" be a variety of sounds of nature as well as sounds of the city. There are many interesting smells at night. Some desert plants, such as yuccas, bloom in the evening. Evening primrose prim-rose and honeysuckle are more fragrant at night. The scent of roses, lovely by day, can be even more delightful at night. Nighttime is neither bad nor scary. It's part of the balance bal-ance in nature's cycle of life. A nighttime Moon Walk can help children appreciate things they don't normally see. By continuing Moon Walks on a monthly basis, children can experience ex-perience hew nature changes throughout the year. AMERICAN FORK HIGH SCHOOL New registration programs this year Several new programs are being implemented this year to streamline class schedules, fee payment and textbook distribution. While the administration ad-ministration and faculty are confident that these new programs will make the registration regis-tration process easier for students stu-dents and parents, there may be a few kinks that need to be worked out. Patrons and students stu-dents are asked to be patient and understanding during this process. Comments and suggestions are invited and welcome. New student registration will be Monday from 8 a.m. to noon. New students and their parents are encouraged to come and meet with the Counseling Center to register for classes, pay fees and learn more about the programs AFHS offers. Prior to Monday Mon-day new student registration packets can be picked up in the front office. Registration packets were recently mailed to each student stu-dent with information regarding regard-ing class changes, registration registra-tion and other important back to school dates relating to the following: I Class changes Free class changes can be made electronically elec-tronically through Aug. 10. Students should follow the instructions in-structions on the paper titled "Class Adjustments" that was sent in the above mentioned packet. Students can make adjustments to their class schedule or print a hard copy if no changes are needed. All students need to have eight classes. Some classes may have been added or dropped from a student's schedule due to new teachers teach-ers hired or low enrollment counts in some classes. It is important to remember that no class changes will occur after Aug. 10. I Online fee payment Online On-line fee payment will be available avail-able Aug. 14-22. This new program will allow students and parents to avoid long lines at registration. Fees can be paid on-line by following the instructions sent in the above mentioned packet. Online On-line fee payment requires a student number, PIN number and credit card. For more information, in-formation, call the high school at 756-8547 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Registration will be Aug. 14 from 2-6 p.m. and Aug. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the AFHS cafeteria. Attendance at registration is required if school fees are paid by cash, check or an approved fee waiver request. I Textbook Distribution Teachers will no longer check textbooks out to students in classrooms. All textbooks will be checked out from the new book depository located near the front office. Textbooks will only be checked out with a receipt showing payment of fees and a copy of classes. The book depository will be open the following dates: Aug. 14: From 1 to 6 p.m. Aug. 15: From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 21: From 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 22: From 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 23: During lunch and after school Aug. 24: During lunch and after school Aug. 25: During lunch and after school I Sophomore orientation Sophomore orientation will be Aug. 22 from 10-11 a.m. at AFHS. I School pictures School pictures will not be taken during registration but rather on Aug. 30 and 31 during student's English classes. Student Stu-dent handbooks will also be handed out these days. I Parking permits Juniors and seniors who are planning to drive to school and park at AFHS must purchase a parking permit for $5 and will be allowed to park in any student parking stall. Sophomores Sopho-mores may purchase a reduced re-duced parking pass for $2.50 and must park in the driving range. The driving range is open from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. each day for sophomore student parking. AMERICAN FORK JR. HIGH SCHOOL Registration fees Students attending American Ameri-can Fork Junior High during the 2006-07 school year have the option of paying fees either by mail, online or walk-in. walk-in. To avoid long lines and to receive class schedules on Aug. 11, students are encouraged encour-aged to pay by mail or online. Information was recently sent to each student describing describ-ing the on-line steps. Students whose fees are received re-ceived in the office by August 7, may pick up their schedule at AFJHS beginning Aug. II between 9 a.m. and noon or any work day thereafter during office hours which are 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those who prefer the walk-in walk-in method of registration and fee payment should go to the school on Aug. 15 between 1-7 p.m. For more information, call the school at 756-8543 or visit our Web site at www.afjh. alpine.kl2.ut.us. Registration forms, fee waivers, etc. may be printed at the school's Web site. I Back to School night Back to School night will be held Aug. 17 beginning at 6:30 p.m. Parents and students are invited to come and meet the teachers and find out what will be happening in the different classes during the year. BARRATT ELEMENTARY New student registration New student registration will be Monday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Anyone new to the af ea who will be attending Barratt is encouraged to come into the office to register reg-ister on this day. An open house will be Aug. 22 from 3 to 4 p.m. Parents and students are invited to come to the school and meet their teachers. FORBES ELEMENTARY Registration for new students New student registration will be Monday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Anyone new to the area who wUl be attending . Forbes is encouraged to come into the office to register on this day. Lintlon Days set to kick off on Saturday until Aug. 12 Ben Carter Families will have plenty of activities activi-ties to choose from next week at the I. union Days Celebration I rom Saturday though Aug. 12 there will be all kinds of entertainment entertain-ment events, family activities and kids games in lindon. Event Chairman Chair-man Ernie Silva said he likes the celebration Ixiause of the service it M'i forms to the community. "It's something w here the commu nity comes together and celebrates," Silva said. "Once a year friends and families can get reacquainted and enjoy en-joy different activities." Some of the main activities this year include the closing fireworks show at H p.m. on Aug. 12, with the preceding Brandie Erampton concert, a 5K run. a family picnic with a master mas-ter hypnotist on Monday and Huck I inn Fishing on Wednesday. The fishing game is for children who w ill be divided into two age groups, 3-8 and 9-15. Jim Dain. w ho will be running the game, said the kids are invited to dress up in Huck Finn-style clothes and come have fun. Shave ice will be available avail-able at the event too. "It's fun," Dain said. "It's a great time." Another main attraction is the Aug. 10 Cruise In Car Show from 4-9 p.m. There will be all kinds of classic cars, some restored, some in the process pro-cess of being restored and others not restored at all. Blaine Thompson, who is in charge of the event, said the only criteria is that the car has to be 20 years old or older. One event that will not be at Lindon Days is the balloon rides. There have been balloon rides at the celebration in years past, but this year there wasn't time to organize it. Silva said he got involved as the chairman this year on June 1 and there just wasn't time to get a committee com-mittee together to organize balloon rides. Lindon City Councilman Eric Anthony An-thony said the issue was more complicated, compli-cated, though. The city wanted people to actually be able to ride in the balloons bal-loons instead of just watch balloonists perform. Most of the balloonists the city talked to weren't interested in tethering their balloons so that people could ride in them. Anthony said it might have been possible to get balloon rides if the City Council had worked a little harder to find balloonists willing to do it, but they ultimately decided against it. For a full list of Lindon Days activities, activi-ties, visit the city's Web site, httplin-dondays.org. 0 i9T"" " POOR |