by Eric Jackson
The resident camp experience is about living away from home day AND
night. All camps provide daytime activities and many do things at night
— as we do at Carey Park. Astronomy is one of our nighttime activities.
We have the big telescope, all the other necessary equipment, and a tame
astronomer to take the sessions. But the weather always seems to obey
Murphy's Law. Many nights were so disappointing that we often had
to implement "plan B."
The Daytime Astronomy Program ("Innovative Astronomy Program for
Camps," Camping Magazine, May/June 2004) was the breakthrough that
changed all that. Sure, campers were enthralled with their shadow observations
and related activities but when it was discovered that a nearby pipe climbing
frame also cast shadows, a whole new idea was born.
The Origin of Pipehenge
A discussion with an astronomer, Frank Andrews from Carter Observatory,
about the relationship between the movement of the campers' shadows
and the climbing frame's shadow gave him an idea. He designed a
structure for Carey Park's latitude — based on observing shadows,
particularly solar noon shadows — to track the movement of the sun
from sunrise and sunset between the shortest and longest days. We later
discovered that it became an observatory at night.
Larry Randell, a friendly engineer (who did work for Education Board)
rolled the steel pipes, and the camp maintenance staff welded them together.
There it stood — a 5 meter (16-foot) high walk-in sundial and
observatory. Because it is made of steel pipes it was dubbed with the
nickname, Pipehenge.
Pipehenge provided us with two complementary activities for daytime
and nighttime. Because no one had ever used a "Pipehenge" before,
staff and campers soon began to make exciting discoveries extending from
their daytime observations.
So impressed were school teachers who worked with Pipehenge at Carey
Park, many asked about getting one for their schools. Education boards
were unhappy with the height of the structure so Randell redesigned it
to meet our public school safety standards and refined them to reduce
costs. Because a Dedicated Site Pipehenge is also an observatory, it must
be designed for the latitude of the particular school or camp, which makes
it impossible to mass-produce or supply plans for the Pipehenge. For more
information about the project or if your camp is interested in getting
a Pipehenge, contact info@careypark.org.nz.
Pipehenge on the Move
My science consultancy work for the Auckland Education Board include
running camp programs for their six hundred schools. This gave me the
opportunity to present papers at New Zealand and Australian science teacher
and camp conferences. After demonstrating a large modular Pipehenge at
a Camping Association of Victoria (Australia) conference, I was asked
if I would do the same for a Boy Scout Jamboree. Three Pipehenges were
set up along a North/South line through the jamboree campsite —
and two thousand Boy Scouts did practical work for their compass and navigation
badge and astronomy badge.
The Evolution of Pipehenge
Boy Scout Leaders were so impressed with the concept that they asked
if it was possible to make a portable version that could also substitute
as the frame of a two-man tent. When this was done, it became easier to
take the portable version to other conferences. So the Pipehenge concept
was introduced at various science teacher and astronomy conferences in
the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States — and was a central
exhibit in the foyer of the hotel at the International Camping Congress
in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1997.
At a New York State science teacher's conference, teachers commented
that if the portable Pipehenge could be made so that it is adjustable
to any latitude, it would then work well in their science programs. So
we went back to work and made an adjustable version that has greater appeal
to high schools than the larger climbing frame version. Some camps are
purchasing the portable Pipehenges because they can be set up at different
locations.
An eleven-year-old Samoan boy made a model of the large Pipehenge from
coat hanger wire. I was so impressed with the idea that I made one myself
and used it for display purposes to show its application to technology.
Science teachers who saw it were enthusiastic, seeing its potential for
teaching astronomy. Earth science teachers suggested that if class sets
of these were available they would be useful for laboratory work in senior
physics classes. Randell came up with the idea of combining a globe and
the wire frame, so a tabletop version, the Earth Space Simulator (ESS)
module was developed.
The climbing frame versions (Dedicated Site Pipehenges) continued to
be installed in schools and camps as a teaching aid for day and night
activity — and as a piece of recreation equipment. As one camp director
said, "If they don't know what to do with it at least they can climb
on it."
| |
| A Dedicated Site Pipehenge is: |
| A walk-in sundial. The pipes create shadows
on the ground, which move throughout the day and year. |
| A calendar. Plotting the length of shadows
throughout the year relates them to seasonal monthly changes
in the environment and in the sky. |
| A compass. Set out on a North/South alignment
is the start of working with compasses and orienteering. The
navigator’s seat has a compass rose imprinted on its surface. |
| A globe of the Earth. Pipehenge basically
is a skeletal framework of a globe designed for the latitude
where it is installed. |
| A spaceship. A camper sitting on the navigator’s
seat in the center of the structure can be regarded as sitting
in "Spaceship Earth" viewing the solar system through
the "windshield" between the summer and winter arcs. |
| An observatory. The pipes form a grid
for nighttime observing of the paths of the moon, planets, and
constellations seen from the latitude of the camp. |
| A climbing frame. The shape of the structure
offers a challenging climbing frame for campers and upper limb
activities for campers in wheelchairs. The very first Pipehenge
that was sold went to a school for visually impaired children
who used its shape and temperature variation of the pipes on
a sunny day in an attempt to teach the changing effect of the
sun. |
|
When Rod Cameron, the director of Rainbow Christian Camp in Converse,
Indiana, visited Carey Park, he was so impressed with our Pipehenge he
said that if he ever had enough money he would get one for his camp. When
a family with long association to the camp wanted to donate a piece of
equipment in memory of their happy times there, Rod knew what it would
be, the Pipehenge!
The Wonder of Pipehenge
As well as being a hands-on teaching aid, Pipehenge is also a research
project. Our campers undertake observations and studies that are networked
internationally. At Carey Park we have developed comprehensive daytime
and evening activities for the three Pipehenge modules for campers and
schools using our facilities.
Pipehenge is proof that what may start out as a seemingly insignificant
idea can develop into a piece of equipment and a learning concept that
has worldwide appeal. This happened because our camp staff saw its potential,
developed it, and demonstrated it in a range of forums. And we continue
to refine and extend Pipehenge's applications as others contribute their
suggestions and ideas.
Design
To be astronomically accurate, a Dedicated Site Pipehenge must be designed
for the latitude of the camp. This provides a frame of reference whereby
the principles of astronomy are able to be taken as daytime activities
— using observations of the interaction of the nearest star (the
sun), nearest planet (Earth), and nearest moon (our moon). These give
understanding of the movement of planets, apparent solar movements, day
and night, eclipses, moon phases, tides and seasons — and enables
campers to observe and record changing daily and seasonal movements of
the sun between its solstices and the effect that this has on the local
environment. At night the structure becomes an observatory.
Installation
Pipehenge must be installed on a line from the North to South geographic
poles through the camp (its longitude). This means that it functions as
a compass identifying East and West, as well, and brings attention to
the difference between true and magnetic poles. Four vertical pipes are
at the cardinal points — North, East, South, and West. Because it
is aligned true North/South, it identifies the meridian for the camp.
Looking South, the left half of the structure is East and on the a.m.
(ante meridian) side of the meridian. The right side (West) is the p.m.
(post meridian) side. At solar noon, local time, the meridian is on the
sun and all shadows point to the North Pole. The shadow of the South,
meridian, and North pipes is in a straight line along the ground at solar
noon. Positioned on the eastern and western sides are the horizon pipes
along which the sun rises and sets progressively throughout the year between
summer and winter solstices. Campers are amused to learn that these horizon
pipes are six months long.
Pipehenge is also a skeletal globe of the earth designed for the camp's
latitude. The Tropics of Cancer (Summer Arc) and Capricorn (Winter Arc)
are marked by curved pipes joining each end of the horizon frames and
mark the band of the sun's path across the sky between its solstices (the
longest and shortest days). This path is called "the plane of the
ecliptic" as seen from the camp's latitude and is the path in the
sky along which campers will find the moon, planets, and constellations
of the zodiac. The lengths of these pipes represent the hours and minutes
of daylight, for mid-summer and mid-winter at camp. Through these activities
the calendar attribute of the structure is observed as the seasons change.
Looking North from the navigator's seat, a pipe circle marks the path
of the Little Dipper and other circumpolar stars. A ring in the center
of the circle marks the North Celestial Pole through which the Polaris
is seen at night. Pipehenge is spaceship earth. The seat in the center
is the navigator's seat (the optical center) and the point from which
campers make most of their observations and may take nighttime photographs,
looking North, to show the concentric paths of circumpolar stars.
Originally published in the 2005 May/June issue
of Camping Magazine. |
