More on the "Whispering" and ellipses

In the website I sent you to on the last blog, there is a link that may explain the reflectiveness of waves from one focus to another in the ellipse.

It is under the link at the bottom:  Properties of elliptical mirors

http://www.mathopenref.com/ellipseoptics.html

Thanks, Mr. Lundgren

How the Whispering Worked at the U.S. Capitol

Good morning from Mr. Lundgren!

Once again, we had a great trip, and as always, the time slips away and we do not get enough done while we are there!

I talked with the kids about how the "whispering" worked while we were at the U.S. Capitol.  Our tour guide went to a specific spot on the floor of the room with all the statues, and asked us to remain where we were, huddled around a different specific spot.  She whispered some words, and we could here them perfectly clearly, as though she was talking directly to us in a normal tone.  Alas, we ran out  of time to sit down and figure this out, so I thought I would post this on our blog.  One nice thing about a blog is that it is an ever-changing environment if you so choose it to be.

The two spots on the floor were actually the two foci of an ellipse, one of the four conic sections in mathematics.  The ceiling was curved in the shape of an ellipse, allowing the whispering "trick" to work.  An ellipse has certain special properties, one of them being that anything emitted at one focus (light, voice, etc.) is reflected back to the other focus.

Anyway, a web site to check this this out is listed below.  I taught math for 21 years before I became the tech coordinator at A-P and the conic sections were always of great interest to me.  I always greatly enjoyed teaching math; it did not seem like work most of the time!

Anyway, here is a website with this information:

http://www.mathopenref.com/ellipse.html

Thanks for listening, and I will give the kids a quiz on this soon!  Thanks, Mr. L

Kids 4-7 at night....

Haleigh: Today was soo much fun!!! We did lots of shopping. We went to the ESPN Zone, Newseum, Ford's Theater, and the house where Abraham Lincoln died. We also went swimming tonight. I'm soooo sad we have to leave tomorrow!!!!! I definitely want to come back sometime!!!!!

Sidney:Today we went to the Newseum. We saw the house where Abe Lincoln died. We went to Ford's theater. We did a lot of shopping. We ate at the ESPN ZONE  to eat supper. We went swimming at the hotel. We will fly home tomorrow. 

Greetings AP from the DC Chaperones!

What wonderful children you have!!!!! The Falcon spirit has truly shone out here! WOW!!!

Your sons and daughters have learned so many things that a text book would not have taught them. You will be amazed! They have seen and experienced so many new things and so have we. They have learned to adapt and be flexible in all sorts of situations. They have all become confident and comfortable on the Metro. They have been gracious young men and women...giving thanks to many who we've encountered (had to buy more Thank yous!)

Each night we have debriefed the events of the day and have enjoyed their comments and insights immensely!!!!!!! We wish you could have witnessed it too.

We have encouraged positive leadership and have seen it being put to work. We hope to continue to see it grow on our return home.

The kids have observed a variety of new careers and have been amazed at all that is out there for them! 

We wish we could stay out here for 5 more days!!!! Thank you so much for your love and support and prayers. The kids are definitely representing their families, the great state of Iowa, and the Falcon spirit in a way that would make you all proud.

See you tomorrow night-I'm sure you'll know when we're back in the state!

The Koenens

The Mohwinkles

The Lundgrens

Monday Night, 4-6-09

Austin: Today was amazing, we had a tour of the capitol and I learned a lot of things I didn't know about it. The best part about the whole day was being able to lay the wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier I was excited and scared at the same time but when I started walking down the stairs all of that went away and it was the best expereance I have ever had and I can't wait untill tomarrow :)

Dakota: today was really busy but it was probably the best one yet, it was rainy for a while and then it got nice out, we first went to the national archives with the constitution, and declaration of independance, the documents there were really interesting. After the archives we made our way to the united states capitol. the capitol was very up tight with security. the capitol was very interesting and i liked it a lot. after the capitol we went to the arlington cemetary for the wreath laying ceremony. austin, haleigh, jodie, and libby did a great job laying the wreath and everybody else was very respectable while at the cemetary this one guy came up to me and asked me what school we were all from and i said aplington-parkersburg middle school in iowa, then he told us a great story about how the arlington cemetary came about. he left, and ms. davis who was a very important person for this trip and we wouldnt of been able to have this, and she told us that that man was a fire fighter at the pentagon during 9-11, and he was the first one to react. before we were going to get on our bus for a sight seeing and the man came back and told us the rest of the story about arlington and his memories from 9-11, and it was the highlight of this trip because he was very humble, and when he came up to me i thought he was just going to tell us some weird things that was worthless, but his story was the thing that i wont forget ever.

Jodie: I think the most interesting part of my day was supper at Jaleos. It was a major culture shock. There were many foods that I had never even heard of, and watching people try new foods was fun because the faces they made were hilarious. I think we all bonded and got closer just by being open to trying new things. I think that's one thing most of us have in common, we are all willing to try new things. Some of us were more adventurous than others, but by the time we were done passing the plates we had all tried something new. I think the one thing I'm really going to remember about this trip is placing the wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. I was REALLY nervous when we were presenting the wreath, but just knowing how important the tomb is and knowing i got the chance to present the wreath and show honor and respect to our troops is a great feeling. This trip is awesome experience and I hope I can come back again sometime!

Olivia: Today was so exciting! One of the most exciting things that I did today was going to Arlington Cemetery. We got to Arlington and we met Lisa Davis, the lady who  helped us get a time to lay the wreath, she was very nice! We also met this guy there who was a very nice too. He told us the story about the cemetery. He also was at the Pentagon on September 11. He was a fire rescue man and he saw the plane coming and his fire truck was hit, and he was injured. When we left to lay the wreath, Haleigh, Jodie, Austin, and I all had to change. We were already late for getting there and we had to dress VERY quickly. I was very nervous about laying the wreath because I had no idea what we had to do, and I didn't want to mess anything up. The guard told us what we had to do, and he also told us about when he visited Arlington when he was in 8th grade. I was very honored to lay the wreath, because it is an opertunity a lot of people don't get. It was a lot of fun.  Tonight we went to Jaleo's and we got to try some INTRESTING foods. I tasted many neat foods like Pallas, lamb chops, callimari, pigs feet, and even octopus that had the suckers still on! It was a lot of fun tonight, we also went to Coldstone for dessert. The guys who worked there could do some very neat tricks with the ice cream! It was a lot of fun! Today was full of new experiences!

Monday Afternoon, 4-6-09

Bri: Today we went to the State Capital and the Archives. We toured the building and saw some amazing paintings. It is really fun! I miss you!!! Love ya!

Shelby: The last three days have been great!!!! Everything is amazing!!!!!!!! I'm learning so much in such a small amount of time. I don't want to go home, but I can't wait to tell everyone all about the trip!!!!!!!!! See you soon!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haleigh: We went to the State Capitol today and the Archives and of course the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier. It was soooooo much fun and very interesting, I learned a lot! I'm really sad we only have 2 days left. I've learned so many things. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was soo neat. It was definately a once in a lifetime expirience!!! I'll never forget this trip!!!!

Kortney and Rachel: We had more fun today with lots of walking. We looked forward to tomorrow and all the mueseum we will see!!!!! Love you all!!!!!! We miss you!!!!!!!! See you soon!!!!!

Emily and Desi: We had a lot fun today. Arlington was breathe taking. Our wreath was the prettiest. I am looking for to all the Mueseum tomorrow. we miss you!!!!!! see ya soon

Bayley: Today was soooo much fun! The Capitol is huge and beautiful, and the Declaration of Independence was so old it was barely readable. When they did the changing of the guard, we had to be so quiet, and it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. We have done so much walking. I passed a little boy today and he said he'd probably walked two miles that day and I started laughing because we have most likely walked over twelve miles already!

Richard: I had a great time today. First we went to the National Archives and saw the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. I thought the declaration was really cool because the only things you can see are the beggining and John Hancocks signature.

Then we went to the Capitol. It was very interesting. The last thing we did was lay the wreath at Arlington. It was very interesting how they did all the different movements while guarding the tomb. I thought the Robert Kennedy memorial was the coolest. Its a plain little white crosss on a hill. It's cool.

Cody: Today was so fun!!! We all had a fun time today. We did so much. My favorite part was the arlington national cemetary. Tomorrow should be so fun!!!!!

Sidney: Today we went to the National Archives and saw the declaration of independence, the constitution, and the bill of rights. We took a tour of the United States Capital building. We got to go to the wreath laying ceremony. Haliegh, Olivia , Austin, and Jodie got to lay the wreath. We went to the Kennedy Memorial. We saw the Pentagon.

Elizabeth: Today was really fun. We went to Arrlington Cemetary and layed the wreath. We went to the Archives. We also went to the Capital building. We got to see the pentagon.

Sunday night , 4-5-09

After a strange  night last night when our rooms were overbooked at the Hampton Inn in Crystal City, we are back home in Crystal City in the Hampton Inn.   The Crystal City Hampton Inn bussed us to a different Hampton, and then brought us back this morning.  All is well.  Neil Lundgren

 Haleigh: It's been so much fun the last 2 days!!!!! We had some problems with the hotel but we made it through. Today we went to the Space Museum, it was really neat!!! Sidney, Izzy, and I were sitting in the back of a bus and we're very interested in what they were saying. Today was fun!!! I can't wait until tomorrow!!!

Dakota: D.C. is really fun! there are so many things to see. Today we went a space and air museum and on our way to get there we took a bus ride, after eating mcdonalds, and the bus ride was really long and packed. On the ride to an airport, i was standing, then i sat, and then i finally got a seat on the bus! after the long ride we took another shuttle to the air and space museum, while we were there cody, richard, austin, and i took a whole bunch of pictures. also while we were there we saw a movie in imax, on our way home we had to wait a very long time so we started waving at the drivers of busses. we ate at a seafood restruant and there were various kinds of food, but it was amazing, i love d.c. and cant wait for tomarrow. 

Rachel & Olivia: We had a lot of fun in D.C. today, there was lots of walking and Libby got blisters! We had a lot of fun waiting for buses and we waved to a lot of people. We have really gotten closer to everyone on the trip. We have seen so many interesting thing in the past three days of our trip, and we can't wait for tomorrow!

Austin: Well I was right it is AWESOME hear I really wish everyone could get a chance to come and look at every thing. Yesterday was my first time flying and it was really fun. Every thing hear is a lot bigger than what it is in pictures and they are really amazing. I wish I could stay hear longer.

Friday, April 3rd before we leave...

Haleigh: I'm really excited to see everything, it's going to be so much fun!!!!!

Shelby: Only 4 hours left!!!!!!!!!!!!

Austin Wise: Cant Wait its going to be AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! 

Rachel:I'm so excited ! its getting very hard to concentrate in school.

Olivia: I can't wait!!!!!!

Emily: I am sooo excited!!

Desi: Im really excited, Everything is going to be way fun! 

Bri: I'm really excited to go and see everything in DC!!!!!!

Friday March 27, 2009

We can't wait to leave for D.C. next Friday.  Everyone is ready to go.  This will be a great trip!

Posted by Neil Lundgren

AP 2 DC 2009- A great trip!

We are anxiously awaiting our departure to DC on April 3rd after school.  This should be a fantastic trip-  Neil Lundgren