Griffith Report Essays - California, Free Essays, Term Papers

Griffith Report Essays - California, Free Essays, Term Papers Griffith Report During my visit to the Griffith Observatory I had a great experience there. In the front lawn there was statues of famous scientists such as Galileo, Copernicus, Isaac Newton, and others. When I arrived at the museum, I noticed many appealing things immediately. I became aware that visitors can actually become observers from outside of the building. For example the museum offered telescopes for me to use to look into the sky. When I walked further along the site I notice a Solar System Lawn Model. Engraved in the ground was the Milky Way (our solar system), and a Sunset and Moonset Radial observer. Since the observatory was in so many movies, including: Yes man, Funny People, and the Terminator. To me it looked like a mansion. It had a large field of grass that on looked the Los Angeles Horizon. It had a patio where visitors can watch the sunset and sunrise. It also had a section to take pictures in front of the Hollywood sign. As I entered the observatory I knew I would come home with information I had never knew about. There where so many things to touch and look at. I wanted to spend every minute observing the displays. The walls and the ceilings have large beautiful murals painted all along the ceiling, like something from a cathedral in Rome. I was told, they were created to show the connection between science and mythology, as well as the connection between the earth and the sky. There were even murals of all the Astronomers who helped develop Griffith's idea. The center of the building included a large Pendulum, which was a device used to measure the earth's rotation. It was the observatories main attraction and had required perfect creation in order for it to be exact. As everyone was gathered around this object, we wondered how it worked. At the bottom of the floor was a measuring device with domino like blocks rotating around it. It worked in the strangest way I can imagine, as the ball moved back and forth it would knock down the blocks according to the earth's rotation. There were many sections at the Griffiths Observatory that had hands-on activities for me to understand. One for example was a machine that determined the temperature of my body,called a UAV Ray generator. I moved aimlessly around the machine to see how hot or cold I was. As it turns out, my ears are actually colder than any other part on my body. To me it seemed like it was looking through heat vision goggles. As if I was looking for someone through a scope, dead at night. I then knowingly, started grabbing random objects to find out the temperature. It was amusing at first but I later got into trouble. Checking out this demonstration is something I would recommend for new visitors. Throughout the time I spent at the Griffith's Observatory, I learned a lot about our galaxy. It had many additional facts about our solar system, as well as our planet. In addition, it was very neat to see the Los Angeles basin with its city lights and fast paced atmosphere. I would recommend going to this museum for a family trip or school event. I learned a lot about the different types of moons, stars and the elements of the periodic table. It was also fascinating to learn about the pendulum in order to figure out the earth's time and rotation. I learned a lot about astronomy that day. Overall my visit to the observatory was a great experience for me to take upon and will most likely be going again.