ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 24, 1996 TAG: 9609240043
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
Science museum announces classes
The Science Museum of Western Virginia is offering the following workshops for children:
*"Early Science Education - Amazing Animals": Preschoolers ages 31/2 to 5 can discover the animal kingdom beginning Oct. 1 and running six weeks. Sessions are available on Tuesdays and Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon or 1 to 3 p.m. The cost is $90.
* "Rockin' Robotics" workshops, for children in grades three and up, are parent-child classes and participants get a real robot.
"Beginning Robotics" will be held Sept. 28 from 1 to 4 p.m. Teams will build a wire-controlled soccer robot. The fee is $40 per team.
Teams in "Intermediate Robotics," on Nov. 6 from 1 to 4 p.m., will build a robot complete with sound sensor, for a fee of $40 per team.
"Advanced Robotics" on Dec. 7 and 8 from 2 until 4 p.m., will teach teams how to build the fully programmable Navius. The cost is $60 per team.
* Learn about bats while building a bat house on Oct. 19 (grades K-2) or Nov. 23 (grades 3-5) from 1-4 p.m. For cost is $32.
* Explore nightlife in the Blue Ridge Mountains while hiking around Green Hill Park wearing night vision goggles. The hikes will be held Sept. 27, Nov. 1 and Nov. 15 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The fee is $8.
For more information on these programs, call 342-5710.
Parent-Child Seminar on stress
``All Stressed Up: Now Where Do I Go?'' is the theme of the Mental Health Association of Roanoke Valley's annual Parent-Child Seminar, to be held Oct. 2 in the Roanoke Civic Center exhibit hall.
The keynote address, ''Primary Prevention: Teaching Children Today the Parenting Skill They Will Need Tomorrow,'' will be followed by workshops on anger management, surviving the teen years, dealing with adolescent depression and stress, working with children with attention-deficit disorder or learning disabilities, psychotherapy and medication issues related to the treatment of behavioral problems, and coping with the stresses of parenting.
The $25 fee covers the keynote address, two workshops, program materials and lunch.
For more information or registration materials, call 344-0931.
Philosophy lecture at Hollins College
Debra Nails, assistant professor of philosophy at Mary Washington College, will give a lecture, ``Visualizing the Divided Line,'' on ancient philosophy and aesthetics, Oct. 9 at 4:30 p.m. in the Gordh Room, adjacent to Hollins College's DuPont Chapel.
Her talk will concentrate on Plato's famous philosophical argument ``The Divided Line.''
For more information, call 362-6451.
Lunar eclipse observation planned
Look! Up in the sky! It's a total lunar eclipse. The last one until 2000.
The heavenly event happens Thursday at 8:12 p.m. when the full moon begins moving into the shadow of the Earth. Totality - when the moon is fully shaded - will occur at 10:19 p.m. and will last about 70 minutes.
The bright ``star'' that will be visible about a finger's width from the moon is the planet Saturn.
Join the Science Museum of Western Virginia and Hopkins Planetarium at the "eclipse watch" at Blue Ridge Park. The view will depend on the amount of pollution in the Earth's atmosphere, as well as local and regional weather conditions.
To get to the park, take U.S. 460 east about 10 miles to Blue Ridge. Turn right onto Webster Road and go about a mile. Turn left into Blue Ridge Park. Go about a half-mile to the baseball diamond.
Volunteers from the Roanoke Valley Astronomical Society and Gary Close, planetarium educator, will point out constellations and planets and give views through the planetarium's planetary telescope and night-vision goggles.
Bring blankets or lawn chairs, binoculars and warm clothing.
For more information, call 342-5714.
Sierra Club meets tonight
The next meeting of the Sierra Club will be held tonight at 7 at the Science Museum of Western Virginia, Center in the Square, Roanoke.
Bob Giles, a professor of wildlife research management, is the featured speaker.
For more information, call 343-0344.0344.
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