AAA Colorado ~ EnCompass Magazine

The fourth grade class from Boulder's Community School of Integrated Studies is searching for answers. The questions, however, do not pertain to grammar, arithmetic or how the kids plan to spend their next vacation. Instead, nine-year-old Be Conti is contemplating the benefits of biomass and biofuels, hydrogen and wind power. She and her classmates are bouncing from exhibit to exhibit in the visitors' center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development.

Be is designing her eco-friendly house — at least on paper. It's one of the questions she's required to answer on her "Little Scholars" worksheet.

"There are all kinds of great things here to power my home," she notes, choosing a solar roof for heating, ocean energy for air conditioning, wind energy for lights and small appliances, and "hybrid power for my car."

This is clearly a kid who knows more about hybrids — cars that use a combination of a gasoline engine and an electric motor than I do. "The world is important," declares Be, "and it's up to us to make it better."

This month's Mini Tour highlights four facilities in Denver, Boulder and Golden that teach us about the world in which we live: the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum and Trail, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

At NREL's visitor center, both kids and adults can enjoy a wealth of interactive exhibits, which run the gamut from the evolution of personal transportation and sun emulators to fluorescent lamps and alternatives to standard household energy use.

Walter Orr Roberts
Weather Trail, NCAR
© University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

"We are the world's premier energy laboratory, and a great asset for Colorado," says NREL spokesman Gary Schmitz, who estimates that more than 25,000 people pass through the laboratory every year from countries as far away as India. "We reach out to a large number of audiences, many of them international, and try to educate both the young and old about energy solutions for the future."

In between pulling knobs, viewing videos and flipping a light switch to discover how light can be converted into electricity to power a ski lift (depending upon the time and day of year, the sun's natural glow shines through a window and directly on a photovoltaic cell to power the lift), the fourth-graders examine the surrounding Trombe walls, a fascinating design incorporating glass, concrete and air spaces to reduce the need for interior heating.

Walking out the door, I spot a shiny Honda hybrid parked on NREL's grounds. Pangs of guilt set in as I slide into my Volvo. But driving the speed limit — so as not to pollute the air any more than necessary — toward the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum, I make a promise to the energy gods that my next vehicle will be a hybrid, preferably the hue of cherry.

Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum and Trail

The bright and airy, high-ceilinged Geology Museum on the Colorado School of Mines college campus boasts more than 50,000 minerals, gemstones, fossils and artifacts from around the world — an impressive feat considering its humble beginnings as a simple mineral cabinet created in 1874 by Arthur Lakes, a paleontologist, economic-geologist and Colorado School of Mines faculty member. Wandering through the two-tiered space, I covet the nuggets of gold and silver shimmering in their display cases, and "ooh" and "ah" over the enviable Colorado minerals, rocks and cut gemstones. In addition, there are mining artifacts, a terrific meteorite display and a convincing reproduction of an underground gold mine.

For decades, Golden's rich geological history has enabled School of Mines students to learn about the Earth's systems. Visitors can see some of this history for themselves along the Mines Geology Trail. I embark on the easy hike, and with each twist and turn discover dinosaur tracks, fossilized leaf fragments from palm trees and other plants, and finally, an outstanding rock garden showcasing distinct geologic formations, all of them aligned according to their age. Look west to view the Precambrian rocks, to the middle to behold the Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks, and to the east, to see the Cenozoic lava flows of the Table Mountains.

National Center for Atmospheric Research

High above the foothills of Boulder at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a national science laboratory that studies the Earth's climate and atmosphere, the floors are bustling with school groups and scientists. Visitors can take an audio tour, an hour-long guided tour, walk along the weather trail, browse the library or simply peruse the exhibits at leisure. There is much to see and do.

I've never been a tornado tracker or storm chaser, but like the transfixed school children huddled around the swirling air patterns of NCAR's tornado exhibit, I'm enthralled watching the small trundles of clouds suddenly spiral into full-blown vortexes.

It's captivating.

NCAR's scientists voraciously study the effects of weather and climate on humans — and vice versa — with the ultimate goal of helping us Earth dwellers better respond to our environment. Climate research is at the nucleus of NCAR's mission, and the Climate Discovery demonstration reminds us that the world's climate is changing.

According to Warren Washington, an NCAR senior scientist, "The atmosphere has warmed up over the last 30 or 40 years, increasing by roughly half a degree centigrade or a degree Fahrenheit, globally averaged. We're finding the Arctic Sea ice is shrinking with time, and that the warming we see in higher latitudes in the wintertime — Alaska, for example — has been very dramatic."

Make a final stop at the spellbinding solar eclipse photograph, taken at an altitude of 11,120 feet on the mountain of Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii. The photo depicts intricate details of the sun's corona from the innermost part, near the solar disk, to its dim outer region — a distance of several thousand miles.

Before leaving, amble along NCAR's quarter-mile weather trail, where you'll encounter spectacular vistas coupled with interpretive signs describing weather and climate examples visible in the landscape, such as a Ponderosa tree that's been struck by lightning and ground areas exposed to flooding, erosion, fire and wind. The trail is accessible to wheelchairs and open all year round.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Celebrating 103 years as one of the world's largest natural history museums, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science always enthralls me with its natural wonders, human cultures and fantastic exhibits that help us better understand our world and its inhabitants. It's here, for example, that you can travel through 3.5 billion years of time, a prehistoric journey that takes you through ancient seas, the dinosaur era, the warming and cooling of Earth's climate, the rise of mammals and the evolution of humans.

Trek through the global wildlife halls, home to more than 90 wildlife and habitat scenes depicting Earth's incredible diversity. Explore Colorado's own ecosystems and the types of threats faced by the state's endangered wildlife, and witness those animals that have become extinct during the Earth's unpredictable, sometimes volatile, ever-changing history.

Or explore the universe inside the Space Odyssey exhibit, chock-a-block with interactive stations and displays that teach visitors not only about the individual planets and the distant stars, but also about the significant connections between Earth and its neighbors — most notably the sun.

And don't miss catching a space show at the museum's Gates Planetarium, an all-digital, cosmic experience that takes viewers far beyond our familiar night sky into the vast, far-reaching universe, unlocking answers to our own Earth and making us appreciate the complexities and enormity of another world.

Lori Midson is a Denver-based freelance writer who has written for EnCompass before.

Planning Your Trip

National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden; 303-275-3000. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Mon.-Fri.

Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum. 1300 Maple St., Golden; 303-273-3815. 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Mon.-Sat. and 1 p.m.-4 p.m., Sun.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science. 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver; 303-322-7009. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., daily. Gates Planetarium: Hours vary.

National Center for Atmospheric Research. 11850 Table Mesa Dr., Boulder; 720-865-3500. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 9 a.m.-4 p.m., weekends and holidays.