Your Monthly News & Updates |
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Our Mission
To ignite the natural curiosity of all learners to explore and shape their world
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Greg Cornwell
1953-2020
It’s with great sadness that we share another legendary member of the Roper Mountain family has passed away. Greg Cornwell served as Planetarium and Public Program Specialist, Education Curator, and Director during his tenure with us, making a tremendous impact on the way we serve students and the public.
Even after his retirement in 2019, Greg still continued to volunteer with us, helping to lend strategy for many of our programs. Greg and his family have helped grow Roper Mountain into what it is today, and for that, we are eternally grateful.
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As a facility of Greenville County Schools, we are following current guidelines provided by SC DHEC and are closed for all public programming until further notice. Please check our website or social media for details on when we will re-open to the public for all activities.
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October Sky Talk
Nov. 6
7 – 8 p.m.
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Virtual Star Party
Nov. 20
7 – 8 p.m.
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ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
AND SUSTAINABILITY BUILDING UPDATES
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Now the real fun begins as we make our amazing new building a Roper Mountain institution!
The installation of the Habitat Walk Through and Water Wall are in progress.
Each of the Sustainable Future exhibits are completed and in transit from South Africa, due to arrive as our holiday gift sometime in December so that we can install them through the start of 2021.
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MOUNTAIN HIGHLIGHT:
LIVING HISTORY FARM
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South Carolina has a colorful past – especially from the color blue!
Indigo, which can be found growing in our Living History Farm garden, is a historic South Carolina cash crop that produces a beautiful blue dye used to color natural fibers, such as cotton and linen. While blue dye can be derived from other plants, the most potent blue dye comes from the plant genus Indigofera, where we get the common plant name Indigo.
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Maybe you have an example of indigo colored fabric in your closet – a favorite old pair of blue jeans, which exhibit how this hue uniquely fades and wears over time. Another familiar representative of this color is our own South Carolina state flag, originally dyed with Indigo.
Eliza Lucas Pinckney, wife of influential colonist Charles Pinckney, is credited with being the first person in America to successfully grow the plant and manufacture the dye. Indigo was one of South Carolina's major cash crops from the late 1740's to the late 1790's, with profits dissipating from the Revolutionary War period forward. As a teenager, Eliza managed one of her father's Charleston plantations – Wappoo Plantation – where she experimented with growing what she hoped would be a profitable crop to rescue her family's poor financial situation. After several successful growing seasons, she shared her indigo seeds with surrounding plantations, thereby affecting not only her own family's finances, but also the economy of South Carolina for decades to come.
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The Roper Mountain Science Center Virtual Field Trip Department will be showcased at multiple presentations during the International ISTE EdTech conference, taking place virtually Nov. 29 through Dec. 5, where we will share our amazing programs with educators and professionals from around the world. |
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…that some birds migrate every year from Canada and other northern regions after breeding to winter here in the South?
One of these winter birds, the Dark-Eyed Junco, is even called a “snowbird”, leaving as the snow begins to fall up north and bringing winter weather to the south on their wings. This bird can be identified by its slate-gray color, white belly and white outer tail feathers.
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Another common winter bird visitor migrating here all the way from the Yukon is the White-Throated Sparrow. Besides the white throat, look for the black-and-white striped crown and yellow spots between the eyes.
We hope you will warmly greet these birds with bird food sustenance and think about the long journey they have made.
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Give Back To Roper Mountain:
Even with hallways and learning labs temporarily emptied of our students and visitors, we are continuing to do all we can to keep students, visitors and staff of Roper Mountain safe and connected. There is no question that this year will provide unique opportunities for our community to connect in new ways while meeting the challenges of the way things are in the world now. School lessons and public programs are being re-tooled to be delivered online; lessons are being created to help establish state standards in environmental science and sustainability; animals throughout our facility are being cared for daily; and our staff are collaborating in exciting new ways. A donation from you will help move our mission forward and lay the foundation for future success.
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AmazonSmile
You can support Roper Mountain in the Amazon Shopping app on iOS and Android mobile phones. Simply follow these instructions to turn on AmazonSmile and start generating donations. 1. Open the Amazon Shopping app on your device 2. Go into the main menu of the Amazon Shopping app and tap into 'Settings' 3. Tap 'AmazonSmile' and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process. We appreciate your continued support of Roper Mountain, now more than ever.
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Spread The Word About Roper Mountain
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THANK YOU COMMUNITY PARTNERS! |
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Visionary:
ABB
Duke Energy Foundation
Fluor Foundation
Greater Greenville Sanitation
Greenville Water
John I. Smith Charities
The Jolley Foundation
Ernest and Betty Lathem
Lockheed Martin
Michelin Charity Golf Tournament
Piedmont Arthritis Clinic, PA
ReWa
ScanSource
Symmes Foundation
Explorer:
Community Foundation of Greenville
GE
Bill and Jean Schmidt
Voyager:
BMW Manufacturing
Adventurer:
Chick Fil-A of Pelham Road
Greenville Evening Rotary Charities, Inc.
Milliken
Nexeo Plastics
South Carolina Charities, Inc.
Innovator:
AFL Global
SC Humanities
State Farm Insurance
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