Author ljconforti

An older woman works with computer parts for the Apollo space program.

Weaving Our Way to the Moon 

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An older woman works with computer guidance parts for the Apollo space program.
image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution

Register for class: https://howardcounty.librarycalendar.com/events/weaving-our-way-moon 
Saturday, March 19; 3 – 4 pm
HCLS Glenwood Branch
Ages 11 and up. Allow 20 minutes. 

by Lori C.

Learn the fascinating forgotten history of the LOLs – the Little Old Ladies of NASA’s Apollo Missions – with a hands-on STEM activity that celebrates the women who “wove our way to the moon.” Discover how core rope memory powered spaceflight, then create a simple beaded message using binary code. 

When you hear the word, “weaving” and the phrase, “little old ladies,” what image comes to mind? Most likely the mental picture is not one of making a sophisticated computer program designed to send the Apollo spacecraft to the moon! For Women’s History Month, we are going to celebrate the women who, using ferrite core beads and copper wire, literally wove the components that made up software programs for the Apollo Guidance Computer.  

The “little old ladies” or LOLs moniker certainly was not the most progressive way of referring to these highly skilled factory workers who crafted the core rope memory for NASA. Their precise weaving and manufacturing skills were crucial to the success of the Apollo program and to the astronauts arriving safely on the Moon.  

The NASA Apollo Guidance Computer used read-only, core rope memory to store its programs. The weaving was complicated: “The cores are arranged in ropes of 1024 cores each. 10 inhibit pairs (20 wires) provide the address-decoder weave as 2^10=1024. Although the memory words are 16 bits wide, each core has up to 64 sense wires woven through it.”* Remarkably, this guidance system used only 72k of memory, which is equivalent to the memory of a simple calculator. 

Want to try your hand at making a simple version of core rope memory in the tradition of the LOLs? Join us at the Glenwood Branch for a brief history overview of the contributions of these amazing women who “wove our way to the moon” and then craft a single word-weaving project using binary code, thread, and beads.   

Lori, the Teens’ Instructor & Research Specialist at the Glenwood Branch, idolizes Sally Ride and in an alternate life would have trained to be an astronaut. She also loves baseball, knitting, and reading dystopian novels. 

*Core Rope & Woven-Wire Memory Systems by B. Hilpert, April 2015
https://web.archive.org/web/20160822041959/http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~hilpert/e/corerope/index.html 

The photograph shows three students, two girls and a boy, looking at their laptops while sitting on a blanket outdoors.

My Teen is Bored! – Part 2

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A frazzled parent’s guide to keeping your teen learning with the most powerful card in their wallet – their library card!

Quadrotor Flight Controller

By Lori C.

My last post explored the many fun and engaging ways to expand on your teen’s interests and hobbies with our online eResources. Let’s explore how your high school student can supplement their learning goals and expand their academic success with more eResources from HCLS.   

Test Prep:  While we don’t know if the current situation will change the testing landscape, it can’t hurt to keep practicing for the SAT and/or ACT tests as well as for high school AP tests. HCLS offers many resources for teens to keep their testing skills sharp and to supplement their learning: 

LearningExpress Library: Practice tests for AP exams, the GED, the SAT, grad school entrance exams, and various jobs. Also find tutorials for grades 4 – 12 on math, reading, and writing skills.  

Testing & Education Reference Center: Practice tests for entering private high school, the AP exams, the GED, the SAT, grad school entrance exams, various career tests, and the U.S. citizenship test. Also includes a scholarship and college search tool. 

Lynda.com: Search for Test Prep: PSAT, ACT or SAT for courses on test-taking skills and best practices for maximizing your standardized test score. 

Gale Courses: If your teen needs a more structured course to follow, try the six-week SAT/ACT Test Prep courses with rolling start dates throughout the next several months.  

Language Learning: Learn a new language or supplement classroom instruction with these three language learning tools: 

Mango: Teens and adults can engage in fun conversational online lessons in more than 70 languages.  

Pronunciator: Take your language skills to the next level. Learn 80 languages in any of 50 languages – for example, a native French speaker can learn Chinese in French! Also includes ESL for 50 non-English languages plus a comprehensive citizenship prep course.  

Rosetta Stone Online: Engage in the proven language immersion method that more than 22,000 schools and 12,000 businesses have trusted for over the last 20+ years. Select from 30 languages structured around core lessons in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. A microphone is required for speaking lessons. 

These additional educational opportunities can boost your teen’s confidence when taking standardized tests and improve their overall academic outcomes. In addition, your teen can add these courses to their resumé and college application forms. Guidance counselors and admissions officers will be looking for teens who used their time stuck at home to continue learning and expanding their academic skills. Keeping your teen busy and occupied is as easy as using the library’s online eResources! 

Lori C. has worked at the Glenwood Branch for six years.  She loves to read and knit, and is excited about the return of baseball. 

Three students seated in front of a laptop point at images on the screen.

My Teen is Bored!

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A student seated in front of a curtain peeks over the monitor of her computer.

By Lori C.

The traditional summer job or internship probably didn’t appear as an option this year, so what’s a bored teen to do? And how’s a frazzled parent going to keep them occupied while social distancing? 

Now’s the time for your teen to fully utilize the most powerful card in their wallet – their library card! HCLS offers so many fun and engaging ways to expand on your teen’s interests and hobbies with our online eContent.    

Gale Courses: This resource offers more than 300 six-week structured online classes on topics ranging from business to hobbies. Is your teen a budding entrepreneur? Take a class on starting your own business. Maybe photography or writing are of interest to your high schooler. If so, there are classes for digital photography as well as creative writing and publishing.  Gale also offers 44 personal enrichment classes ranging from an introduction to journaling to starting your own edible garden. 

Lynda.com: Find more than 3,600 streaming video tutorials taught by experts on technical skills, creative techniques, and business strategies with your HCLS access to Lynda.com. From individual classes to entire learning paths, your teen can explore a wide range of skills and hobbies from 3D animation to becoming a digital illustrator.  

ArtistWorks: Learn an instrument, vocal techniques, or art skills from award-winning teachers with these free, self-paced online video classes. Classes include traditional instruments such as piano and guitar, as well as less common ones such as mandolin and ukulele. Entice your teen with Hip Hop scratching lessons or dabble in a music theory class. Better yet, dust off that old harmonica and have your teen learn some songs to enliven summer nights in the backyard.  

Opportunities to expand your teen’s horizons abound with HCLS’ eContent. Not only will they gain new skills and grow their repertoire of talents, but they also can use these courses to boost their resumé and college applications. Future employers and admissions officers will be looking for teens who used their summer stuck at home to discover a newfound passion or to deepen their knowledge in a current hobby.   

My next post discusses how your high schooler can supplement their educational goals using the power of their library card and the eContent offered by HCLS.  Look for it soon!

Lori C. has worked at the Glenwood Branch for six years.  She loves to read and knit and is excited for the return of baseball.