Welcome to NFV Middle School

Fort Stevens was constructed in 1863, just after the revolutionary war ended. It was a main defensive fort that protected the Columbia River on the Pacific Ocean from a British attack. The fort had 2 artillery posts and used the Pythagorean theorem to determine coordinates of an attacking ship. On June 21, 1942, it was attacked by a Japanese I-25 submarine with 17 rounds missing their target- the only thing hit in the fort was the baseball backstop. This was the second attack on the mainland- the first was in Alaska about 2 weeks earlier. The fort did not retaliate with fire as that would have given away their coordinates. Fort Stevens was decommissioned in 1947 and is now part of Oregon State Parks.

Haystack Rock is one of Oregon’s top places to visit. It has over nine miles of public beachfront and numerous tide pools full of marine life like starfish and crab. Haystack Rock is 235 feet tall. During low tide you can walk right up to the rock. The rock is believed to be basalt rock created from lava many years ago.

Negative ions- don’t let the name fool you. Negative ions are actually good for you and positive ions are not good. Negative ions help reduce bacteria and allergens by attaching to positively charged particles such as smoke and pollen. They also produce oxygen in this process allowing you to breathe much cleaner air. In the process of it all it helps to purify blood, increases metabolism and releases feel good chemicals in the Brian. No wonder why waterfalls are so cool!

This is the John Day Dam on the Columbia River. I found out it is the highest lift of any US lock (110 feet). It took 4 years to build the dam which was completed in 1972. The dam’s generation capacity (for electricity) is 2,480,000 kW.

Principal challenge accepted. Hope to get students tuned in. First episode is where in the world is Mr. Gearhart.