Portable planetarium creates cosmic classroom
- January 12, 2015
- / Reggie Dogan
- / education
Stars usually come out night, but for students at Weis Elementary School, the galaxy shined bright in the middle of a gymnasium floor.
A portable planetarium transformed a brightly lit school gym into a celestial classroom as part of the state education department’s Just Read, Florida! effort to connect reading with science.
Je’on Sanders was among some 50 fourth- and fifth-graders who sat under the stars and learned about space technology, constellations and space explorations on Monday.
He stepped out of the planetarium’s darkness into the gym’s light with a newfound interest in science and in awe of the galaxies in the sky.
“We learned about the (zodiac) signs of the month, and it zoomed in on the planets and galaxies,” Je’on said, as he stood in line on his way back to class. “I never thought space would be that much fun.”
The students’ space journey was part of statewide effort to link the science lab to literacy.
Just Read, Florida! connected with the Emerald Coast Science Center of Fort Walton Beach to bring a celestial classroom to some area schools through an inflatable planetarium.
The planetarium will pop up again on Tuesday at West Pensacola Elementary, as the planetarium makes its way across the Northwest Florida.
It’s all part of a promotional prelude to Celebrate Literacy Week, which is Jan. 26-30.
This year’s theme, “Reading Accelerates Success,” aims to get students excited in and reading about science, said Laurie Lee, deputy director of Just Read, Florida.
Just Read’s goal is to get students across the state to read spend 36 million minutes reading in 2015, as part of the “Million Minute Marathon.”
Using the planetarium is a good way to help educate, entertain and engage students in both learning and reading, Lee said.
“We hope that students will remember what they learn and will be motivated to read and learn more,” Lee said. “The goal is to enhance interest in science and literacy.”
From Perdido to Panama City, the inflatable planetarium makes it way across Northwest Florida, planted in schools in high-poverty neighborhoods.
The huge black dome, propped up by a fan on the gymnasium floor at Weis Elementary, looked like a big tent from the outside.
Step inside and a simulation of the night sky spilled onto the inner surface of the dome.
Long gone is the old optical projector that threw specks of light on a ceiling. It’s now a computerized, digital projection system that can put you in orbit around planets and constellations in the solar system for an up-close look at the wonders of the universe.
On the ceiling of the planetarium, students saw what the Hubble telescope sends back to Earth. They learned about the constellations in the sky, like Sagittarius, Capricorn, Orion and Drago.
They discovered that Greek mythology is attached to the galaxies and stars in the sky.
It is an easy and inexpensive way to expose a cosmic classroom to children who may not have the means to make a trip to a planetarium or space center, said Melanie Rochat, community science educator at Emerald Coast Science Center.
“Schools don’t take field trips as much as they used to, so we are able to go to schools that don’t have the resources to visit a planetarium,” she said. “This has been great in doing that.”
For Je’on, the portable planetarium has not only increased his interest in astrology and reading, but also given him a lesson in history.
“I learned about the North Star and how it was used by slaves to lead them to freedom,” Je’on said. “This was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot.”
Just Read, Florida! connected with the Emerald Coast Science Center of Fort Walton Beach to bring a celestial classroom to some area schools through an inflatable planetarium.
The planetarium will pop up again on Tuesday at West Pensacola Elementary, as the planetarium makes its way across the Northwest Florida.
It’s all part of a promotional prelude to Celebrate Literacy Week, which is Jan. 26-30.
This year’s theme, “Reading Accelerates Success,” aims to get students excited in and reading about science, said Laurie Lee, deputy director of Just Read, Florida.
Just Read’s goal is to get students across the state to read spend 36 million minutes reading in 2015, as part of the “Million Minute Marathon.”
Using the planetarium is a good way to help educate, entertain and engage students in both learning and reading, Lee said.
“We hope that students will remember what they learn and will be motivated to read and learn more,” Lee said. “The goal is to enhance interest in science and literacy.”
From Perdido to Panama City, the inflatable planetarium makes it way across Northwest Florida, planted in schools in high-poverty neighborhoods.
The huge black dome, propped up by a fan on the gymnasium floor at Weis Elementary, looked like a big tent from the outside.
Step inside and a simulation of the night sky spilled onto the inner surface of the dome.
Long gone is the old optical projector that threw specks of light on a ceiling. It’s now a computerized, digital projection system that can put you in orbit around planets and constellations in the solar system for an up-close look at the wonders of the universe.
On the ceiling of the planetarium, students saw what the Hubble telescope sends back to Earth. They learned about the constellations in the sky, like Sagittarius, Capricorn, Orion and Drago.
They discovered that Greek mythology is attached to the galaxies and stars in the sky.
It is an easy and inexpensive way to expose a cosmic classroom to children who may not have the means to make a trip to a planetarium or space center, said Melanie Rochat, community science educator at Emerald Coast Science Center.
“Schools don’t take field trips as much as they used to, so we are able to go to schools that don’t have the resources to visit a planetarium,” she said. “This has been great in doing that.”
For Je’on, the portable planetarium has not only increased his interest in astrology and reading, but also given him a lesson in history.
“I learned about the North Star and how it was used by slaves to lead them to freedom,” Je’on said. “This was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot.”
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