The purpose of this program is to provide the planetarium industry with an inexpensive, participatory Solar System presentation for use with middle-elementary age students (grades 3-4). The program allows students to become mission specialists while their spaceship takes them on an educational adventure past the sun, moon and planets of our Solar System (fellow crew members shown above). Upon entering the planetarium students are given one of three mission cards: Planet Specialist, Math Expert or Flight Engineer. During the flight the captain asks for information from a specific mission card. Upon this request, the student holding the card enters the data into an imaginary remote computer, which they are told ties into the main computer system. The information they think they supplied is timed to magically appear as data on the dome.
The emphasis on astronomy education concepts combined with the participatory nature of the presentation give students a fun and interesting planetarium experience. Students often cheer at the end when they proudly complete their mission.
Note: As of October, 2008, this program has been updated to include current imagery and video clips. Images and soundtrack have been edited so that the number of moons for each planet is not specified, and Pluto is not referred to as a planet.
The contents of the show kit are provided on a DVD-ROM which can be read by your computer. The kit includes 191 digital images and can be run with a minimum of two carousel-slide projectors. The images are zipped TIFF files. The audio track, produced with high quality digital sound is provided in both aiff or wav file formats. The kit includes 26 optional video segments provided as MPEG4 files. The show package also contains a script, slide list, production notes, educational concepts and a teacher evaluation form in PDF format. Special effects are suggested and described but are not necessary to run the program. Show length is 32 minutes.
This digital show kit is available for only $25 on one DVD-ROM
(make your own slides if necessary).
Optional: For an extra $15, the entire
show is also available in 3-screen video format as 3 DVDs. The 3 DVDs are meant
to play simultaneously on separate video projectors. [see also Video below]
For non-members, add the 10% fee.
Slides: If you would like to present this show as a slide-based program, you can choose which digital images you'd like to use, and send those files to a slide service such as GammaTech.
Video: As mentioned above, the 26 optional video segments are provided on the DVD-ROM as MPEG4 files. If your video editing software cannot import MP4 files, then you can either use a computer application to convert those files, or use your computer to "rip" the video from the optional DVDs in the 3-screen video package.
The program is available through the Great Lakes Planetarium Association. To order choose from one of the following options:
Check out the Teacher's Guide for more information about how teachers can evaluate and incorporate this program into their curriculum.
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Updated October 27, 2008