April 6, 2016 at 4:21 p.m.
A lesson under the stars
Central students explore universe in portable planetarium
A lesson under the stars
By Kayla Thomason-
As Bryan Young's fifth-grade class entered the school gymnasium they saw a portable blow-up planetarium from CESA 9's Star Lab, which the school's Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) generously funded.
CESA is the cooperative agency that services districts in different areas, offering workshops, labs and other things for teachers and educators.
The students chatted excitedly amongst themselves, grins spreading across their faces as they crawled into the tunnel leading to the inside of the planetarium.
"As you can see they (the students) get very excited," Young said. "It's very interesting."
Once under the gray dome, the students sat around the perimeter, Young in the center with the magical box that would shoot the stars and moon along the curved surface above.
The lights were turned off, plunging everyone into temporary darkness and revealing thousands of stars and many moons - illustrating the waxing and wanning phases.
In addition to learning about the phases of the moon, the students were able to find The Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and Little Dipper (Ursa Minor), the North Star - or Polaris - and Orion's Belt.
"We reviewed hemispheres yesterday (Monday) just to get the idea that there are different constellations in the sky based on where we are in the hemispheres," Young said. "Then today we are just revisiting the stars and the moon phases and then tomorrow we are going to go and finish, culminate with the constellations."
Young was thrilled that the students had the opportunity to learn about the stars inside the planetarium.
"It's a great tool that CESA 9 offers and we are really fortunate to have it in our CESA," he said.
Layne Roeser, one of Young's students, was grateful for the stellar experience.
"I thought it was a good learning experience and we can learn the constellations and where they are and learn the moons," he said.
"It was cool because you actually got a visual of (the stars and moon)," he added.
Abigail Bixby enjoyed learning about the vastness of the universe.
"I really liked it because it's so dark in there and I like all the stars and moon phases," she said. "It's a lot cooler than looking in a book because it's actually moving instead of just staying flat. I like the stars because they're so pretty and you can find a lot of stars like the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, Orion, Hercules and all that stuff and they're just so pretty."
Young is hoping the students will be able to continue to explore the universe by visiting the Kovac Planetarium in Monico or the Stevens Point planetarium.
In the meantime, he was grateful the PAC allowed his students to experience deep space from their own gym.
"I'm very thankful for PAC, our Parent Advisory Committee, to have the funds for this," he said. "I think it's a valuable tool for the fifth-grade students and this part of our science standards and I think the kids are excited and that's what we're going for."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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