The Travelers ScienceDome Planetarium at The Children's Museum in West Hartford is pleased to announce its new Homeschool Astronomy Class. Join us in Connecticut 's largest digital planetarium for a special eight week class about the Solar System. Our class is designed for home-schooled children between the ages of 10 and 14. The class will meet once per week on Wednesday afternoons between 1:00 and 3:00 PM starting September 28th. Each class will consist of one hour of lecture inside the planetarium; lecture will be accompanied by use of the planetarium dome/projector to illustrate concepts. The second hour will consist of a lab/activity period where the students will see special science demonstrations and participate in hands-on activities relating to the topic of the lecture. The main focus of this class is Solar System Astronomy. Students will learn key concepts and terminology used by astronomers. Within each class the students will also learn applications of chemistry, physics, geology, and meteorology.
Week 1: Our Solar System- This introductory class will take students on a journey from the creation of our solar system to the present day. Learn how our sun and planets formed, how we measure outer space, and the structure of our solar system. Students will act out the Solar System to help them understand how immensely far apart the planets are.
Week 2: Our Sun- What powers the Sun? This class will provide an introduction into nuclear fusion, properties of the fourth state of matter, as well as the structure and composition of the Sun. Also, learn about the many ways that our star affects our solar system.
Week 3: The Rocky Inner Planets- Explore the four inner planets. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are four very different and interesting worlds. Learn about the formation and characteristics of rocky planets. We will visit each rocky planet in the planetarium and learn about its unique environment.
Week 4: The Gas Giant Outer Planets- Discover the four outer planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are balls of gas hundreds of times the size of our Earth. Learn about the bizarre weather patterns that rage in their cold atmospheres. There is much to learn and much still to learn about these ever-changing worlds.
Week 5: The Moons of Our Solar System- Our moon is the only place in space that humans have visited, so far. Learn about where our moon came from and what Earth would be like without it. Then we will explore some of the other planets' moons. Discover frigid oceans, ice volcanoes, and more on the moons of the Gas Giants.
Week 6: Asteroids, Comets, and Dwarf Planets- There has been a lot of buzz lately in the astronomy community about the smaller objects in our solar system. Learn about Pluto and what scientific discoveries lead to its reclassification as a Dwarf Planet. Explore the outer reaches of our solar system where comets come from.
Week 7: Exploration of our Solar System- Learn about the past, present, and future space missions. See the planets through the eyes of the many orbiters and landers we have sent into space. Also learn about the history and future of human space flight.
Week 8: Could We Terraform Mars or Venus? Terraforming is the idea of using science and technology to transform the landscape and atmosphere of an inhospitable planet to make it more like Earth. Right now, this idea is purely science fiction; however, there are some people who think it might be possible to transform our nearest neighbors, Mars or Venus. The students in this final class will work in groups and use what they learned about the planets, the sun, and the rest of the solar system to decide if some day we could transform these planets.
Telescope Night: Included in this class is a telescope evening. The date of this night is still to be determined and will be based on weather and student availability. Planetarium staff will show students how to set up and use a telescope. Students are welcome to bring their own 'scopes if they have them or use ours.
Cost for the whole course is $120 for the first student and $100 for additional students in each family. There is also a $20 per student materials fee. This cost includes all eight weeks plus the telescope night. There is no refund for missed classes. Parents are welcome to audit the class for a fee of $50. Parents with smaller children are welcome to tour the museum for free during the class time; however younger children are not allowed into the planetarium during the class period.
For more information about our Home School Astronomy Class please contact Assistant Planetarium Director, Kyra Elliott at 860.231.2824 x24 or kelliott@thechildrensmuseumct.org
To register for this class please call 860.231.2824 x44 or email Registration@TheChildrensMuseumCT.org
Kristie M. Mazzoni
Planetarium Director
Travelers Science Dome
The Children's Museum
950 Trout Brook Drive
West Hartford CT 06119
860-231-2830 x40
