Grade 4 Planetarium Visit Agenda

During your visit to the planetarium, we will cover the following topics:

1. Introduction
   1. Welcome
   2. Fire Drill Procedure
   3. Behavioral Expectations
2. Some questions to consider during your visit to the Sandburg Center for Sky Awareness
3. Sandburg Poem of the Day (Fog)
4. Sky Awareness (10-min. video: TWC Look Up!)
5. Look Down! Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Online Exhibit: EARTH TODAY - A Digital View of Our Dynamic Planet
6. Daily Weather Briefing
7. Planetarium Facts (Did you know...?)
   1. What is a planetarium? Not an observatory! (35mm slides)
   2. How big is the planetarium dome? (estimate/measure diameter & height)
   3. Earth-Sun size/distance comparison (softball versus planetarium dome)
   4. Compared to the Universe, how big is the Solar System? (video: Powers of 10)
      Get a sense of Astronomical Distances by selecting the speed of your spaceship, then calculate the travel time from the Earth to the edge of the Universe and a few stops along the way.
8. Planet Race: Solar System 500 - predict winner (Solar System Orrery projector)
9. How "old" would you be on another planet? (NASA Kid's Space); Your Weight on Other Worlds (Exploratorium)
10. Current Day Sky
    1. Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas...)
    2. Why is the sky blue? (video: Newton's Apple, Program No. 909, The Big Blue Sky)
    3. Daily Path of Sun
    4. Horizon
    5. Cardinal Points
    6. Zenith
    7. Meridian
       1. a.m./p.m.
       2. Geo. Earth projector
    8. Twilight
11. Visible Planets
    1. Morning/Evening
    2. Planet means "wanderer"
       1. Video: "Cosmos" segment
       2. Planetarium projector: ecliptic, Sun, planets, stars on; annual motion
    3. Return to Mars (Mars in 3-D)
12. Visitors from Space (Asteroids and Comets)
    1. Has it happened before? Will it happen again?
    2. NASA Fact Sheet: Asteroids, Comets, and NASA Research
    3. Simulate the collision of an asteroid or a comet with any planet in Solar System! Visit Solar System Collisions to create your own "deep imact!" (Note: the first time you visit this site, click on the "Help" button for useful background information.)
    4. Terrestrial Impact Craters - Impact craters are geologic structures formed when a large meteoroid, asteroid or comet smashes into a planet or a satellite. Believe it or not, the Earth has been even more heavily impacted than the Moon! In contrast to the moon (where craters are well-preserved), craters on the Earth are continually erased by erosion and redeposition as well as by volcanic resurfacing and tectonic activity. Thus only about 120 terrestrial impact craters have been recognized. View several of the more prominent craters on Earth.
13. Current Moon Phase
14. Current Night Sky
    1. Light Pollution (35mm slides; cove lights up/down)
    2. Northern Sky
       1. How can a "Dipper Finder" be used to locate Ursa Major (the Big Dipper)? (audience participation)
          1. Mnemonic: Spring high; Fall low
          2. Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer - STAR GAZER Episode #SG 025-I: How To Time Travel Through The Big Dipper
       2. Ursa Minor (Little Dipper) & Polaris - From the Big Dipper, follow the "Pointer Stars" to Polaris (the North Star)
       3. Cassiopeia (the Queen) - Letter "W" in Spring (low in the sky); letter "M" in the Fall (high in the sky); the Milky Way Galaxy runs through Cassiopeia
    3. Southern Sky (Current Seasonal Constellations)
       1. Orion
       2. Canis Major
       3. Taurus