Glastonbury Teachers

Teachers have one of two choices of programming for Kindergarten: One World, One Sky or The Weather.  

One World, One Sky

Perfect for that first visit to a planetarium.  Here young audience members will be thrilled when they find themselves on Sesame Street with their famous friends, Big Bird and Elmo. The fun begins when Elmo's friend, Hu Hu Zhu, visits from China and the three of them take the audience on an exciting journey of discovery to learn about the Sun, stars, and Big Dipper. Elmo and Hu Hu Zhu blast off on an imaginary trip to the Moon and when they return home to Earth everyone discovers that, no matter where we live, we all share the same sky. 

OR

The Weather 

Our junior meterologists learn a variety of weather basics such as about using their senses to observe weather, basic cloud types and how they are associated with specific weather conditions, simple weather forecasting, weather instruments and finally the  water cycle.

Before and after all shows, our youngest skygazers get a tour of the night and day sky.  We’ll explore what we can see in the sky (stars, planets, the Moon, etc ), how they move across our sky followed up a close up look at our solar system and Milky Way Galaxy.

Class Length: 60 minutes

Teachers have one of two choices of programming for Grade 2: Life of Trees or Dinosaurs at Dusk plus a live tour of the night sky and a view of Earth from space.

Dinosaurs at Dusk

Join a father and his teenage daughter Lucy, who share a fascination for all things that fly, as they travel back in time navigating from continent to continent, exploring an Earth teeming with dinosaurs in search for clues on the origins of flight.   Our two protagonists soar through wide open canyons; sail over tumultuous oceans; hike through tropical rain forests, climb large ice cliffs, parachute into vast sink holes; all the while chasing, and sometimes running away from, all manner of Dinosaurs.

OR

Life of Trees

Take an adventurous journey of exploration into the wondrous world of trees. Taking the perspective of insects, the film reveals the magic of the microcosm. Students will learn the secrets: How do plants get their food from the sun? How does water get from the roots to the top of the crown? And how does all this make life on our Earth possible? Concepts presented include: the life cycle, photosynthesis, water transport, reproduction, biodiversity and sustainability. 

Class Length: 60 minutes

This program features the shows Supervolcanoes and Forces of Nature, followed by a live presentation about the geologic processes found in the Solar System.

Supervolcanoes 

Supervolcanoes looks back at rare classes of eruptions that have marshaled the energy that lurks, like a sleeping dragon, beneath the surface of planet Earth. The program moves beyond Earth to explore the impact of giant volcanic eruptions around our solar system. Students will fly down to Neptune’s frigid moon Triton, and onto the ultimate volcanic world: Jupiter’s moon Io. On a visit to a legendary North American hot spot, Yellowstone National Park, the film asks: can a supervolcano erupt in our time? 

Forces of Nature

Examining three common natural disasters and the scientists who study them, this documentary begins on the Caribbean island of Montserrat during a 1995 volcano explosion, where scientist Dr. Marie Edmonds explains her research on how to predict future eruptions. A deadly 1999 Turkish earthquake that killed more than 17,000 people is also discussed by a geophysicist, and finally a team of tornado chasers is followed as they endanger their lives in the name of research.  Get up close and personal to nature's most powerful and extreme forces. Cameras capture erupting volcanoes, devastating earthquakes, and powerful storms as a team of scientists travels the world in an attempt to figure out what causes these dangerous, yet undeniably thrilling natural occurrences. 

Class Length:  60 - 90 minutes

Teachers have a choice of two out of three programs to choose from plus a tour of the night sky!

Origins of Life 

Origins of Life deals with some of the most profound questions of life science: the origins of life and the human search for life beyond Earth. Starting with the Big Bang, in chronological order, the show deals with the prebiotic chemistry in the Universe, the formation of stars, formation of solar systems, and the first life on Earth.  Furthermore Origins of Life covers the great extinctions as well as our search for (primitive) life beyond planet Earth.

Grossology & You

A wise respiratory system once said, "Gross is in the eye of the beholder." After watching this planetarium show, you may start thinking differently about the "gross" side of the human body and what it does to protect us every day.   Join Noreen Neuron, host of the "Personal Universe" game show, as she leads us through a competition to decide which body system is the best and brightest. Will it be Scabby (the immune system), Boogie (the respiratory system) or Flatus (the digestive system)? Laugh and learn as these animated characters explore the inner workings of the human body!

Natural Selection

Join Charles Darwin on an adventurous voyage of exploration circumnavigating the World with the HMS Beagle, to the Galapagos islands where he got inspired for his later theory of transmutation by Natural Selection.  From the comfort of Down House in Kent, Darwin himself will explain the mechanism of Natural Selection to the audience, and support it by showing many beautiful examples in nature. Witness the thrill of scientific discovery by seeing the world through Darwin's eyes, make observations of the most beautiful natural scenery and let the pieces of the scientific puzzle slowly but surely fall into place.

Class Length:  90 minutes

This program features the shows From Dream to Discovery and Big Astronomy followed by a live presentation on gravity and it is used to send spacecraft to exolore the Solar System.   

From Dream To Discovery: Inside NASA

How do engineers plan for the extreme environments a spacecraft must endure? Where do they test their work?  To answer those questions, From Dream To Discovery: Inside NASA takes us to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Integration and Testing facility, where space missions get tested. It shows how, from design to creation to launch, engineering is an exciting and fundamental process in space exploration. Finally, we witness a launch, the next step for a mission as it leaps up through Earth's gravity well.  From Dream To Discovery: Inside NASA is a fascinating look at how humans take the impossible and make it reality.  It's a great way to introduce your audiences to the "right stuff" it takes to explore space. 

Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries

Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries explores three observatories located in Chile, at extreme and remote places. It gives examples of the multitude of STEM careers needed to keep the great observatories working. The show is narrated by Barbara Rojas-Ayala, a Chilean astronomer.  A great deal of astronomy is done in the nation of Chile, due to its special climate and location, which creates stable, dry air. With its high, dry, and dark sites, Chile is one of the best places in the world for observational astronomy. The show takes you to three of the many telescopes along Chile’s mountains.  It takes many people with diverse backgrounds, talents, and skills to run a world-class observatory. Meet these people and share in the wonder of the sky—and the excitement of discovery.

Class Length:  60 - 90 minutes