Space Odyssey

Published on isbi School News dated Thursday 28th of March 2013

TO coincide with National Science and Technology Week, on Tuesday19th March, Simon Ould brought the Space Odyssey mobile planetarium to school.

This is a 6m diameter dome in which digital images of space can be projected through the full 360 degrees. Sitting on gym mats up to sixty children can fit in at a time, and Simon did five shows throughout the day for all the children in Reception, Years 1, 2, 3 and 5, along with a special show for the members of the TPS Cub pack, who are currently working towards their Astronomy badge.

He talked about the Earth and how it fits in with the rest of the solar system, how the tilt of the Earth's axis causes the seasons of the year and about the phases of the Moon. We saw video clips of the exploration of outer space and imagined what it would have been like to be Yuri Gagarin, the first man to go into space, and Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the Moon.

The clip of the asteroid crashing into the surface of the Moon was so realistic that it had most of us diving for cover. Looking further out in space we saw how tiny the solar system is compared with our galaxy and how the stars form constellations.

Simon also told us about the latest news from space; about the Mars Rover collecting sedimentary rock samples proving beyond doubt that the planet had been covered with water at one time, the Russian meteor and the comet PanSTARRS that is visible at present.

This was an exciting and memorable experience for all and provided the older children with great reinforcement of the work recently carried out in class.