CRESTVIEW — Students at Davidson Middle School had the opportunity to learn about the solar system in a different way.
Emerald Coast Science Center’s mobile planetarium, an inflatable dome that allows for more engaged learning, was set up at the school this week.
One of the planetarium educators, Erica Govich, said they go to different schools around the area. The presentations last 30 minutes long for younger students but are extended to an hour at the middle schools.
The planetarium has been going to schools up to two hours away for about a year-and-a-half, but just started going to middle schools early this year.
“We go across the whole solar system, talk about the sun, all eight planets, the dwarf planets, and then the constellations,” said Govich. “We’ll talk about more modern discoveries, then we’ll go into the background of the Greek and Roman myths.”
“Right now we’re talking a lot about the black hole, so that was a recent discovery we made, so I like to bring that up. So I engage with the kids what they know about the great discovery we just made and answer questions they may have” said co-educator, Meagan Warriner. “I focus on the technology aspect and Erica will focus on the mythology.
“We try to put our own spin on the planetarium, what we see in the sky, but we also make sure to cover all the standards they’re learning,” Warriner added.
Warriner and Govich said they love to see the kids engaged in the show.
“They already have so much knowledge on the planets so when we ask them questions, a lot of them get really excited to be able to answer it and then we just kind of take their knowledge and build upon it or give them something they can relate to with the knowledge," Warriner said.
“We try to make it interactive, because nobody wants to be lectured to for an hour,” added Govich.
Warriner said every show is a little different because kids will have different topics they are interested in.
The inside of the dome allows student to feel like they are surrounded by the planets, which Govich said makes it unique.
“The biggest benefit to this mobile planetarium is that they are able to visualize everything they’re learning about,” Warriner said.
The planetarium also travels to libraries, churches and festivals.
For more information, visit www.ecscience.org/planetarium.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: The stars come to Davidson