In the 17 years she has taught at Danville, Williams said she has always had a unit in her science curriculum about space. About nine years ago, she said, she added lessons on spaceflight. To start the unit, students learn about the planets. They choose a planet they want to visit, research it, and then write a postcard home from that planet telling what it's like to be there. Williams also does planetary math, having students calculate how much they'd weigh on Jupiter, for example, or the moon, by applying differences in gravity to their body weight.
Constellations also are a part of the lessons.
The inflatable dome planetarium is used to help students learn about the position of stars, and to identify constellations, like Cassiopeia, Orion's Belt and the Big and Little dippers. When they move on to space flight, Williams' students will get to create panoramas showing their conceptions of the living quarters of a space station. They also have a lesson about toys in space, watch films about space, and design their own classroom patch similar to the mission patches worn by astronauts. Prompted by the relationship between teacher and astronaut, Williams said the whole school is getting involved in space-related activities. Students might get to taste some samples of space food like the astronauts eat in orbit, Williams said.