The program also includes finding directions, and observing apparent motions of the skies. Printed planispheres are available free from the planetarium for all of your students to construct in class prior to your visit. To request materials, call the planetarium. Using the planetarium to simulate the motions of the Moon over several months, students observe and record the phases of the Moon, model the motions of the Earth, Moon and Sun and predict the occurrence of lunar and solar eclipses.
Students view a total solar eclipse.
A follow-up assignment on lunar phases is provided for each student. In Time and Seasons , students observe the apparent motions of the Sun, Moon and stars, and relate these motions to our measures of time. The students also observe the apparent position of the Sun at sunrise, noon and sunset over a year's time to measure the passage of seasons on Earth. Since the invention of telescopes and satellites, more than fifty moons have been discovered in our solar system. Using a simulation of Galileo's views of Jupiter, students observe the four largest moons of Jupiter.