Big and Small explore the cosmos

First Year 7 and then Year 1 had an exciting opportunity to explore the heavens up close when the Space Dome came to Farleigh this week.

The children (teachers too!) had an exciting time crawling down the small entrance tunnel which seals the dome – it’s designed that way to completely enclose the dome so that it is pitch black inside. It takes a while for your eyes to adjust but, once they have, you are immersed in a real planetarium complete with an accurate representation of the night sky.

There were myriad different learning segments, from an exploration of the constellations to the Greek stories of the Zodiac; from stars and the way they behave as they age, to our position in the solar system. The children learned how to identify the North Star and use it to navigate; to understand the timing and effect of the earth’s rotation relative to what we see in the heavens; the stories, both amusing and gruesome (Year 7 only!) behind the ancient myths of the Zodiac signs and many more amazing and useful facts and stories about our stars and planets.

Year 1 also learned about light sources and reflection via the medium of a disco ball! They had a hands-on experience with a plasma ball and made really effective shadow puppets. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

At the end, the children were taken on an astral fairground ride, as they earned a spin around the cosmos in return for correct answers to questions; it felt remarkably as though we were all on a disorientating fairground ride as our eyes played tricks with our minds, making us think we were whirling around in space. There were some suitably ‘whirling in space’ noises from the children, too; then we all crawled back out again, inspired, more learned and a little bit dizzy!