The Galactic Adventure Experience
The Franklin is the ideal venue for an out-of-classroom astronomy lesson. In addition to its famous Fels Planetarium, it is also home to the Joel N. Bloom Observatory—a rooftop facility where (weather permitting) students can use The Franklin’s huge refractor telescope, as well as several computerized reflector telescopes. This observatory is specially equipped for safe daytime viewing, and with clear skies, students may be able to see the Sun, Moon and Venus.
Closer to earth, on the ground floor, is Space Command—where students can discover what the ancients thought about space, learn about atmospheric conditions, use tools developed for the astronauts to retrieve and repair equipment, and recover a lost unmanned space probe—all geared to helping them understand the relevance of space exploration.
World Space Week
October
6–10 Only
SPECIAL for World Space Week only—Rocket Workshop featuring Chief Astronomer
Derrick Pitts. Students will learn principles of action and reaction, rocket
propulsion, and how spaceships work in this hands-on interactive workshop.
The workshop will culminate in a special blast-off with Alka-Seltzer rockets.
Each student will make his or her own rocket! Workshops will be tailored to
each grade level.
The World Space Week Package will also include:
Experiential Packages for 2007–2008
- Fels Planetarium or Franklin Theater show (select one)
- Life in Space Show
- Self guided tours for Space Command, the Observatory and the Lunar Lander.
$15 per student; $3 per chaperone. Minimum 30 students.
Live Show
Live Shows 25 minutes; workshops 45 minutes
Life in Space show
Grades 3–5, 6–8 and 9–12
How do you get to outer space? How can you survive once you’re there? In this interactive show, your students examine the science behind getting a spacecraft into orbit and then help launch a “rocket”. They also explore the challenges involved in living and working in the weightless environment of space. Content will be adjusted for age-appropriated learning experiences.
Spectroscopy Hands-on Workshops
Tools like the spectroscope help us see the hidden patterns within the glow of light from the planets. This light carries information about its source and provides hints about the atmospheres that shroud planets in the known galaxy.
Grades 3–5
How do astronomers learn the secrets of the stars? Through the use of light!
Although from far away all stars appear to emit the same white light, they
actually give off white, red, orange, yellow and blue light, creating a pattern
that contains information about the star. Students make their own spectroscopes
and view these patterns to learn how the properties of light help us crack
the secrets of the stars!
Grades 6–8
Did you know that stars have fingerprints? The light that radiates from within
a star creates a unique color spectrum, or fingerprint, that we can see using
a spectroscope. This fingerprint gives us specific information about the chemical
elements of its source. Students learn how different elements produce different
patterns, and practice using their own spectroscopes to identify a mystery
gas.
Grades 9–12
Astronomers study stars using the waves of electromagnetic energy they emit.
These waves are found all along the electromagnetic spectrum—including the
visible region, which is studied with spectroscopy. Students make their own
spectroscopes and learn how to display and analyze the visible light spectrum.
They will use various light sources and gas tubes to explore how different
elements create different spectra, as well as learn additional applications
and uses of spectroscopy.
*Galactic Adventure Package Reservation required.
Franklin Theater
3D Sun
The most violent explosions in our solar system are happening on the Sun.
What does that mean to Earth’s inhabitants? For complete Planetarium show
listing see 3D Sun.
Fels Planetarium
Space Station
Heart of the Sun and Cosmic Collisions, detailed on page 6, would best complement
the Galactic Adventure packages. For complete Planetarium show listing see
The Fels Planetarium.
Presented by Lockheed Martin
Space Command
Blast off on a voyage of discovery in this futuristic low- Earth-orbit research station, with its 30 interactive bays.
Presented by Lockheed Martin
The Galileo Experience
Attention: Middle & High School Science Teachers
The Franklin is the Only U.S. Venue!
Galileo, Medici and The Age of Astronomy
Coming April 4, 2009
Some call him The Father of Observational Astronomy. Albert Einstein called
him The Father of Modern Science. We know him as Galileo Galilei, and 2009
marks the 400th anniversary of his first astronomical observations with his
telescope. The Franklin is honored to be the only museum in North America
to present Galileo, Medici and The Age of Astronomy. Created through an exclusive
partnership with the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence,
the exhibit showcases Galileo’s accomplishments, his relationship to the ruling
Medici family, his discoveries and his overall impact on astronomy, physics
and math—from building the case for a heliocentric solar system; to his discovery
of Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s moons and the phases of Venus; to his principles
of relativity and inertia, which laid the foundation for Sir Isaac Newton’s
laws of motion and Einstein’s theory of relativity.
This exhibit will be the first, and perhaps only, occasion that one of the two remaining Galileo telescopes will ever leave Italy. On exhibition with it will be instruments, paintings, prints and manuscripts from the priceless Medici collection. The Medici Grand Dukes ruled Italy from the 15th through the 18th century. Their patronage resulted in the great burst of scientific knowledge and artistic achievement. The exhibit will help visitors understand how the union of art, science and political power gave rise to Galileo’s success.
A new experiential package for middle school and high school students, including a special Fels Planetarium show, is in development. Watch for updated information at www.fi.edu/fieldtripplanner.
