A school trip to the planetarium - the full experience

Presentation theme: educational advancements in planetariums

A school trip to a planetarium can be much more than watching an immersive video on the dome. It can be a life changing learning experience which leaves the students in awe! And this experience starts way before the kids reach the planetarium and lasts much longer than after they have left the building. The 17 000 students and their teachers visiting the planetarium Mannheim per year get the full planetarium experience: The teachers get a detailed telephone counselling to get the perfect show for their students; the kids a heartily welcome at the entrance of the building; in the dome the students receive live presented and age adapted interactive shows and Q&A sessions with an astronomer; on the webpage schools can find online material for preparation or follow-up learning experiences in the classroom. This talk presents how this full planetarium experience was set up at the Planetarium Mannheim, the advantages and disadvantages as well as the challenges which had to be faced in a large scale planetarium.

 Image © Arena Berlin