Planetarium training offered for adults and teens

KAPA’A — Learning adventures at Kaua’i Children’s Discovery Museum are for

adults too!

Interested in the night sky? Interested in the hands-on

experience of operating a professional Starlab Planetarium?

The public is

invited to join the Discovery Museum’s free planetarium workshop.

In a two

month training program beginning Jan. 15, adults and teens will be offered a

choice of Saturday or Tuesday classes from 3-5:30 p.m. This certification

program will place trained planetarium presenters at the museum as volunteers

and paid staff. The Discovery Museum is located under the whale tower in Kaua’i

Village Shopping Center, Kapa’a.

Those wishing to register for the

training program can do so by calling the museum at 823-8222.

Starlab, a

portable planetarium developed at Harvard and M.I.T., is designed to surround

25-30 participants with a panorama of the universe.

Starlab consists of a

dome, motorized projector and interchangeable projection cylinders.

The

cylinders project images for a variety of curriculum areas including astronomy,

navigation, mythology and legends, earth science, math, culture, language arts

and even biology.

The Starlab planetarium can be set up by a single person

in under 30 minutes. This program opens a broad range of opportunities for

exploration and discovery.

Students can learn about celestial patterns,

the age of exploration, navigation and ocean voyaging, and ancient history

through the Starlab curriculum.

Combining science, technology, culture and

arts, the program made learning fun and accessible to people of all ages.

Topics included Polynesian navigation, constellations and planets in our

own night sky, Greek mythology, Native American and Chinese legends relating to

thestarfield and much more.

The planetarium is now one of the Discovery

Museum’s showpieces. It will be an important element of school tours which are

beginning Jan. 25 for the opening of the new exhibition “Fascinating Science,”

on loan from the National Science and Technology Centre of Australia.

Graduates of the planetarium training will have opportunities to produce

shows for this exhibition.

The planetarium was a gift to Kauai Children’s

Discovery Museum through agrant from the National Science Foundation.

The

traveling planetarium program has been supported by the Hawaii Community

Foundation Kauai Grants, the Cooke Foundation and the County of Kaua’i.

The Planetarium Program is a core program of the Discovery Museum and

creating learning opportunities for Kauai residents and visitors otherwise be

unavailable on Kaua’i.

Planetarium training is a part of the museum’s

Project Discovery Youth Intern Program.

Students grades five through high

school are invited to join Project Discovery.

The Intern Program satisfies

community service requirements for some schools. It also provides valuable

training in workand life skills for participants from public, private and home

school systems.

For more information contact the Museum at 823-8222 or

mail to 4-831 Kuhio Highway, Kapaa, HI 96746.

From the beginning, Kauai

Children’s Discovery Museum’s planetarium programhas been fruitful and

inspiring to the community, Says mother Jean NishidaSouza, “Looking up at

the stars one night, my second grade daughter pointedout constellations and

told us detailed stories about the night sky. I wasamazed that she was so

aware. When I asked her where she learned all this,she said Auntie Andi at the

Discovery Museum Starlab. I was veryimpressed!” There are worlds to

discovery at Kauai Children’s

DiscoveryMuseum!………………………………………………..Sue —

At The Garden Island on Tuesday, I left a photo addressed to you,meant to

accompany this press release. Please use the following caption forthe

photo:”At the Discovery Museum’s Starlab Planetarium Program, intern

EmersonTumbaga weaves stories of ancient navigators who followed the

stars.Planetarium Presenters’ training for teens and adults starts Jan.

15.”— Ben Maiden