The Bell Museum collaborated with Sabrin Nur to develop a live planetarium show that celebrates and uplifts Somali cultural perspectives in astronomy. This supports the Bell's strategic priority of sharing our platform with mission-aligned groups to support, uplift, and learn from them, prioritizing collaborations with communities historically excluded from science, museums, and higher education. Learn about how the project began, the work we did to cultivate the relationship and produce the show for a museum-wide event, and the next steps for continuing the partnership.  

What makes a campus planetarium distinctive? It may be the breadth of expertise available across a university or the energy and fresh perspectives brought by its students. Drawing on a third-party evaluation of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Planetarium and its community impact, we examine how these strengths can help planetariums meet their challenges and expand their reach. We conclude with recommendations for campus planetariums seeking to build on their unique academic and community connections.  

The Artemis II mission represents more than a milestone in space exploration. It's a journey around the Moon that captured national attention, generated excitement, and sparked a renewed sense of curiosity about the cosmos. In this ever-growing information age, it is our job as planetarians to harness major moments like this to cultivate the curiosity, engagement, and creativity within the general public. In this paper, I will discuss the Artemis II mission and how the Charles W. Brown Planetarium at Ball State University responded to help foster the public's interest and curiosity about the national Moon Joy.  

This presentation willl summarize research that explored the topic of misconceptions in science. In particular, the potential causes of science misconceptions as well as ways that science misconceptions can be challenged and corrected will be discussed. This research project featured a study of how students' misconceptions of the understanding of the cause of the seasons can be confronted and resolved through immersive science lessons in a planetarium. Research Questions: How do student understandings and misconceptions of the cause of seasons change after participating in a 3D, immersive, and kinesthetic planetarium program that focuses on the effects of the cause of the seasons?

Schuele Planetarium at Lake Erie Nature & Science Center entertains many preschool visitors over the year. As science educators, we spend a lot of time trying to take big concepts and make them bite size for all ages. One thing that sometimes slips through the cracks is analogies that make sense to adults can have a different meaning to young visitors. In this presentation I will discuss some of the successes and failures I have had in my 16 years of working with preschoolers in the planetarium in the hopes that you don't make the same mistakes I did.  

Results from a nine-semester study of the use of computational exercises in conjunction with other active learning tools as instructional interventions in a general education astronomy course are reported. Spreadsheet-based computational exercises were incorporated into a general education astronomy course. Student performance and attitudes were measured with the TOAST, LPCI, and surveys. Mean correctness gains of 11% for TOAST and 10% for LPCI with peak gains of 20% for TOAST and 29% for LPCI were observed. Surveys indicated positive attitudes towards computational activities and active learning. Computation and active learning have been shown to be effective tools improving conceptual understanding.  

Many seemingly complicated astronomical concepts can be demonstrated by using your body to represent different phenomena. I'll go through several of these that I make use of in my dome. Then there will be the opportunity for you to share techniques that work for you. I'll finish with an update on the opening of the new Robeson Planetarium.  

The big news in education this year is that Generation Z is the first in modern history to score lower on standard cognitive and academic tests than previous generations. One of the reasons proposed for this decline is the excessive amount of 'screen time' spent by students and the loss of instruction by analogue or 'human' means. The presenter examines possible implications of this issue for planetariums and steps we can take to make our theaters more human and, in the process, more successful.  

Who inspires us to look up? Who inspires us to get our planetarium visitors to look up? Astronomy heroes come from everywhere-and every time. Join me to explore my cosmic instigators from Aristarchus to Galileo to the recent 1st grader-- who gave me a high five after a fun astronomy demo.