Latest News
At the Planetarium
For more than fiftneen years the Island Planetarium has been offering tailor-made shows to schools covering the
"Earth and Beyond" requirements of the Nationaln Curriculum. Theses live presentations use a range of media
including the planetarium star theatre to bring the universe to life for the pupils, whatever their key stage.
Our programmes have been greeted with enthusiasm by schools from around the country with many making us an annual
fixture in their timetable. We review the programmes each year and have developed several new options - prepared
by astronomers and qualified teachers - not only to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum and your pupils
but also to give you the best value for money. If what we offer does not fit your programme of study then please
contact us, the programmes are adaptable.
We continue to offer our highly popular mix and match planetarium shows; where you make up an hour long programme from three of the options listed below. This is tailored to your groups age and ability and have been shown to significantly improve pupil's understanding of the material. In 2007 we presented around a hundred school programmes. These were well received and many schools returned in 2008. Although the modules remain much the same, suggestions from regular visiting schools have prompted changes which will improve the understanding and enjoyment of the pupils.
Please choose your programme from the following topics, our standard presentation is A, C, D. You need to choose one of B, E or F to have a star show on the planetarium dome.
A - SEASONS - length of day and night
B - Phases of the Moon & Eclipses
D - Northern Stars, and rotating Earth
E - Revolving Earth - Our Earth in Space
F - Constellation origins & Greek Myths
Please select three modules for a one hour programme, our experiences in previous years have convinced us this is the minimum time a visit will take. Usually classes like to spend time looking around the exhibits and in our sales area. You should allow for being at the centre up to half an hour longer than the booked time.
This includes activity sheets and teacher's answer sheets if requested in advance.
Maximum of 33 (Children and Staff) [36 at the very most]
Especially for those groups who have completed STATS when they visit us or looking for an
entertaining alternative to a curriculum based show.
We look beyond the Solar System and the galaxy, out into the depth of space, widening
our horizons and understanding. What is the Universe, what do we understand
about it and why do we think it is this way? The show ends with a short tour of evening
sky on the night of your visit.
Even more schools are requesting evening shows starting from 7.30pm. This makes for a more leisurely visit, with more time for browsing in the exhibition area and our astronomy gift shop. Also we can run prerecorded entertainment shows and special interest programmes if desired. These evening shows are normally the same cost as our schools programmes, unless there are significant preparatory costs.
The above presentations can be run Tuesday to Thursday between 10am and 1pm and between 2pm and 4:30pm and in evenings from 7:00pm. Bookings Mondays and Fridays are by special arrangement.
Allow plenty of time to reach the Planetarium for a prompt start e.g. Travel time from Sandown/Shanklin takes approx. an hour!
The Planetarium is a multimedia star-theatre which can accommodate 33 in armchair comfort (with up to another three on plastic seats). Groups larger than this can be split and we can highly recommend a visit to one of the other attractions at the fort. There is an exhibition area with models and exhibits, some of which are used to cover the show material. Our shop carries a wide range of astronomy souvenirs, books, posters, videos and other teaching aids.