Face of Earth for grades 6-8
To reserve seats for your class, call
(585) 697-1942. Reservations must be made at least two weeks in advance.
See huge full-resolution photographs of Earth's hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere and atmosphere, plus signs of climate change, life processes and human impact.
The first half of the program uses the Planetarium's giant high-resolution video system to immerse students in photographs taken by NASA Earth-observing satellites and by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. To allow students to explore on their own, the images are presented with music and little or no narration. Images are labeled either with captions or with short quiz questions such as "Which river delta is this? a) Amazon b) Mississippi c) Huang (Yellow River) d) Nile?" After a pause for students to think, an arrow indicates the answer and a new image appears. Students get the opportunity to apply what they may know from maps or from studies of geography to the more complex appearance of the real Earth as seen from space.
In the second half of the program, your planetarium teacher conducts a live tour and point-out of stars, constellations and planets visible in the current night sky.
Recommended websites for more information and more views of Earth from spaceU.S. Geological Survey Education Resources
Explore here for pictures, maps, online lectures, and lesson ideas for your use
http://education.usgs.gov
NASA Earth ObservatoryA great starting point. Includes an Image of the Day, pictures by theme such as natural hazards and climate change, and global maps of satellite data.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
NASA Johnson Space Center Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth
Takes some time to learn, but this site has powerful search features to locate pictures by place name, latitude and longitude, or type of feature shown.
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/clickmap/