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1967
1967
Just after NASA's Mercury and Gemini missions wrapped up, and the Apollo program was about to launch 3 astronauts into space to beat the Russians to the Moon, this planetarium was the first built in a Lancaster County school. Mr. Bill Chronister oversaw the construction and taught astronomy to countless numbers of classes over the next 35 years, using the Spitz A3P system.
2007
2007
Mr. Webb was lucky enough to have Mr. Chronister, post-retirement, train him on how to operate, maintain, and teach using the system in 2007. Mr. Webb attempted to maintain his legacy through elementary field trips, high school astronomy classes, and seasonal star parties.
2015
2015
48 years after construction, the Lumiline bulbs were almost all burned out and no longer manufactured. The A3P star ball was limping along, with functionalities being lost. Some chairs were broken, sometimes during shows, sometimes by the new director. It was at this point that Mr. Webb realized the planetarium would go dark and defunct if he didn’t do something about it. That was the spark. Mr. Webb applied for the Farmers Insurance Thank America’s Teachers Grant for $100,000. Luckily Farmers works with Jeopardy! to advertise their program because that’s where his mother saw it and forwarded him their link. He wrote a proposal to use the funds to purchase an LED lighting system, new moveable chairs, carpet, a sound system, and teaching materials for a Summer Space STEM Camp.
2016
2016
In the summer of 2016, 15 proposals were selected nationwide to compete for votes during October of 2016. The 6 proposals with the most votes would each win a $100,000 prize. This is where the community came together.
In October of 2016, members, students, parents, alumni, and friends of the Pequea Valley community came together and voted every day from every email they had to support the proposal. There were so many votes coming in so fast the first couple of days, that we crashed their system!
We were consistently in 3rd place throughout the competition. October ended with Farmers NOT telling us who won, insisting they wanted to surprise the winners. Then, in December, Farmers coordinated with PV administration and my family to surprise Mr. Webb with the $100,000 check at a school assembly.
The spark had lit a fire. Now we could have sound, lighting, moveable chairs, and a summer camp ready to go.
Mr. Webb Thanks the community here: http://eepurl.com/cshNKT
Story from LNP
Assembly Video Announcing Us as Winners
2017
2017
But that was only the fire. It has since turned into a bonfire. In May of 2017 the Pequea Valley School Board approved the installation of a new roof, a new projection dome inside, and a full-dome digital system from Spitz, Inc. known as the SciDome IQ2560. This has enabled us to not only stop limping, but to start really running. Now, the future has seemingly infinite possibilities.
Onward
Onward
So….what can we do?
As Before, the planetarium allows learners to see a three-dimensional sky in a 3-dimensional controllable construct, to bypass learning in a classroom with 2-dimensional paper, whiteboards, and even laptops.
Also as before, learners will control time flow from Earth’s perspective, but now...Mars is no longer just a red dot on the dome,
they will travel from Earth to other planets and star systems, and through the universe. They will see exactly why the Moon dictated when the D-day invasion would occur and how Lincoln tried a famous case using astronomical tables. Learners will transport themselves around the globe and witness events in 360 degrees.
In their anatomy and physiology class, learners will zoom through a digital recreation of the human body.
Earth Science learners will use The Layered Earth to explore multiple...layers...of the….Earth, including current weather, climate data, and live 3-d earthquake models. All of this is also controlled using the SciTouch. We can even zoom to any spot on the earth, such as Kinzers. This also controls Starry Night
Learners will not only consume information. They will produce it. A new course, Planetarium STEAM Productions, utilizes learner talents in digital production and creativity with the capabilities of the dome to produce original content for public shows. To take their audience on a journey, learners program Starry Night as I’ve done for this tour and code a program called ATM4 to automate sequences. With the newest technology in cameras, learners can create real time-lapse astrophotography, create and edit soundtracks, research science, write stories, record and edit full-dome 360˚ video, and present their programs to the public in a setting much like this.
We host a Summer Space STEM Camp for the first 10 boys and first 10 girls, focusing on Launch, Flight, and Return of spacecraft via multiple STEM applications, such as robotics, 3-D printing, and good ol’ rocket launching. We will be hosting field trips for elementary learners in much the same way we have before for 3rd and 4th grades, and will be expanding it in the years to come.
7th grade Earth Science and 8th grade Space Science will be in here frequently with Mr. Bruno using the Layered Earth and Starry Night curriculum.
HS astronomy will be using it most days with me as their facilitator (when it’s not raining, snowing, sleeting) as will the Planetarium STEAM Productions course.
Star Parties are held seasonally. We will coordinate with HS and IS teachers on cross-curricular field trips in topics like the Lincoln Almanac trial, Powers of Ten and the scale of the universe, 3-d shapes, etc.
After the first year, we will evaluate the program and discuss opening it up to other schools or clubs in the area.
Media regarding the planetarium:
Media regarding the planetarium:
Mr. Webb's alma mater, Dickinson College, ran an Alumni in Action piece on him here...
Early in 2016, Lancaster Online ran an article about Pequea Valley and Manheim Township planetariums here...
In 2015, NPR ran an article about planetariums, with some commentary from your favorite AstroNerd right here...
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