The following is a list of the projection cylinders the Atlantic County AVA Technology Center currently has on hand for teachers to choose from when borrowing our StarLab Portable Planetarium. Please be prepared to voice your choices when scheduling the planetarium for your school. Click here to begin the StarLab reservation process
Astronomy Cylinders
Constellations: Using the well-known constellation identification system of H. A. Rey, this cylinder features the 48 major constellations, the ecliptic and celestial equator, colorfully displayed for the ultimate in visual retention.
Solar System & Galaxy:This exciting cylinder projects scaled representations of the sun and the principal bodies of the solar system in color with tables of basic statistics. The enormous distances between the planets are shown to scale.
Starfield: This scaled-down version of the traditional Starfield cylinder accurately simulates the night sky in areas where light pollution screens out a significant number of stars. The Urban Starfield cylinder features 600 stars, with the 14 brightest stars individually lensed.
Biology Cylinders
Biological Cell:This one million-time magnification of a composite cell demonstrates the workings of a one-celled organism. The processes of cellular digestion and reproduction are illustrated in vivid color.
Earth Science Cylinders
Ocean Currents: This cylinder, similar in format to the Earth and Plate Tectonics cylinders, features both warm and cold currents in the world's oceans. Along with the Go With the Flow curriculum by Gary D. Kratzer, the Ocean Currents cylinder will enable students to study the nature of currents, determine what causes them and discover the effects that the currents have on the earth.
Plate Tectonics: This global tectonic projection is based on the work of Dr. Paul D. Lowman on the Continental Drift Theory at the Goddard Space Flight Center. This map shows active ridges, faults, spreading centers and volcanic activity over the past 1 million years.
Weather: This cylinder depicts the earth's atmospheric circulation patterns including location of wind systems and jet streams, as well as high and low air pressure masses. This colorful cylinder, in conjunction with A Current Affair, a 20-page curriculum booklet by Gary D. Kratzer, enables students to interactively explore pressure systems, storm systems, longitude and latitude coordinate plotting and other global weather phenomena.
Mythology Cylinders
African: This colorful cylinder depicts constellation figures as seen by many African culturs such as the Dogeon, Bushmen, Masai, Egyptians and more. The appearance of these constellations marked key events such as the beginning of the planting season, and signified important moral lessons.
Ancient Chinese Legends: Featuring more than 30 exciting, colorful constellations such as the Royal Couple, the Supreme Commander, the Awakening Snake, the Four Pillars of Heaven and thePrisoners of War, this celestial panorama is full of wonderful stories that represent the cultural ideas of the time.
Greek: A combination of traditional artwork and folklore for 45 classical Greek constellations (18 in full color) are featured on a background of 3000 stars, making this cylinder an excellent introductory tool for locating constellations. A convenient identification key includes folk legends about each constellation.
Hindu: This cylinder features over 30 exciting stories of constellations and stars collected from the Vedas, Ramayana, Mahhabbarta, and Puranana. These wonderful legends tell of the significance of a heavenly couple similar to Adam and Eve, an evil "blinking" star, hunters and warriors, explanations of the role of the sun and moon in the heavens, tales of monsters and fierce creatures, and much more.
Native American: This cylinder includes colorful outlines of figures from Native American folklore such as Long Sash, the Great Bear, First Man and Woman, Spider God and many others. An identification key contains legends drawn from the Navajo, Shoshoni, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Tewa, Hopi and Algonquin tribes.