Planning a Visit
Logistics
- Room: Provide an indoor space at least 25 ft x 25 ft, such as a gym, cafeteria, or activity room, with at least 14 ft of unobstructed ceiling clearance.
- Power: Provide access to a standard 120-volt electrical outlet.
- Tables: Have 8–10 tables available for exhibits.
- Chairs: Provide 3–4 chairs for teachers.
- Setup and parking: Presenters arrive about one hour before the program. Please arrange close parking and easy access for equipment. Teardown usually takes about 30 minutes.
- Lunch and dinner: Allow 45–60 minutes for presenters to leave for a meal. If lunch is provided on site, the break can be as short as 30 minutes.
- Schedule: Email the day’s schedule or have a printed copy ready when presenters arrive.
Ceiling Height - Is your space high enough?
14-foot unobstructed clearance required.
The planetarium dome uses durable fabric as its projection surface, but it can be damaged while inflating, deflating, and moving as students enter. The dome must not come into contact with beams, light fixtures, HVAC ducts, sprinklers, hooks, screws, or any other overhead obstruction.
Before scheduling, please inspect the proposed room carefully. If you are unsure whether the space is suitable, contact us and share details or photos of the room for review.
EXAMPLE – In this example, the ceiling height is 14′, but there are I-Beams, light fixtures and HVAC ducts running under it. As you can see from the image on the right, when we inflated the dome, the I-Beams, light fixtures and ducts are all visible from inside the dome. If there had been any kind of spur or screw on the beam or ducts, it could have easily ripped the dome or the dome could have been burned by the light fixture. A replacement dome is over $12k, so we can not risk setting up in these circumstances.
- Don’t have the Space / Clearance
If space doesn’t permit the use of the dome, we can still work with you to setup a science program, and possibly still use the star projector. Please contact us about your specifics.
Program Sessions
A Session is the amount of time we spend with a class or group of students and generally consists of the following:
- Introduction
An overview of the exhibits and planetarium and any science demonstrations. - Planetarium Program
Live night sky tours and full dome shows. - Exhibits
Students browse the exhibits under supervision of their teacher and planetarium staff. - Telescope (if applicable)
Students go outside in small groups to look at objects in the sky.
Students per Session
Maximum students per session
- K–5th grade: Up to 50 students.
- 6th grade through adults: Up to 40 students.
We recommend no more than two classrooms per session. The exhibits are not a separate station for another group; we can serve only one group of up to 50 students per round.
Although we try to remain flexible, adding students makes seating tighter and less comfortable and can reduce the quality of the learning experience.
Setting Session Lengths (45mins. - 2 hours)
The length of each Session is determined by the school and can last from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
- Recommended session lengths:
– Kindergarten – 2nd Grade: 30 – 45 minutes
– 3rd & higher: 1 hour (minimum 45 minutes)
– Gifted & Talented or enhanced programming can be up to 2 hours long and include extra planetarium time, telescopes, drone demonstrations, etc. (Contact us for details) - Allowing Enough Time
Most schools want as many students as possible to experience the planetarium, which we understand. Please bear in mind however that by rushing students through the program, it diminishes the quality of the experience for any one student. Please try to schedule blocks as close to the recommended length as possible. If necessary, we recommend focusing on 1 or 2 grades and giving them the maximum time possible. Consider making it an annual or every other year experience for a select grade(s), giving upcoming students something to look forward to. If your budget allows we also do multi-day programs at a discounted rate. That said, we’re happy to be flexible to meet your situation. - Telescope Time (Optional – By Request & Weather permitting – See Below for Details): +10 minutes
For daytime telescope viewing we typically start with 5 students, while the rest are viewing the exhibits. Once a student finishes looking through the telescope, they trade out with a classmate. This allows us to rotate through the students while they are viewing the exhibits. To allow enough time for the planetarium and exhibits, plus the telescope viewing, please add 10 minutes to the recommended block lengths.
Setting the Start Time
ARKANSAS SCHOOLS
Whether lodging will be required the night prior to our visit will depend on the start time for your first session and the travel time to your location. If the start time is later than 6:30am + travel time from Greenbrier + 1 hour setup time, an overnight stay will generally not be needed.
- For example:
- A school in Little Rock is a 60 minute drive. 6:30am + 60 minute drive + 60 minute setup means a start time for the first session as early as 8:30am
- A school in Texarkana is a 2h 30m drive. 6:30am + 2h 30m drive + 60 minute setup means a start time for the first session at 10am. An earlier start time would require an overnight stay and lodging fee.
OUTSIDE ARKANSAS
For programs outside of Arkansas a lodging fee (if required) is built into your rate, so we can arrive at any reasonable time in the morning to begin setup.
Preparing Students
- Teacher Participation
Where possible, we encourage the students’ teachers to experience the planetarium with them. We have found that students get more from the program, have fewer discipline issues, and the teachers are better prepared to reinforce what was taught. Plus, teachers usually love the experience just as much…. - Bathroom Breaks
Once inside the planetarium, participants need to stay inside for the duration of the program, if at all possible. Anyone needing to leave the dome breaks the light seal, putting the program on hold, and may start a cascade of other students who also want to use the restroom. This also places additional wear on the dome’s entrance, which over time can lead to costly repairs or the need to replace the dome. In preparation for the visit to the planetarium, please have the teachers allow the students a bathroom break. - Food & Drinks
No food or drinks are allowed in the planetarium. In the past, we have found sucker sticks and had to peel gum off the dome. Since students are seated on the floor, the next class may unknowingly sit on anything that was accidentally spilled or left behind.
Volunteer Docents
- Students
Do you have a group of older students (3 or fewer at a time) – perhaps GT or students with a science interest, or high school students looking for community hours – that can serve as docents? We can assign student docents to help with the exhibits. This is an opportunity for docents to learn more about the displays and gain a valuable experience as they teach the younger students. - Parents / Adults
Parent or adult volunteers, while not necessary, are also welcome to help with the exhibits and student traffic – especially for evening events.
Telescopes
– Let students see real astronomical objects in the daytime sky! Drives home the fact they are still there even during the daytime.
- GPS TELESCOPE – This is a 9.25″ telescope that uses GPS satellites so it can find objects in the daytime sky. The moon, Venus, Jupiter and several of the brightest stars are visible weather permitting. If you’re holding an evening event, this telescope (depending on light pollution) can show students the moon, planets, and deep space wonders.
- SOLAR TELESCOPE – This is a telescope specifically designed to allow students to safely look directly at the surface of the sun. We only make this option available to students 5th grade or older. Students need to be old enough to understand the dangers of looking at the sun prior to using this telescope.
- LOGISTICS – Telescope(s) need to be setup in a semi-secure area just outside where the planetarium is setup. We generally take small groups of 3-5 students at a time (while the others explore the exhibits) outside for a look through the telescope after the planetarium presentations. It usually takes 10-15 minutes to cycle through all of the students. Between blocks and during the planetarium programs the telescope is left alone outside, so it needs to be setup in an area where it won’t be bothered between programs.
Student Supervison and Discipline
- At NO TIME can we take responsibility for students. A teacher or organization official must be present at ALL TIMES.
- At least one teacher or responsible organization official must accompany students into the planetarium to supervise students and handle any discipline issues. We can not start a program in the dome unless a representative is present.
- The planetarium projection equipment, dome, and exhibits are very expensive and some items are irreplacable. In order to make sure they can be enjoyed by as many students as possible into the future, we reserve the right to end all programming and dismiss a student or group of students if they exhibit any conduct that is or could be harmful to the equipment, exhibits or other attendees.