Mobile planetarium sparks interest among 5th graders
The UNAM/Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT) program began this years' school excursions in Windhoek late last month when the team took the mobile planetarium to Pioneers Park Primary School.The UNAM/AMT mobile planetarium is an inflatable, interactive facility designed to bring students closer to the wonders of the cosmos. “The planetarium will visit various schools in the country to provide practical astronomy education and inspire young people about astrophysics and science, technology, engineering and mathematics. A total of 188 students from the school participated in the event,” according to a media release.
The planetarium provides a range of programs tailored to different learning levels.
Emmy Iiyambo, a senior member of the AMT team, praised the success of the excursion. “The students showed remarkable enthusiasm even before entering the planetarium. Their knowledge of astronomy was both surprising and motivating for us as a team. The success of the event was evident as the excited learners left the planetarium with numerous questions and demonstrated their hunger for further learning.”
When asked to share with the team about his experience, one of the grade 5s said: “It was exciting to see the sky moving. I've read about all of these things before, so I knew what they were talking about. I already knew how a black hole forms and I was excited to see it up close."