Saturday, March 22, 2008

Astrovernnight at the Adler



On March 14th 
(Pi Day)


I took Maddie 



to 


Astrovernight at the Adler Planetarium.  We got there at 6:30 p.m.  As soon as she jumped out of the car, she slung her sleeping bag on her back and then spotted the moon up in the sky. She was pointing up at it excitedly and said, "I hope I can see the moon through a telescope tonight!"    

We were able to see the moon, Mars and even Saturn that night.  It was exciting to see the rings!  You should have heard Maddie exclaim when she was shown Mars in the sky.  "You mean that star right there is really Mars?  Right by the Moon?  And I can see it with my NAKED EYE? Can I see through the telescope?"  When we saw Saturn, she was looking through the telescope and describing to me the shape she was seeing.  The guy helping her with the telescope said, "I think we have another Einstein on our hands!"  










Making star finders.





The phases of the moon presentation was very cool.  Maddie wants to do this again at home.  First you take a styrofoam ball and put it on a popsicle stick.  You stand in a dark room with a light bulb on in front of you, and then you move your arm into various position so that the shadows mimic the phases of the moon.  Fun stuff!





Making pocket sundials.








Setting up our bunk for the night.  


Maddie had fun setting up her sleeping bag and really liked the special things I brought for her.  The book "Voyage to the Bunny Planet" by Rosemary Wells was a big hit.  The scratch art space book was fun for her too.  I also brought a roll of quarters so that she could squash as many pennies as she wanted while we were there.




We were able to sleep wherever we wanted in the Planetarium.  Maddie chose to sleep right under the giant Saturn, since we had seen it through the telescope for the first time that night.




Maddie was so happy all evening.  She kept saying, "I'm SO glad we're doing this Mom." and, "I'm having so much fun!"  She definitely had stars (and planets) in her eyes all night and a big sparkling smile on her face too.  After the star show and snack time,  she finally crawled into her sleeping bag and turned off her lantern.   She fell asleep almost immediately, but not before she threw her arm around my neck and whispered, "Mommy, I have to tell you something...  I love you."  

1 comment:

The Christexans said...

I think it is great that the museums offer that overnight option! We've always thought that would be fun to do. Did you get any sleep?