Abuelo's Stories for the Seasons

Vignettes of the Hispanic community of Southwestern Michigan open a program where Linda, Oscar and their abuelo (grandfather) share stories on a warm autumn evening. As Linda explains the scientific reason for the seasons, her abuelo offers an Aztec legend and family stories about spring, summer, autumn, and winter, tying the passing seasons to the passing years. This program was produced with New Latino Visions Theater and Bangor Public Schools, funded with support from the MERC-GEAR UP and MCACA.

Secrets In the Sky

The family of Josh Acres, a Mississippi slave, plans their escape when his wife Anna and his son Malik are sold to a new owner in Kentucky. Navigating by the stars and using code songs they find their way to freedom following the Underground Railroad. This story was adapted from the play Seven Stops to Freedom by Von Washington, Washington Productions, funded with support from the MCACA.

Sky Legends of the Three Fires

Enter our wigwam to hear Odawa storyteller Larry Plamondon offer stories from Potawatomi, Odawa and Ojibwa traditions. Hear how Coyote spread the stars across the sky, how Mud Turtle added the glow of the Milky Way, and how the Great Bear found his way into the sky. This program was made possible with support from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA).

Season of Light

Some of our favorite holiday traditions have come to us from ancient Winter Solstice celebrations celebrated by cultures around the world. Discover the origins of Christmas trees, Saint Nick, and explore possible astronomical explanations for the Christmas Star.

Programs about our place in space

Big

Voyage outward from Earth to the edge of space passing by the planets, forming and dying stars, and spinning galaxies along the way. Richard Attenborough describes the sights visible through the spacecraft view ports. This program was produced by the National Space Science Center in Leicester, England.

Programs about the Earth

Mystery of the Missing Seasons

While observing the spring constellations from his back yard, Angelo is visited by aliens from a planet with no seasons. They take Angelo on board their spaceship to learn why Earth does have seasons, and in the process help Angelo learn why the evening constellations change as the seasons pass.

Programs about the night sky

Bear Tales

Discover the bears and their companions in this program about the spring night sky. Listen to constellation legends and watch the constellations shift with the passing hours. Then join the chorus as we go “Dancing with Bears.”

Night of the Falling Stars

After Sara sees a falling star, she travels to her grandparent's farm to see more. Her grandfather looks in a family diary for a report of a night when the stars fell like snowflakes. When the family goes out to observe the meteors, Grandpa tells a Native American legend about a falling star.

Terri & Her Telescope

Terri's wish for a telescope comes true on her birthday, but it takes a little effort to put the telescope together. After viewing the moon in the night sky, Terri finds she needs more help to locate the planets. Her father arranges a trip to an observatory where she learns about star maps and other guides to the night sky.

Mystery of the Missing Moon

An African legend introduces Mr. Finch’s class to an assignment about watching the phases of the moon in the night sky. The students discover the regular changes can be predicted and confirmed. On the night of the full moon the children get an unexpected surprise.

Constellations Tonight

This participatory program introduces students to the constellations visible in the evening sky. Students will learn to find the Big Dipper and follow its “pointer” stars to the North Star for orientation. They will learn how to find seasonal constellations using a star map. Locations of few star clusters and other objects are shown to encourage students to try stargazing from home.

The Northern Lights

In this program, students observe the motion of the summer sun from the latitude of Kalamazoo and then from a site north of the Arctic Circle. As the sun sets in the Arctic, the northern lights are often seen. The interaction between solar eruptions and the glowing lights in Earth’s sky is explored.

Programs about the Solar System

Space Bus

Stella Capella’s class is taking a field trip through the solar system aboard the space bus. Their assignment is to find the most amazing planet in the whole solar system. They’ll find each planet is special in its own way, but one is the unique home of life in our solar system.

Moons of the Solar System

Our exploration of more than 50 moons begins with Earth’s nearest neighbor in space, our Moon. Students observe the phases of the moon as it orbits Earth. Slides show its changing appearance as viewed with binoculars, and include seas, highlands, and craters. Next, we look at the moons orbiting Jupiter as they appeared to Galileo, and determine their orbital periods and discover the orbital period is longer for more distant moons. Finally, we take a pre-recorded voyage past some of the most interesting moons of the solar system.

PlanetQuest

Board the planetarium’s spacecraft as a mission specialist assigned to gather information about the planets of our solar system. After scanning each planet, interactive keypads on the seats are used to command the computer system to use remote sensing devices or probes to gather more detailed information about nine planets and their moons.

Programs just for fun

Digital Amusement Park

Make a thirty minute visit to the Digital Amusement Park. The program simulates some favorite carnival rides which don't always obey the laws of physics.

Mathmod

Mathematics is a tool used for understanding the world around us, but it can have its fun side too. See chaotic patterns blend into fractals and how circular functions make designs, ending with a ride on the Mobius Strip.

Nitewalk

For Halloween fun, enter the domain of the Reaper. Fly over the graveyard and into the mausoleum where you fall down a well and move through eerie halls with bats and spiders.

Demo

Once you’ve seen the show, you may want to know how it’s all put together. Our brief demo shows how the different parts of the planetarium are used to tell the stories in the sky.