About the Project

First grade NGSS curriculum is very exciting but when it comes to the study of patterns in space, it can be very difficult for six year olds to grasp concepts that are literally out of this world. We aim to bring this study down to earth with the aid of an inflatable planetarium, inflatable planets, and an inclusive earth sciences selection of books. We will be able to demonstrate the rotation of the earth causing day and night, the pattern in the phases of the moon and how this is the basis of calendar systems, the revolution of the earth around the sun and its tilt on its axis causing the seasons, as well as the constellations of the northern and southern hemispheres and the infinite universe. Our first graders will be immersed in space as we use the planetarium for multiple inquiries throughout our study. Students will be able to revisit the planetarium in third and fifth grades as they continue exploring space, Earth’s spheres, and the planets in our solar system. Lastly, they will explore the inflatable planet models that will inhabit our classrooms, and read books that represent diversity and inclusion in the study of earth sciences.