More new stuff:
There's now a Yahoo
Group for Small Planetariums...
visit this address and read about several other cardboard and foamboard
planetariums! As one member writes, "The work you have done with
Deer Valley High School has been the subject of a bit of discussion,
and
the inspiration for several members to go out and build planetariums
of their own."
We're happy to have been an inspiration
to anyone! Also visit the related site
www.astro-obsessions.com/small_planetarium for
forum discussions and ideas on domes and projectors!
New: Look at the resources
page for a
link to the Home Planetarium Association!
Send us your domes! If you
visit this site and build a dome, send us a
picture.
Our first
response
is on
the Feedback page...take a look!
New: Click here for NSTA files and session
information for NSTA Atlanta.
If
you cannot afford to take your students to a planetarium, why not
bring
the
planetarium
to
them?
For less
than
the cost of
a field
trip to a distant planetarium, you can construct your own homemade
planetarium and have it to use over and over. The Cardboard Planetarium
project
will show you how to build your own personal or classroom planetarium.
Not
only will you learn how to build one out of inexpensive materials,
you will learn how to use it for everything from astronomy
lessons to mathematics and ar lessons.
This project was developed using general geodesic dome principles,
the concept of cylindrical projection, and designs cited
as noted in the citation
page.
The development of this web site was supported by the Dean and Margaret
Lesher Foundation, the Contra Costa County
Office of Education, and Deer Valley
High School.
Overview
Building a planetarium is fun, educational,
and useful. The construction of the dome can be used to support mathematics
standards, and the use of the dome for presentations can support
physical science, mathematics, and earth science standards. The planetarium
can be preserved for use in future years, or a new one can be constructed
each year to hold costs to a minimum.
This web site is divided into six sections.
We recommend you read through the entire site before beginning construction
of your dome.
Building
a Dome: This
section details plans for everything from a simple desktop
dome model to a large scale two-frequency geodesic dome.
Plans are provided for a 20 cm dome,
a 2
meter dome, and a 5 meter
dome. The information needed to scale to other sizes
as materials or space permit is provided.
New! We got this idea
via email recently:
"Jeff, I am in the middle of constructing
a 4 meter planetarium. I think that I will be able to complete the
project without having to purchase anything. I contacted a recycling
center who was able to provide me with 100 sheets of 4x8 cardboard.
Many door and window companies receive their product separated by
cardboard. The recycling center gets a load every few weeks. The
sheets are all perfect.
The second hint is to use pvc pipe instead of paper clamps. First,
take a length of 2” pvc pipe and cut it into 2 inch pieces.
Second, slice through the length of each piece of pvc pipe. If you
pull the sliced piece apart it holds the cardboard better than a
binder clip and is free. With a band saw you can make several hundreds
of the clamps in a few minutes. " - Mark Burbank
Building
a Projector: Plans
and templates for a simple cylindrical projection system
are provided; just print out the template on transparency,
build a light bulb on a little stand, and you are ready
to start. More sophisticated modifications are also presented.
Curriculum:
Once you build it, what do you do with it? Basic astronomy lessons,
mathematics concepts, and advanced topics in astronomy can be taught
effectively with a planetarium.
Resources: Links
and references about geodesic domes, planetariums, and astronomy.
Feedback: Send
us your pictures of your completed domes, and share lesson plans
with us.
Key words for index searches:
Do it yourself, cardboard, planetarium, homemade, astronomy, education
