SCIENCE CURRICULUM ENRICHMENT TOOL DIGITAL PLANETARIUM PURCHASE

FULL DOME PLANETARIUM FILMS To supplement the NPPSD’s STEM curriculum, we would like to purchase a portable planetarium in order to screen museum-quality, full-dome planetarium films for our students.

DIGITARIUM DELTA 3 Digitalis Education is the world market leader in portable digital planetariums. Recently, they launched a new, lower-cost digital planetarium, the Delta 3. It is perfect for school districts because it is more affordable, sets up and takes down in minutes, and can travel.

DIGITALIS 5 METER DOME Their 16 foot diameter dome can accommodate up to 25 adults or 40 students at a time and can fit in a large classroom or a gym.

TRULY PORTABLE MACHINE It can be transported in the back of a mid-sized car, as pictured in this Honda Civic, and stored in a large closet when not in use.

DIGITAL PROJECTORS Previously, the district has used the ESU’s ten year old “canister style” STARLAB portable planetarium but the images are static and not animated. A light shines through a laser cut canister to project constellations on the STARLAB interior. Many exciting advances have been made in the last decade and now manufacturers have digital projectors available that can project movies on the dome ceilings. It will absolutely stun the children and teachers alike!

MUSEUM QUALITY FILMS On a digital projector, our students could watch full dome films that show in museum planetariums such as: Mueller Planetarium UNLDenver Mus. Nature/Science

FULL DOME MOVIE EXAMPLE To see an example of the types of films the students may see when they look up at the dome ceiling, you can play a preview of the movie FIREFALL at

FULL DOME MOVIE EXAMPLE To view a 1 minute trailer of COSMIC JOURNEY, click on this link

DISTRICT 3 RD GRADER EVENT To launch this great educational tool, we would begin by organizing a fantastic enrichment event for the district 3 rd graders who will be studying the Solar System this winter. Linda Clavel, principal at Buffalo Elementary, is the 3 rd grade teacher coordinator. She will arrange to have all the district 3 rd graders (300+ students) bused to the McKinley Center to experience the new, digital dome for the first time and view COSMIC JOURNEY or FIREFALL. It will be a great event and we should get tremendous coverage from the media.

FULL DOME FILM SUBJECTS There are full dome films on subjects other than space so having access to a digital portable planetarium could benefit many curricular subjects across all grade levels. PLEASE NOTE: typically the film producers negotiate multi- year licenses with planetarium/theatre chains so any of our short term licenses would need to be negotiated on a case by case basis.

COSTS Cost is $22,300 This is a great value for their high end product. It is handy, convenient, and saves the district travel time/costs on field trips. Plus, the technology is upgradeable so it should not need to be replaced. FYI, Strategic Air And Space Museum will rent their portable planetarium but charges $1500/day plus mileage.

FUNDING We are looking for private donations and funding from: 1.NEBRASKALAND NATIONAL BANK $10,000-$12,000 in exchange for letting them put their logo on the dome and displaying it in their lobby once a year. 2.MID NEBRASKA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION Applegate Teaching Support Grant $5,000 3.NPPSD REACH Grant $5,000 4.Fundraising within the schools by selling MARS MUD and/or Astronaut ice cream!