Š Wild Things Issue 144, Aug 2019. Produced by Forest & Bird
The stars of the show
By Amy (age 11), KCC HastingsHavelock North We went to the Holt planetarium in Napier. They have lots of different things there, like a computer game where you land a spacecraft onto the moon and posters showing what the solar system is like. At the start of our visit, we went into a fairly large room filled with seats. Up the front was a big white wall and a projector could play videos on it. Once everyone arrived, we sat down and listened to Gary talk about the manufacturing of the video. The video we watched was made in 1957 by a famous cartoon maker called Walt Disney. Did you know that people used to think that the stars went into the sea, that the sun went around the Earth, and that the world was flat like a pancake?
Next, we went into the planetarium, which had a big white dome ceiling. In the middle was a black odd-shaped projector that looked like a disco ball! We all found a seat and sat down. Some of the seats were like armchairs. Most of the kids preferred these. The lights dimmed and finally went out. Gary put up a picture onto the ceiling of the night sky. He showed us lots of star constellations and told us their names. One was Leo the lion. In the Northern Hemisphere, he looks like a lion, strong and tough, but when you see him here in NZ, he just looks like a great big pussy cat lying on his back. Gary told us lots of facts, and we also got to ask questions. When we got out it was very bright, but it was an exciting day. I can’t wait until next time!
Where is that adventure? Had a KCC adventure? Let us know at kcc@ forestandbird.org.nz.
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