Blasting off to Stardome

Written by: Emily

After weeks of learning about rockets and having multiple discussions about them, it was time to visit Stardome to enhance and broaden our knowledge on the subject. The adventure started when we hopped on the bus. The atmosphere in the bus was full of buzz and excitement. We saw so many things on our travel, with children pointing at buildings they recognised and seeing different types of vehicles. When we arrived to Stardome, we were greeted by one of the Stardome educators. We went in a room to look at photos and videos of rockets and how they launch. It was fascinating seeing big engines on the rockets and lots of fire and smoke. We pretended to be rockets, blasting off to space and shared our wealth of knowledge with the educator, which very much impressed her. Venturing outside, we observed the educator conducting a rocket experiment, using water and air in a plastic bottle. We soon discovered that the rocket did not travel far with air on its own, but once water was added as rocket fuel, the rocket went super high. The rocket went so high that for a few seconds we could not see it, but we eventually did as it came back down super fast. Going back inside, we had time to explore Stardome, looking at model rockets and astronaut outfits as well as playing with their interactive resources. It was awesome seeing the children so engaged and sharing their discoveries with one another and with the teachers and parent helpers. To finish off the fun filled trip to Stardome, we watched a film called ‘Accidental Astronauts’ where two robots go on an adventure in a rocket ship, navigating their way in space as they land on planets and the moon and get into a little bit of trouble. Once the film finished, we made our way to the bus and travelled back to Preschool. It was an amazing experience learning about rockets and the wider world. Educational trips help promote curious minds and gives children the opportunity to explore, refine and build on their working theories. We would like to thank the parents who took their time to go on the trip with us.