Red Deer College astrophysicist Robbie J. Halonen gave a presentation to Grade 6 students at École Deer Meadow School on May 3.
It was his first visit to Olds. He set up a small planetarium in the gym.
For the past three years, Halonen has toured schools with a mobile planetarium from the Telus World of Science around Red Deer. But this is the first year he’s extended that tour a second week, going to other places in Central Alberta and visiting a total of 18 schools.
This year, Halonen will reach about 1,200 students during his two-week education tour where he shows students what the night sky will look like in July and August in Central Alberta.
“I like to show them the night sky in the summer," he says.
“The point isn’t necessarily teach them anything specific, the point is to just get them inquiring a little bit, discovering and asking questions; that’s the spirit of science.”
The display had an effect on many students, including Grace Wright, who is excited to share what she’s learned with her family.
“We’ve got a big telescope at our house so we can take a look at the stars tonight,” Wright said with a smile.
This is exactly what Halonen was looking to accomplish with his tour: incite curiosity.
“You can hammer away at facts all you want, but what I want is for them to be able to ask questions, be a little bit curious about the world around them,” Halonen said. “That’s the scientific spirit.”
There are also planets that, with the right equipment, you’d be able to see in a summer night sky, which excites Graden Hallet.
“My favourite planet is Jupiter, probably just because of how big it is and the colours,” said Hallet.
Sharing in that excitement is Nicolas Burgdorfer, whose favourite planet is Mars. Additionally, he is excited to share what he learned from the planetarium and the presentation from Halonen.
“This increased my interest in astronomy and I’m excited to tell my parents about this,” Burgdorfer said.
Halonen never had any presentations like this when he was younger but is happy to be able to provide this for kids today.
“I visited a planetarium when I was a kid. I remember that well, but I didn’t have something like this,” Halonen recalled. “I do think it’s pretty cool to have this for them.”
At the end of each demonstration, Halonen leaves the students with a bookmark with an email address so students can ask him science-related questions that he will answer in order to maintain their curiosity.
