GIIS Noida in collaboration with Atlantis, an organisation that promotes knowledge about space science organized, a field trip to Nehru Planetarium to foster scientific temper through the means of edutainment. Students from classes III to VIII understood the solar system in details at the astronomy workshop. Students saw a model of a satellite launcher at the entrance. They examined carefully the astronaut suit of Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma, India’s first astronaut to set foot on Earth’s moon in 1984. The planetarium displayed the Carl Zeiss Space flight placed on a hydraulic lift long with showcasing the rocket which took Rakesh Sharma to space. Before the students proceeded to the sky theatre, they gathered information on night sky, solar system, usage of sundial i.e. Jantar Mantar model, and eventually watched the show “Wonders of the Universe”. As the lights dimmed and the journey through the stars began, the excitement among the students was overwhelming. The skies came alive on their massive dome theatre. The journey of how the Universe was created with the Big Bang theory, facts on planets like Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Earth, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, Constellations, Black Holes, Galaxies, space showers, meteorite fascinated the young minds towards the real space. The students stayed glued through a description of our solar system, carefully listening and understanding the details and to identify the different planets and even learning to recognise constellations. Safe methods of solar observation were taught to students where students viewed the Sun with telescopes, eclipse glasses and the Sun spotter. A bright and clear view of the Sun was observed by the students.

At the school, the next session of the astronomy workshop took place. Students were shown a Solar System video through planetarium software. The much awaited programme was the ‘Lunar Observation’ in the open field area of the school. The observation of our natural satellite, the Moon, is a very fascinating and rewarding activity for the amateur astronomer, even if he/she is only equipped with binoculars or with a modest telescope. But the students at GIIS got to observe the moon through brilliant set of telescopes. The craters on the moon were clearly visible and kept every child talking about it. An activity was conducted with a ball and torch light showing the effect of Sunlight on moon and make students understand how different phases of moon are seen. The trip and the astronomy workshop was indeed an enriching experience and the students enjoyed it thoroughly.