Triton College Library/ Learning Resource Center (Cernan Earth And Space Center)

Purpose: Reaching Families and Children Cernan Earth and Space Center located at Triton College will produce a program called "Touch the Sky." It is an astronomical education program that will provide a wide range of earth science lessons and life experiences to underprivileged nonprofit groups, including K-12 schools, day care centers, and senior citizen groups. "Touch the Sky" is comprised of several major activities including free Cernan Center planetarium shows for groups. It also includes the production and presentation of new Cernan Center programs, including three full-length planetarium shows and ten PowerPoint mini-lessons in astronomy, space science, and earth science. Astronomy educator workshops for participating teachers will give the opportunity for participating teachers to select $50 worth of free books and teaching materials from the Cernan center's Star Store gift shop to supplement their own classroom instruction. Lastly, the program includes a telescope loan program, whereby each participating teacher borrows a telescope for two months and receives training on how to safely and effectively use the telescope at school to observe sunspots by day, and (if possible) observe the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night.