Ask the STARLAB experts . . .

The Educators listed here — just some of the most experienced and dedicated users of the STARLAB Portable Planetarium from around the world — have generously offered to share information, stories, experiences and act as a resource for people like you who are seriously considering the acquisition of a STARLAB. Contact them with questions about the STARLAB, their programs, the equipment, usage, funding tips, training, workshops and more.

These diverse STARLAB educators come from a variety of institutions and backgrounds — schools of all kinds and sizes, higher education, museums, science centers, entrepreneurial businesses. We hope that you will be able to find someone in a situation similar to your own who can help answer your questions about STARLAB.

If you know of someone who should be among these STARLAB experts, please let us know. E-mail acolby@starlab.com!

sbuttonq2c@twcny.rr.com

"I teach interactive lessons in STARLAB. I have traveled to schools for the past 16 years and presented up to 6 classes each day (for 110-140 days each year). I also train teachers in the use and care of STARLAB and set up and present workshops for fellow planetarians. I run two Powerful Interactive Planetarium Systems (PIPS) meetings per year where participants share their expertise in small and portable planetariums. I write a column, in the Internatipnal Planetarium Society’s quarterly journal, for people working in portable planetariums."

Contact Sue for information on:

• teacher workshops or training
• starting a STARLAB business
• multidisciplinary uses of STARLAB
• STARLAB and state and/or national standards
• interesting lesson plans for various topics
• networking portable planetarium users across the USA and in other countries.

"My name is Carol Lutsinger and I have been using STARLAB Planetariums for many years. I present astronomy based programs for 4-H and Scouts, home-schoolers, at libraries and museums, as well as in the schools where I teach. I live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and have presented Starlab programs and professional development for elementary and high schools in Texas. I am willing to offer support for astronomy education and ideas for getting more astronomy into a TEKS/Texas classroom. My school email is clutsinger@bisd.us and my personal email is carolutsinger@att.net.  If you email me for help please write that in the subject line. Keep looking UP!"

Contact Carol for information on:

• using STARLAB for scouting or 4-H, homeschooling, and in libraries
• astronomy education ideas
• science and literacy connections using STARLAB for professional development

allensh@boe.richmond.k12.ga.us

Shelly enjoys using STARLAB to teach mathematics. She has presented sessions locally and at state conferences on integrating STARLAB into the elementary, middle and high school math curriculum. "I love math!"

Contact Cheri for information on:

• curriculum, instruction, and assessment issues related to teaching mathematics

john_henry@pasd.wednet.edu

John has been using the STARLAB to teach an astronomy unit in 9th grade science at Port Angeles High School since 1989. He has also done STARLAB shows for elementary students and adults.

Contact John for information on:

• storytelling
• how a non astronomy major can make great use of the STARLAB in the classroom.

gkratzer@rocketmail.com

Gary has been using STARLAB since 1988. He purchased the first STARLAB in Louisiana with funds from the Christa McAuliffe Fellowship. He now teaches middle school science at Molo Middle Magnet School in Lake Charles, LA.

Gary has extensive knowledge of curriculum development and assessment. He is a veteran of the 1989 POPS Summer Institute that was held at the Lawrence Hall of Science. He attributes his success with STARLAB to POPS. Since his attendance, he has taught nearly 3000 educators around the country how to use and teach with STARLAB. In 1997, Gary conducted research on educator's perceptions of STARLAB on teaching and learning. The results of this extensive survey are available from Learning Technologies, Inc. Gary has also been the editor of the STARLAB News for over 10 years.

Contact Gary for information on:

• Teacher workshops
• Research of STARLABs' effectiveness as a teaching and learning tool
• STARLAB funding tips
• STARLAB across the curriculum
• Integration of STARLAB into existing curricula
• Using STARLAB to meet state and national science standards
• Sharing news of STARLAB use and innovative methodology, gadgets and gizmos that work well in the dome

mford@holtonks.net

"I teach earth and space science and use STARLAB throughout the year to teach conceptual astronomy. In addition, it is also used for student projects, physics labs, and community programs. I have used STARLAB for the past 13 years. First, we rented ours, then found tons more uses and decided to purchase one through our school district."

Contact Mike for information on:

• Integrating STARLAB into the curriculum
• Grant writing
• Program production
• Public awareness in science education
• Workshops and in-service training at state, regional, and national conventions

bille@celticmooninc.com

wxe1@psu.edu

Bill used STARLAB in a district-wide astronomy program. The traveling program presented multidisciplinary lessons to students from K-12. He also organized annual inservice training for teachers, and did workshops at state and national conferences. Bill is now editor of Keystone Outdoors — a Pennsylvania-based magazine focused on science, natural history, and conservation in the Middle Atlantic area. He continues to offer teacher workshops in a variety of science areas.

Contact Bill for information on:

• STARLAB elementary curriculum links
• STARLAB across the disciplines - science/social studies; multicultural studies
• Purchase considerations
• Programs in the STARLAB to meet state and national science standards

agould@uclink.berkeley.edu

Lawrence Hall of Science gives workshops for teachers on how to use STARLAB, and has a rental program to provide trained teachers with STARLABs to use at their schools. Alan Gould is editor and an author of the Planetarium Activities for Student Success (PASS; http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/pass/) series, and also works in curriculum development projects, including Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS; K-8; http://www.lhsgems.org/) and Hands-On Universe (HOU; middle and high school; http://www.handsonuniverse.org/).

kidzeum@watervalley.net

"The Kidzeum is a fully operational children’s museum based in a K-3 elementary school with a student population of 1800 students. My role involves coordinating all programming for the museum, which includes four multi-disciplinary exhibits per school year.

We have successfully used STARLAB with 5 – 9 year old children in the following ways:

• A portable planetarium for exploration of the Earth’s rotation; change of seasons; location of the equator, poles, continents, oceans, and time zones using the Earth cylinder
• Multidisciplinary adventure with constellations including identification, comparison, and story telling using the Native American, African, and constellation cylinders
• An excellent environment for total darkness required for experiments with bending light, reflection, mixing light to create white light, etc. No cylinder needed
• STARLAB was turned into a voyage to into the sea using a clear cylinder. The cylinder was decorated with undersea creatures such as octopus, whales, and dolphins, in an exhibit about whales."

John runs a business with his two STARLABs (one regular dome, and one giant dome). He travels throughout central Maine and services approximately 19,000 students per year. He started his business in 1987 and offers more than 25 different presentations. John utilizes the STARLAB projector and a number of cylinders, as well as an extensive array of special effects and slide projectors. He has a portable console that he designed that controls all his peripherals and consolidates them into one portable unit.

Contact John for information on:

• Starting a business with STARLAB
• Using peripherals in STARLAB
• Educational programming and teacher workshops

You can also get a lot of information concerning what John does at his company's Website: www.northern-stars.com