Planetarium Show (Grade 6)

Our private shows are geared toward educating the audience about the Earth and its relationship to the Solar System and the rest of the Universe. Show material depends on the age and nature of the audience and, when appropriate, current events in the skies of Hamilton are also described and illustrated. We will present a typical show geared to a Grade 6 audience with a focus on space exploration and the Solar System (planets, moons, asteroids, comets).

Rob Cockcroft is an astrophysics graduate student in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at McMaster University. His research focuses on star clusters orbiting the nearby Triangulum Galaxy. He is also the Coordinator of McMaster's William J. McCallion Planetarium which offers over 300 public shows per year. Rob has taken a lead role in various astronomy outreach initiatives including developing planetarium shows which take advantage of a new digital projector and which are relevant to the astronomy curriculum in grades 6, 9 and 12, and coordinating outreach activities during the International Year of Astronomy in 2009. Recently, Rob has been seconded to the Origins Institute at McMaster to develop and coordinate interactive 3D presentations in McMaster's 3D Theatre.