Conshohocken Elementary students explored the solar system in a traveling planetarium

Students at Conshohocken Elementary were recently treated to a cosmic surprise when they walked into the gym for an assembly and found it transformed by a giant inflatable planetarium.

The unique event was led by Kris Clayton of Mobile Ed Productions, who brought the planetarium to the school to teach students about space in an exciting and memorable way. “I love blowing the students’ minds,” he said. “We have new information all the time, and it’s easy to say things to them that get them to say, ‘Wow!’” Mr. Clayton stays up-to-date on the latest space discoveries by following scientists on social media and reviewing new information gathered from telescopes and space probes.

Inside the dome, students sat along the edge while images and videos were projected onto the ceiling. The presentation began with a look at constellations—a highlight for first grader Lydia Phillips.

“My favorite thing was the pictures that you get when you connect the stars and color them in,” she said. “They made a dragon, Orion, and a bear.”

The journey continued with a virtual tour of the solar system, from the sun to distant Neptune. First grader Michael Pfeil was particularly surprised by one fact: “All of it was pretty cool. The thing I didn’t know was that Jupiter was hot. I thought it was cold.”

The assembly was part of the school’s year-long One Book One School project, which is focused on Ladybug Launch, written by Melissa Trempe and Dr. Natalia Ojeda and illustrated by Manuela Montoya. During the section of the show covering the moon landing, Mr. Clayton made a special connection to the book by pointing out that the moon shares its name with the story’s main ladybug character—Luna.