It was dark.
Gradually, as eyes adjusted to the dimness, pinpoint stars became visible overhead and a fuzzy quarter moon rose above the horizon.
"We need to adjust the gyroscopic stabilizers."
Third-grade teacher Jason Daniels' voice seemed loud in the artificial night as he welcomed the students to an imaginary space voyage in Star Lab, a portable planetarium.
He switched on and adjusted the little gyroscope, its red and green lights brilliant in the dark, until they aligned into straight streaks, then switched it off and began talking about stars.
Students from Shelli Furlong's fifth-grade class sat cross-legged in the dark, intent on the small lights and Daniels' explanations. Although they were sitting indoors, inside an artificial dome in the library at Kalifornsky Beach Elementary School, the setting had an other-worldly feel.
"It kind of feels like you're somewhere else. Not space. I can't explain," said student Janelle Drown afterward.
Her classmate Marcus Biggs agreed.
"It kind of feels like you're floating in there," he said.
The Sky Lab belongs to the Imaginarium Science Discovery Center in Anchorage. This month it has been making the rounds of Kenai Peninsula elementary schools.
Daniels explained that the Imaginarium rents the planetarium to schools and trains teachers, such as himself, how to use it. Lessons include Earth science, astronomy and cultural information about constellation traditions from the Greeks, Chinese and Native Americans.
"I've learned a lot since I started this four years ago," he said.
The Sky Lab is inflated with pumped air. Sitting in a room, it quivers slightly like an enormous, alien pod on the verge of hatching. To enter, children (and adults) must crawl on their hands and knees through a tent-like tunnel.
Inside, students sit in a ring while the instructor in the center handles the lighting system and associated gadgets.
To create the star patterns, a drum with a replica of the sky rotates to simulate the motion of the Earth. It shows how the night sky changes with the time of night, the seasons and or the latitude.
Furlong's students were enthusiastic about the experience. They said they enjoyed learning about constellations and stars they had never picked out before. Many had been to the Imaginarium, some even have telescopes, but few had been in the Star Lab except at school.
The Star Lab is a way to link what they read in science texts with what they can see in an Alaska sky. It is hard to learn constellations outside, because it is cold and dark when you can see them best. It is also difficult to translate a flat, static picture into what is overhead.
"I think it is easier to visualize (with Star Lab)," said student Ashton Manzek.
His classmate Kyle Mead declared the planetarium as just more fun.
Setting it up to simulate a space voyage gives a whole new perspective, Drown said.
"You can't imagine seeing the Earth when you are on it," she said.
Sky Lab is only one of many interesting space science projects area students have undertaken. In addition to the opportunities nearby through the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska, teachers have found creative ways to link their classrooms to the rest of the galaxy.
In 2001, Daniels' class was one of 600 around the nation that grew seeds connected with a project at the International Space Station. The experiment follows the growth and development of Thale cress plants, checking to see how those grown in micro-gravity compare to those grown on Earth. Students at Soldotna Elementary and in the Connections program also participated.
Last spring, sixth-grade students at North Star Elementary School in Nikiski polished two mirrors that became part of the Starshine 3 satellite. Six students in the school's Quest program for gifted and talented students were among some 40,000 children from 26 countries involved in the satellite project. Starshine 3 resembles a giant disco ball and is covered with more than 1,500 small, highly reflective mirrors. It will be used to learn more about the Earth's upper atmosphere during its approximate four-year lifespan.
Starshine 3 took off successfully from Kodiak on Sept. 29 and is the first NASA mission to launch from Alaska.
