With our Planetarium Picks for Educators program, you can select the Planetarium show that is right for your class trip to the museum! Please note that Planetarium Picks for Educators shows are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. The option is to choose which show will play at that particular time slot. It is NOT a private screening. Educator resources are available! Visit our Field Trips Curriculum page for educational downloads related to each film or e-mail our Field Trips department at curriculum@hmns.org.
Program Requirements:
Booking a Planetarium Picks for Educators planetarium show requires a group of 25 or more. Reservations must be made at least 5 business days in advance. Please note that any seats not filled by students will be made available for public sale.
Available Planetarium Picks for Educators Showtimes:
Monday thru Friday 10:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m, 11:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 12:30 p.m, 1:00 p.m, 1:30 p.m, 2:00 p.m
For all ages:
Starry Night Express
This is a traditional planetarium show – a LIVE tour of the night sky with a close up of the Moon and planets as they appear this evening. Constellations and deep sky surprises complete this grand tour. The show also features meteor showers, eclipses, comets and times to see the International Space Station.
For our youngest visitors:
Zula Patrol
Under the Weather From the planet Zula, comes the Zula Patrol. When their weather-collecting pet, Gorga, runs away, the Zula Patrol chases him all the way through our solar system. Here they learn about the weather on Earth and other planets while trying to save Gorga from the villainous Dark Truder.
For Grades 2 through 12:
Expedition Reef
Expedition Reef is a compelling and important story about the role of coral reefs in Earth’s biosphere. You will discover how corals grow, feed, reproduce and support over 25% of all marine life on Earth. Students on school visits will gain an appreciation of the splendor of the reefs!
The Great Planet Adventures
Be a super star on the solar system’s low gravity worlds: zip lining on the scorched Mercury, snowmobiling on Pluto, bungee jumping from an asteroid and diving from the tallest cliff or rappelling into deepest canyon in the solar system. Ten thrills and ten destinations visiting all the planets!
We Choose Space
Fifty years ago, President Kennedy chose the Moon. Today our students can also choose a trip or even a career in space. This show is filled with real adventures on the completed International Space Station and the Moon. Human spaceflight after the Space Shuttle is very exciting, engaging and real.
Dynamic Earth
Dynamic Earth explores concepts and terms essential to understanding the climate and fills in major gaps in the public’s understanding of climate change. In doing so, it enables audiences to gain perspective on one of the most important issues of our time: the question of how to balance the energy and resource needs of our populations with the need to safeguard Earth’s great life support system, the global climate.
Tales of a Time Traveler
Time travel surrounds you—from the biological clock in your brain to the history of life on Earth, the lives of stars, the time scale of the Big Bang, and the distortion of time by gravity. David Tennant, the 10th doctor in the Doctor Who series, is your guide through all of time.
Arcs to Auroras
From the arcs of shimmering auroras to the arches of glowing gas on the Sun, the artist is magnetism. This familiar force is in refrigerator magnets, compasses and even the brains of sharks. Magnetism is the invisible force that directs the flow of matter in the cosmos and creates a magnetic cocoon protecting life from the sun’s deadly radiation. Students of all ages can learn much more about magnetism’s role in their classroom experiments and in the workings of the universe.
Solar Superstorms
A fury is building on the surface of the Sun — high-velocity jets, a fiery tsunami wave that reaches 100,000 kilometers high, rising loops of electrified gas. What’s driving these strange phenomena? How will they affect planet Earth? Find the answers as we venture into the seething interior of our star. Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch. Best for grade 3 and up.
Black Holes
Black holes are among the most mystifying, awe-inspiring phenomena in the Universe. What is a black hole? Where do they come from? How do we find them? Is there one in Earth’s neighborhood? Explore the latest scientific knowledge about black holes in a show that is visually immersive and very exciting. Best for grades 5-12.
To Defy Gravity: Apollo and Beyond
In To Defy Gravity, we pay tribute to the only astronauts who have escaped Earth’s grasp and to the astronomers who are just beginning to understand gravity’s hold on the universe. To Defy Gravity includes the experiences of the Apollo astronauts on the Moon 50 years ago and creates the colonies we can build on the Moon in the 21st century.
Unseen Universe
Humans have always wanted to see beyond the horizon and now this horizon expands before us in colors from x-rays to radio waves, from colliding subatomic particles to gravitational waves. With new eyes, you will discover an incredible Unseen Universe, surrounding you in space and time.
Special Topics, suitable for all ages:
Force 5
Feel nature’s fury! Experience the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and Hurricane Ike in 2008. Survive a devastating tornado and a solar storm more powerful than a nuclear blast! This realistic adventure puts your students in the middle of the action when nature goes Force 5. Best for grades 3-12.
Stars of the Pharaohs
Travel to ancient Egypt 6,000 years ago to see how astronomers made the first solar calendar, aligned their temples and pyramids, and told time by the stars. You’ll discover the connection ancient Egyptians felt with the heavens and explore the most spectacular temples and tombs of the ancient world. Best for grades 3-12 with an astronomy and history focus.
Fate of the Maya
Explore ancient Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Tikal and Palenque in full dome. Discover the elegance and power of these great Maya cities. Watch astronomers observing the heavens to predict the future. Then visit lagoons and sink holes to discover what destroyed this advanced civilization over a thousand years ago.
Night of the Titanic
A great tragedy unfolds in the North Atlantic. Weather, ice, the sun and human error all contributed to the sinking of this “unsinkable” ship. Experience the RMS Titanic’s last day and discover the science that could have saved the ship.
Mystery of the Christmas Star
Who were the wise men? Travel to the hills of Judea over 2,000 years ago to consider what the Star of Bethlehem might have been — perhaps a meteor, a comet, or a coming together of many worlds in the heaven above.
Ice Worlds
Explore the icy worlds of our solar system and discover how Earth’s poles are changing. With icebergs, whales, penguins and polar bears, this is an entertaining and informative introduction to the latest discoveries about our planet’s changing climate.