The pupils of Leswalt Primary school all enjoyed a trip to their partnership school of Kirkcolm Primary to experience a visit from the Galloway Forest Astronomical society (GFAS) and their inflatable planetarium.  

The GFAS are a charity who offer opportunities to learn more about astronomy.  Our pupils all enjoyed going into the huge dome and learning more about the sky at night.   And, when not in the darkened dome, the children were busy engaged in the classrooms with activities with their friends from the partnership Primary

The younger class went into the Planetarium first whilst the older bunch worked together on their Rights Respecting Schools activities – and created some fabulous quizzes to test us all on the UNCRC. Some questions created to really make you think…

Then it was time for a break outside and a chance to enjoy the company and playground of our friends on this beautiful January morning!

Swap over time….and the older group got the chance to enjoy the wonders of the Planetarium whilst the younger pupils listened to the Story “Aliens love underpants” then created their own aliens – wonder if any of their designs might be spotted in Outer Space?

Inside the Planetarium, Doug (the computer expert) and Andy (the lead presenter) took us all on a tour of the night sky exploring the moon, Mars and Jupiter. We talked about the hugely varied temperatures on planets in Space, gravity, signs of life,  moon controlling tides and the individual features of planets. Such an interesting session!

Many thanks to the Galloway Forest Astronomical Society for a morning of inter-galactic fun!