Second Grade

Shows

One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventures
Definiti Space Theater
Grades Preschool-2
25 minutes 
IL State Standards Addressed: 12F

The fun begins on Sesame Street when Elmo's friend, Hu Hu Zhu, visits from China. Big Bird, Elmo and Hu Hu Zhu share what they know about the Sun, Moon and Stars, learn about the Big Dipper and take an imaginary trip to the Moon. When Elmo and Hu Hu Zhu imagine themselves back on Earth, they celebrate the idea that even though they live in two different countries, they still share the same sky.

What’s Up?

Definiti Space Theater
Grades 2-5
25 minutes 
IL State Standards Addressed: 11A, 12D, 12F, 13B

What's Up? is a highly interactive sky show designed by the Adler Planetarium for students in grades 2-5. This show, which replaces the Discover Our Universe Show, provides a lighthearted introduction to the processes occurring in the Solar System and how they affect our lives here on Earth. Using the awesome capacities of the digital Definiti Theater, students zoom from Chicago to other places on Earth, and around the Solar System, to address a variety of processes from day and night to planetary orbits. Students direct the travel to amazing places in our Solar System and beyond, by choosing from a variety of tools to observe common objects in the night sky. When viewed through the lens of the Hubble telescope or through the visor of a visiting astronaut, that "dot of light" in the sky may turn out to be something completely different and more beautiful.

Planet Explorers Visit and Labs

Constellations: Stories of the Stars Technology Classroom Program
Grades K-2
30 Minutes 
Maximum capacity of 30 students
IL State Standards Addressed: 11A, 12F, 16A

For thousands of years, stargazers have used stories to map the stars, explain their movement, and make use of the patterns found in the night sky for navigation, agriculture, and more. Relate science to social studies and language arts as students journey back in time to listen to some of these stories of the stars and use their observation skills to write a new tale.

Water Detectives Planet Explorers Lab Program
Grades 2-3
45 Minutes 
Maximum capacity of 30 students
IL State Standards Addressed: 11A, 12B, 12E, 13B

Space travel meets environmental science in this unique lab program. Here on Earth there is plenty of water to help us stay healthy. But what if we traveled to a far away planet? Would it have the water we need? Explore the importance of water and search of clues of water while learning about geology and the mysterious Planet X in the Planet Explorers Lab. This program highlights observation and comparisons while giving a taste of how scientists find clues to learn about faraway places.

Guided Gallery Experiences

In Our Solar System Guided Gallery Experience
Grades 2-6
45 minutes 
Maximum capacity of 30 students
IL State Standards Addressed: 12F, 13B

Enjoy a 45-minute guided gallery experience that highlights important aspects of the Shoot for the Moon and Our Solar System galleries. This guided gallery experience covers historical artifacts, as well as important people and inventions.

Exhibition Galleries

All of Adler Planetarium’s exhibition galleries offer engaging learning opportunities for students. We welcome you and your students into our exhibition galleries. We’ve highlighted some not-to-miss galleries that we think you and your students will find particularly engaging and fun!

Second Grade Exhibitions

Cyberspace
IL State Standards Addressed:12D, 12F, 13B, 16A

CyberSpace is an all-electronic exhibition gallery, distance-learning studio and computer education center that can be easily updated as discoveries in astronomy are made and new educational themes are selected.

Our Solar System
IL State Standards Addressed: 12C, 12D, 12E, 12F

Our Solar System gallery offers interactive exhibitions designed to help visitors explore the planets, moons, comets, and asteroids that orbit our Sun.

Planet Explorers
IL State Standards Addressed: 12B, 12C, 12F, 13B
Grades Pre-K to 3 Only

Journey from Earth through space to the mysterious Planet X. Located on the upper level of the Adler’s Sky Pavilion, Planet Explorers offers preschool to grade 3 visitors and their teachers and chaperones a wide range of activities that combine learning and fun. The Planet Explorers exhibition is divided into three different environments: Exploring Earth, which includes backyard stargazing, Exploring Space, which includes Mission Control, a rocket, and space station, and Exploring Planet X, which includes the Planet X Research Station.

Booking Information for Planet Explorers

In order to ensure a safe and positive learning experience for all museum attendees, group entrance to Planet Explorers is by reservation only. Reservations for school groups visiting Planet Explorers are free of charge. The Adler only accepts reservations for entry into Planet Explorers for preschool to grade 3.

Shoot for the Moon Logo

Shoot for the Moon
IL State Standards Addressed: 11B, 12B, 12F, 13B

Shoot for the Moon consists of two galleries: A Journey with Jim Lovell and Mission: Moon. A Journey with Jim Lovell features highlights of Captain James A. Lovell, Jr.'s life and career, including his initial setbacks and ultimate triumphs. The restored Gemini 12 spacecraft is the centerpiece in a dramatic presentation of the culminating mission of the Gemini Program.

The exhibition contains artifacts from Lovell's personal collection, including his rejection letter from the NASA Mercury program, his collection of childhood memorabilia and Gemini 12 flight manuals. Mission: Moon tells the story of the destiny-changing accomplishments of the Apollo Program and how it became a springboard to the future. Visitors will re-live the thrilling and dramatic moments of the Apollo program during which America realized its goal of having a man walk on the Moon.

Telescopes Through the Looking Glass
IL State Standards Addressed: 12C, 12F, 13B

Telescopes: Through the Looking Glass presents the technology used to gather information about the Universe. Featuring some of the world’s most important telescopes and one-of-a-kind hands-on interactives, the exhibition explores the extraordinary beauty and technology of these amazing instruments and the objects they enable us to discover.

Universe in Your Hands

IL State Standards Addressed: 13B, 16A

The Adler houses one of the world's greatest collections of astronomy-related tools, rare books, photographs, early maps, charts, and star atlases. Universe in your Hands displays unique objects from a time when people believed the Earth was the center of the Universe. Since ancient times, people have looked at the heavens with awe and wonder, but they have also used the sky as an inspiration and resource for the entire spectrum of their lives. This gallery helps visitors understand the cultural significance of astronomy in societies around the world and over thousands of years.