Schedule a show for your group!
With seating for 128, the Staerkel Planetarium has nearly two dozen different one-hour programs that can be scheduled for private viewing for school field trips, Scout troops, day care groups, park recreation, civic groups and others. Many of our programs have a live narrator, or are interactive. These programs can be tailored to fit a wide range of student ages, interests, and curricula.
One show-$3 per person
Two shows-$4.50 per person (Stay for two shows and get a second for half price!)
Note: For groups arriving with less than 15 people, there is a minimum fee of $45 for one show and $67.50 for two shows.
Browse through our show listing and click the Reservation link on the left to get started on scheduling your show.
Sun, Moon, and Stars
Grade Pre-K to 2
Live-narrated
The youngest stargazers are introduced to the spinning Earth and the night sky, plus pay a visit to the Moon. "Sun, Moon, and Stars" was designed for first grade teachers in the Unit 4 district who use the unit of the same name. The program content can be altered to support your classroom instruction.
One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure
Grade Pre-K to 2
Explore the night sky with our friends from Sesame Street™. Join Big Bird, Elmo, and Hu Hu Zhu as they take a trip to the Moon. See how the Moon is different from the Earth and learn how to find the Big Dipper and North Star from your backyard. This interactive show was coproduced by the Adler Planetarium, Sesame Workshop, the Beijing Planetarium, and Liberty Science Center and comes to us through a grant from the PNC Foundation.
* Teacher's Show Guide
Shapes in the Sky
Grade pre-K to 2
Live-narrated
Our popular "Prairie Skies" show, featuring the current constellations, is now in a form for very young stargazers. First, we'll play a game, finding shapes in an image, then expand to find shapes among the stars in the night sky. The show finishes off with a new fulldome feature called "Space Shapes" where we look at the shape of the Sun, Moon and planets. "Is it round like a ball or round like a pancake?"
In My Backyard
Grade Pre-K to 2
Let's explore the night sky from our own backyards! Through the use of storytelling, poetry, and songs, children are encouraged to participate in the show while learning about the seasons, Ursa Major, planets, meteors, and the Moon. Narrated by Fred Penner.
Santa's Secret Star
Grade Pre-K to 2
How will Santa find his way home? You, too, can find Santa's secret star in the sky in this holiday show about the winter sky. Learn about the North Star and how the sky changes as we travel northward.
• Teacher's Show Guide
Amazing Stargazing!
Grades 1-4
Learn all the sky watching basics with the fun radio DJs from “Radio Aahs.” Meet Aahsie and the gang as they happily explain the causes for day & night, moon phases, and the difference between comets and meteors. A great introduction to the night sky!
• Teacher's Show Guide
Prairie Skies
Grade 1 and up
Locate planets and constellations in our current night sky while hearing legendary stories of the heavens. What star groups and planets will we see tonight?
Reasons for the Seasons
Grade 3 and up
Live-narrated
Examine why we have seasons by watching the apparent motion of the Sun throughout the year and how its changing altitude affects our climate. If time permits, we then travel to the North Pole and the equator to see how the climate is affected by the Sun.
Odyssey
Grades 3 and up
New! The quest to comprehend the universe is an ancient one, beginning when our first ancestors looked up. "Odyssey" takes us on a personal voyage of discovery through the cosmos, from the legends and monuments of early sky watchers to an imaginary flight through the Solar System and our home galaxy, and into the very depths of space and time.
• Teacher's Show Guide
Flight Adventures
Grades 3 and up
New for 2013! Discover the science of flight through the eyes of a young girl and her grandfather as they explore how birds, kites, planes, and models fly. Learn about the history and future of flight and how NASA is discovering new and safer ways to travel with the help of future engineers and aviators—like you! Join us in this collaboration with the Chanute Air Museum in Rantoul!
• Teacher's Show Guide
Our Place in Space
Grades 4 and up
Live-narrated
Written for the Unit 4 curriculum with the same name, this program covers the planets, the phases of the Moon, plus a brief discussion of the seasons with a focus on what you can see and measure from your own backyard.
Dawn of the Space
Grade 4 and up
From the launch of the satellite Sputnik, to space flights and lunar landings, humans have wanted to travel to the stars. Witness the drive, passion, and perseverance of the men and women that took part in the death defying endeavour to explore space travel. You will be immersed and overwhelmed with this historic reconstruction of our first steps into space.
• Teacher's Show Guide
Solar System Safari
Grades 2-5
A jungle adventurer uses a magical camera to take visitors on an exciting safari through the Solar System. The Sun, Moon, planets, and dwarf planets come to life, taking on unique personalities and describing their own characteristics and eccentricities. Learn about the planets and the current status of Pluto. A great solar system show!
Messages of Starlight
Grade
5 and up
Live-narrated
How can we discover the temperatures and compositions of the stars given their great distances? Students will analyze the spectra of several light sources in and hands-on activity, then try to unlock the secrets of starlight. The program also include the fulldome feature "Expanded View."
IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar System
Grade
5 and up
IBEX follows the creation of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer satellite and its search for the boundary of our solar system. Narrated by two inquisitive teenagers, the show focuses on the mission and the significance of this boundary. Along the way, we are treated to an amazing visual tour of the our planetary system. Produced by the Adler Planetarium.
• Teacher's Show Guide
Light Years From Home
Grade
4 and up
Live-narrated
We live in a big universe! But it is sometimes difficult to realize just how large it is. Enjoy the a star-filled sky as seen from our backyards. Orbit the earth, visits the solar system, stars, Milky Way, the Local Group of galaxies, and the many galaxy clusters that fill the universe. It's quite the trip!
• Teacher's Show Guide
Cosmic Colors
Grade
5 and up
Take a journey across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Discover the many reasons for color— “why the sky is blue” and “why Mars is red.” Journey inside a plant leaf and the human eye. Investigate x-rays and see the actual color of a dinosaur. Get ready for an amazing adventure under a rainbow of cosmic light!
• Teacher's Show Guide
Violent Universe
Grade
5 and up
Comets, asteroids and meteoroids hurtling through space; stars collapsing under their own gravity; infernos of nuclear energy releasing their deadly radiation across the universe! Witness the raw power of the cosmos in this thrilling new show that gives you a front-row seat to watch as worlds collide. This is the inaugural show for our full dome projection system!
• Teacher's Show Guide
Secrets of the Sun
Grade
4 and up
Take an intimate look at the role the sun plays in our solar system. From the nuclear forces at the heart of the sun to the mass ejections of solar material in surrounding space, you will experience the power of the sun and its impact on the planets and life on Earth. Secrets of the Sun traces the life cycle of the sun itself, from beginning to its eventual death.
• Teacher's Show Guide
Wonders of the Universe
Grade
5 and up
Peer deep into space (and back into time) through the eyes of the Hubble Space Telescope. Witness the birth of the Universe (the Big Bang), see the formation of galaxies, exploding supernovae and explore beautiful nebulae. Then return home, visiting neighboring planets in our Solar System.
• Teacher's Show Guide
The Planets
Grade
5 and up
Take a breathtaking tour of our own planetary system, including some of the latest discoveries. See how our solar system may have formed and visit planets in other star systems. The show originally written and distributed by the Southeastern Planetarium Association and is narrated by Kate Mulgrew of “Star Trek: Voyager” fame.
• Teacher's Show Guide
Season of Light
All ages
"Season of Light" traces the history and development of many of the world's December holiday customs, all of which involve lighting up the winter season "Seasons of Light" also recounts the historical religious and cultural rituals practiced during the time of winter solstice - not only Christian and Jewish, but also Celtic, Nordic, Roman, Irish, Mexican and Hopi. It also takes a look at some of our more light-hearted seasonal traditions.