The StarLab is a NASA-based inflatable, portable planetarium used as an interactive tool to produce a real-life experience to the sixth- and eighth-grade standards and content centered around space.
Lindsey Overby, a sixth-grade science teacher at iMiddle, said she was sent to the National Science Teacher Association conference in Houston, Texas last year where they had a StarLab on display for the teachers to try.
"It was amazing," she said. "It's a complete and utter game changer."
Overby said sixth grade is when students are introduced to outer space and it is a difficult concept to grasp because of how massive the solar system is.
"Scaling it down can be difficult and this will offer an engaging way to help grasp that concept," she said. "It's like they are taking a field trip to outer space and seeing it firsthand. It's just mind-blowing."
Along with space, Overby teaches her students about weather and the layers of the Earth.
"They will also able to dive deep into the center of the Earth and learn about the different layers the lab," she said.
Overby is hoping to have the StarLab ordered by the end of this week, and the lab will take eight to 12 weeks to arrive. Once it has arrived, she will take a training course, which lasts around four hours, she said. Once that is finished, the lab will be ready for use.
"There was a test run conducted with students in the same grade learning the same things," she said. "Half of them went into the StarLab and watched a video and the other half watched the same video in a classroom. At the end, they were tested on the video and all of them passed, but they did another post-test six months later and the group that used the lab were the only ones to pass."
Because the lab is so engaging and interactive, Overby said the students will be able to retain the information better.
"I am excited for the kids to experience something that I feel like I don't do a good job with and that's painting the entire picture," she said.
Overby said iMiddle tries to implement student-driven, innovative and engaging lessons and that it can't get anymore engaging than the StarLab.
Sara Hemingway, executive director of the Young foundation, said she was impressed with how may students will be served with the StarLab.
"Even some of the younger board members talked about having that experience and how wonderful it was to bring what they were learning to life," she said. "I'm impressed with their commitment to providing innovating experiences to students."
©2022 the Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
