Posted by student ASHLEY DAVIS – Last week, students of the Clinton School Class of 2010 were transported back to sixth grade with “The Race for Planet ‘X’,” a hands-on traveling exhibit. Set on high-tech bus, the highly interactive exhibit brings the excitement of a science museum to students and provides teachers with a relevant curriculum that is aligned with state learning goals.
Clinton School students were asked to revert to sixth grade mindsets and travel to Planet X, the fictional (though surprisingly Earth-like) world that must be saved in the interactive exhibit. The bus contains creative and informative activites, ranging from designing a space ship to building an earthquake-proof structure to solving logic puzzles. It didn’t take the students long to wish they were permanently back in elementary school!
The bus is part of the Arkansas Discovery Network, which is comprised of seven museums across the state from Fayetteville to Smackover and includes the Museum of Discovery here in Little Rock. The network coordinator, Diane LaFollette, along with two members of the exhibit’s touring staff provided an introduction to the program, which takes the bus around the state of Arkansas to visit classrooms and other groups.
Funded by a grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the travelling museum is free of charge to sixth grade students and available to schools and groups in Arkansas. For more information about The Race for Planet ‘X’, including bringing it to your school, contact planetx@amod.org.
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