Application: Go Sky Watch Planetarium
What it is: Go Sky Watch Planetarium is an incredible application that puts t night sky in the hands of your students. This planetarium displays the night sky with the correct orientation of wherever students are. This means as your students move the iPad around them, the application adjusts to show them what is in the night sky above them in real-time. This application couldn’t be easier to use, just open it up, point it at the sky and start exploring. The application uses the built-in accelerometer and compass navigation to make the sky come to life. The graphics in this application are incredible, your students will feel like they are actually looking up at the night sky and discovering stars, constellations, planets, and the Milky Way galaxy. In addition to discovering the universe by moving the iPad around, students can also do a search by planet, constellation, deep sky object, star, or star light date. An information window can be pulled up that displays information about the star, planet, constellation, or deep sky object that is being viewed.
The preferences offer an added layer of features to Go Sky Watch where students can change the display to night mode (this give everything a red tint), display star color, the Milky Way Galaxy, object images, and day light. Students can add a horizontal grid overlay, celestial grid, ecliptic, or horizon lines. Constellations lines, boundaries, and images can be turned on or off as well. Students can even decide whether to show Pluto as a planet (since I’m old-school, I say yes!).
How Go Sky Watch Planetarium can enrich learning: Go Sky Watch Planetarium will capture your student’s attention and have them exploring the depths of space first hand. When I hand a child an iPad, this is the application that they are continually drawn to. Students can be the guides of their own tour through space as they tilt and twist the iPad. Send your students on a scavenger hunt to find different planets, stars, and constellations that they are studying. Use the application to help students “map” the night sky on the classroom ceiling. Students can create constellation cutouts, label paper stars, or create paper versions of the planets to map the sky above their classroom. Travel through space as a class and make “stops” along the way to learn more about stars, galaxies, or planets that you encounter along the way. If your students have access to video, this is a great time for them to make a connection and learn more about what they are seeing. This application brings space to your classroom in a way never before possible.
If your policy allows students to do so, send the iPad home with students so that they can take their family on a tour of the night sky when the sun goes down. They will love being the “experts” as they teach their families about the night sky. This is a great way to involve families in learning together!
Devices: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: Free! (iTunes Link)**
** The iPad education version of Go Sky Watch Planetarium is Free, the iPhone/iPod Touch version is $5.99.
Can you imagine…..allowing students to take an ipad home and explore with their parents? That just gives me chills on so many levels. We all know that the American “family” is becoming extinct. Just think how this app and many others like it would draw the family together.
Wouldn’t that be cool Robin! I can just imagine families going outside to explore the sky together.
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This looks like a great start, can’t wait to read more reviews. I tried to subscribe to the feed, but it doesn’t seem to be working…will that be an option?
Patrick
Wow! What a great app for students! I think it beats a field trip to the planetarium!
When I searched for app, it lists at $5.99!
Julie, there are two versions of the application, the education version is free. I have updated my post with the iTunes link to the free version. Thanks for letting me know there is a paid version out there!
I’m getting 4 Ipads for my class. I will consider sending them home. I sent home digital cameras last year. Even with the note I sent explaining the assignment, I got multiple calls from parents double checking that their child had permission to bring the cameras home.
I was very interested in this app. When I checked in iTunes it was $5.99. Just sharing.
I am looking forward to more great resources from this blog.
Kristen, there are two versions of the app, one is listed under “navigation” and is $5.99 the other is listed under “education” and is free (for the iPad). The applications are the same, I am guessing that they are offering it for education free. I have updated my post with the link to the free version. Thanks for pointing this out!
Hi,
It won’t be just kids that will love this app – I can see it being the ‘key’ for my 83 year old mum to start to understand why technology can be useful. I gave her an iPad for her birthday and she took to it easily but I need to help her find apps she will like. Thanks to this recommendation I will make sure she gets this one, as she has always loved star gazing – I’m sure she’ll love the info this gives.
I’m glad you’ve started this blog as I suspect (as I think you do) that the iPad will revolutionise so many things, not least education. Tilly in UK
Absolutely! Go Sky Watch is a spectacular application for any age. You are right, I think that the iPads usefulness extends far beyond education and acts as a learning and creating platform for everyone!