On March 18th, 2019, George Washington Middle School’s Ecology Club went on a field trip to the planetarium at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg, New Jersey. The club, which was organized and run by Ms. Killeen and Mrs. Koransky, cares for the animals in room 229 along with learning about the ecology in the area.

After an hour long bus ride, they arrived at the planetarium at 9:30 in the morning. The Ecology Club was the only group in the dome shaped theatre which had a screen that covered the entire ceiling. After a brief description of the planetarium and the schedule for the day, they saw two 45 minute long shows in the planetarium along with two mini shows.

The first show was about the big bang and the beginning of the universe. The second show was about black holes. Each show was accompanied by a mini show, one of which was about the different constellations seen during each season. The other mini show was about how big the universe was and how far away different astronomical objects are. The first show explained how the universe was created, namely the big bang and other events that shaped our universe. The show on black holes discussed how they are created and the effect they have on nearby objects.

After the first show, the club participated in a fun scavenger hunt in the planetarium’s space museum followed by lunch in the college’s cafeteria. Then they went to the gift shop and back to the planetarium for the second show.

At 1:30 they left the planetarium and after another hour long bus ride, the club returned to GW.