Fourth Graders at Indian Rock are Out of this World!

Submitted by Mr. Eric Hoffman

Fourth graders from Indian Rock Elementary spent the first two months of school exploring  outer space. Luckily, they were able to witness a solar eclipse which complemented their study of the sun. Students also learned about astronauts and careers in the space-exploration field. They were really impressed to learn that one of the newest astronauts to the NASA space program is from Harrisburg. During the last few weeks, fourth graders were also seen outside at night looking skyward, studying the moon and determining which phase was showing. As a culmination of their “travels” in outer space, the students each chose a planet, researched, and presented their findings. As part of the presentation the students told about the planet including what it looks like, why humans can’t live there, and interesting facts about it. The students also made a model of the planet to show key features, colors, and moons/rings.  

Fourth grader Bryn Johnston commented, “This was interesting. I learned a lot about Saturn and enjoyed all the activities we did to learn about space.”

Jack Kopp, Natalie Homisak, Leon Dalton-Boyd, and Trinity Stein show their planet models.