Please note: At this time, the Panterra Theatre is only open to KCPS schools and students. Viewings are limited to 46 persons. Please check back regularly to learn when additional viewing opportunities will be made available to non-KCPS schools and students.
The newly renovated state-of-the-art planetarium located on the SWECC campus provides virtual experiences for students in the areas of science, history, geography, math and communication arts. The Kansas City Star
published a video that details some of the renovations and finer features of the theatre.
Using the world's second "SciDome XD," an ultra-high resolution digital display system, students are immersed in 3-dimensional, digital surrond-sound worlds: diving into the depths of the ocean, plunging into an active volcano, soaring through outer space, or following the Great Migration across the Serengeti.
The core learning tool at the planetarium is the
Starry Night K-12 curriculum. The interactive sky simulator replaces the traditional planetarium display, and the accompanying lesson plans correlate to state and national standards. The planetarium coordinator can flexibly adjust the program to teach to classroom learning plans.
The other learning programs have been selected for their innovative approach to storytelling, breathtaking visuals and the highest production value. Additionally, each title has an alignment to the Science Grade Level and Course Level Expectations for the state of Missouri. Please see below for the alignment to the Science content strands by title of show:
Students in the Kansas City Public Schools are assessed on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) in grades 5 and 8. Students who have successfully completed Biology I are assessed on the End of Course Exam. Each of the content strands mentioned in the table above are assessed on both the MAP and End of Course Exam. 10% to 14% of the questions on the MAP are assigned to each of the four strands identified on the table. Additionally, for the Biology I EOC, 40% of the points are assigned to the Living Organisms strand.
