School Field Trips to The Imaginarium!

Workshops sponsored by UA College Savings Plan

Teachers, bring your class to us this school year and explore the incredible world of science! This page has links to information teachers need to schedule and plan their visit for one or more of our workshops. You can also download a copy of our 2008-2009 Educational Programs.

Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk

The Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk is a scale model of our solar system. Taking the walk, you experience the relative size of the planets and their distance from the Sun. The scale was chosen so that a leisurely walking pace mimics the speed of light. On this scale, each step equals the distance light travels in one second (300,000 kilometers or 186,000 miles).

Plan about 8 minutes to walk from the Sun station at 5th and G to the Earth station at 5th and K, just as it takes 8 minutes for a light beam to travel from the real Sun to the real Earth. Similarly, it takes you and a light beam 5 1/2 hours to reach Pluto at Kincaid Park.

Of course, you can hop on your bike, roller blades or skis, and travel the distance at warp speed!

The Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk was designed by Eli Menaker, a 2004 graduate of Service High School in Anchorage.

Begin at the sun station, a tiled representation of the Sun (weighing close to 6,000 pounds) to learn about the evolution of our solar system and discover interesting facts about our star, the Sun.

Then navigate the planet stations along 5th Avenue and the Coastal Trail to experience the scale of our solar system and unique features of each planet.

This program is free for Title 1 ASD 6th grade students.