The Planetarium Science Center is a department in the

Bibliotheca Alexandrina The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Latin for "Library of Alexandria"; arz, مكتبة الإسكندرية ', ) is a major library and cultural center on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a commemoration of the Library ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. It promotes the concept of science centers as an educational tool. = PRE- HISTORIC ANIMAL PARK = Posted in DRSC The Science Park also has a Dinosaur Park that houses models of a large number of prehistoric animals which will excite the minds of young and old alike and make science learning fun and entertaining. * Ankylosaurus – Armoured dinosaur * Triceratops – Three horned face * Anatosaurus – Duck billed dinosaur * Gallimimus – Rooster mimic * Corythosaurus – helmet lizard * T-Rex – Tyrant lizard king * Psittacosaurus – Parrot lizard * Brachiosaurus – arm lizard * Oviraptor – egg robber * Stegosaurus – covered lizard or roof lizard * Scelidosaurus – limb lizard * Plateosarurus – flat lizard * Dimetrodon gradis – Two measures tooth *

The Sections of the PSC

The Planetarium

A planetarium may be defined as: *A building housing an instrument for projecting the position of celestial bodies onto a domed ceiling. *An optical device for projecting images of celestial bodies and astronomical phenomena onto the inner surface of a hemispherical dome. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina's Planetarium Shows: * Solarmax (IMAX 40min.) * Star Show (Live Show 45min.) * Oasis in Space (Panorama 25 min.) * Ring of fire (IMAX 40 min.) * Human Body (IMAX 40 min.)

ALEXPloratorium

It is located next to the Planetarium, where visitors are able to interact with its exhibits which cover various scientific topics, with emphasis on Physics and Astronomy.

Listen and Discover

Short and simple scientific documentary films are displayed according to a predefined schedule. The goal of these films is to help audiences understand scientific issues with attention grabbing and simple explanations.

Programs in the PSC

Hands-on workshops

Within the mission and strategy adopted by the PSC. The History of Science Museum conducts a variety of workshops to facilitate and animate the information in the museum in a simple manner. Topics offered in the PSC workshops include: *

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

Volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

* DNA *

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

* Five senses *

Sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

Genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

Magnetics Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...

Dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

First aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

Color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

s *

Mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...

Gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

Light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

Time measurement Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

Remote Sensing Workshop

This program introduces the scientific participles of remote sensing and offers hands-on applications. Participants witness the impact of natural events through history using a series of satellite images, as well as through analysis of recent images. They are also exposed to other environmental issues that relate to the theme of the workshop.

Zoom Earth Program

This program comprises different kinds of educational activities, such as series of lectures, workshops and field trips. The program mainly tackles topics such as irrigation, meteorology, volcanoes and earthquakes.

Discover your Environment Camp

A winter camp, Discover your Environment directs students to interact with various fields of science through activities in the courses of a journey to the Siwa desert, organized by the PSC.

RoboAlex Center

The RoboAlex Center at the Alexploratorium offers hands-on robotic challenges guided by animators. The participating groups design, program, and test robots on a playing field, with the goal of accomplishing certain missions.

Science Club

Science Club implements educational and science programs at schools; they aim to "simulate curiosity, interest and enjoyment in science and its methods of inquiry, to develop experiment and investigative abilities and develop children's abilities and skills."

Super Science Show

The Super Science Show gets participating children involved in hands-on experiments. The show includes experiments in the fields of physics, biology, and chemistry.

Alexploratorium Contest

The Alexploratorium Contest familiarize students of different age groups with topics relevant to general science, such as IQ tests and teamwork; as well as tackling major scientific discoveries.

Important events in the PSC

Eratosthenes

Eratosthenes is a traditional annual Festival that the Bibliotheca Alexandrina organizes with the aim of promoting science and heritage among school students. The Festivities of 2003-2008 evolved around measuring the Earth's circumference, following the footsteps of

Eratosthenes Eratosthenes of Cyrene (; grc-gre, Ἐρατοσθένης ; – ) was a Greek polymath: a mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria ...

First-Lego League in Egypt Competition Finale

The result of an alliance between FIRST(For Inspiration and Recogenition of Science and Technology) and

LEGO Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

FIRST LEGO League The ''FIRST'' LEGO League Challenge (formerly known as ''FIRST'' LEGO League) is an international competition organized by '' FIRST'' for elementary and middle school students (ages 9–14 in the United States and Canada, 9–16 elsewhere). Each ...

(FLL) is an international hands-on, sport-like robotics program for children 9-14. Guided by mentors, FLL student solve engineering challenges.

Intel BASEF

The Planetarium Science Center (PSC), in collaboration with Intel Co. organizes th
Intel Bibliotheca Alexandrina Science and Engineering Fair
(Intel BASEF), which is hosted by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) in March. Intel BASEF brings together students in grades 9–12; 14–18 years of age; from Alexandria and neighboring governorates, to train, research, innovate, and compete. The winning projects, one team project and two individual projects, represent Egypt in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) that takes place in the United States of America.

World Water Day

On the occasion of the international celebration of

World Water Day World Water Day is an annual United Nations (UN) observance day held on 22 March that highlights the importance of fresh water. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The theme of each year focuses o ...

, the PSC organizes one-day festivals.

World Environmental Day

Commemorated each year on 5 June, World Environmental Day (or simply

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

) is one of the vehicles through which the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The Slogan for 2008 was "CO2 Kick the habit": Towards a low-carbon Economy.

The Planetarium's Revamp

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina reopened its planetarium doors after having equipped itself with a newly installed state of the art dome projection system and a set of shows to go along with it. With the new system running, the sea-side Bibliotheca and the Planetarium Science Center (PSC, the library's affiliate nonprofit educational center) are now ready to jointly host the 20th International Planetarium Society conference in June, 2010.

Digistar 3

The planetarium describes its new system which is known as Digistar 3 as a "cutting-edge full-dome projection system with a rich set of real-time 3D astronomy features and a wide database of celestial bodies that enables the audience to explore the universe as never before."

Stunning Shows

"Stars of the Pharaohs" is one of the shows currently displayed at the PSC which is centered on Ancient Egyptian astronomy. It answers questions like how much truth is there to claims that the Pharaohs' monuments were observatories, possessed magical powers or were even built by aliens? How did the Egyptians see and use the stars, and what is their legacy to us? "New Horizons" on the other hand is a show focusing on modern astronomical discoveries and insights. The show promises to take the viewer on an "expedition through the Solar System and into the realm of comets." Its focus is one of exploration.
Alexandria's Planetarium Revamps its Gear

References

Planetarium Science Center official websiteIntel Bibliotheca Alexandria Science and Engineering Fair official website.

External links

* {{Coord, 31.208984, 29.908143, region:EG-ALX_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Alexandria Science and technology in Egypt Scientific organisations based in Egypt Bibliotheca Alexandrina Planetaria