In keeping with past efforts to bring knowledge and inspiration to the general public with special emphasis on children, youth, and families, these new funds will be used to support griffith…

In keeping with past efforts to bring knowledge and inspiration to the general public with special emphasis on children, youth, and families, these new funds will be used to support griffith observatory's educational efforts in two ways to ensure that griffith observatory has the tools and human resources to continue producing and presenting high quality, precedent-setting educational programs: 1) to upgrade the technology needed to develop a new educational experience for the samuel oschin planetarium, ongoing programming in the leonard nimoy event horizon, and other public activities, and 2) to support the staffing required for the school field trip program. Regarding the importance of planetarium shows to reaching the public, over 50% of adults and young adults from the 2007 visitor survey cited above reported that the show in the samuel oschin planetarium was the highlight of their visit. This is because IT truly is a unique experience not only among traditional planetarium shows, but also in relation to traditional hollywood movies and video games. The show contains engaging content and storytelling and is presented by a live presenter in an immersive, theatrical environment. IT is innovative, educational, and inspiring. Because of the quality of the content and the excellence of production, griffith observatory's planetarium shows are able to compete successfully for attention with audiences who have access to the latest in 3D entertainment in theaters and every conceivable colorful, dynamic, and addictive temptation on personal computers and ipads. While definitely not driven by technology, the shows are compelling because the use state-of-the-art equipment ensures that the scientific storytelling is first rate. Audiences in griffith observatory's samuel oschin planetarium theater are surrounded with the most gorgeous, most pristine, and most luminous night sky ever produced on a seamless, infinite domed ceiling. STARS projected by the zeiss mark IX universarium twinkle with the exquisite clarity remembered from childhood campfires and now lost in light-polluted environments. But the most compelling elements of the experience are special effects astronomy stories portrayed on the dome by the evans and sutherland digistar 3 laser projection system. These are complex, visually exciting, and information-rich stories. They take years to research, script, and create. The next show is intended to premiere in 2012. The content of the new show will focus on scientific processes. Again, both the zeiss mark IX universarium star projector and evans & sutherland's state-of-the-art all-dome digital laser projection system will be used to create a compelling, inspirational show that supports NASA's mission and promotes stem learning (note the survey statistics previously cited.) the story begins with the creation of atoms in the big bang. IT evolves into the creation of complex atoms and the nuclear furnaces of STARS. Then IT explodes into supernovae leading to the formation of more STARS from the debris, leading to planet formation, and earth. Each process is an essential step in putting US into the equation. Each step reveals our personal relationship to these processes and enables US to understand better what atoms and STARS really are, and what we really are. Cosmically speaking, we are organized atoms using atoms to understand other atoms, and this matter is merely a small fraction of the matter the universe contains. IT will take more atomic thinking to contrive from atoms new instruments to deal with all the dark stuff that does not twinkle and makes US wonder what IT is.