Students at Northport Public School will have the opportunity to participate in an engaging night sky program on April 23 during International Dark Sky week.
Northport kids in grades 3-12, as well as other county schools, will participate and engage in the Sharing Star Stories program presented by the education team at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Kids will have the chance to visit the program’s mobile planetarium on campus and will learn about astronomy-related topics like practical uses of the night sky including navigation and time, western and indigenous constellations, and the impacts of light pollution. The education team typically sets up its mobile planetarium in a gym or similar high-ceiling venue as the dome is 12 feet tall and about 16 feet wide. Like other park programs, the Sharing Star Stories dome visits are offered free of charge.
The event is held during International Dark Sky Week, which is an annual event occurring this year from April 21-28 that not only celebrates the night sky, but also draws attention to light pollution and simple solutions to mitigate the issue.
David Fenlon, education lead and interpretative park ranger at Sleeping Bear Dunes, said the planetarium was purchased at the end of 2023 as part of a National Park Foundation grant with the goal of creating a night sky program that could be presented to students during the day. The dome program is about half an hour long, while another station set up outside the dome for 3rd-5th graders makes the entire program run about an hour per group of up to 40-50 students.
“Most students are only familiar with the Ancient Greek and Roman constellations, if any,” Fenlon said. “We aim to introduce them to some constellations and star stories of the Anishinaabe, the Indigenous peoples of our area. We also use the dome to highlight the effects of light pollution and the importance of preserving dark skies.”
Northport science teacher Susan Sobehrad said she hopes the students participating in the program take away a sense of wonder and reverence for the planet as it’s one tiny piece of the larger universe.
“We hope that students begin to understand that their actions may have repercussions on the environment that may not be immediately apparent,” Sobehrad said. “We hope that students will become more thoughtful about their place in earth’s ecosystem, and that they will begin to make better choices about its preservation. We have only one earth, and we are quickly reaching carrying capacity. Our students will be the ones to come up with the innovations that will allow humanity to sustain life on the planet.”
Fenlon said the Sharing Star Stories program is essentially the same as the public one currently offered on occasion inside the auditorium at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center. The program has been and will continue to be offered to students within a 50-mile radius of Sleeping Bear Dunes, with Fenlon adding that they reached over 2,000 students in just a few months. Going forward, he said they’re also considering ways to potentially bring the dome to schools further away “My hopes are that students who haven’t come out to the National Lakeshore at night are inspired to do so and go stargazing,” Fenlon said. “For those students who may have done some stargazing before, I hope their worldview is expanded after learning about Anishinaabe constellations. Lastly, for any Anishinaabe students who attend the program, I hope they feel seen and proud of their cultural traditions.”
Phyllis Rebori, a member of the Leelanau Dark Sky advocacy group, said they originally had a cooperative program/partnership with Northport school planned in 2020, but the event was cancelled at the time due to the COVID pandemic. However, Rebori said they are thrilled that Northport’s science department and teacher Susan Sobehrad have coordinated with the Sleeping Bear Dunes Education Team to bring the Sharing Star Stories program to district students.
In addition to being an advocacy group, Rebori said Leelanau Dark Sky is available to act as a resource for future Northport student activities that are focused on awareness of the effects of light pollution. She explained that it’s important for youth to learn about dark skies for several reasons, noting how light pollution is having a bigger effect on night skies than previously measured.
“A 2023 article cites analysis that between 2011-2022 night skies in North America and Europe brightened by almost 10 percent each year. That means an overall doubling of sky brightness every seven years,” Rebori said. “Young people are the future. They will inherit the responsibility for the preservation of natural night skies… If an interest can be sparked to recognize and then reduce impacts of light pollution that negatively affect overall human health, even driving safely- with less glare, bird migration, wildlife, pollinators, scientific research, we’ll all be in good hands. The feeling of wonder, awe and joy while gazing at the Milky Way-still visible in Leelanau County-will also be preserved.”
The view from inside the mobile planetarium dome that’s set up at schools for the Sharing Star Stories program. Photos courtesy of the National Park Service
