Shuffling into the Whittemore Elementary School gymnasium in their stocking feet, a classroom full of third-graders turned their eyes toward a massive, hand-painted inflatable globe.
Some gasped when they stepped inside the 20-foot-tall replica, spinning around and taking in the entire planet, watching its walls expand over and around them, while others looked a little squeamish.
Retired geography teacher Rosalie Sokol used a red laser to point out the Pacific Rim, Cape Cod, and beneath their feet, Antarctica, explaining that even though it has no sand, Antarctica is still a desert.
All of Whittemore's third-, fourth- and fifth-graders were treated "a 3-D geography lesson," presented by Sokol and Vernon Domingo, a geography professor from Bridgewater State College, on Friday.
"It's a phenomenal opportunity that they'll never have again. There are only two of these hand-painted inflated globes in the world. It was somebody's master's thesis," said Principal Deborah Butts.
Domingo explained that a Northwestern University engineering student produced the two globes, and had people take them to local schools and teach geography lessons. About 20 students can fit inside the globe at a time.
Bridgewater State College bought one of the globes last summer, and close to 10,000 students have participated in the EarthView Program in an effort to educate students about geography.
"As you walk inside, there's a sense of awe about the planet, of taking in the whole world, and seeing the connections between places," said Domingo.
One student, originally from Guatemala, excitedly showed his classmates his home country in the globe.
"There's excitement about the Earth. They've never see this on this scale before. I love it when the kids walk in the door, and the mouths all open," Domingo said, smiling.
Inside the globe, students asked Sokol to show them where Washington, D.C., was, asked what that big mass of land below North America was called, and marveled at the size of the Pacific Ocean.
Students saw that the United States could easily fit into the continent of Africa several times.
Since Bridgewater State College first bought the globe last summer, it has worked with an area geography teachers' network, SEMAGNET, to spread the word about the program and bring it to local schools such as Whittemore, Domingo said.
Educators want to increase the amount of geography taught in school, Domingo said.
"The globe is interconnected, and children need to know about other cultures. We feel the opportunity is now," said Domingo.
Butts said she is impressed that the program gives students a tangible view of the planet they study in the classroom.
"It puts them right in it. A lot of Waltham kids have never been out of Waltham," she said.
Joyce Kelly can be reached at 781-398-8005 or jkelly@cnc.com.
