Students in grade six at Senator Riley Middle School are turning their gaze to the skies.

Teacher Cliona Curran says her students have been researching what's up there since early January.

"Students in my class have been studying Sky Science and they had to create a research project where they had nine inquiry questions looking at colonizing a planet moon of their choice."

She says students collected data by reviewing interviews with Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield as well as turning to reference books and the Internet.

Grade six student Brayden Moe says he chose Saturn as his project and if you think Alberta can get cold you should be happy you don't have to live there.

"I was studying temperature control as part of my assignment, the average temperature on Saturn is - 200."

He says the purple planet is about twenty billion miles away, give or take a mile and would take about thirty years to get there.

Grade Six Teacher Cliona Curran says her students constructed domes in which to showcase their completed projects.

"This morning we created the Bio Dome which is a combination of plastic wrap, duct tape and a fan to keep the dome inflated. Then they brought in their poster board which illustrated all the information they researched over the last few months."

She credits The Home Depot and Home Hardware in High River for providing the materials used to build the domes.

Grade six student Byaden Moe standing in front of his Bio Dome. Photo - Jeff McLenaghan

Student Brayden Moe displaying his research on the chilly planet Saturn. Photo - Jeff McLenaghan