The solar eclipse coming up on Monday, April 8th is a great chance to make the outdoors a free laboratory for kids. It will follow a 100-mile path going from Texas through the Midwest and into New England and millions of people will be able to see it. People who live along that path will see the day turn into night and see the faint sun surrounding the darkness of the moon, but everyone else in North America will see a partial eclipse. The solar eclipse in 2017 caused a ton of excitement, but it also caused worry in terms of eye damage. Some school administrators decided not to let students go outside to observe the celestial event.
There are many misconceptions about solar eclipses that influence education. According to this article, it is not true that the sun emits more dangerous radiation during an eclipse and that directly looking at the sun will cause permanent eye damage. Students observing this phenomenon would provide a real-life example of this event and could be beneficial considering most states have standards regarding the phases of the moon and how the sun and moon produce eclipses. Making a successful learning experience about the solar eclipse requires teachers to have knowledge on how to keep the students safe while doing so. Take a look at this article and think about how you would go about incorporating the solar eclipse into your science curriculum.
How would you make the solar eclipse a learning opportunity for elementary students? Do you have any ideas on how to teach students about the solar eclipse to learn about important science concepts, phases of the moon, etc.? How can you be sure to keep students engaged and safe when working outdoors?
The Solar Eclipse Is Coming. How to Make It a Learning Opportunity (Opinion) (edweek.org)
Hey Phoebe, I love that you decided to you write your post about this upcoming event. I do agree that it could be an extremely beneficial learning experience for students to witness. For any lesson, I usually like to start it with a catchy song to get students excited. Then we would either read a book or watch a brainpop to introduce the solar eclipse. Next, we would watch the solar eclipse. I would give each student a magnifying glass and an inflated balloon. We would make predictions about the activity, what will happen. We would also discuss how to properly use the materials. When we get outside, the students would have their backs toward the sun while holding the magnifying glass over the balloon using the sun’s energy to pop it. I think elementary students would find this extremely exciting.
Hi Phoebe! I am excited about this as someone who vividly remembers the eclipse in 2017, and I hope kids will be able to experience that same sense of wonder that I did when I witnessed it! Teaching this in the classroom is a fantastic idea, as students can witness a current event and gain scientific knowledge from it, essentially knocking two birds with one stone. When I was learning about the moon’s phases, my class did an activity in which we used a flashlight and pieces of paper against a black wall to create shadows that represented the moon phases, which was a fun and low-budget/minimal prep work activity that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would also suggest resources such as NASA and BrainPop to excite children about this event. Keeping students safe when witnessing eclipses only requires special glasses they cannot take off. My parents had my sister, and I make a cereal box with a special filter on the eyeholes. This fun activity taught us the importance of entertaining our eyes.
Hi Phoebe! I love that you used this opportunity to discuss the eclipse coming up. Whether or not the eclipse directly relates to the content you cover with students, the event is a great opportunity to discuss the science happening around them. They can witness a current event and gain scientific knowledge. To capitalize on the learning experience for elementary students, you could organize a viewing with proper safety measures in place and provide educational materials on the science behind eclipses. Incorporating hands-on activities, such as creating models of the solar system or conducting experiments related to light and shadows, can enhance students’ understanding of this event in the classroom as well. Ultimately, I think using the events around you in class will stick with students long-term and have a lasting impact on their learning.
Hi Phoebe! I’m so glad you brought up this relevant topic this week! I think that it is definitely something that we should teach kids about, because as Dr. Stohr was saying last week, kids are curious about what is happening in the world and why, and as teacher’s its our job to answer their questions, as we are who they are around for the majority of the day. I know that when I was learning about the phases of the moon by an activity with open faced oreos where we took off little bits of the cream to represent each phase. I think this could be interesting to introduce, and I remember it being such a fun activity that actually stuck with me. I think that if taking students to view the eclipse, we do have to be careful as to making sure that the kids wear their glasses. We would need to thoroughly and repeatedly tell students about how dangerous it is to take them off so that they do not get the permanent damage. I also think it would be helpful to watch a video on what the eclipse is and why it occurs!
The Solar Eclipse was such a unique opportunity to show the younger kids about the interaction of the sun and moon with the earth. I was babysitting on this day and the father ask that I did not take him outside during this time because he feared eye damage. During the time of the eclipse the boy and I went inside and we talked about is happening and why it could potentially cause eye damage since we didnt have the proper eye wear. He was very curious about it and was so fascinated with the fact a full eclipse wont happen again until he is 30 years old!! In the classroom, I think it would be so important to emphasize the unique opportunity that it is but of course leave it up to the parents to decide on whether they want their children to witness it with proper eyewear or not. This would be a great time to really showcase how the sun orbits and show what the eclipse actually is from the perspective of the earth.
Hi Phoebe! You asked some great questions regarding how to teach kids and keep them engaged especially outdoors and the solar eclipse is a great and timely example! I think that combining science, astronomy, and hands-on learning could be an extremely exciting and enriching experience for students. Teachers can start by introducing the concept of eclipses through engaging visuals, videos, or even storytelling to capture the students’ interest. They could explain how a solar eclipse occurs, emphasizing key scientific concepts such as the alignment of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, as well as the phases of the Moon leading up to the eclipse. To ensure that students understand the phases of the moon, the teacher could incorporate activities like creating models or diagrams, using Oreo cookies to represent the different lunar phases, or conducting experiments with flashlights and various objects to simulate the eclipse process!