Unit Study: Solar Eclipse

 Dad planned a trip for us to see the total solar eclipse, and visit our cousins at the same time! Before we left for our trip, I wanted to teach the girls about what a solar eclipse is. Not surprisingly, there weren't many books available at the library. We read A Few Beautiful Minutes, by Kate Allen Fox. We also watched several SciShow Kids videos about eclipses. We also made an eclipse using a globe and some household objects. First, we used a flashlight and our globe to show what normal orbit looks like, with the earth going around the sun (flashlight), and then tried it again with the moon (apple) going between the two.

We noted how the moon blocked the sun, but you could still see some sunlight around the edges. We also noted how the earth was shadowed and dark when the moon was blocking the sun.

Also this week, we created moon ornaments out of clay to put on our Christmas tree so we could remember the solar eclipse.

Then, we began our trek north to Vermont, so we could be in the path of totality AND visit our family. With our cousins, we made and decorated paper plate masks to go with our eclipse glasses, for extra eye protection. Dad made a pinhole eclipse viewer for us.

On the day of the eclipse, we drove about half an hour to a local maple sugarworks, where we would have about a minute and a half of totality. Dad used an app that walked us through the different stages of the eclipse. After first contact, when the moon began covering the sun, we used our glasses and pinhole viewers to see the eclipse.

We also noted the change in temperature and lighting, as well as how quiet everything became as it got darker and the birds stopped singing. While this stage was really cool, nothing prepared us for how amazing totality was! The picture does not do it justice.