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If you are interested in teaching about the August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse and have enjoyed links to resources in this thread, you may be interested to register for Astronomers Without Borders Building on the Eclipse Education Program. AWB’s unique Building on the Eclipse Education Program uses the high-profile eclipse event as inspiration and the starting point for continuing STEM education lessons and activities to be conducted in the following academic year. The program offers an exciting educational resource package that uses eclipse viewing glasses and spectroscope kits in lesson plans developed by our team of professional science educators in cooperation with Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and Science Technology Advanced Resource, Inc. An online support community and professional development sessions are also offered. Online registration for the program is now open at awbeclipse2017.org , and a limited number of spectroscope kits are available free to eligible groups registering early thanks to a generous donation from Rainbow Symphony.

Dear Leslee, The total solar eclipse will not be visible in Florida.  The closest location is South Carolina. HOWEVER, the entire US will see a partial solar eclipse, which will still be valuable to see. Plus, it will be extremely important that students and their families know how to safely observe the partial eclipse.  Safe viewing techniques will be part of the virtual conference. Finally, although you cannot see the total eclipse, it will be available for viewing on multiple social media sites, plus on the cable and national television stations.  The excitement around the eclipse - even the partial eclipse - will be a great motivator for students to understand what is happening in the sky.  In Delray, more than 75% of the Sun will be covered by Moon. I hope this information is useful. Flavio Mendez on behalf of Dennis Schatz (virtual conference presenter)

Hi Jennifer, I really like the series of lessons called "Eye on the Sky" http://www.eyeonthesky.org/ourstarsun.html These lessons are focussed on K-4 and are best used in sequence since each lessons builds on the last. Good luck! Claire

Jennifer, I have been wanting to make this phases of the moon viewer. Here is a link for it: http://eberopolis.blogspot.com/2013/02/phases-of-moon.html One of the things I do is have the children cut out the weather forecast each day from the newspaper and we tape them along the wall in timeline format because it also has sunrise, sunset, and moon phases on it. They can keep a log and go outside each night and draw what they see, if they miss a night, they know it will be posted the next day. Just like in math, it helps them to see and learn that it is a pattern, a cycle that happens over and over. There are some great resources here on NSTA. Choose elementary, lesson plans, and whatever content strand you want.

You might like making a flip book for the moon phases. http://deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com/2014/11/phases-of-moon-flip-book_21.html

Emily Morgan writes a beautiful series called The Next Time You See. I would set the books up in my Science Center and students would be drawn to the vivid pictures and topics (sea shells, pill bugs, spiderwebs, the sunset, the moon). The link below is to NSTA Press Extras Next Time You See the Moon, which will provide you activities to do before and after reading Next Time You See the Moon, and it has a helpful video of Emily Morgan, the author, modeling the phases of the moon in a demonstration that would be easy to replicate in your classroom. http://www.nsta.org/publications/press/extras/ moon.aspx' target="_blank"> http://www.nsta.org/publications/press/extras/ moon.aspx Many of NSTA Press books provide additional online resources.  http://www.nsta.org/publications/press/extras/ There are beautiful youtube book trailers for The Next Time You See series.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZsGVuHkiQg Here is a link to a collection of resources for The Next Time You See series:  https://learningcenter.nsta.org/mylibrary/collection.aspx?id=spfCbDOPdwk_E

Although this article is from 2003, I think there is a lot of good information around formative assessment, the 5E instructional model, and the moon phases that you are interested in. Hope it is helpful. [color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica][b]Seamless Assessment[/b][/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][color=#454545][i]by: [/i][url=https://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Mark%20J.%20Volkmann][color=#e4af09][i]Mark J. Volkmann [/i][/color][/url][i]and [/i][url=https://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Sandra%20K.%20Abell][color=#e4af09][i]Sandra K. Abell[/i][/color][/url][/color][/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][url=https://learningcenter.nsta.org/resource/?id=10.2505/4/sc03_040_08_41][i]https://learningcenter.nsta.org/resource/?id=10.2505/4/sc03_040_08_41[/i][/url][/font][/size][/color] I would also recommend the work of NSTA author and past President of NSTA, Page Keeley. Page and Brian Kruse did a presentation, "Investigating the Moon Through Formative Assessment Probes and Strategies that Link Concepts and Practices," at the NSTA National Conference in Nashville last year. Page Keeley also writes a column called Formative Assessment Probes: Promoting learning through assessment for NSTA's Science and Children monthly journal for elementary teachers. One article that you would be interested in is "When Is the Next Full Moon? Using K-2 Concept Cartoons." Page writes an award-winning series called Uncovering Student Ideas. I would recommend the "Going Through a Phase" chapter in Uncovering Student Ideas in Science and "Modeling the Moon" in Uncovering Student Ideas in Astronomy. Below are some links to resources of Page Keeley's in the NSTA Learning Center. [color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica][b]Going Through a Phase[/b][/font][/size][/color] [color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica][size=2]Book Chapter from Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 1: 25 Formative Assessment Probes[/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][color=#454545][i]by: [/i][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Page%20Keeley][color=#e4af09][i]Page Keeley[/i][/color][/url][i], [/i][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Francis%20Eberle][color=#e4af09][i]Francis Eberle[/i][/color][/url][i], and [/i][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Lynn%20Farrin][color=#e4af09][i]Lynn Farrin[/i][/color][/url][/color][/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9780873552554.25]http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9780873552554.25[/url][/font][/size][/color] [color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica][b]Gazing at the Moon[/b][/font][/size][/color] [color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica][size=2]Book Chapter from Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 1: 25 Formative Assessment Probes[/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][color=#454545][i]by: [/i][url=https://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Page%20Keeley][color=#e4af09][i]Page Keeley[/i][/color][/url][i], [/i][url=https://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Francis%20Eberle][color=#e4af09][i]Francis Eberle[/i][/color][/url][i], and [/i][url=https://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Lynn%20Farrin][color=#e4af09][i]Lynn Farrin[/i][/color][/url][/color][/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][url=https://learningcenter.nsta.org/resource/?id=10.2505/9780873552554.24][i]https://learningcenter.nsta.org/resource/?id=10.2505/9780873552554.24[/i][/url][/font][/size][/color] [color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica][b]Can It Reflect Light? [/b][/font][/size][/color] [color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica]Book Chapter from Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Volume 1: 25 Formative Assessment Probes[/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][color=#454545][i]by: [/i][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Francis%20Eberle][color=#e4af09][i]Francis Eberle[/i][/color][/url][i], [/i][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Page%20Keeley][color=#e4af09][i]Page Keeley[/i][/color][/url][i], and [/i][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Lynn%20Farrin][color=#e4af09][i]Lynn Farrin[/i][/color][/url][/color][/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9780873552554.1]http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9780873552554.1[/url][/font][/size][/color]

A couple more NSTA authors you may want to check out for ideas on using models for younger students to understand the phases of the moon would be Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan, who co-write Picture Perfect Science Lessons. Karen and Emily also wrote an NSTA book with Christine Royce, Teaching Science Through Trade Books, and write a column, Teaching Science Through Trade Books, in the NSTA Science and Children monthly journal.  Below is a link to one journal article, [b][color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica]Teaching Through Trade Books: Moon Phases and Models[/font][/size][/color][/b] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][color=#454545][i]by: [/i][url=https://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Karen%20Ansberry][color=#e4af09][i]Karen Ansberry[/i][/color][/url][i] and [/i][color=#e4af09][i][url=https://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Emily%20Morgan]Emily Morgan[/url], [/i][/color][/color][color=#111111][size=2][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]that you might be interested in.[/font][/size][/color][/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][i][url=https://learningcenter.nsta.org/resource/?id=10.2505/4/sc08_046_01_20]https://learningcenter.nsta.org/resource/?id=10.2505/4/sc08_046_01_20[/url][/i][/font][/size][/color] [color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica][b]Moon Phases and Models, [/b][/font][/size][/color] [color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica]Book Chapter from Teaching Science Through Trade Books[/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][color=#454545][i]by: [/i][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Karen%20Ansberry][color=#e4af09][i]Karen Ansberry[/i][/color][/url][i] and [/i][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Emily%20Morgan][color=#e4af09][i]Emily Morgan[/i][/color][/url][/color][/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][i][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781936959136.51]http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781936959136.51[/url][/i][/font][/size][/color] [color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica][b]The Changing Moon, [/b][/font][/size][/color] [color=#454545][size=2][font=Helvetica]Book Chapter from Picture Perfect Science Lessons, Expanded 2nd Edition: Using Children’s Books to Guide Inquiry, 3-6[/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][color=#454545][i]by: [/i][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Karen%20Ansberry][color=#e4af09][i]Karen Ansberry[/i][/color][/url][i] and [/i][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/search/?action=browse&text=Emily%20Morgan][color=#e4af09][i]Emily Morgan[/i][/color][/url][/color][/font][/size][/color] [color=#e4af09][size=2][font=Helvetica][url=http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781935155164.17][i]http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781935155164.17[/i][/url][/font][/size][/color]

Dorothy, I am so glad you said that because I feel so strongly that we may not remember content but we always remember the love of learning our teachers impart.

Thank you so much for the information. I like the free observing guide from NSTA, Flavio. http://eclipse.siu.edu/about/educators/general-scientific-resources/

I totally agree! Teach them how to view it safely and have them build a pinhole camera. Having said that though, in the world we live in today, we always have to guard against litigation because if a teacher can be accused of any wrong doing, they will be attacked with or without any proof.

It seems odd that school districts would be closed on the day of the eclipse. This should be considered a prime educational opportunity. Also, since you say that you're in the "prime viewing location," I assume that you're located somewhere on the path of totality. Do your students understand that they'll need to remove the solar glasses during totality... and put them back on before totality ends? Matt

Hi Dana,

It was great to meet you in Houston at the ExxonMobil Teachers Academy 2017 - congratulations on your selection to participate!

Please see the link below to a collection of resources about the Solar Eclipse. One of the resources included is a free PDF document tilted: An Observer's Guide to the Total Solar Eclipse of 2017' authored by Fraknoi and Schatz. While not a one-pager, it is an easy read that you can print and share with people and/or send to those you know electronically.

http://learningcenter.nsta.org/mylibrary/collection.aspx?id=UHgJRhs/h9o_E

Take care,
Flavio.

Flavio, I am very glad that you responded with this collection from the Virtual Conference. Although the Virtual Conference was several months ago, the archive and the resources become more relevant as we get closer to August. I suspect more people will be looking for these resources over the next few weeks. I will be viewing the eclipse (weather permitting) in New Plymouth, ID. I hope all these small towns along the path of totality are preparing for the hoards.

I was unable to get to a site to see the total eclipse. Instead, i hosted an event at a local nature center in Harrisburg, PA. We set up a station on a boardwalk in the wetlands with an unobstructed view of the sky. We had materials for pinhole projectors and I had received several viewers from the Planetary Society. Most of the attendees were adults walking in the Park. They were appreciative of the opportunity to view the eclipse in a safe manner. A few were unaware that a partial eclipse could be seen in our area.

Carolyn, I was in Manning, SC, at the local high school with my family and Mother who was visiting from PR. We joined our great friends from Virginia and together enjoyed an awesome event! We had great weather and clear skies. During totality we felt a slight drop on the temperature and could see Venus appear in the sky. On the way home, as advertised, we experienced significant traffic on I-95. We plan to watch it again on 2024! Flavio.

I wonder how many others in this group were able to see Totality? It was truly a memorable experience. We were in Ravenna, NE, with a group from the Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association, and Delta College's Astronomy Club. WE also felt the temperature drop, saw Venus and Regulus, and heard insects that typically do not start calling until dusk. I snapped this photo of the diamond ring.

Attachments

Diamond_Ring_-_Ravenna,_NE.png (0.54 Mb)

Hi Ashley, I'm happy that the eclipse was such a special and memorable day for you! I think we were all struck by the phenomena and look forward to the next. Here's an article that explains the path of totality from this year. The path will be different in 2024 - maybe you'll be able to see it then! http://common.nsta.org/resource/default.aspx?id=10.2505%2f4%2fsc17_054_09_68 -Megan

Natalie, I'm not sure where in Ohio you were, but if you were in an area with 85% obscuration of the sun, you wouldn't have noticed any changes outside, even without the rain.

For April 8, 2024, plan a field trip to be near the center of the path of totality, e.g., in northern Ohio.

https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2024Apr08Tgoogle.html

Matt