Total Eclipse of the Sun

About two years ago, my husband Aaron told me that in August of 2017 there would be a total eclipse of the sun in North America. He told me he wanted to travel to see the full eclipse. I said something like, “Yeah, that would be cool.” Then, I forgot all about it. Forgot about it that is until last May when he brought the subject up again.

When Aaron told me that it would be something like 100 years from now before there would be another solar eclipse in North America, I couldn't exactly say no. Somehow our schedules worked out, and the more research he began to do the more excited he got (giddy is a better word for it). His excitement has spread, and now our whole house is buzzing, looking forward to the event.  So on August 21^st, we will be near Lincoln, Nebraska to witness a total eclipse of the sun. The whole process will take several hours, while the total eclipse will only last two or three minutes.

Check out this general information video!

Since the eclipse has become a big deal in our house hold, I started to wonder if the teachers would have activities for this event. I am delighted to see NASSA has created a special web page that helps teachers incorporate the eclipse into their lessons. Many NASSA lessons relate to math, science, and geography.

 One activity is a printable book called Our Very Own Star Story which encourages students to explore how far the sun is from earth. Another activity in a Layers of the Sun packet has students graph the increase and decrease of sunspots every 11 years. NASSA also has several math challenge activities that would work great for small group problem solving.

This year's eclipse reminds me that as a teacher, we need to be aware of current events—especially events that rarely happen. As my husband has captured my excitement, I too need to excite my students with events going on around us—as well as link them to math.