solar eclipse

The Great American Solar Eclipse is less than 2 weeks away.  Showtime is on August 21st 2017.  This is the first solar eclipse to cross the whole continental North America in a long while.   Many of you will have started the school year so this is a great learning opportunity share with your students, either as a classroom or whole school activity. There is alot of great information about the Solar Eclipse online.   We’ve compiled some teacher resources on this page, for those that reside on the path of totality (umbra) or where there will be a partial eclipse (penumbra).  Either way it’s a teachable moment that doesn’t come along to our neighborhood very often.  While we’ve mostly focused on what we can do with the sun’s energy that shines each day on here on Earth (Solar Schoolhouse), the solar eclipse is a great catalyst to taking a closer look at our planet, sun, and moon… which can reinforce the Sun’s status as our primary energy source here on Earth.

On the resource page, we’ve compiled strategies for engaging your class or school, where & how to buy solar eclipse glasses,  ideas for solar eclipse art, short videos on the history of solar eclipses, how to calculate the effect of the solar eclipse on solar power production at your school and throughout the state, and some recipes for solar eclipse treats.

Solar Eclipse Posters designed by Tyler Nordgren, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at University of Redlands.