Preparing for the Solar Eclipse in the Elementary Classroom
Thursday, June 15, 2023
9:00 am Introductions and agenda overview (set out clipboards)
We will use the NASA Space Place Eclipse Poster as an engagement piece for practicing the RACES writing strategy.
Remote Sensing of the Sun
Part one: Creating a painting of the Sun
This activity will create a painting of the sun with paint that we will use for “research”.
Part two: Simulating remote sensing using viewers
Remote sensing is a way of gathering information about objects or places without physically touching them. Instead, we use special tools and technologies to collect data from a distance. It's like using high-tech eyes and ears to learn about things that are far away.
We can chalk this one up to the Sun's corona
Modeling an Eclipse of the Sun
A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, blocking some or all of the Sun's light from reaching the Earth. From the perspective of an observer on Earth, it appears as if the Moon is covering the Sun. Part three of the 2023 NASA Science: Getting Ready for the Next Solar Eclipse - LiveBinder (livebinders.com) activity.
GLOBE Observer App
A training inside a PD?
- Make a teacher account and complete the Introduction to GLOBE training.
- For organization: Please select Purdue V-School
- STEP 1: Complete Introduction to GLOBE; Download the module and complete the Assessment Test.
- STEP 2: Complete Introduction to Atmosphere (or any of the Intro to “Sphere”)
- STEP 3: Complete ONE additional module for that sphere listed under the Intro to Sphere (Clouds, Precipitation, Aerosols, etc)
- Download the GLOBE Observer app.
Overview of My NASA Data website organization
Angie Rizzi will give us a guided tour of using the My NASA Data resources and help us understand how to use and incorporate some of the vast amounts of data the is available from NASA.
MyNASA Data Solar Eclipse Story Map
In this story map lesson students will learn how living with a star can teach us about our universe. Through a series of learning activities, students will examine the benefits and hazards of living with a star, describe and/or demonstrate how we use eclipses to study the Sun and its features and investigate how our Sun may be used to learn about other stars and our universe.
Data literacy cubes
My NASA Data Literacy Cubes can be used to guide students’ exploration of graphs, data tables, and mapped images of NASA Earth science data. They help students develop their Data Analysis and Interpretation skills, as well as help them to recognize patterns, cause & effect, stability & change, and more.
Intro to GLOBE
The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program has been providing students and the public worldwide with the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to our understanding of the Earth system and global environment.
GLOBE Cloud training
The sun affects many of Earth's systems. In the session, Angie Rizzi and Sarah Nern go through some GLOBE activities to help us understand clouds.
Link to Sky Conditions mat
Estimating Clouds:
Paper activity Virtual version
4:00 p.m. Exit ticket
Friday, June 16, 2023
Well, That's Direct!
We will take that to the RACESIt's Getting Hot in Here!
Link to the Earth's Systems lesson page
More to Light Than Meets the Eye
We can see all the colors of visible light. But did you know light contains many more wavelengths than just what we can see? We use these wavelengths every day. Scientists. Use these wavelengths to research and in remote sensing to find out about many objects such as our sun. For this activity, we will look at what makes white light.
See the lesson plan on the Measuring Visible Light page
Looking Deeper into Atmospheric Science
From particulate matter to celebrating simple instruments, our team will take us through a number of activities.
Up in the Air
Lunch
We will have a guest speaker during lunch. Dr. Andrew Flachs discusses the historic view of the human understanding of events such as a solar eclipse.
Moon phases board
Adapted from The EAPS Virtual Passport Day program, this activity will create a board that students can place over their heads to visualize the moon's phases. This session will be led by Chemistry K-12 Outreach Coordinator Sarah Nern.
Discuss the “Day of the Eclipse” plan safety
This session will cover many aspects of safety for schools, students, and communities during an eclipse.
Watch and Share Rafael’s SOS episode!
How to Safely Observe an Eclipse
The outreach team will show a number of different ways to view the sun at the moment as well as during the eclipse.
Creating student accounts
Having students collect data during an eclipse or just as part of a project can be a great learning experience for them. Sarah will guide us in how to create a GLOBE account for our students to collect and input data for projects. Create and Manage Student accounts
4:00 p.m. Exit ticket