Useful resources for educators.
A word document file containing a number of links to educator resources on NASA's Night Sky Network. Includes:
Using simple materials, participants create 3D models of the Earth, Moon and Sun and demonstrate solar and lunar eclipses. Includes video tutorial.
Source: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology.
Full manual for the Shadows & Silhouettes ToolKit. Hands-on activities on Moon phases, lunar and solar eclipses, transits, and Venus phases. Features NASA's Kepler Mission and provides activities to explore searching for planets orbiting in the habitable zone around other stars. The website includes links to videos show tutorials of many of the activities
Source: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology
Compare the shadow that an Earth globe casts with what we observe in the evening sky at sunset. Show your visitors the shadow of the earth as it rises as a dark blue shadow above the eastern horizon.
Learn to build a safe solar pinhole viewer by Michael Bakich, Astronomy Magazine. Published on September 2, 2014.
Solar Science: Exploring Sunspots, Seasons, Eclipses and More (NSTA Press, 2016; http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781941316078). Co-authored by Dennis Schatz and Andrew Fraknoi, the book includes 45 standards-aligned learning experiences, plus extensive background information about the Sun, Moon, calendar and eclipses. The book is designed for both classroom and out-of-school environments, and includes detailed instructions for the novice, along with suggestions for experienced educators.
The release of the book is especially timely because it will help educators prepare for the August 21, 2017 “All-American” total eclipse of the Sun. The first printing of the book comes with safe solar observing glasses and a 2017 eclipse observing guide that includes all the information you need to (1) safely observe the eclipse, (2) know what will happen in your location, and (3) know where to go to see the total eclipse. A free version of the eclipse observing guide is available at http://www.nsta.org/publications/press/extras/files/solarscience/SolarScienceInsert.pdf.
An excellent resource guide to exploring eclipses in general and the August 21, 2017 Total Eclipse of the Sun. This guide was prepared by Andrew Fraknoi (Foothill College).
The Citizen CATE Experiment will use a fleet of telescopes to observe the total solar eclipse of 21 Aug 2017. As the shadow of the moon travels across the continental USA, citizen astronomers from more than 60 sites will take images of the brightness of the inner solar corona. While the totality phase of the eclipse will last only 2 minutes at each site, the combined Citizen CATE Experiment data set will reveal for the first time how this part of the solar atmosphere changes during 90 minutes. New scientific results about the dynamics of the magnetic fields and plasmas in this part of the solar corona will be derived from the data, and the image sequence will provide a beautiful perspective of the solar eclipse as never seen before.
May 21, 2017 article in NSTA Blog
Observer's guide to the eclipse published by the National Science Teachers Association
An eclipse weather balloon project that is being worked on by professor Dr. Robert Pasken at SLU. The project is headed by Jennifer Fowler at the University of Montana.
