Not all high school students are excited about Monday’s near-total solar eclipse, but Heather McNair’s students certainly are.
The biology and biomedical sciences teacher at Springfield’s Glendale High School said her students in the class that will be in session during the eclipse have been after her all week.
“I hear a lot of student chatter, and some say that the eclipse is boring, but others are super excited, hoping that their teacher will take them outside,” McNair said. “My last block class has been asking all week if we’re going outside. And 100% we are.”
Monday’s solar eclipse is a significant, rare astronomical event that gives teachers the chance for extra education.
Students across the city will get the chance to see Monday’s solar eclipse while at school. Expected to run from 12:36 to 3:12 p.m., it will reach 97% totality at 1:54 p.m.
McNair said the district’s science coordinator found educational resources for every grade, meaning that every school in SPS will have different activities.
And eclipse glasses. Even with 97% of the sun blocked, looking at it directly can damage eyes. Viewing the eclipse directly requires a special level of eye protection that sunglasses cannot provide.
“Our district has provided all staff and students in the district with glasses, as well,” McNair said. “They really enabled us to enjoy the opportunity.”
McNair said the eclipse can be adapted to almost any class at the high school level. Art students can study and sketch the sun’s corona, math classes can measure shadows and biology students can listen for animal activity.
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On April 8, the path of a total solar eclipse will move across North America including 15 states with more than 31 million people.
Libraries involved
The event is so big that schools have already been hosting programs about it, using the eclipse to teach aspects of astronomy. Phyllis Davis, youth services manager for The Library Station, visited Weaver Elementary on Thursday, April 4, speaking to students about the upcoming shadow.
The learning hasn’t been reserved for classrooms. Branches of the Springfield-Greene County LIbrary District have offered several activities for STEAM programs, homeschool groups and others, said spokesperson Vickie Hicks. Thursday’s programs at Weaver were part of the library’s community outreach programs.
On the day of the eclipse, the Park Central Branch will host Solar Eclipse Viewing on the Square, and offer an oversized pinhole projector that will display the sun’s image safely on the ground. Another eclipse party will be held for people of all ages at The Library Station
Shannon Wortham, branch manager at Park Central, said the projector stands about 6 feet tall, and should project an image of the sun safely on a screen. He and employee Andrew Mann built it with spare pieces of scrap wood they had.
“We spent a couple of days sketching it out and about three or four hours building it with stuff in our various sheds and garages,” Wortham said. “It has a sloped roof with several holes drilled in it. Anyone should be able to see a projection of the eclipse on the back.”
The viewing at the square will be a good opportunity for people who cannot find eclipse glasses. While libraries have a limited supply, those are intended for its program participants on a first-come, first-served basis, Hicks said.
Eclipse glasses have been seen for sale at stores such as Hy-Vee, Home Depot, Walmart and Menards, she said.
Coincidental connection
The path of totality stretches across the western part of Missouri, including cities such as West Plains and Poplar Bluff. People in the path of totality will see a unique astronomical event created by a mathematical miracle in our solar system.
On almost any other planet with a single sun, a total solar eclipse wouldn’t look so majestic. The sun would simply be blocked, much like someone holding a book over a flashlight.
An astronaut standing on the moon during a total lunar eclipse would see the planet cover up the sun completely. Because the Earth is so big, the entire hemisphere facing the sun and Earth would be in its shadow.
What makes solar eclipses on Earth such amazing, eye-catching events is a coincidence of physics: The size of the sun is about 400 times the size of the moon, and just happens to be about 400 times farther away from the Earth than the moon, according to information from NASA.
That means both objects appear to be about the same size in Earth’s sky.
Getting the two to line up perfectly requires standing in a specific spot. That is why, while a total lunar eclipse can be seen by about half the planet, a total solar eclipse can be seen only by those in a specific path, where the shadow traces across the planet.
That is also why these are so rare — the next total solar eclipse that falls across the United States will be in 2044.
“This substantial gap between total solar eclipses is due to the specific alignment of the Earth, moon and sun required for them to happen,” said Sarah Morrison, an associate professor of astronomy at Missouri State University.
More than a celestial show
While the eclipse is an astronomical event, it allows a unique chance for study. Morrison’s students and others in the astronomy department are likely to be busy with a few observations.
“Eclipses provide unique opportunities for scientific research,” Morrison said. “They allow for the study of the sun’s corona and provide a test for theories such as general relativity.”
Morrison said that it also offers a chance to look at other parts of the sky not available during the day at this time of the year. Scientists can seek celestial phenomena, such as comets and asteroids.
And the science isn’t reserved for astronomers — arguably, biologists and naturalists will also be quite busy. McNair said the darkness of an eclipse descends and lifts faster than daily dusk and dawn transitions.
“Animals don’t know time like we have time on a clock,” McNair said. “They use the daylight for a lot of things, like feeding and sleeping. This is something that will affect their biological clocks.”
At home, McNair raises chickens and is a bit disappointed that she’ll miss how they react to getting ready for sleep then waking up so quickly.
But she said she and her biomedical science students will be busy using the eclipse to test things they recently learned about human eyes.
“One thing that I found that I think will be fun is having large groups of students wear either red or green,” McNair said. “When the moment of the most darkness happens it is going to get a lot dimmer, and the color sensitive cells in the eyes won’t be able to perceive red as well anymore. We think the red shirts will be muddy brownish, while the green will really brighten up while we’re in those few minutes of near totality.”
While there are plenty of educational opportunities, the more important thing is for students to simply see it, McNair said. Simply being able to watch an eclipse, or other natural events, is an experience all its own.
“Learning is important, but I also think going and observing some of these natural phenomena is important, too,” McNair said. “It’s important to get outside, even if you’re just going to observe it just to have students experience that. Because even though we had the eclipse in 2017, this doesn’t happen very often.”
