| August is Coming: Prepare Your Students for the Total Eclipse of the Sun!
| "On Monday, August 21, 2017, a total eclipse of the Sun will be visible in the continental United States for the first time in almost 40 years. A total eclipse is when the Sun is completely hidden by the Moon, the sky becomes dark, and the Sun's faint atmosphere (corona) becomes visible—looking like a beautiful halo. This total eclipse will only be visible on a narrow track stretching across the United States from Oregon to South Carolina. No other country will get to see the total eclipse this time."
| .jpg) | To help prepare middle schoolers for an optimum experience of this wondrous event, NSTA Press has published a great resource: Solar Science: Exploring Sunspots, Seasons, Eclipses, and More. This curriculum resource is written specifically to align with the three-dimensional (3D) learning encouraged by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Its learning experiences engage students in using real data to learn solar science and effectively integrate the Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), Science Practices (SPs), and Crosscutting Concepts (CCC) associated with solar astronomy.
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When the Sun Goes Dark is a fun way to get young astronomers ready for the eclipse in August, when millions of North Americans will have the rare chance to witness a total solar eclipse. This illustrated book, published by NSTA Kids, a division of NSTA Press,tells how two curious children and their grandparents re-create eclipses in their living room using a lamp, a tennis ball, two Hula Hoops, and table tennis balls. Later, in the backyard and around the house, the family explores safe ways to view a solar eclipse and ponder phenomena from sunspots to phases of the Moon.
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| Authors Dennis Schatz and Andrew Fraknoi are award-winning experts in astronomy and science education. They paired up to write these books because they know there will be tremendous interest in the eclipse and that teachers will want to prepare their students to understand relevant science topics the year before and the year after.
If it's your students' last week of school, send them home with the free observing guide for the upcoming solar eclipse. They can share it with their families. If your students have already left for the summer, this is a great opportunity to reach out to them. This eight-page guide includes everything you need to know regarding where and when to see the eclipse, how to observe the eclipse safely, and how to understand and explain what causes it. The eclipse occurs right before many students will be heading back to school, so what a wonderful topic to discuss as the new school year gets underway. Prepare yourself over the summer with either or both of these books. Solar Science and When the Sun Goes Dark are both available as e-books.
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