Tuesday, August 22, 2017

# 170 Solar Eclipse Activities from August 21, 2017

Solar Eclipse Activities
from
August 21, 2017

     My husband and I did only one activity this time.  It required a paper punch, two sheets of paper, a black marker, and a camera from our cell phone.

       Just before the eclipse began, we drew a large black nose and a happy smile on one sheet of paper and punched two holes in the other piece. Like this:



     Then we waited for the eclipse to begin. When the time was right, we began to notice a dark bump on the edge of each sun circle that was projected through the holes we had cut in the first paper.  

     We placed the piece with the nose and mouth on the sidewalk near our feet. Then, with the sun behind him and over his shoulder, my husband focused the projected the images in place while I took a picture of the face with its "happy solar eclipse eyes".


     Can you see the image of the moon covering part of the sun in the little guy's eyes?

     At no time did we look directly at the sun.  If we had, we might have damaged our eyes. That would certainly have limited our ability to be good readers.

     Be careful of your eyes, and use them wisely.

     And read...read...read! 



       


Friday, August 18, 2017

#169 Partial Solar Eclipse activities from May 21, 2012

The following post 
was first published on 
on 
Monday, May 21, 2012

     We had a partial solar eclipse today.

     The moon seldom passes between us and the sun, dragging its dark shadow across the earth. Today it did exactly that right here where I live.

     Using a paper punch, I had made five holes in a half sheet of computer paper by 6:00 that evening.   

     Understanding that it was possible to burn the retina of my eyes if I looked at the sun directly, I planned to observe what was happening indirectly.  

     By projecting the sun's light through a small hole in a sheet of paper, I could safely watch its image change on the light cast on a second piece of paper held at arm's length from the first.

     Later, a little after 6:00, I noticed a small, dark bump in the upper-right of each of the five circles of light on the second sheet of paper.  As I continued to check every five minutes or so, the spot slowly changed into a crescent shape--like a cookie with a bite taken out of it. I knew that the moon was beginning to block out a little bit of the sun's light.

     I wondered if I could project the crescent shapes on the east wall around our back yard.  This is a photo of the result:


     Sure enough, the five little crescents shone onto the fence.  My husband began to get interested in the project, and that is his shadow holding the paper for me.


     Isn't it interesting how the projection of light through each little hole repeats the shape of the eclipse in the image?  --Five little holes and five crescents in the shadow of the paper.

     That was when I noticed that the branches and leaves from a nearby tree were casting some more unusual shadows.  The light shining through the tree's spaces was making more crescents on the fence.

     They resembled bubbles of light on the darkening wall because there were so many.  We took some pictures of them too.






       My husband had a sudden inspiration.  He found an old metal tractor seat with lots of holes in it.  It looked like this:




     "Do you think it will make crescent-shaped projections from each of these holes?" he asked.


     We took a picture of the result.


     Can you see the eclipse projection in each hole?




     What else do these shadows look like?  Is someone carrying a basket?  Does it look like an Inca Sun god with a fancy crown on his head?  



     What kind of books might this post inspire you to read?  Non-fiction books about eclipses?  Shadow puppets?  The pin-hole camera? Look that one up if you don't already know what it is, and enjoy your ability to read about anything and everything.


     What fun ideas can we discover about our new eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017? Come back to visit Jump Up 2 Chapter Books next week to find out.