Eclipse Resources

Teacher Professional Development

Teachers, register for our Professional Development Training and earn 6 PD credits through AMSTI and PowerSchools (Course #309036)! The Alabama Space Grant Consortium is an official AMSTI Affiliate. Sign up here to stay in touch and receive the zoom link for our Fall training (September 26th 3:30pm) and our Spring training (date TBD). 

You may also be interested in these Annular Eclipse Training Resources from NASA for the October 14th eclipse, which links to a Google Drive of presentation materials and a question bank. 

Classroom Activities

Elementary (may be fun for young adults too)

• NASA Eclipse Mini-Lessons for Grades 3-12

• Easy Craft Activity -- Paper model to show the difference between a Solar and Lunar eclipse: https://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/astronomy/sunearthmoon/ 

• Create Your Own Eclipse from Explore Science (ages 5 and up)

• Make a Solar Eclipse Book from Eye on the Sky

• Why do Eclipses Happen? Yard/Meter stick activity from the Night Sky Network (ages 7 and up)

• Modeling the Moon and Earth size and scale with playdoh: "Sizing Up the Moon" from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. (ages 8 and up)

High School and College-Level

• Scientist Spotlight Read and write about Indian astronomer and mathematician, Aryabahta, who provided the first accurate predications of eclipses that we know of over 1500 years ago. (activity pdf)

• Trigonometry of an Eclipse by Breezy Ocaña Flaquer, San Diego State University

• Eclipse Explorer for Smartphones (high school and college)

More Eclipse Resources

General Educational Resources

• NASA In-Depth Eclipse News and Resources (all ages)

• NASA Eye Safety During an Eclipse (all ages)

• Short videos on eclipses from Astronomers for Planet Earth - English and Spanish

• Printable NASA Fact Page for the eclipses by Dr. Mitzi Adams. Also available in Portuguese (1 & 2) and Spanish (1 & 2).

• National Science Teaching Association's Eclipse Page

  • Booklet for Science Teachers and Other Educators

  • Booklet for School Administrators

• Resources connecting eclipses and fiction, films, music and other creative fields by Dr. Andy Fraknoi

• Web-based activities about eclipses, the Moon, and the Sun by Dr. Andy Fraknoi

• American Indian beliefs about eclipses from the National Museum of the American Indian, plus this 13-minute video on Indigenous Eclipse Teachings

• Eclipse resources from the American Astronomical Society

• Astronomical Society of Queensland Eclipse Educational Resources

• If you're traveling to the path of totality, you can use this Eclipse Timer to know when to take off and put on your eclipse glasses.

Libraries

• Librarians can request eclipse glasses through the SEAL Project. See the project's booklet, which includes sheets in English and Spanish.

Citizen Science Projects

• • Study how eclipses affect life on Earth with the Eclipse Soundscapes Project!

  • Document air, temperature, and clouds during the eclipses and contribute to NASA's GLOBE Observer citizen science!

Grants

• The American Astronomical Society Solar Eclipse Task Force invites proposal for mini-grants to fund eclipse outreach. Grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000. Proposals are due Nov 10th.