Middle School Eclipse Lessons
Engage:
Use images and/or video as inquiry to examine students’ prior knowledge.
*Photos and videos from NASA that align to this engage activity are available at
http://laspace.lsu.edu/TeachEclipse/Middle_school.php
For partial and total eclipse picture:
1. Have students write down their observations of what they see in the picture.
2. Have students list questions they have about the picture based on their observations.
3. Discuss their observations and questions. Ask if any students know what the picture is
of (gauge prior knowledge).
4. Ask students what they think is the difference between the two photos.
5. Introduce the photo as that of a partial solar or total solar eclipse. Ask students to
describe what they know about an eclipse.
6. Describe what they will be doing to learn about eclipses.
For total eclipse video:
1. Let the video play as students record their observations and questions they may have.
2. Discuss their observations and questions. Ask if any students know what is going on in
the video.
3. Introduce the video as that of total solar eclipse. Ask students to describe what they
know about an eclipse.
4. Describe what they will be doing to learn about eclipses.
Explore: Solar and Lunar Eclipses Activity
Louisiana GLEs:
ESS 40: Identify and illustrate the relative positions of Earth, the Moon, and the Sun during
eclipses and phases of the Moon.
Objectives:
 Students will explore shadows created during eclipses.
Teacher’s Notes:
 A table lamp bulb is 2.5 inches in diameter. On this scale, Earth is a sphere 1/40 of an
inch in diameter, placed 22.6 feet away. The moon is a speck at 0.006 inches in diameter
and is only 0.69 inches from Earth. Therefore, this activity is not performed with objects
to scale.
 Students may have questions about eclipses while they are completing the activity. You
can choose to explain information to them as they work, or you can save it for the time
where you review with them.
 Be sure to emphasize that during a solar eclipse, they should NEVER look directly at the
Sun as it can permanently damage their eyesight.
Additional exploration activities to help students explore concepts of eclipses.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/sunearthsystem/main/PO_makeAndTake.html
*Student pages follow and are also available at
http://laspace.lsu.edu/TeachEclipse/Middle_school.php
Materials:
Table lamp with no shade set up in a darkened room
Small, dull color ball approx. ¼ inch in diameter (could also use a dime)
Larger ball (approx. size of tennis ball)
Sheet of white paper
Ruler
Procedures:
1. Stand approximately 5 feet away from the lamp. Hold up the “Moon” in front of the sheet of white paper
so that a shadow is cast on the paper by the “Moon.”
a. How wide is the shadow of the moon in centimeters? ____________________
b. Is the shadow sharp (have a defined edge or is it fuzzy)? _________________
c. Sketch a picture of the shadow:
2. Move the “Moon” about 6 inches away from the paper.
a. Does the shadow change size? _________________________________________
b. Is the shadow sharp or fuzzy? _________________________________________
c. Sketch a picture of the shadow:
3. Continue to move the “Moon” away from the paper. At what distance does the shadow disappear?
_________________________________________________________________
4. Holding the ball at the position where the shadow disappeared, put your eye where the paper was located
and look towards the “Sun” (the lamp). Describe what you see:
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
5. Move the “Moon” closer to your eye and farther from your eye. Describe what happens when you move
the “Moon” closer and when you move it father away: _______________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
6. Move the “Moon” until the “Moon” just blocks out the “Sun.” Move the “Moon” to the left and sketch
what you see:
7. Move the “Moon” back to the right and sketch what you see:
8. Replace the white paper with the larger ball that will represent the Earth. Position the “Moon” so that its
shadow just touches the “Earth.” Move the “Moon” in its orbit around the “Earth.” Watch the shadow of
the “Moon” as it orbits “Earth.”
a. What would someone standing on the Moon facing Earth see?
__________________________________________________________________________
b. Why don’t we have an eclipse every month?
__________________________________________________________________________
9. Move the “Moon” around to the other side of “Earth” so that the “Earth” is between the “Sun” and
“Moon.”
a. Is there a shadow created? _______________________________
b. What is creating the shadow, if there is one?
__________________________________________________________________________
c. What would someone standing on the Earth see?
__________________________________________________________________________
Thinking Questions:
1. Describe what you think happens during a solar eclipse, from the perspective of someone standing on
Earth in the path of the shadow.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Describe what you think happens during a lunar eclipse, from the perspective of someone standing on
Earth.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Explain:
Depending on the availability of computers at your school, you can complete the Explain activity
two ways. (Students will complete the same information either way.)
The first way is using the PowerPoint presentation. It has also been made into a PDF file for easy
viewing if you lack PowerPoint.
The second way is by having students go to https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/58/features/nasa-knows/what-is-an-eclipse-58 to fill in the information on their student page.
Visit http://laspace.lsu.edu/TeachEclipse/Middle_school.php for the PowerPoint and PDF files as
well as the student pages for this activity.
*During the Explain activity, have students draw on prior knowledge and their experiences
during the Explore activity.
Extend:
Building safe solar viewers.
There are many ways that students can create solar viewers to safely view the partial solar
eclipse Louisiana will experience on August 21, 2017. (Visit
http://laspace.lsu.edu/TeachEclipse/teacheclipse.php to explore the different models you can
have students build.)
Below is one lesson that you can use for students to build their own personal solar viewer and the
directions on its usage.
If you are completing this activity prior to the eclipse (which is recommended to give students
experience using the viewers prior to the eclipse event), then you may wish to have each student
create a viewer that they can bring to school for the eclipse to safely view it.
*Inquiry activity: You may ask students to choose two or three models to build and experiment
with which one gives them the best view of the Sun. They can use the one they believe is the
best to view the eclipse.
Soda box solar viewer
Materials:
Empty 12 can soda box
Tape
Paper
Scissors
Aluminum foil
Safety pin
Procedures for building the viewer:
1. Take the empty soda can box and cut out a portion of the
solid end of the box. You will need a hole about three
inches wide.
2.
Cut a piece of aluminum foil to fit over the
cut in the top of the box you just made. The foil
needs to completely cover the hole and there should
be no tears in the aluminum foil. Tape the foil in
place so that it will not come off the end of the box.
3.
Cut a piece of paper (color doesn’t matter
here) to fit over the hole of the soda box handle.
The paper should completely block the sunlight
from entering there. Tape into place.
4. In the space where the soda box tears open (where the cans come
out), cut a piece of white paper to fit along the bottom. Tape it so that
it fits on the inside of the box directly opposite the aluminum foil.
(This is where the image of the sun will appear.)
5. Make sure that along all the
corners that no sunlight is
coming through to the
inside of the box. This will
dilute the image of the sun.
6.
At the top of the viewer, take the safety pin and
carefully poke a single hole in the aluminum foil.
Procedures for using the viewers:
Note: You need to have a sunny sky in order to properly use the viewers. However, if the skies
are cloudy the day you use the viewers, you can substitute a lightbulb (similar to that used in the
explore activity).
1. Stand with your back the sun.
2. Lift the viewer so that the bottom is at eye level. Lift the viewer so that the bottom is at
eye level. The aluminum foil should be pointed toward the sun. Align the shadow so that
the disk of the sun is visible in the viewer. It should look like this:
This is wrong. (The shadow is too long)
This is Right (The shadow is the square shape of the
box.)
3. If the viewer is properly
aligned, you should see the
disk of the sun appear in
the viewer at the bottom,
opposite the aluminum
foil.
4. Have students practice viewing the sun using these procedures so that the day of the
eclipse the understand how to use the viewers.
DAY OF THE ECLIPSE: AUGUST 21, 2017
Review safety with students. Remind them that it is NEVER ok to look directly at the sun. EVER.
Eclipse Viewing Activity
Visit http://laspace.lsu.edu/TeachEclipse/teacheclipse.php for the handout.
This activity allows students to sketch their view of the sun using their solar viewer before, during, and after the
eclipse. It also includes thinking questions that allow you to evaluate their understanding of eclipses.
Additional notes:
Depending on your students’ prior knowledge and skill level, you may want to incorporate other information
such as moon phases, tides, and other additional information regarding the Sun-Earth-Moon system.
If you are teaching 6th or 7th grade science, you may want to add in alignment for your own standards to tie it in
to your teaching.