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Sun-Earth Day Presents: Eclipse, In a Different Light

INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE: BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR ECLIPSE 2006

Teacher’s Note:

People of the past used their star knowledge to plan when to plant crops and navigate across oceans. This has become a lost art today as most people seldom look at the stars and in most cases, due to city lights, people are deprived of the wonders of the night sky. As teachers provide the learning opportunities from observations to technological models it is a perfect place to understand a total solar eclipse as yet another tool to understand the mysteries of our own star. National Education Standards indicate that 3 aspects of the current scientific view ought to be taken into account, as part of the learning required of students:

  1. The composition of the cosmos and its scale of space and time
  2. The principles on which the universe seems to operate
  3. How the modern view of the universe emerged.

About the Guide:

The following guide was developed to ensure that all of the suggested activities and lesson plans have their proper place within the context of the National Education Standards. The prescribed sequence has been arranged so that each area of content builds on the next. Your starting point in the guide will depend on the existing background knowledge of your student(s). Each content area of the guide has been divided in to three main sections: Education Standard, Topic, Activities.

We have also created a Microsoft Word version of the guide which you can download and print. An additional Strand Map is also available for download.

Enjoy the Journey!

EDUCATION STANDARD: OBSERVATION / QUALITATIVE

Topic: Night Sky – stars to numerous to count
Topic: Moon looks different everyday

EDUCATION STANDARD: SHADOWS VS. ILLUMINATION

Topic: Sun to Illuminate Inner Sanctuary of Pharaoh’s Temple
Topic: Shadows
Topic: Moon Phases

EDUCATION STANDARD: SUN-EARTH-MOON SYSTEM

Topic: Earth Orbit
Topic: Moon Orbit

Topic: Solar System

(descriptions for intermediate level)
Topic: Day and Night
Topic: Rotation / Revolution

EDUCATION STANDARD: MORE DETAIL – USING A TELESCOPE

Topic: Telescopes

EDUCATION STANDARD: ECLIPSE

Topic: Eclipse

EDUCATION STANDARD: CHARACTER OF THE UNIVERSE

Topic: Star Formation/Models and Technology

HOT SPOTS

Eclipse Fact

Nearly identical eclipses (total, annual, or partial) occur after 18 years and 11 days, or every 6,585.32 days (Saros Cycle).

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