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Activities for Appreciating and Observing a Total Eclipse of the Sun �

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Agenda

  • Pinhole Pictures
  • Anti-Pinholes
  • Sunball Selfies
  • Light-bending Bucket
  • Wineglass Bottom Demo

1991 Eclipse

1998 Eclipse

2017 Eclipse

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Pinhole Pictures

  • Remove end from copy-paper box
  • Draw/print picture on cardstock
  • Make holes with pushpin in picture spaced every 4-5 mm
  • Use removed cardboard to create frame for pinhole picture
  • Attach frame and picture to end of box
  • Attach a paper clip gnomon to help point end toward Sun
  • Add a white paper screen to the other end
  • See Rachel Peter’s DIY video: https://youtu.be/DsQyLUUvvqE

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Anti-Pinholes

  • If a pinhole is replaced with an opaque object, it blocks

the pinhole image leaving a shadow image

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Sunball Selfies (thanks to Dean Baird)

  • Before the eclipse, find a place where trees cast pinhole pictures of the Sun
  • Take a picture of yourself using a tripod or friend with “sunballs” on/around you
  • Repeat during crescent phase of a solar eclipse
  • See Dean’s blog post including student instructions here: https://phyzblog.blogspot.com/2017/07/left-behind-sunball-selfies.html

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Light-bending Bucket

https://youtu.be/Tx9jsLtyE8k

  • Super-sized coin-in-cup activity
  • Use a white “submersible tea light” and opaque 5-gal bucket instead of coin/cup
  • Glue a metal washer to light so a magnet under the bucket can hold it in place
  • Gather around bucket so light is blocked by edge of bucket, then don’t move
  • Slowly pour water into bucket, light will become visible
  • Refraction bends light, similar to Sun’s gravity bending light of star

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Wineglass Bottom Demo (thanks to Paul Doherty)

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More Solar Eclipse Resources

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Thanks for Attending My Talk�Clear Skies!�