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

Dan Burns

danburns22222@gmail.com

Twitter: @kilroi22

https://the-physics-well.net/

Slides posted here:

https://tinyurl.com/EclipseActivities

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Agenda

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

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

Anti-Pinholes

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

the pinhole image leaving a shadow image

• Bob Miller hangs a pencil eraser from a string
• I applied a spot of black enamel paint to thin clear plastic and added it to the pinhole picture box based on an idea from Dean Baird
• Video: https://www.exploratorium.edu/video/bob-miller-light-walk-1982
• Light Walk: https://www.exploratorium.edu/bob-miller/light-walk/activities/do-your-own-light-walk

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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

Wineglass Bottom Demo (thanks to Paul Doherty)

• Melt or cut stem of wineglass to separate bottom
• Observe a bright LED from a couple of meters away
• Slowly move wineglass bottom and notice image(s) of LED that appear
• Image of LED will be shifted
• Einstein’s Cross and Rings can be simulated
• See Paul’s video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155401640181233
• Paul’s activity page: http://www.exo.net/~pauld/activities/astronomy/gravitationallens.htm

More Solar Eclipse Resources

• My total eclipse blogs: https://phyzblog.blogspot.com/2017/08/total-eclipse-of-sun-part-4.html
• Sun funnel: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/make-sun-funnel
• Coin-in-cup activity: https://youtu.be/s3EK1lGkf2s
• Build a spacetime simulator: https://youtu.be/2JOf1ub9US0
• Pinhole projectors: https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/how-to-watch-a-partial-solar-eclipse-safely/
• Viewing solar eclipses: https://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/how-to-view-eclipse
• Measure the Sun’s diameter: https://www.education.com/science-fair/article/measuring-sun-diameter/
• Projecting a solar image with a mirrror: http://www3.eng.cam.ac.uk/~hemh1/transit.htm
• Eclipse chalk art activity: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/2711/eclipse-chalk-art/
• NASA Eclipse Activity Guide pdf: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/static/img/eclipse-kit/NASA_Eclipse_Activity_Guide.pdf
• Cereal Box Eclipse Viewer pdf: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/static/img/k-12-formal-education/EclipseCerealBoxViewer.pdf

Thanks for Attending My Talk�Clear Skies!�

Dan Burns

danburns22222@gmail.com

Twitter: @kilroi22

https://the-physics-well.net/

Slides posted here:

https://tinyurl.com/EclipseActivities

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