Hannah Vogler, executive director of the Arkansas STEM Coalition, shines a blacklight on the bracelet of UV beads her daughter, Evelyn, made in her class at Pulaski Heights Elementary. The beads change color when exposed to ultraviolet rays, which will be blocked by the moon during the total eclipse on Monday, April 8. (Arkansas Demcrat-Gazette/Kimberly Dishongh)
As Arkansans prepare for April 8, when a large swath of the state will go dark in the middle of the day, educators and other experts are viewing the total eclipse as a potential light-bulb moment.
The last total eclipse that crossed our state was in 1918; the next one will be in 2045. During this one, which happens on a Monday, many schools around the state will be closed because of the challenges posed by the expected influx of visitors who want to experience the rare phenomenon of a total eclipse. Lessons about what will happen and why, though, have been taking place in many classrooms, museums and other organizations.
"It's such a great opportunity to teach kids more," says Hannah Vogler, executive director of the Arkansas STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Coalition. "We overuse the word 'awesome' in this world, but this is a truly awesome event and kids are going to be like, 'Whoa, it got dark in the middle of the day. Earth started going to sleep and the crickets came out and all the things that happen at dusk and in the evening happened.'"
The Arkansas STEM Coalition is providing more than 600,000 pairs of eclipse glasses for Arkansas public schoolchildren to take home, and Vogler and others are arming educators with information and resources to teach children what to look for and why.
"I try out everything on my own daughter. She's 6," Vogler says.
Vogler reads books with little Evelyn on the topic, and she has talked through with her what happens when the moon blocks out the sun's light -- some animals go to sleep and crickets start chirping, among other things.
Last week, Vogler impressed kids in Evelyn's first-grade classroom at Pulaski Heights Elementary in Little Rock by doling out "magic" beads to string on pipe cleaners that could be twisted into bracelets. The kids watched in awe as the beads changed colors when they took an impromptu trip outside in the sunlight. The beads, available at hobby stores everywhere, contain pigments that react to ultraviolet rays, Vogler explained. She turned that into a lesson about what they might experience during totality, when the sun's rays are temporarily blocked by the moon in the middle of the day.
PREPARING THE EDUCATORS
Vogler enjoys working with kids, but she spends the bulk of her time training teachers. Astronomy and lunar cycles are not exactly common knowledge, she says, so professional development for teachers and others who work closely with kids has been popular over the last year. The eclipse-related activities she shares with them run the gamut of astronomy, math, literacy and even economics and can be adapted to various age levels.
"People want to see some hands-on stuff. They want to look at it and do it themselves before they do it with their kids, and also to understand what things are related to it," she says. "It's an opportunity to talk about a whole lot of different things, and then the older kids get, the more complex you can get with what you talk about -- and there are a lot of activities that just kind of transcend age. They're just going to understand it a little differently."
One activity involves gauging the relative sizes of the sun to the moon and the planets, and the distances between them. Vogler has teachers make a playdough ball, a replica of the sun, and then make other balls to represent the sizes of the moon and Earth.
"Another one that gets them up and out of their seats is if you take a piece of string and say, 'Hey, if you're the sun and I'm the moon, how far away do you think you would have to be?' They're going to have to go out and down the hall," she says.
Her favorite activity, courtesy of her own fifth-grade teacher, translates well into a lesson for older kids.
"Set a budget and plan a trip into the path of totality; plan what you're going to do and how much everything might cost," she says.
photo A mirror ball image projector, like this one made by Carl Freyaldenhoven, a member of Central Arkansas Astronomical Society, can be used to safely view the eclipse on April 8 without using eclipse glasses by projecting the image of the sun on a piece of paper or a wall. To avoid having to cut a mirror, just make a square hole in a piece of paper and use that to cover a small mirror. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Kimberly Dishongh)
ECLIPSE DEMONSTRATIONS
Darcy Howard and Carl Freyaldenhoven with Central Arkansas Astronomical Society have also traveled the state in recent months, doing demonstrations in schools and other organizations.
Especially when their audience includes preschoolers, Howard and Freyaldenhoven make sure to explain that the shadows and the dark that come with the eclipse are not things to fear but rather fascinating things worth exploration.
Howard suggests using cookies to explain the eclipse, either dividing Oreos and maneuvering them to show the different phases of the moon's path or decorating cookies with black and white icing to do the same.
"Or you can bite them, to show the different phases," she says.
Making a paper model of the sun, moon and Earth, too, helps kids understand what they might see on April 8.
"And if you make it on a piece of black paper and use the same paper to make your eclipse, it will appear to be floating in space," she says.
Though wearing eclipse glasses is crucial, there is a time to take them off, Howard says.
Howard created a printable graphic that can be folded into a case for eclipse glasses and that offers an illustrated explanation of when to put the glasses on -- when viewing the partial eclipse; and when to take them off -- during totality. The glasses must go back on, of course, as soon as the moon moves past the sun.
"When you realize everything around you has turned dark, you can take your glasses off and you can see this with your real eye. Then, we call it a diamond ring, when you see just a little bit of the sun peeking out. That's when you need to put your glasses back on," she says. "We have had reports of people who said that they had their eclipse glasses on the entire time and they didn't see a thing. They didn't know to take them off during totality."
photo First graders at Pulaski Heights Elementary compare the colors on their UV-bead bracelets during a lesson about what they might experience on April 8, the day of the total eclipse in Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Kimberly Dishongh)
MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY
The Museum of Discovery in Little Rock will be closed from 1-3 p.m. on April 8, but will have extended hours -- 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. -- from April 6-8.
"Museum admission purchased Monday before the eclipse is good for the entire day and we hope to welcome you back into our galleries after this unique shared experience," Meghan Richards, guest experience director, says.
Sensory backpacks will be offered at the admission desk, free upon request, that will include noise-canceling headphones, sunglasses and fidget toys. There are plans to release a social story about the eclipse, written by museum staff with the help of the Simmons Foundation, an occupational therapist and the mother of a child who relies on these types of stories.
"Social stories are traditionally used for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to prepare for new situations or settings by helping them better understand what to expect and prepare them for how they may feel, thus alleviating some anxiety," says Kendall Thornton, chief marketing officer. "However, it is a good tool to use for anyone, especially children, who want to better understand what they can expect around the total solar eclipse. The eclipse will be a novel experience and will bring disruption to routines for individuals with ASD and their families, which may prevent them from experiencing this historical event. Therefore, we identified this as a need we could serve and began work on it in 2023."
MIDAMERICA MUSEUM
MidAmerica Museum in Hot Springs will offer outdoor and indoor viewing of the eclipse.
"There's going to be a large number of guests to our town, both from Arkansas and out of state, and what do you do when you have to arrive on Thursday for your lodging but the eclipse doesn't happen until Monday?" asks Casey Chandler, director of educational development. "We have an entire special weekend planned of eclipse-related events and shows and activities so that you can really get the most out of your eclipse experience."
Children will be able to make pinhole viewers, find out how eclipse glasses work and hear about why the temperature might change during the event.
"We will have what we call our discovery tables, which is like an extra experience where experiments will be focused on eye safety and structure, but to make it more fun we're going to be doing some cow-eye dissections and really explaining the anatomy inside the eye and what can get damaged and why you should take care of it," she says.
The museum is usually closed on Mondays, but on April 8, it will be open to up to 2,000 people who buy $25 tickets in advance. Ticketholders can bring picnic lunches or they can reserve a box lunch for $15.
"On actual eclipse day, we will be doing a livestream in our Tesla Theater from the NASA coverage, where they'll be talking about a lot of things throughout the day, and then we also have the ability to show the eclipse in our Digital Dome Planetarium," Chandler says. "We can do a live rendering of what's above you right here, right now, so even if it's cloudy or raining you'll still see the eclipse."
photo Darcy Howard and Carl Freyaldenhoven, members of the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society, take several props, including this sign Howard made by punching holes in cardboard to spell out "Eclipse 2024," when they go to talk with groups about the total eclipse Arkansas will experience on April 8. "Anything you've got at home that has holes in it - colanders, cheese graters, spaghetti strainer spoons -- all of these things that day of the eclipse, all of those holes will produce an image of the sun," says Freyaldenhoven. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Kimberly Dishongh)
There are a slew of other family activities happening around the state on the big day. Here's a short list:
◼️ The Blue; Zipline and Farm
142 Polk Road 185
Mena, Ark.
(479) 216-8639
blueziplinefarm.com/solar-eclipse-festival
Camping and day passes are available. Activities will include dances, karaoke, scavenger hunts, concerts and stand-up comedy, astronomy presentations, carnival games, on-site Spanish carvings, digging for arrowheads and crystals and fishing.
◼️ Great American Cowboy Eclipse
Bar of Ranch
2484 Shake Rag Road, Clinton, Ark. 72031
(501) 745-8407 or [email protected]
chuckwagonraces.com/2023/09/28/2024-eclipse
Camping or day passes available. Stage entertainment, demonstrations, watersports, horseback riding, bonfires with story-telling, hayrides, trail rides and astronomy presentations.
◼️ University of Arkansas at Little Rock -- Jack Stephens Center
2801 South University Ave.
Little Rock, Ark.
ualr.edu/eclipse
Astronomy presentations, live large screen viewing and telescope access, inflatable planetarium, access to specially designed phone adapters for photographic the eclipse.