CLEVELAND — No doubt, all eyes will be on the sky in Northeast Ohio during the total solar eclipse, but a safe and knowledgeable viewing experience is key. That’s why 50 area educators gathered at NASA Glenn Research Center recently for a training workshop and a Refresher on sharing the science behind the eclipse.
"We want the teachers to be prepared with some hands-on activities that the students can do," Cathy Grave, the STEM integration manager at NASA Glenn, said. "We want to make sure that the students know how to view the solar eclipse safely."
Teachers got pointers on building a pinhole projector from items around the house, along with explanations on the right type of glasses to view the eclipse.
"During that time, birds that chirp during the day, they may get quiet," Grave explained. "Some of the animals that are active at nighttime, they might start getting active during the day, so there's going to be lots of exciting things to observe on that day."
It's easy to get excited for April 8, even for NASA scientists and researchers.
"We're excited about this heliophysics — the sun science — that we're going to be able to do just for the general public to be able to see the corona of the sun during the total eclipse," Grave said.
"I've never been here before, so I'm just kind of geeking out about it a little bit," remarked Lexi Carter, education manager for the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.
The day also included a tour of NASA labs, but it was the knowledge shared about the eclipse that proved most helpful.
"We're really just making sure that we have the correct information so that we can help to support classroom teachers when they bring their kids to us on field trips," Carter said.
There are high hopes for this celestial event. For NASA, the wish is for students to be inspired and to stay curious about STEM.
"We have lots of careers here at NASA Glenn," Grave told us, "and we need this next generation to be motivated and inspired to stay curious and hopefully come out and work with us one day here at Glenn."
If you want to learn more about eclipse, including how you can build your own pinhole projector, NASA has a website for that. Click here.