The Goddard Junior High School science department is “fired up” about a unique community science experience planned for Oct. 14.
“Midland will have a great view of this year’s annular solar eclipse,” GJHS Science Chair David Sites explained in a news release. “Viewing an annular eclipse isn’t a once-in-a-lifetime event, but it’s pretty close to one. We are excited to partner with the Petroleum Museum to highlight the event and spark some curiosity about astronomy and science in our students.”
An annular eclipse occurs when the moon doesn’t completely cover the sun. The sun, moon and earth are perfectly aligned, but the moon is at its farthest point away from Earth. This larger distance prevents the moon from entirely blocking out the view of the sun, resulting in a beautiful “ring of fire” around the moon.
Not everyone who views the annular eclipse will be able to see the ring of fire. Only skywatchers living in the “path of annularity,” which is about a 100-mile wide path through Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, will see the full, fiery spectacle. The path then crosses over parts of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia and Brazil before ending at sunset in the Atlantic Ocean.
Sites said he and his team wanted to host a morning of activities for families to make the most out of this experience. And no one does fun, hands-on learning activities quite like the Petroleum Museum.
Nikki McCurry, STEM coordinator for the Petroleum Museum, said she is excited about the collaboration.
“The Petroleum Museum values creating and strengthening relationships with our local schools and educators. We strive to be a resource to the education community in the Permian Basin and one way to do that is to help provide quality STEM support in the classroom,” she said. “By supporting our local schools, we can foster an interest in STEM on a much larger scale.”
There will be five learning stations to help students understand this ring of fire eclipse.
Participants will be able to: make sunlight-activated UVB bracelets; complete an observation activity exploring the lifecycle of a star; create moon phase paper circuit torches; make a foldable placement craft to visualize the placement of the sun and moon during an eclipse; and make pinhole viewers to use outside during the eclipse.
McCurry, a former GJHS science teacher, said hands-on STEM activities help provide a fun way for students to learn about important concepts.
“By making connections to events occurring in our world, students can better understand what they are learning in school,” she said. “STEM activities help students to understand the importance of failure as a learning tool while also testing their limits of creativity and inventiveness. If students spark an interest in STEM at an early age, there is a greater chance of them pursuing a career in a STEM field in the future!”
GJHS science teachers will be manning the learning stations that morning, and activities are appropriate for students of all ages. Sites said he is especially excited for his students to learn about the lifecycle of stars and moon phases.
“Goddard students learn about these things in Eighth Grade Science. Experiencing these things first-hand makes the classroom come alive and become magical for kids.”
The event is free to attend and is planned from 9 a.m. to noon. Activities will be held in the cafeteria with eclipse viewing on the front lawn.
“Everyone is invited,” Sites said. “We’ve planned it to be a come-and-go, station-to-station morning. The eclipse begins at 12:03 p.m. so everyone will be able to step outside and watch the moon slowly cross the sun.”
Goddard Junior High School is located at 2500 Haynes Ave. Goddard is part of the REACH Network.
