In this activity, learners will explore an additional tool used to observe the Sun’s atmosphere, called a coronagraph. Learners will create a flipbook of a coronagraph showing a coronal mass ejection.

In this activity, students will compare the methods scientists use to study the Sun, including drawings made during a total solar eclipse in the 1860’s, modern coronagraphs, and advanced imagery gathered by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Space weather refers to the conditions of the space environment driven by the Sun and its impacts on objects in the solar system. Though it is almost 100 million miles away from Earth, the Sun influences our daily lives in ways you may not realize. 

Remember to never look directly at the Sun without proper safety equipment.

What is a solar eclipse?

In this activity, students will model  the geometry of solar eclipses by plotting a few points on a piece of graph paper, and using quarters and a nickel to represent the Sun and Moon (not to scale). 

In this activity students will learn several ways to safely observe a solar eclipse.

In this lesson students will explore the Solar Orbiter Mission. 

The Solar Eclipse Implementation Sequence provides a series of lesson plans for students to learn about solar eclipses.

In this activity, students will analyze past and future eclipse data and orbital models to determine why we don’t experience eclipses every month.

In this lesson students will calculate the size to distance ratio of the Sun and the Moon from Earth to determine how a solar eclipse can occur.