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MUSD making sure every student has eclipse view glasses
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Students from throughout the country will have a chance to experience Monday morning’s solar eclipse.
That’s when the moon passes between the Earth and sun, with parts of Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming on the West Coast getting the totality – or 100 percent – of the eclipse.
This area will receive a partial eclipse of 75 percent of the moon blocking out the sun.
Still a very unique opportunity, according to San Joaquin County Office of Education.
“This is the first time in 40 years since we’ve had a total eclipse go through the U.S.,” said SJCOE STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Director Kirk Brown. “For K-12 teachers, studying the eclipse opens doors to the Next Generation Science Standards teaching about our place in the solar system and how the phases of the moon happen.”
The peak time will be about 10:17.
Brown added that teachers will provide methods to safely see the eclipse including use of special-made glasses and pinhole viewing.
At Manteca Unified, eclipse shades made possible by NASA and M.E.L.S. Garage will be distributed to all 24,000 students.
“We are transitioning to the NGSS, which are all about phenomenon-based instruction,” said NGSS Coordinator Lisa Snyder. “We introduce kids to naturally occurring events that peak their interest and cause them to ask questions and more.
“The upcoming solar eclipse is a truly phenomenal way to roll out the NGSS on a district level.”
From 8:30 to 11:30, the MUSD district office will have 12 eclipse information stations available to district personnel and students.
Snyder is partnering with be.tech – the dependent charter school – science teacher Kristen Messer on this event.
One station will consist of a small-scale model of the sun, Earth and moon to demonstrate the mechanics of the eclipse.
Other stations will measure changes in luminosity and temperature during the eclipse.
“We will also launch an unmanned weather balloon with 150 cubic feet of helium that will go up to 100,000 feet,” Snyder said. “It will have a four-pound payload that will carry three cameras.”
She added that one camera will capture the eclipse, a second will be focused on the ground, and a third will monitor an on-board scientific experiment about liquids and freezing points.
M.E.L.S. Garage – the acronym for Manufacturing & Engineering to Learning through STEM – is a re-purposed garage space.
Snyder got the ball rolling last spring, talking about the eclipse with NASA SOFIA team. From that, she was able to get 4,000 pairs of the special safety glasses thanks to the generosity of NASA.
M.E.L.S. Garage purchased 20,000 additional pairs of glasses, making it possible for each student in the district to safely view the eclipse.
Snyder said that each campus will be having a viewing of the eclipse.
SJCOE will be livestreaming via www.youtube.com/c/sjcoelive, from 10 to 10:30 a.m.