Eclipse Chasers Educator Guide

A resource for using QUEST video in the classroom

Watch it online http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/eclipse-chasers | 9:56 minutes

QUEST PROGRAM NOTES

SUBJECTS Why would somebody chase the Sun? One reason is to observe an eclipse! Hear about Life Biology eclipse chaser Charles Burckhalter’s historic contributions to science and meet Paul Science Health Environment Doherty, a physicist so enamored with solar eclipses that he travels all over the world to study these spectacular natural phenomena. Earth Geology Science Weather In this segment you’ll find… Astronomy • footage from the August 1, 2008, total solar eclipse. Physical Physics Science Chemistry • profiles of two prominent eclipse chasers, Paul Engineering Doherty and Charles Burckhalter.

a new invention that helps capture photographic • CA SCIENCE details of the Sun’s atmosphere. STANDARDS

Grade 5 TOPIC BACKGROUND Earth Sciences

5. (b,c) The solar system A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun in such a way includes the planet Earth, that the Sun is either partially or totally hidden from view. This type of phenomenon can the Moon, the Sun, eight only happen during the new Moon phase of the Moon cycle, when the Sun and Moon are other planets and their satellites, and smaller in conjunction when seen from Earth. objects such as asteroids and comets; the path of a Our Moon’s shadow has two distinct parts: the penumbra and the umbra. The penumbra planet around the Sun is is the faint outer shadow, where a portion of reflected light from the Sun is still visible. due to the gravitational When the Moon’s not-so-dark penumbral shadow hits a region of Earth, a partial solar attraction between the Sun eclipse occurs because the Sun’s light is still partially visible. The darkest part of the and the planet. Moon’s shadow is called the umbra. This is the innermost part of the shadow, the place where sunlight is completely concealed. When the umbral shadow strikes our planet, a

Grade 6 total eclipse occurs because the light of the Sun is completely blocked from view. Energy in the Earth System Between two and five solar eclipses occur each year, but not all of them are total 4. (a) The Sun is the major eclipses. In fact, a total eclipse typically occurs only once every one or two years. Other source of energy for types of solar eclipses are partial, annular and hybrid. Annular eclipses are partial phenomena on Earth’s surface. eclipses that occur when the Moon is in a specific orbital phase. An annular eclipse looks almost like a total eclipse, except that there’s a visible ring of fiery sunlight surrounding Grade 8 the dark Moon. If an eclipse occurs while the Moon is in orbit near Earth, it appears as a

Earth in the Solar System total eclipse because the Moon looks larger than the Sun from Earth. But if an eclipse (Earth Sciences) occurs when the Moon is in the far side of its orbit, the Moon looks smaller than the Sun 4. (d) Stars are the source and its umbral shadow won’t be long enough to completely block the Sun from view, thus of light for all bright objects creating an annular eclipse. in outer space. Hybrid eclipses are rare treats for eclipse enthusiasts. They’re a blend of both annular Grades 9-12 and total eclipses. Depending on where you are in the world when you watch a hybrid Earth’s Place in the eclipse, you’ll see either a total or annular eclipse, since hybrids flip-flop between the two Universe in following their orbital path. Only about four percent of all eclipses in the last 5,000 1. (e) The Sun is a typical years have been hybrids. star and is powered by nuclear reactions.

VOCABULARY PRE -VIEWING

Astronomy • What is a solar eclipse? the study of objects and • Have you ever seen an eclipse? matter outside Earth’s atmosphere

VIEWING FOCUS

Atmosphere the gaseous envelope NOTE: You may choose to watch the television segment twice with your students: once of a planet or other to elicit emotional responses and get an overview of the topic and again to focus on facts and draw out opinions. celestial body • What do eclipse chasers do? Why do they do it? Corona • Who was Charles Burckhalter? What contributions did he make to the study of the usually colored eclipses? circle often seen around and close to a luminous • Do you think studying eclipses is an important science? Why or why not? body like the Sun or Moon For all media see: • Segment Summary Student Sheet Eclip se http://www.kqed.org/quest/downloads/QUEST_SegSum_StudentSheet.pdf the total or partial • Personal Response Student Sheet http://www.kqed.org/quest/downloads/QUEST_PersResp_StudentSheet.pdf obscuring of one celestial body by another QUEST, PBS and NPR LESSON PLANS and RESOURCES

Observatory NOTE: Resources from the Teachers’ Domain collection require a fast and free registration. a building or place equipped with Total Solar Eclipse Animation Teachers’ Domain instruments to observe http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.eiu.totaleclipse/ In this animation adapted from NOVA, students see a simulated total solar eclipse and natural phenomena like learn why solar eclipses occur. astronomy

Solar Eclipses Teachers’ Domain Orbit http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.eiu.eclipse/ a circular path of one This video segment adapted from NASA shows how solar eclipses happen and body around another, discusses why they are so difficult to observe. like the path of Earth around the Sun Eclipse of the Century Teachers’ Domain http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.eiu.eclipse1991/ Prominence In this video segment adapted from NOVA, students learn about the mechanics of solar a mass of gas eclipses and watch footage of the rare 1991 eclipse from the top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. resembling a cloud that arises from the Viewing a Hybrid Eclipse NPR chromospheric region http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4582272 This April 8, 2005, radio segment from Morning Edition explains what is seen during a of the Sun’s hybrid eclipse, a rare type of solar eclipse occurring just six times in a century. atmosphere Solar Eclipse NPR Umbra http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1144679 the conical part of a Joe Palca talks about the June 2002 partial solar eclipse in this Weekend Edition radio shadow of a celestial report. body that blocks all light from a given source Eclipse Research NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1055356 In this Morning Edition segment from August 16, 1999, Professor Jay Passachoff discusses some of the information learned through experiments conducted during the August 1999 solar eclipse.

VISIT OUR PARTNERS MORE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FOR USING QUEST MULTIMEDIA TO

ENHANCE 21st CENTURY SKILLS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING The Bay Institute www.bay.org Why Use Multimedia in Science Education? California Academy of http://www.kqed.org/quest/downloads/QUESTWhyMedia.pdf Sciences st www.calacademy.org • Read about the importance of using multimedia in the 21 century science classroom. Chabot Space and Science Center How to Use Science Media for Teaching and Learning www.chabotspace.org http://www.kqed.org/quest/downloads/QUESTMediaTips.pdf • A collection of tips, activities and handouts to actively engage students East Bay Regional Park with multimedia. District www.eb parks.org Science Multimedia Analysis Exploratorium http://www.kqed.org/quest/downloads/QUESTMediaAnalysis.pdf www.exploratorium.edu • Give your students the tools to recognize the purposes and messages of science multimedia. Girl Scouts of Northern California Create Online Science Hikes with Google Maps www.girlscoutsnorcal.org http://www.kqed.org/quest/files/download/52/QUEST_ExplorationCreation.pdf

• Do you like the science hike Explorations on the QUEST site? Use this Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy place-based educational guide to create similar science-based maps with www.parksconservancy.org youth.

The J. David Gladstone Institutes www.gladstone.ucsf.edu OTHER WAYS TO PARTICIPATE IN QUEST Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory www.lbl.gov

Lawrence Hall of Science LOG ON www.lawrencehallofscience.org www.kqed.org/quest

Monterey Bay Aquarium www.mbayaq.org

Monterey Bay Aquarium LISTEN Research Institute www.mbari.org KQED 88.5 FM San Francisco & 89.3 FM Sacramento Mondays at 6:30am and 8:30am Oakland Zoo www.oaklandzoo.org

The Tech Museum of

Innovation WATCH www.thetech.org KQED Channel 9 Tuesdays at 7:30pm UC Berkeley Natural

History Museums http://bnhm.berkeley.edu/

U.S. Geological Survey www.usgs.gov

Major funding is provided by the National Science Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation, and The Amgen Foundation. Additional support is provided by the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation, Ann S. Bowers -The Robert Noyce Trust, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, and the Vadasz Family Foundation.