Using Live Feeds in the Classroom: A case study from a partial solar eclipse in cloudy Wales

During 2021 we started a project called Comet Chasers, to work with Primary schools in South Wales, bringing astronomy-related activities into the classroom to teach core skills.

During the period of the project (on 10 June 2021) there was a partial solar eclipse (around 22% in the area), so activities around that event were also included. 

Obviously, the ideal scenario was that students would be able to view the full duration of the eclipse using a range of safe/specialist equipment, making and logging their observations for analysis later.  Planned observations included using various filters (white light, CaK and Ha) to see different solar features; direct viewing through solar glasses; and indirect viewing through projection with Keplerian Sunspotters.

With a clear sky it would also be possible to use the Sunspotters for activities measuring the rotation of the Earth – with some nice maths involved.

BUT, Wales is not renowned for its good weather, particularly when something as great as a solar eclipse is happening!  So backup activities were planned.

The availability of live streams from across the eclipse path was a huge advantage, so it was planned to stream those into the classroom.  But just watching a solar eclipse develop over a few hours might not hold the attention of the 10-year-olds in the class, and it did not include much opportunity for learning either.  So a varied programme was developed, starting with some of the science of eclipses, with appropriate hands-on activities, then using the functionality in Stellarium Web to simulate the eclipse from any location, and to view at higher speed.  Students would simulate what would they be seeing if they were outside and the sky was clear.  In addition, they could simulate the view from the locations of the live streams – choosing a location, changing Stellarium settings, matching the simulation with what they were seeing on the live stream and investigating what would happen next/or had just happened.  It would also be a fun activity for them to simulate what maybe a relative would see from their location somewhere else….

The day before the eclipse was gloriously sunny, the day of the eclipse was…. cloudy.

But the event was still a success.  To quote a student asked about what was most interesting from the Comet Chasers project:  ’I found the solar eclipse most interesting when we were able to see it even though our luck was terrible because it was cloudy and rainy.’

We will present how the different activities worked in practice, more feedback from students and their teacher, and what we learnt that could be useful for other projects wishing to use mixed approaches for live events.

 

Acknowledgements

The Comet Chasers project was administered by Techniquest with initial funding from a Science and Technology Facilities Council SPARKS Award. Access to the telescope facilities in the Las Cumbres Observatory network is provided through the support of the Faulkes Telescope Project.

It is now delivered by a partnership of professional and amateur astronomers, the Open Uiniversity and Cardiff University, working closely with educators.

https://www.cometchasers.org/

https://www.techniquest.org/

https://www.ukri.org/councils/stfc/

https://lco.global/about/

http://www.faulkes-telescope.com/

https://stellarium-web.org/