Austin ISD students become total solar eclipse experts

Students at Austin ISD's Bertha Sadler Means Young Women's Leadership Academy are prepared for the total solar eclipse April 8, due to a visit from volunteer “eclipse ambassadors,” a program made in partnership with the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and NASA.

“This program is to really help inspire science, especially in underserved communities,” volunteer Christopher Bernhardt said.

What happened

Bernhardt and Arizona State University student Savannah Goswick guided students at the all-girls middle school through a series of interactive activities, explaining the science behind the total solar eclipse. The demonstration ended with students looking at the sun through a telescope, and even found a sunspot—a part of the sun’s surface that is cooler and appears darker, Bernhardt said.

Students also physically demonstrated the path of the eclipse and the distance between the Earth and the sun. More creatively, students hole-punched shapes of their choosing onto cards, which will create shadows of half-moons on the ground if held outside during the eclipse.