Free SCRLC Eclipse Program Material Kits

SCRLC has put together 96 simple kits, perfect for libraries of any size and ready for running either passive or active programs. These will be available for free and in order of request (one per library), and we will work with everyone to get them delivered as soon as possible.

The small-but-mighty kits are enough to let you:

Build one Simple Safe Viewer for group viewing of the eclipse
Show the proportionate size & distance of the Earth, Sun, and Moon
Demonstrate the path of an eclipse over the Earth
Discuss citizen science with patrons / students

The contents of each kit include:

A cardboard box (4" x 4" x 28")
Binder clips
Reading glasses with 1.5x lenses
Marble
Golf ball
8" Beach ball (deflated)
20" Beach ball (deflated)
Flashlight
Solar Eclipse observer checklist from the Astronomical League
Tips for Safe Viewing from Phil Harrington

Send any questions to Claire Lovell at clovell@scrlc.org.

* Click here to sign up for a kit *

Simple Safe Viewer

You could build this with patrons or students, or you could prepare it ahead of time. Consider building this as well as a pinhole projector, discussing the mechanics of both and comparing the outcomes. With the extra glasses' lens, you could build a second viewer with another box. Try covering the inside of the box with dark paper to improve the quality of the image.

In addition to the cardboard box, binder clips, and reading glasses we've included, you'll need: tape, white paper, and a utility knife or scissors.

Cut one long side of the box away.

Cut the top of the box off and cut a small hole in the top. Tape one of the lenses from the glasses over the hole, as pictured.

Tape or glue a white piece of paper to the bottom of the box; this is where the image will be projected.

Reattach the top of the box (now with the hole and lens) to the rest of the box using the binder clips. The clips allow you to adjust the distance of the lens in order to focus the projected image.

This viewer allows for multiple people to watch the eclipse happen safely and without glasses.

Demonstrating Proportionate Size & Distance

It's hard to understand the difference in size between the moon and Sun because they look so similar from our perspective.

In this demonstration, the marble, golf ball and inflated 20" beach ball are proportionate to the moon, Earth and Sun respectively.

Talk about how the Sun and Moon look so similar in size, and discuss the actual distance. If your audience is up for it, try to do the math to figure out a proportionate distance in your space. We've done the math below.

This is a great activity to do before the eclipse, because you can leave the balls on display for all patrons to see in the days leading up to April 8.

The sun's diameter is 400 times bigger than that of the moon and it happens to be about 400 times farther away from us. Discuss why this might change over time.

Our Moon is a marble: 0.5 inches / 13 mm in diameter

The real Moon is 2,160 miles / 3,500 km in diameter

Our Earth is a golf ball: 1.68 inches / 43 mm in diameter

The real Earth is 7,918 miles / 12,742 km in diameter

Our Sun is a beach ball: 20 inches / 50.8 cm in diameter

The real Sun is 864,600 miles / 1,391,400 km in diameter

The Moon is 238,606 miles / 384,000 km from the Earth

With your marble & golf ball, that's proportionate to 55 inches

The Sun is 92,000,000 miles / 149,000,000 km from the Earth

With your golf ball and 20" beach ball, that's proportionate to 21,296 inches - or 1,774 feet - or 1/3 of a mile

Demonstrating the Path

The kits each contain a bright LED flashlight, a golf ball, and an 8" inflatable beach ball.

Inflate the beach ball. In this demonstration, the beach ball is the Earth. The golf ball is the moon. The flashlight is the sun.

One person can hold the beach ball (Earth). Discuss the rotation of the Earth. You could sketch North America on the ball with a Sharpie and indicate your location.

Discuss the orbit of the moon. A second person can hold the golf ball (Moon) and try to physically imitate the moon's orbit (tilted at 5 degrees!). A third person can hold the flashlight (Sun) to create an eclipse on the beach ball (Earth). Discuss the limited coverage of the shadow created. Watch the curved path created because of the Earth's rotation and the moon's orbit.

Checklist & Citizen Science

The Astronomical League put together a simple checklist for observing the eclipse. Some people will appreciate having a list of things to look for (even if it's more than they plan to do), and a place to log the exact timings they can expect.

But more than that, this simple trifold opens up a conversation about regular people logging observations.

This checklist is for serious observers so you can skip or include as much as you'd like. It works best to talk about in advance. Consider offering printouts for every attendee of your eclipse viewing event so they can each note the bird behavior, animal behavior, temperature, pressure, clouds, etc. and then compare afterwards.

Many more Citizen Science resources and links can be found on our Eclipse LibGuide.