eclipse

2023-24 School Year–Week Twenty-Eight

The big news this week was the solar eclipse! We didn’t get full totality this time around, but we were at 99%+ so we still had an impressive show, and I’m sad that it’s over!

Ladybug reviewed equations with radicals and absolute value in pre-calculus. She started the chapter on electric potential in physics. In US history she read about WWII. She started a chapter on the war against infection in health. In history she read about the end of the Avignon Papacy. She began her final literature study of the year, focusing on poetry & prose from the Elizabethan to Neo-Classical Age. In writing she worked on composing a (fictitious) complaint letter.

Chickadee used what she learned about calculating percents in math last week to find discounts and tax when shopping. In religion we began reading about the events of Holy Week, which are fresh in our minds. She finished the chapter on the immune system in science (just as Ladybug is starting it in health) by learning about antibiotics and vaccinations. We finished reading The Door in the Wall. In writing she learned how to add footnotes to a paper and how to determine if something is considered common knowledge. In history she read about Queen Elizabeth I and Shakespeare.

We also went to the History Exploration Day at the Missouri History Museum today…the theme was transportation, but the really exciting part of the day was seeing the newly renovated north entrance of the museum:

We’ve only got about four weeks to go before the end of the school year!

Chickadee Thursday

Chickadee finished this school year’s reading program at the library, and it’s also the last one she’ll complete, as she’s now aged (graded?) out of it! She’s pretty proud of herself for collecting every single “Reading Dragon” card they offered!

The big event of the week, though, was the solar eclipse. We weren’t at 100% totality, but we were over 99%, and Chickadee was really excited to view it since she really doesn’t remember The Great American Eclipse of 2017!

Solar Eclipse Day

Today was a much-anticipated day…the 2024 Solar Eclipse finally arrived!

We’ve been looking forward to the eclipse for a long time, and we’ve been enjoying themed treats for a couple of weeks now, including the Solar Eclipse Sundae from Lic’s Deli and Ice Cream, the Blackout Slush Float from Sonic, and Solar Eclipse Doughnuts from Krispy Kreme:

I had a whole themed out for today, including this cute grouping of space-themed Erstwilder brooches:

Our area was over 99% eclipsed. I’m not going to lie…it wasn’t as cool as the Great American Eclipse of 2017 when we were in the full totality zone, but it was still really awesome. The darkness gradually fell, the street lights came on, the temperature dropped, and the crickets started chirping. Pictures don’t do it justice, because it really did get quite dark (we needed lights inside the house, too), and we watched the light waves move across the ground just like we did in 2017:

I repeated one of the meals we had for the last eclipse, too…eggs sunny side up, eclipsed by “moon muffins.”

And we also had Excel Brewing’s Darkest Hour black cherry soda and Moon Pies, of course!

We are so lucky to have witnessed two eclipses in less than 10 years…I know they’re experiences I won’t forget!

From Super Moon to Eclipse

Last night was not only a Super Flower Blood Moon, but there was also a total lunar eclipse. I got some pretty terrible pictures of the moon rising and the eclipse, but really I’m just glad we got to see it, because based on yesterday’s weather, I was pretty sure we were going to miss the whole thing!

The Great American Eclipse

Today was the Great American Eclipse, which we have been planning to observe and celebrate for months! Belleville was just barely in the path of totality…and then only if you live south of Main Street. Fortunately, we do!

We started our day with some Sunny D:

And we had a special lunch…eggs sunny side up on “moon muffins” (the nooks and crannies in the English muffins make perfect moon craters, and I’m pretty proud of what I came up with there!), and Star Crunch as a treat. I really don’t get where the star part comes in, as they were round, but they were yummy. We also enjoyed some grape Sunkist, but since it was so dark, we called it “Moonkist!”

We spent a lot of time outside, observing various stages of the eclipse through the solar filters we got at the St. Louis Science Center (Moose got to do the same at his school, where they provided solar filters for all the students). We also had fun making pinhole images with a colander:

I tried taking a picture with a solar filter over the lens on my phone. It didn’t work out too well, but at least it’s something:

But these pictures, which I took about seven minutes apart, at 1:09 and 1:16 in the afternoon, really showcase the change we experienced. The streetlights came on, and we did indeed hear crickets. We even saw the full horizon 360-degree “sunrise!” It was a very moving experience…I found that I was overwhelmed, and quite emotional about it!

The eclipse was over quickly, but we kept the celebration going through dinner, where we had “werewolves” wrapped in crescent (moon) rolls, Sunchips, and a special black cherry soda created by local bottler Excel called Darkest Hour. And I had to drive all over town to find them, but we did get to have Moon Pies for dessert!

This was a special event, both in the fact that any one area doesn’t usually see total solar eclipses too often (unless you live in Carbondale, apparently), and that it’s also rare for such an event to stretch from shore to shore in America. I worked really hard to make a big deal out of it, and I hope it’s something the children will always remember!