0
0
Lego Solar Eclipse Education Collection
Lego has unveiled a new educational collection centered around the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8. This initiative aims to engage students in learning about this celestial event through a series of specially designed activities. On the slated date, a total solar eclipse will traverse Mexico, 15 U.S. states, and Canada. This phenomenon occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on the planet’s surface. In areas within the path of totality, the moon aligns almost perfectly with the sun, obscuring the solar disk for a brief period. However, on April 8, all of North America will witness at least a partial solar eclipse, contingent on weather conditions.
Lego Eclipse Collection Activities
The Lego eclipse collection encompasses various activities devised to help students comprehensively grasp the scientific principles underlying this extraordinary event. These activities are teacher-created and cater to a broad spectrum of grades and subjects, employing Lego bricks, Lego Education sets, or conventional classroom materials. The flexibility and entertainment factor of these activities render them engaging for all students.
The solar eclipse exploration activity, part of the Lego collection, features four mini missions focusing on the concepts of motion and light. Students are prompted to construct Lego models simulating an eclipse, guiding them as they create representations of the Earth, sun, and moon. Additionally, the missions encompass learning about shadow formation by obstructing light and designing a pinhole projector for safe solar eclipse viewing.
Jillian Johnson, a STEM Education Professional and the mind behind the Solar Eclipse Exploration activity for Lego, believes that students derive deeper understanding when they can directly correlate their learning to real-world occurrences. By applying their knowledge in practical scenarios, students not only bolster their grasp of scientific concepts but also enhance their individual learning capabilities.
Another activity within the Lego eclipse collection encourages students to design a mobile observatory. This activity supplies resources such as question prompts and design guidelines, elucidating how tools like telescopes aid scientists in studying celestial phenomena like solar eclipses.
Comprehensive Learning Experience
Aside from these activities, the eclipse collection includes tasks such as graphing darkness and light levels over a month, crafting a messaging device utilizing light or sound to transmit information across distances, and controlling a light matrix for displaying images and text. These diverse activities aim to transform the solar eclipse event into a lasting educational experience for students leading up to, during, and even post-April 8.
All eclipse-themed activities within the Lego Education Eclipse Collection are accessible online at no cost. Students and educators can easily engage with these resources to enhance their understanding of this celestial event.
Stay updated on the latest eclipse content through our eclipse live blog and witness the total eclipse unfold live on Space.com. If you capture an incredible solar eclipse image and wish to showcase it to Space.com’s readers, please send your photo(s), comments, name, and location to [email protected].
Image/Photo credit: source url
