There will be a rare total eclipse of the sun that is viewable by most of North America on August 21. While a solar eclipse happens about every 18 months, it is unusual for it to be seen by so much of the world. In fact, the table below shows the last time that an eclipse was seen in specific US cities:
| LOCATION | MOST RECENT TOTALITY |
| Anchorage | Feb. 4, 1943 |
| Atlanta | June 24, 1778 |
| Boston | Oct. 2, 1959 |
| Chicago | June 6, 1806 |
| Dallas | Oct. 23, 1623 |
| Denver | July 29, 1878 |
| Honolulu | Aug. 7, 1850 |
| Houston | Oct. 17, 1259 |
| Las Vegas | May 22, 1724 |
| Los Angeles | May 22, 1724 |
| Miami | May 13, 1752 |
| New Orleans | May 28, 1900 |
| New York | Jan. 24, 1925 |
| Phoenix | June 16, 1806 |
| St. Louis | July 7, 1442 |
| San Francisco | June 26, 1424 |
| Seattle | July 18, 1860 |
| Washington, DC | June 28, 1451 |
As you can see, it’s been a while for most of us! So that makes this total eclipse a big deal. Whether school is back in session or not, we should all think about how we can share this exciting event with our students. If it is the first day of school (and it will be for many students in Texas), think about kicking off the school year with an eclipse party. If school is not back yet, you can still schedule an event and invite the community to it. That’s a great way to build a sense of togetherness as school begins again. Or check out this list to see if another group is already hosting a viewing in your city.
Check out these videos for a good overview of the eclipse. This animation is just one minute, 40 seconds long while this one is a little bit longer and provides more information. You can also see a simulation of how much of the sun will be covered by the moon in your area here by just entering your location.
NASA has some great free resources for the event, including an Eclipse Party Kit and an interactive map . The kit provides downloadable flyers, posters, and ways to share your event via social media. Of course, they also have a bevy of AMAZING science resources to help all of us better understand what is happening during the eclipse. You can download their free Eclipse Education Kit, which has a guide that outlines safe activities to do. They’ve even got directions for building an eclipse viewer out of a cereal box. And they have lessons and experiments broken into elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Vernier is also providing some excellent online resources for the eclipse. They have tips for viewing the event and are selling glasses so that you can watch safely for just $16 for a class set of 40. And ISTE has a great blog with seven resources for teaching the solar eclipse. Finally, find some additional activities to use with this epic happening here.
Many local public libraries are holding eclipse parties and offering free eclipse glasses. You can use this website to find one near you. And you can download a free eclipse book from Bill Nye and the National Park Service here.
Finally, if for some reason you can’t watch the eclipse live, here are some sites that will be streaming it:
- NASA TV Livestream Megacast (includes video from space, high-altitude balloons, and aircraft)
- NASA EDGE telescope views (toggle between five views)
- Eclipse.Stream.Live (The Eclipse Ballooning Project, featuring footage captured by 100 high-altitude balloons from 55 teams of students around the country)
- If you have the Samsung Gear VR app, Google Daydream VR app, or CNN VR app, you can watch CNN VR’s livecast of the eclipse in VR
This once-in-a-lifetime event is something that we should definitely share with our students, our friends, and our neighbors. What will you do to celebrate?
This blog was updated with additional content on August 15, 2017.