In the library at Salisbury Community School, older elementary-age students lead the younger ones through eclipse activities. That includes fourth grade student Harper, who explains an experiment to her first grade peer, Olivia.
"So, I’m going to hold the sun, and then Olivia is going to close one eye — not, not yet, not yet! — and then she’s going to put it in front of the sun and it’s going to be eclipsed," Harper says.
Another fourth grader, Rowan, shows his first grade buddy the states that will also experience a total solar eclipse, beyond Vermont.
"We have a map that shows the line of totality and all the states in totality will be the states that will have a full solar eclipse," he says. "So there’s Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, there’s New York, and that’s most of them."
Meanwhile, a math module asks the students to calculate what age they’ll be for the next solar eclipse here. When one student notes that the next solar eclipse is in 2079 and the students realize they'll be 63, 64, and 65 years old, they laugh at the thought of being grandparents.
Science teacher Amy Clapp says Salisbury is just outside the line of totality, and she’s encouraging families to visit nearby Middlebury to view the eclipse. Clapp says it’s important for kids to have an opportunity to understand the eclipse at their level — whether that means thinking about the relative sizes of the moon and the sun, or pondering the vastness of space.
"But, probably the most important thing to me is that kids walk away from this realizing they’ve experienced something incredible," she says. "And they get that sense of wonder and awe that makes learning probably the most exciting thing you can do."
A sense of wonder and awe that, in 2079, these students might pass along to their own grandkids.
More eclipse resources
- See our eclipse liveblog for the latest updates.
- Watch our half-hour educational TV special, "Path to Totality."
- See our interactive map of the eclipse path.
- Plan for road closures around the state.
- Get updates on the weather forecast for Monday.
- Emergency management officials share travel and communication tips.
- Where to find eclipse glasses.
- Learning guides for preK-12 educators.
- Details on our live event in St. Johnsbury and other events around the state.
See all of Vermont Public's 2024 eclipse coverage.
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