On Monday, hundreds of students from Lawton Public Schools took their science lessons outside to experience the rare total solar eclipse. The event, which will not happen again in the United States for another two decades, was eagerly anticipated by students at Pat Henry Elementary, who have Makerspace classes at all LPS locations that focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics projects.
The American Astronomical Society recommended wearing solar-filtered glasses adhering to the ISO 12312-2:2015 international standard to view the eclipse safely. The moon passed between the Earth and the sun, resulting in an estimated 94% eclipse coverage in the Lawton-Fort Sill region. The students observed the near-total eclipse around 1:40p.m., with kindergartener Angel Kirkland expressing her amazement at witnessing the event and noting that she didn’t realize something like this could happen.
NASA predicts that the next total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States is predicted to occur in August 2044. This rare event sparked curiosity and excitement among the students, with second-grade student Travis McCollough describing it as “awesome” and expressing anticipation for future celestial events. The eclipse allowed students to gain a better understanding of the solar system, how it operates, planet alignments, and Earth’s constant rotation.
