The kids and I are moving right along with the Exploring Creation with Astronomy from Apologia. We have made it to the end of the 2nd chapter about the sun.
The first thing we did, was create a solar eclipse using our globe, a small ball attached to a string and a flashlight. By putting the ball between the light source and the globe, we were able to cast a shadow, showing the kids how a solar eclipse works.
showing the kids how a solar eclipse works.
We then moved on to making a pinhole viewing box. I gathered the supplies that we needed. One of the things I really like about Apologia and their projects, it is stuff you can find laying around your home. For this project, I had everything on hand.
supplies for the projects
Sarah started out cutting a hole in the side of the box. This was to view the sun when we finished the project. However, you could have cut the side of this box off.
Sarah making a hole in the side of the box.
Samuel had the job of cutting a piece of aluminum foil and white paper to go on the end of each box.
Samuel cutting the aluminum foil and paper.
Claire helped Sarah tape the aluminum foil over a hole on one end of the box. She then helped tape the white piece of paper on the opposite end.
Claire getting a needle.
Sarah helped Claire poke a hole in the aluminum foil. We found out the bigger the hole the needle made the bigger and fuzzier the sun showed on the white paper. The smaller the hole, the clearer the picture of the sun.
Sarah helping Claire poke a hole with the needle.
The kids and I had a great time looking at the sun through the pinhole viewing box. It worked really well. We were hoping to be able to see some sun spots on the sun, but we didn’t notice any dark spots at all.
seeing the sun through the pinhole.
Trixie even came out on the porch and wanted to look in the box!
Trixie wanted to see the sun in the pinhole in the box!
While we were sad to end the chapter on the sun, we are looking forward to the next chapter about Mercury. We can’t wait until the next project!
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