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a solar eclipse and pinhole viewing box project ~ Apologia Astronomy

Written by Joy
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a solar eclipse and pinhole viewing box project ~ Apologia Astronomy

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!

Linking up with:

Science Sunday

 

2012, homeschooling, , , , , , ,

Apologia Astronomy, the sun and melting chocolate…

Written by Joy
10 Comments
Apologia Astronomy, the sun and melting chocolate…

The kids and I are having so much fun with Exploring Creation through Astronomy by Apologia.  After our first lesson and project with Astronomy, we have now moved on to the Sun.

The chapter on the sun has been split up into two sections.  The first sections talks about what the sun is, how far away it is from the earth and how hot the sun is.  Did you know the sun is almost 93 million miles from the earth and is about 10,000 degrees on the outside and millions of degrees on the inside!  Wow!

It also goes into detail about sunspots and solar flares and how they affect the earth.  Did you know that the solar flares have so much energy that when it is thrown towards the earth that people in the far north (like Alaska) and far south can see colorful lights light up the sky?  Those lights are called the auroras!  I didn’t know that until I read this lesson!

The sunspots on the sun are also cooler than the rest of the sun.  Scientists actually believe that the sunspots affect the weather on the earth.

The first things the kids had to do was draw a picture of the sun with sunspots and solar flares.  I think the kids did a great job on them.  I am considering framing them and hanging them up!

thesunandmeltingchocolate

The next project they kids got to do was melting chocolate with a magnifying glass.  The point was to focus the heat with a magnifying glass to a certain spot to see if it would melt.

Samuel and Sarah taking a turn with the magnifying glass.

Samuel and Sarah taking a turn with the magnifying glass.

By putting the magnifying glass either close to the chocolate or farther away from chocolate would depend on how concentrated the heat was when it hit the chocolate.

Look! We have a flame and smoke!

Look! We have a flame and smoke!

The kids got some chocolate (that I had previously in the freezer) and put it on a plate.  They then took turns holding the magnifying glass really close or far away from the chocolate.

Claire getting a turn holding the magnifying glass.

Claire getting a turn holding the magnifying glass.

Depending on the distance of the magnifying glass to the chocolate, would depend on how soon it took the chocolate to melt.  I think next time I will actually time it to see how long it would be before the chocolate started melting and smoking from the heat.  It would be neat to see the difference in the distance to the amount of time it took.

Chocolate with burnt holes from the magnifying glass.

Chocolate with burnt holes from the magnifying glass.

We really enjoyed this yummy project learning about how intense the heat from the sun can be.  We are looking forward to the next projects in the astronomy book!

Have you ever tried this project before?  What were your results?  What science project have you done lately?  Please share with me in the comments!  I would love to hear about it!

 

Linking up with:

Science Sunday Link-Up

Apologia Link-up

2012, homeschooling, , , ,