Classrooms turn eclipse into science lesson

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Teachers across Indiana turned the eclipse into a science lesson Monday.

Some classrooms dedicated the entire day to studying the eclipse.

Kids at Maplewood Elementary School in Indianapolis tuned in for live reports from the district’s scientist-in-residence, Rick Cosslin. He gave Christy Overton’s fourth-grade class updates from the path of totality in southern Illinois.

“I told the kids with this, there are things that I’m learning as well,” Overton said. “There are things that I’m learning and their parents are learning.”

One of those lessons: why you shouldn’t look at the sun. Eye doctors said even Indiana’s partial eclipse can seriously damage your eyes.

Most of the kids decided not to look up as they shuffled to their buses from 2:15 to 2:30 p.m. — peak eclipse time.

Savannah Fields, a fourth-grader, said she didn’t have to look up to feel the effects.

“It feels a little different, but I kinda like it,” Fields said. “I get to go home now and get out my pinhole box and look at the eclipse from there.”

Scientists said another total eclipse will be visible in the U.S. in 2024.

Overton said it’s a safe bet that the school will be planning something special again on that day.

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