I really hope that the song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is running through your head right now! A solar eclipse is when the moon blocks the Sun from our point of view on Earth and the shadow from the moon is cast onto Earth, creating darkness in the daytime. On Monday, August 21 we will be privy to a once-in-a-few decade opportunity to see this! Now, that's a little bit of an exaggeration for us who aren't going to be a little farther south. The path of the shadow of the moon will be going through several states in the US and Ohio isn't one of them. However, we are set to have about an 80% eclipse around 2:30 pm on the 21st. 

Please make sure you get a special viewer or glasses to observe it! You can also just film it with your phone...but don't sneak a glimpse of the Sun without wearing the proper safety gear on your eyes!

Here are a few resources to tell you a little more about what to expect!

• NASA Eclipse Info
• Vox has some cool animations

Comment below if you have plans to observe the eclipse! 

Today we did a lab to explore and review density in order to apply it to something called planetary differentiation. The lab has students measuring and then calculating the density of objects and predicting their behavior in water with a goal to try and determine the density of water. During the lab Abby H. had a question: Can I figure out the density of water?

What a REALLY GREAT question!

She explored and figured out a way to figure it out through measurements and calculations. Feel free to check in with Abby to hear her method and what her result was! Excellent scientific thinking!

I hope you all enjoyed the field trip at Polaris today. There were some cool programs that cover so many different topics....but I hope you recognized all the science found in most of them! ;)

Here are a few pictures from Torrey R. that she took at the station about one of their satellite programs. This program is a biomedical course that is offered directly in our high school and is open to freshmen. It's an electives course and we'll talk about it a little more as we approach high school course scheduling more. Thanks for the photos, Torrey!

Today Owen had some great ideas he wanted to try out, saying, "I think most of science is asking questions." He's totally right and it's great how he's asking questions to extend what we're talking about in class. We've been learning about forces from a distance and applying them to electromagnets currently. 

First, Owen decided to try using the hand crank generator to create his electromagnet instead of the batteries that we've been using, getting a little help from Kasem and Omar.

Then he decided to look at the pencil sharpener that was broken apart. He first tried plugging in the pencil sharpener and seeing if the coil attracted paper clips but found it was weak. Then, he tried putting a pencil in, and WOW! The electromagnet was VERY strong. 

Great job, Owen! Really wonderful scientific thinking and experimenting!

Today Moe was curious about a video he saw on YouTube where a balloon was picking up scraps of paper. He asked to try it and this is the result! Comment below with what you think is happening based on what we've talked about in class!

Thanks for the cool idea, Moe!