Unlike in Davidson County, schools in Rutherford will be in session on Monday, Aug. 21. So MTSU is helping teachers in Murfreesboro and surrounding areas prepare their students for the total solar eclipse.
The university’s astronomy department has created lesson plans for K-12 teachers. One lesson has students model the distances between the earth, moon and sun using tennis balls and string. Another shows students how to predict the timing of future eclipses.
The school has also produced a video on viewing safety, which stars associate professor Chuck Higgins and is filled with familiar warnings.
“You’re probably going to be wandering around with your sunglasses, and that’s fine. But if you’re going to look directly at the sun, you’re absolutely going to need your special solar eclipse glasses.”
This is part of an hour-and-a-half training for teachers in Murfreesboro City and Rutherford County Schools. So far, about 150 have attended, according to MTSU.
Murfreesboro is on the edge of the path of totality, so the total eclipse will last for about a minute there, compared to a 1:50 in Nashville or 2:40 in Gallatin. The exact duration of totality can be found on NASA’s interactive eclipse map here.
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