Going Dark: Rivers Community Gathers to Experience the Eclipse

Earlier in the day, students were instructed about safe eclipse-viewing procedures at an all-school meeting. As part of the day’s festivities, the meeting concluded with an abbreviated version of a Red & White competition, focused on eclipse trivia. Science faculty member Sequoyah Reynoso, hosting with his usual elan, quizzing students on such questions as “What U.S. theme park will be in the path of totality during the next eclipse?” and “What two planets in our solar system do not experience eclipses?” 

Students displayed an impressive range of knowledge, perhaps because many had taken part in special eclipse lessons during the previous week’s science classes. In addition to hearing about proper eclipse-viewing safety, students learned about the physics behind what causes an eclipse to be visible from the earth; the difference between a lunar eclipse, a total solar eclipse, and an annular solar eclipse; and what phase of the moon is necessary for each. Students from Babson College’s astronomy classes visited Upper School and Middle School science classes to teach interactive lessons. In Kayley Pettoruto’s Middle School science class, students modeled the approximate distance and size of the moon and earth using a tennis ball and an inflatable globe and practiced viewing the moon’s shadow on the earth with a flashlight acting as the sun. 

After the group gathering on the quad, Science Department Chair Betty Bloch reflected on the day’s events. “I feel I can speak for all the science teachers in the department in saying that we found the opportunity to witness a 93 percent partial eclipse alongside our students to be truly enriching,” said Bloch. “It was a fantastic experience to share with them after spending class time talking through the intricate science behind how different types of eclipses happen. Opportunities like these are exceedingly rare, occurring almost once every 200 years in the same location, making this event even more special.”