SOLAR

• Location: Upper Telescope area (use West Entrance)
• What do you know about the Sun?
• Tour of exhibits (use theme of “Solar Day” to segue)
• Sundial
  • have student stand on proper date with arms up
  • discuss movement of sun, daylight savings
  • other ancient ways to tell time
  • why you stand in a different place depending on date
  • usefulness knowing position of Sun for camping
• Solar water heater
  • how does water get hot (copper tube, black color, greenhouse effect, thinness of tube)
  • have them touch water before and after
  • have them guess temperature change
  • best locations fort such water heaters
  • reasons for using such a heater
• Solar oven
  • how does oven get hot?
  • reasons for using such an oven
• Off to school: Relative sizes (in barn)
  • sizes of stars
  • sizes of earth/Jupiter/Sun
• Solar presentation (in barn)
  • Images of Sun
    • Dynamic Sun folder (interior of Sun, solar surface, CME’s Auroras)
    • Solar Studies Sequence
• Sun Rap
• Telescope viewing
  • see sunspots in telescope, prominences in other
  • telescopes need to be manned by staff at all times (safety issue: no kids by themselves at scopes!!)
• Toys
  • solar cars
  • magnifying glasses (use if they didn’t have Lights & Lasers; same rules apply)
  • sunglasses, solar binoculars (ground-sun-ground procedure)
  • solar radio (place hand over solar panel)
  • color changing beads
  • Sunspotter
• Cookie feast
• Facts
  • Sun loses over one million tons of matter every second
  • Converts 4.3 million tons of matter into energy per second
  • CMEs are giant magnetic bubbles of ionized gas that separate from the rest of the solar atmosphere and escape (sometimes associated with flares and prominences)

Solar – Key Points

1. Safety
1. kids can blind themselves if the instruments are not properly used or if kids are unsupervised 
2. filters must be on the main telescopes before use
3. caps must be on the finderscopes  
4. kids supervised during telescope use (the tech can watch over one of the telescopes if necessary)
5. kids must be supervised when they are playing with the solar toys
1. Show proper use/supervision of solar glasses and binoculars
2. Kids must not burn living things, including themselves or their friends with the magnifying glasses 
2. Relate to every day life
1. what do you already know about the Sun?
2. energy from the Sun (including petroleum – power from ancient sunlight)
3. sun powers all weather
4. sun makes life possible
5. using the position of the sun during camping
6. in what situations will people want solar heaters?  solar ovens? 
3. A lot of hands-on experiences
1. telling time with the sundial
2. feeling the water from the solar heater
3. seeing actual images of the Sun through telescopes
4. everyone’s favorite – eating the solar-baked cookies!
4. What to watch out for
1. oftentimes there’s not much to see in the telescopes (no sunspots, no prominences)
2. class is vulnerable to weather
3. for late afternoon solar class, get in telescope viewing before Sun goes behind trees