MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — On April 8th, for four minutes, the moon will completely cover the sun, and if you want to be a part of it, there are a couple different safe ways to watch.
- Deborah DeGraff teaches kinder through 5th grade science at Bell's Hill Elementary, and she’s been preparing her student with different safe ways to view the solar eclipse.
- Other things you can do, use your hands, layer them on top of one another to create a shadow, you can also make a pinhole in a card and watch the shadow that way.
- We will be in totality for over four minutes which means we can take our glasses off and safely view the moon covering up the sun
BROADCAST SCRIPT:
“Is the solar eclipse bad to look at it with your eyes without the glasses,” one Bell's Hill Elementary student said.
Waco ISD students are getting a total education on the total solar eclipse.
“On April 8th, there’s going to be a total alignment between the moon, the earth, and the sun,” teacher Deborah DeGraff said.
DeGraff teaches kinder through 5th grade science at Bell's Hill Elementary, and she’s been preparing for this moment, giving lessons on the solar eclipse.
“What’s so cool about this one in Waco, it’s going to be another 400 to 500 years before it is actually aligned like this again,” DeGraff said.
And for so many, it’ll be a once in a lifetime moment, which is why she’s showing some indirect ways to view the eclipse—if you don’t have a pair of eclipse glasses.
“So what you can do it get a colander and you can make sure the sun is behind you. Hold that colander and have the sun shining, you’re gonna see lots of really cool shapes, the crescent shape,” DeGraff said.
Other things you can do—use your hands, layer them on top of one another to create a shadow, you can also make a pinhole in a card and watch the shadow that way.
One question DeGraff has gotten from her older students, "Can you watch the eclipse through your cell phone?"
“Even if you are viewing it through your phone, you’re taking pictures, you must have a film or a filter. Otherwise your eyes can be damaged from looking,” she said.
Once you’ve safely watched the astronomical phenomenon...
“We will be in totality for over four minutes which means we can take our glasses off and safely view the moon covering up the sun,” DeGraff said.
If you do purchase some eclipse glasses, you’ll want to make sure their authentic. You should find be able to find the number, ISO 12312-2.
