As the United States prepares for the first total solar eclipse to race across the entire continental United States in 99 years, on August 21, 2017, Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) (http://astronomerswithoutborders.org/) is launching a major new nationwide initiative that will have a significant, long-lasting impact on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. This educational campaign, sponsored by Google, is open to all across the U.S., with a special emphasis on underserved communities who may not otherwise have the opportunity of leveraging the rare natural laboratory of a solar eclipse to learn about the importance of the sun and its light.
AWB’s unique Building on the Eclipse Education Program uses the high-profile eclipse event as inspiration and the starting point for continuing STEM education lessons and activities to be conducted in the following academic year. The program offers an exciting educational resource package including online professional development sessions that use eclipse viewing glasses and spectroscope kits in lesson plans developed by our team of professional science educators in cooperation with Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and Science Technology Advanced Resource, Inc.
Online registration for the program is now open at awbeclipse2017.org, and a limited number of spectroscope kits are available free to eligible groups registering early thanks to a generous donation from Rainbow Symphony.
After registering, you will receive an invitation to join our online support community: Astronomers Without Borders Building on the Eclipse Education Project, on Trellis: https://www.trelliscience.com/#/login.