By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
From cover to cover, a new WBGU-PBS-produced eclipse book is filled with over-the-moon, fun activities and educational moments.
The 37-page activity book was created by WBGU’s education and outreach department for elementary-aged children. Inside are crosswords, eclipse tips and lessons, journal pages, word searches and more.
“We scoured the internet looking for materials and talked to our Scholastic representative, but there wasn’t a lot out there that suited our goals,” said Laural Kirchner, WBGU-PBS’s coordinator of education and outreach. Their goals for the activity book were to be easy to read, include fun activities and eclipse information, and appeal to kids in kindergarten through fifth grade.
“I really wanted it to be not just science-based but to be cross-curricular,” Kirchner said. Using the Ohio Learning Standards as a foundation, she “came up with a little bit of everything” to include in the book.
The material is relevant and makes sense for children in different grades. Some of the activities will appeal to younger children, and some of the activities are too hard for young children on their own, but they might appeal to older students, Kirchner said.
Some more open-ended activities such as poetry and journaling could appeal to middle and high school students.
“If you don’t know much about eclipses at all, it’s good information for adults, too,” she said. It’s written for a fourth- or fifth-grade level, which makes it accessible for everybody. Younger kids can understand it with the help of an adult, she explained.
The book is designed for children to work independently, in groups or with an adult. “We wanted it to be flexible for adults, teachers or parents to use as they wanted,” Kirchner said.
Using funds the station receives from the Ohio Department of Education’s Ohio Learns 360 grant, approximately 3,000 copies were printed. Kirchner and Kelly Pheneger, director of education and outreach, are strategically distributing the books. Copies have been provided to the Wood County Educational Service Center, Ruby’s Frog Squad members, some area libraries and a few schools.
They have also created a downloadable version of the activity book that anyone can download and print copies of the entire book or whatever pages they want to use.
At the recent Ohio Educational Technology Conference in Columbus, attended by educators from across Ohio, nearly 300 copies were distributed. A link to the book was sent to the Ohio Department of Education for possible inclusion on its website “for an even bigger reach to teachers across the state,” Kirchner said.
In addition to the book, the TV station has created a series of videos about the eclipse. Topics include Eclipse Community Preparedness, How to Safely View an Eclipse, What is a Solar and Lunar Eclipse, What is an Astronomer, and How to Explain an Eclipse to a Kindergartner.”
Planetarium to host Eclipse Activities for Kids
As designers of the eclipse activity book, Kirchner and Pheneger will present “WBGU Eclipse Activities for Kids” on Thursday (2/29) as part of the Bowling Green State University Total Eclipse Speaker Series at the BGSU Planetarium.
The program, which starts at 5:30 p.m., welcomes families and individuals to participate in some eclipse-related activities led by WBGU and Dr. Andrew Layden, chair of the BGSU Department of Physics and Astronomy. In addition to the eclipse craft, the WBGU staff will distribute the eclipse activity books and age-appropriate reading books related to space. BGSU physics and astronomy faculty will be on hand to answer eclipse-related questions.
“We hope the families stay for the special Leap Day planetarium show titled ‘It’s About Time’ immediately following the eclipse activities,” Kirchner said. Because the program and the planetarium show are scheduled over the dinner hour, WBGU will provide pizza to those attending.
