KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Monday’s eclipse will be exciting for Kansas City to experience with the moon blocking approximately 90 percent of the sun, beginning in the early afternoon.
For seventh grade science teacher Michelle Beffa at New Mark Middle School, she will be using it as a teaching moment.
“I am the eclipse lady, I absolutely love the eclipse. I have been looking forward to this,” Beffa said. “I’m excited to share it with kids, so instead of taking a day off, I’ll be here with the kids.”
The North Kansas City School District obtained 25,000 eclipse glasses for students and staff.
On Friday Beffa took her class outside to prepare for the big day with a solar balloon experiment.
“Our lesson today is about capturing the sunlight,” Beffa said. “The kids are watching and seeing how gasses can move around in (the bag), and the air will be light when capturing the heat.”
As the bag warms up with the sun’s energy the warm air wants to make the black bag rise. On Monday when the same experiment is conducted the bag will not rise, because the moon is blocking the sun’s energy.
“If they don’t travel, this is the last eclipse they’re going to see in their lifetime,” Beffa said. “We want them to have a full experience. It’s a one in a lifetime thing. They’re lucky they got two, but it doesn’t happen to most people.”
Beffa’s class will also be experimenting with solar beads that change color when UV light hits them, and special tissue paper that can capture shadow.
“The kids are actually going to get the chance to capture shadows,” Beffa said. “They’ll get to go, here’s my shadow, whether it’s them or whatever object.”
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