WATERSOUND, Fla. (WMBB) — Some Walton County students watched the April 8 solar eclipse in the sky.
Students at Watersound's Magnet Innovation Center got a front-row seat to the partial solar eclipse.
“It's basically a crescent moon. So when you look up at it, and you look at it through your glasses, it's really orange and it looks like blood. It was really cool,” said Kingston Mixon, a high school senior.
Students viewed through approved eclipse glasses and created pinhole viewers to view the moon covering the sun.
“We took aluminum foil and cut holes in it,” freshman Olivia Hicks said. “I put it on a white piece of paper so that you could see the sun's shadow and the eclipse. You didn't really see that much, it was more like four dots, and if it appeared like a crescent moon. , it was similar to what is in the sky.”
While the students enjoyed observing this rare astronomical phenomenon, they actually collected data for NASA on animal responses to the eclipse.
“This is part of the Citizen Science Eclipse Soundscape Project,” said Dr. Margaret Aresko, biomedical/biology instructor. “So we're actually listening to see if we can hear the birds chirping when the eclipse begins and when the eclipse ends.” Is it because they are tricked into thinking it's night time that they become active for a few minutes? ”
Dr. Aresko said schools across the country are also collecting data for a larger purpose.
“NASA's goal is to collect data across the country and see whether in areas where it gets dark already close to everyone, the impact on animal species is more severe than in untargeted areas like ours.” ,” Aresco said.
Dr. Aresco reported a 78% coverage rate at Magnet Innovation School. She said she hopes students will gain a greater appreciation for space after the event.
“There are huge planets outside the Earth's atmosphere, such as actually observing the moon moving in front of the sun. So you can actually see it with your own eyes or see it with a pinhole camera. And it actually allows them to see, “Wow, the way we learn about science in class is actually really happening in the world,'' Aresco said.