ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. — While some schools in the area were closed today for the solar eclipse, schools in St. Tammany Parish stayed open but kept children inside.
So, some parents decided to use the eclipse as a science lesson at the Children's Museum in St. Tammany.
At the maximum time of the eclipse in St. Tammany, there was rain and a lot of clouds, so you couldn't see anything. However, earlier in the day, the kids did get to see a little bit of the eclipse and do a lot of fun and educational activities.
There was a brief moment of excitement. When the clouds parted, children and parents ran outside to gaze at the sky through their glasses, but that was brief. So, families at the Children's Museum of St. Tammany went back inside to play educational games using resources NASA had sent.
“We know that this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some people. We won't have another eclipse like this for another 20 years, and we will not be in the path of that eclipse. So we wanted to be sure we're giving kids a hands-on experience that they may not have the opportunity to have again,” said Julie Mendes, Director of Education and Programming at the Children’s Museum in St. Tammany.
Children of different ages had different explanations of what all the fuss was about.
“It's when the moon and the sun are in the exact same place, and we can actually see the night sky,” explained Logan Sesser, 10.
“If you stare in the sun, it's really light, but the eclipse might be worse. I don't think I've ever seen them before, but I think I heard about them before,” said a young Aurora Seals.
“I just think it's cool to have things interact with each other and see what they do,” said Madeline Markezich, 13, who has an A grade in science.
As the Mandeville sky darkened from clouds and rain, moms tried to get little ones to understand why the sky was going completely dark hundreds of miles away on NASA TV during totality.
NASA wants your data that you saw during the eclipse sent to them. It's for adults and children.
Download the Globe Observer app or click here to visit their website.
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