'That's cool!'

Making real events a teaching opportunity, teachers at Pea Ridge schools used the Aug. 21 solar eclipse as a lesson.

"We've talked about the eclipse and I had them do research and why this one is so important," Connie Trotter, high school physical science teacher, said.

Coach Josh Ferrell, in his physical science lab, supervised students making models of the eclipse.

All students from third through 12th grade who had turned in signed permission from their parents were issued safety glasses and were escorted outside to view the eclipse. Students without permission gathered in the media center to watch a televised version of the eclipse.

Students experimented with various methods of attempting to photograph the sun and noticed the crescent-shaped shadows from the eclipse shining through the leaves of the trees in front of the school. Teachers and staff expressed as much amazement as the students.

"We're fortunate to have the opportunity to view this with our students and faculty," PRHS principal Charley Clark said. "Our science department has discussed and taught lessons. This event was pretty rare."

Trotter said she had students research Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison as they had interesting facts about eclipses. She said there were activities scheduled which helped the students evaluate the theory of relativity and learn what a great distance is required from the sun to the moon to the earth to create a solar eclipse.

Trotter said that in the early 1980s she saw a partial eclipse in Pea Ridge. She said the next total solar eclipse won't happen for another century.