And God made two great lights....

We have been having such fun this year in science. We are using this book

as our main text and adding in lots of fun extra activities and investigations. 

So imagine our delight when we found out that we would be able to experience a solar eclipse here! And not just a regular, run-of-the-mill solar eclipse, but one that occurred on the same day as the vernal equinox! And after a night with a super moon! 

This would be a partial eclipse for us here in Germany, not total, but we determined to make the best of it! 

We studied the different kinds of eclipses, how solar eclipses happen (fun fact: the moon is 400x smaller than the sun, BUT 400x closer to earth than the sun, creating a 1 to 1 ratio! Science AND math!), what scientists can learn from studying eclipses, and why we should care! 

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:17-18

We also found out WHY it is not safe to look at the eclipse (partial, not full) with the naked eye and we made a pinhole viewer a couple weeks ago so we could try it out before the real deal. 

Then it was time! We woke up to the forst foggy morning we've had in a while and anxiously waited for the sun to get high enough in the sky to burn it off. And it did! 

The eclipse was to begin around 9:30 am. We invited some homeschool friends over to watch with us and we made some celestial snacks for energy during the viewing. :)

We ended up trying four different viewers, all the pinhole type, to see which one gave us the best image. The long one (in the mailing tube) ended up being best, but all but one worked great!

Isaiah 48:13-My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together. 

Psalm 19:1-The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.

 

Psalm 8:1-LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.

It didn't get dark, even when the sun was 80% covered, but there was a golden, kind of eery, tone to everything, kind of like just before a summer rainstorm on a sunny evening...

It was a great morning-the kind that makes homeschooling even more "worth it!" 

And great news! The U.S. is expected to be able to see a solar eclipse in 2017! 

Isaiah 40:26-Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.