OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Regardless of the grade level, students in Oak Ridge Schools were excited to learn and experience the partial solar eclipse on Monday.
A third-grade classroom learned how to make pinhole projectors. Their teacher, Dr. Tiffany Collins, said students have been learning about the eclipse for a few months across all subjects.
"They're learning it in science class, they're learning it in computer class, they're learning it in ELA," Collins said.
On Monday, the students worked in teams to build a pinhole projector with a shoebox, paper, tape and tinfoil. Students had to take measurements and problem-solve.
"We're teaching them perseverance, grit, determination, 'Keep going, don't give up,'" Collins said. "And STEM actually gives us that opportunity to work through these skill sets, that are the soft skills that they need when they go to a job in the future — how to communicate with people, how to collaborate, work together."
Across the street at Robertsville Middle School, sixth-graders were completing a model of the eclipse, as well as a QR code scavenger hunt across the classroom answering questions about the celestial event.
"There's so many neat things besides just the shadow being cast," said Mariah Young, a sixth-grade teacher. "The diamond ring effect where it actually looks like a diamond ring, Bailey's beads, and all the different things that go with it. So maybe whenever there is one again, they'll be able to have some extra knowledge about it."