Lesson Plan: Lights Out!

Essential Questions

• How does light from the sun affect life on Earth?
• How has our understanding of the universe changed over time? 

Literature Connection

• Nonfiction: Sky Gazing: A Guide to the Moon, Sun, Planets, Stars, Eclipses, and Constellations by Meg Thacher

Build Background Knowledge (10 minutes)

Before reading the article, view our video “What You Need to Know About Solar Eclipses.” The video provides general information about eclipses that will make the concepts in the article more accessible.

Preview Text Features (15 minutes)

Guide students to locate the article in their magazines or at Action Online. Then preview the text features by asking the following questions:

• Read the article’s title and subtitle (the text beneath the title). Do you know what a solar eclipse is? If not, what can you guess based on the title and the main image? Answers to the first question may vary. In response to the second question, students will likely say that an eclipse is probably something that causes the sky to go dark.
• Find the Build Knowledge sidebar. How many types of eclipse does it describe? What are they? The sidebar describes three types of eclipse: partial, annular, and total.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

• Point out the vocabulary box. Read the words (destinations, rural, astronomer, spiritual, phenomenon) aloud and discuss their definitions.
• Play the Vocabulary Slideshow.

Make a Plan for Reading 

Before students start to read, walk them through a reading plan:

• Set a purpose for reading by explaining to students that the article will tell them how our understanding of eclipses has changed over time and how people are preparing for the eclipse on April 8.   
• Point out the Pause and Think boxes. Tell students they can check their understanding of what they’ve read by answering these questions.
• Point out the activity at the end of the article and tell students they will complete it after reading. Encourage them to briefly scan the questions and to keep them in mind as they read.

Read the article. (Higher- and lower-Lexile versions are available on the Story page at Action Online. Click Presentation View to access an audio read-aloud.) Then discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (15 minutes)

• The article says that Sulphur Springs, Texas, probably isn’t on your list of vacation destinations. Why not? (inference) The town is small and rural. You can guess that it doesn’t have any of the big things tourists usually travel to experience: resorts, amusement parks, famous landmarks, and so on.
• Why did people in ancient China bang pots and drums during an eclipse? (cause and effect) People in ancient China believed that the darkness from an eclipse was caused by a dragon eating the sun. They would bang pots and drums to scare the dragon away.
• Butch Burney of Sulphur Springs, Texas, says, “We’re like the 50-yard line for the eclipse.” What does he mean? (interpreting text) At a football game, the 50-yard line offers a great view of the action. Burney means that people in the town will have a great view of the eclipse.

Critical-Thinking Question (5 minutes)

• The article says that people often clap, shout, or cry when they see an eclipse. Why do you think this is? (critical thinking) Seeing something very rare can cause strong emotions in people, and an eclipse is a rare thing. Also, the sun is important for our survival. Even though we now understand eclipses, seeing the sun disappear and then reappear might cause us to feel some of the same anxiety and relief that people felt in ancient times.

• Have students work in pairs to complete the Spotlight Skill activity at the end of the article.
• Go further: Assign students to work independently on our Summarizing activity, available in higher- and lower-level versions. (Click here to view all your Skill Builders for this article.)
• Writing Prompt: Butch Burney says that people are coming to Sulphur Springs from as far away as Europe and Australia. Would you travel that far to see a total solar eclipse? Why or why not? In a brief paragraph, explain why you think seeing the eclipse is or isn’t worth the time and money it takes to travel to another continent.