For science & environment students in city, the solar eclipse was a real field day
A small Brooklyn high school is using the solar eclipse as a rare learning opportunity for the city’s teen scientists and environmentalists.
Students and teachers at the Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment, or BASE, in Prospect Heights crossed the street Monday to catch the astronomical event from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The next total solar eclipse will not happen again in the Northeast until 2079, according to state Education Department guidance.
“I’m with my friends, and my school also,” said Gaelle Simbert, a high school senior. “It’s really nice that I’m able to experience this once-in-a-lifetime experience with them.”
On Monday, hundreds of students from BASE and other nearby schools poured into the garden before 2 p.m., alongside their administrators, teachers, counselors and school safety agents. They gathered in an open field where the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the physics teacher built a “pinhole camera” where students could see through a simple opening the changing shape of the sun as the moon eclipsed.
“I know probably by the next time an eclipse comes up I won’t be here,” said Principal Gail Lambert. “We are an environmental school, so this will give these students an opportunity they may not get again.”
Schools across the city planned to take advantage of the real-life science lesson.
Staten Island’s Public School/ Intermediate School 48 hosted an eclipse viewing party at dismissal with moon pies, an inflatable planetarium and a Staten Island zookeeper so students can see animals’ response to the natural phenomenon, according to the city’s Education Department. At Central Park East II in Manhattan, the principal invited parents to join students for an event organized with a local nonprofit.
Students at Staten Island Tech and Bronx Science were watching the astronomical event from campus fields and courtyards — the latter with certified eclipse glasses donated by the alumni foundation, education officials said. Harry S. Truman HS in the Bronx, which has a planetarium under renovation, also organized an event.
The school system on social media shared ways for families to keep themselves safe, “while also learning some cool science.”
Students from the Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment said they were helping their families prepare for the eclipse and pushing back against misinformation that New Yorkers had to wear regular sunglasses, stock up on food or stay indoors.
BASE was born out of a Bloomberg-era push to break down large, struggling high schools into small, theme-based programs, and founded with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden as a partner. The high school has 255 students, its principal said.
“Some people were saying it’s the end of the world,” said Kemmar Pitters, a high school senior. “It’s just an eclipse. It’s happened before, and it’ll happen again.”
In the coming days, students will debrief the astronomical event with their teachers. But while they sat in the garden, the teens were happy to be spending time outdoors with their classmates as they all looked up at the astronomical phenomenon together, with their protective eclipse glasses.
“It’s the first time in a while,” high school senior Lauviah Fleury said, “the whole school comes together.”