On Monday, hundreds of students from Lawton Public Schools gathered outside to witness the total solar eclipse, a rare celestial event that won’t occur in this country for another two decades. At Pat Henry Elementary, Makerspace teacher Elizabeth Chestnut mentioned that her STEM students have been eagerly anticipating the event for several weeks. The Makerspace elementary classes at LPS sites focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics projects.
The American Astronomical Society recommends wearing glasses with solar filters adhering to the international standard ISO 12312-2:2015 to safely view the eclipse. These filters are much darker than standard sunglasses and protect the eyes from damage. Students at Pat Henry Elementary, like kindergartener Angel Kirkland, expressed surprise and excitement at seeing the moon block the sun. Many were fascinated by the darkening of the sky during the eclipse and wanted to learn more about the phenomenon.
In the Lawton-Fort Sill area, the eclipse reached an estimated 94 percent coverage as the moon passed between the Earth and the sun. Students at Pat Henry Elementary witnessed this near-total eclipse at approximately 1:40 p.m. Second-grade student Travis McCollough described the experience as awesome and expressed impatience about waiting 20 years for the next eclipse. According to NASA,
