Lyle Elementary and The Big Eclipse
The Big Eclipse recently brought tales of eclipse myths to Lyle Elementary School in Dallas, Oregon.
106 third graders learned how the moon’s shadow will pass right over their heads this summer – yes, they are lucky enough to live in the path of totality! The kids and their teachers did a brainstorming to create their own eclipse myths about what might cause the sun to go dark. Their stories ranged from extremely silly to a little bit scary, and one evoked ancient Greek myths about the constellation Orion.
Here are a few of their story themes:
*Someone eats a ball of moldy cheese, it’s in their mouth, causing an eclipse – yuck! – they spit it out.
*A ninja making a move in the sky loses a quarter from their pocket, causing an eclipse – the ninja picks it up.
*A little girl’s balloon escapes, causing an eclipse – her Dad reaches up and saves it.
*A swirl of vanilla and chocolate ice cream melts, causing an eclipse – is refrozen and reshaped into a scoop of ice cream.
*A big bush is trimmed by a gardener, causing an eclipse – it’s a magic bush, so quickly grows back.
*A soccer ball was kicked up to the Sun, causing an eclipse – then it fell back down to Earth.
*A football player threw a football at the Sun and the Sun caught it, causing an eclipse. Then, the Sun threw it back.
*A chef fried an egg and flipped it – it flew up so high it blocked the sun, causing an eclipse. Then it turned over and came back down.
*After work, a giant threw his shirt on the Sun, causing an eclipse. Later, he took it off the Sun and went to sleep.
*Orion, the famous hunter, was shooting at the Sun, wanting to capture its light so he could hunt animals even at night. He caught the light – causing an eclipse – but it burned him. Meanwhile, the animals became angry that he wanted to be so powerful, so they punished Orion by turning him into a constellation. You may still see him in the sky, aiming his arrow at the Sun, but unable to pull the bow.
Not only did the kids and teachers learn a lot, a local reporter stopped in and stayed for the brainstorming, and she wrote a great article for the Polk County-Independence Observer paper, which you may read here.