Notice & predict
What can a coin hide?
Predict what changes when a coin moves closer or farther.
Curiosity Bundle
How Can a Small Moon Cover a Huge Sun?
A coin can hide a faraway lamp. This safe indoor experience follows that surprise into the size-and-distance idea behind a solar eclipse.
Make a prediction, explore apparent size indoors, and build a three-object line-up.
IgniteStart with a small surprise
Let the coin puzzle sit before you explain it.
Offer one puzzle. Leave room for a guess.
Hold a coin at arm’s length in front of a distant lamp or picture. Ask, "How can something tiny hide something much bigger?"
Another way to begin
Point to a small object close to you and a large object across the room. Ask, "Which one looks bigger from here? What could change that?"
Use a paper circle and a faraway object indoors. The puzzle is about what looks large from one viewpoint, not about looking at the sky.
KindlePredict what will be covered
Draw your first guess before reading.
ReadFollow size and distance
Read the explanation and the safety fact together.
DoTry safe indoor models
Change apparent size, then create an alignment.
CheckExplain the line-up
Return to the coin puzzle with a few light prompts.
A light check
What lines up?
Revisit apparent size alignment and safety with four prompts.
Sources and review notes
Local review edition. Physical activities, diagrams, and family usability still need review. Times are estimates. See the parent guide for each activity’s safety instructions and model limits.
- How Is the Sun Completely Blocked in an Eclipse?Approximate 400-times size and distance relationship only.
- Eclipse SafetyISO viewer and optical-device safety only; activities do not permit solar viewing.