Astronomy: Solar Eclipse Notebooking Page

Your elementary and middle school students can use these free solar eclipse notebooking pages and recommended resources to write about a solar eclipse, how and why it occurs. 

The solar eclipse notebooking pages include a diagram showing how a solar eclipse will occur.

Let your students use these three differentiated levels of the Solar Eclipse Notebooking Printables as a part of their science and astronomy study while they write, draw, and color what they’ve learned about the astronomical event.

Online resources, videos, and book recommendations in varying levels are below to help you and your students learn more about this reoccurring celestial event.

Some terms that you may want your kids to learn about and use in their reports are:

• diamond ring (or ejecta)
• Bailey’s beads
• corona
• path of totality
• penumbra
• umbra
• partial phase phenomenon
• shadow bands

These notebooking pages are generally for students working at the 2nd to 8th grade levels.

Resources for Learning about a Solar Eclipse

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Library List

In order of difficulty:

The Sun: Our Nearest Star (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out) by Dr. Franklyn M Branley

The Sun by Seymour Simon

Eclipse: How the 1919 Solar Eclipse Proved Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity (Moments in Science) by Darcy Pattison

Online Resources for Learning about a Solar Eclipse

In order of difficulty:

What is an Eclipse? with NASA Space Place

Get Ready for the Eclipse with SciShowKids (this was filmed for the 2017 North American total eclipse, but the facts about eclipses are the same)

Learn about the 4 different types of solar eclipses with Nat Geo

Find out if you will be in the path of the 2024 eclipse with this interactive map from NASA.

NASA explains how to prep for the 2024 solar eclipse Older kids will also want to read this NASA article that explains the umbra and penumbra

Why a Total Eclipse is Such a Big Deal with Be Smart

Smarter Everyday explains what you need to know about a total solar eclipse

Listen to the Houston, We Have A Podcast episode, Total Eclipse Over America

Hands-on Learning about a Solar Eclipse

If you have access to an area that will be experiencing a solar eclipse, be sure to get some solar eclipse safety glasses.

Learn to sing this silly solar eclipse song.

Draw a diagram of a solar eclipse and label the umbra and penumbra after watching this how-to video.

Use these instructions for making your own eclipse viewer if you’ll be in the path of an eclipse.

My Granny’s house was in the path of totality during the August 2017 Solar Eclipse, so we went there to observe it. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy that day, so we couldn’t see the corona, but it did get completely dark in the middle of the day. If you will be in the path of totality and want to video it, use this video from Smarter Everyday 2 for helpful hints.

Use this Smartphone Solar Imaging Enhancing Photo Lens to help you take pictures of the solar eclipse.

Your early elementary kiddos will enjoy this “Things in the Sky” crossword puzzle.

Solar Eclipse Notebooking and Journaling Printables

These notebooking pages come in 3 levels to fit all of your student’s needs. There’s a large elementary-lined one, a smaller elementary-lined one, and a regular-lined one. There are 9 printable pages in total.

Each level of the Solar Eclipse printables also comes in a photo, a color graphic, and a printer ink friendly black/white.

These free notebooking printables would even work for copying a poem or quote about the sun, moon, or our solar system.

More Astronomy Notebooking Resources