More About the Project
The moon will begin to pass in front of the sun at 12:51 p.m. on April 8th casting a great shadow over DuPage County, Illinois. At 2:07 p.m. (for 4 minutes and 25 seconds), we will experience maximum solar eclipse. The moon will cover 95% of the sun for us here in DuPage County, leaving a small crescent of light. (According to NASA, our area won’t see a 100% eclipse until Sept. 14, 2099.) At 3:22 p.m., the show will be over. During the eclipse, daylight will dim, and the temperature will drop slightly. We are still figuring out how life on earth responds to these rare phenomena. Previous observations have included birds going to roost, bees returning to their hives, an increase in mosquitoes, the emergence of bats and spiders destroying their webs. We know even less about how plant species respond, but more studies are showing that they react in different ways as well! With every eclipse we learn more, and you can help contribute to this discovery through this citizen science project! Help us by recording observations of one or more select organisms around you at three different points during the eclipse: once a half an hour before maximum coverage, once during the four-minute maximum coverage window, and once again a half an hour after maximum coverage. Be sure to record in the notes section any interesting anecdotal observations you make about the organism's behavior. Once the eclipse is over and the project is complete, we will analyze the data and report our findings in a journal post here. Thank you for your help and remember to never look at the sun without the proper eye protection!
