Shoeboxes? We don’t need no stinkin’ shoeboxes!
– quote by Sue J., inspired by Pacino 🙂
Impromptu Experiment:
Quickly craft a solar eclipse viewing mechanism without the use of the old shoebox method most of us are accustomed to
Materials:
Whatever the heck we can find around the house (excluding boxes because, well, we had no suitable boxes; hence, the need for an impromptu project . . . still with us? Good. Moving on . . .)
Allowable Timeframe for Completing Project:
Five minutes. Make or break, we clearly have more important things to do, but Heck, this is fun!
THE EXPERIMENT
I start off with the requisite foil square and poke a hole in it so the sun can do its job.
Next, a piece of paper that’ll serve as a projection screen. White paper is too bright, so Mark grabs a manilla folder.
I grab a metal clamp off the kitchen table (Hey, in a house inhabited by at least one mechanically minded person, if not often two, it’s not unusual to find a clamp, pliers, tape measure, etc., as part of the dining area decor.) figuring it would add to the scientific ambiance if we use a tool to hold the foil rather than just our hands.
Mark runs out the door, me trailing close behind with necessary paraphernalia in hand.
Folder. Check!
Foil. Check!
BAM! Solar Eclipse. Cooooooooooooool.
Design Improvement Attempt #1:
Mark tries to free his hands from having to hold the clamp so we can view it in a hands-free, all-mind, zen-like peace. He tries to hang the foil from a tie-down wire on the patio, but the angle isn’t working.
Back to the initial viewing configuration. But, hey, what’s this? THREE eclipses?
Way cool.
Sunlight is projecting not only through the foil, but through a cut-through hole in the clamp and through a tiny space between his fingers.
Design Improvement Attempt #2:
We don’t need no stinkin’ clamp!
We don’t need no stinkin’ foil!
VOILA! Solar Eclipse Au Naturel!
Who ever would have thought it’d be this simple to watch a solar eclipse?
Grins of accomplishment all around, slaps on backs, high fives, a couple of atta boys and atta girls.
Mission accomplished on all fronts (fun, discovery, and nature combined. . . cool, cool, and cool).
🙂
Make time for fun,
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