On Tuesday, 17 April 2001, Charles Olin, President of the Analemma Society, visited Carl Sandburg MS (CSMS) Grade Level 8 Science classes; he showed several types of sundials and explained how they work. The following day, students prepared for Sun-Earth-Moon Day by assembling the Sandburg Sundial (54k PDF), a customized ready-to-use horizontal sundial.³ On Thursday, 19 April, amateur astronomers from the National Capital Astronomers (NCA) and Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC) visited Sandburg MS for a day of safe sunspot observing,⁴ sundialing, and Moon-watching. Sincere thanks to Andrew Seacord (NCA), John Avellone (NOVAC), and Charles Olin--at CSMS, we appreciate your spirit of volunteerism and willingness to share your expertise and enthusiasm for observational astronomy! And of course, thanks to the following Sandburg science teachers for allowing their classes to participate in the special event: Mr. Daugherty, Ms. Hayward, Ms. Long, Ms. Williams, and Ms. Wallace.

¹   National Sky Awareness Week (NSAW) was April 22-28, 2001; its theme was: "THE SKY - Where Meteorology Meets the Heavens and the Earth." This year, Astronomy Week/Day (AW/D) coincided with NSAW: Astronomy Week was April 23-29, 2001; Astronomy Day was April 28th. For the first time, Astronomy Day had a special theme: "Sun-Earth Day."
²   The Sandburg Center for Sky Awareness prepared a special Web page of theme-related suggested teaching strategies, including pointers to electronic resources and classroom-ready activities: Me and My Shadow - Making the Sun-Earth Connection.
³   Editor's Note: Experience has shown that an equatorial sundial is better suited for making connections between the Earth's rotation and solar time-keeping, as well as the Earth's revolution around the Sun and the annual cycle of change in the Sun's apparent path across the sky.
⁴   Disclaimer: NEVER look directly at the Sun, especially when using an optical device such as a camera, binoculars, or telescope--blindness may result! With the exception of the "Solar ProjectorScope" (which allows indirect viewing of the Sun's image), every telescope used during this event was equipped with a solar filter which permits only about 1/1000 of 1% of the incoming solar radiation to enter the telescope! Safely view near-real-time solar imagery (including sunspot imagery) by visiting the SOHO Images Web site (SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory).

The Waning Crescent Moon (16% illuminated) should have been visible in the day sky, but was invisible in the glare of the Sun (as the Moon wanes, the lighted portion of the Moon appears to grow smaller; it also appears to get closer to the Sun with each passing day until it is invisible during the New Moon phase). 8th grade students study Moon phases during the 4th quarter.